POKER PLAYERS AIM TO BE FLUSH WITH SUCCESS IN VEGAS
IT’S not quite Ocean’s Eleven but this car park attendant, steelworker, retiree and scaffolding firm manager are heading to Las Vegas to make their fortunes. The amateur poker players from Wales will test their skills in the game’s ultimate arena later this month.
The VEGAS100 tournament is made up of the winners of various poker competition winners throughout the UK. The top 100 of 200,000 amateurs go through to the final competition in America.
Run by Redtooth poker, which holds poker leagues throughout the country, the Vegas competition takes place on May 25 and includes a prize pool of £25,000.
The winner will receive a £5,000 sponsorship deal for the next year, allowing them to enter tournaments and further their poker careers.
Among the players who jetting out to the desert later this month is Tata steelworker Richard Webb.
The 31-year-old from Bridgend started playing the game in local pubs. He said: “I started going every week to play poker and there would be a whole group of us. At first, I found it hard to qualify for tournaments because I couldn’t play every week but I managed to win two regional events on the bounce.
“I am chuffed to qualify because it shows I can really play the game. To play in Vegas when you love poker is high up on the bucket list.”
He added: “It’s a social thing and it’s fun because you get to meet up with friends and have a laugh. When I play properly you get to meet new people. It’s hard to explain, it’s one of those games you love and hate. It can be so frustrating but it’s brilliant when it goes your way.”
Another qualifier, Jason Phillips, 42, from Barry, started playing poker online 15 years ago online and discovered he was good at it.
The car park attendant said: “I’m really excited about playing Las Vegas. I have played hundreds of players many, many times and beaten them and I feel this will be the first time I have played where everybody on the table is good so it’s going to be a test.
“I like poker because I love winning money and I regularly win money.
“Lots of people play solitaire on the computer and I play poker. I win every month and it gives me some spending money.”
Gary Rosser, in his fifties, from Pontprennau, Cardiff, will be playing in Las Vegas for a second time and is one of six players to have qualified for the tournament from the Hollybush pub in Cyncoed, in recent years.
Retiree Gary said: “Playing in Las Vegas was a wonderful experience and I will continue the legacy at the Hollybush pub.
“I have been playing poker for seven years just by reading about statistics. Anything into methodology I am into reading because I am a chess player.” John Godwin, 47, from Bargoed, Caerphilly, has also qualified.
The scaffolding firm manager said: “I was over the moon I won the Cardiff event last year so I have been waiting to go so I am really excited.
“I have come from a card playing family because my grandparents played cards and my father and it’s just generated from there really.
“I have got a one in 100 chance of winning the tournament and someone has got to win it.”