The Leeds Poker Tour has arrived!

[RedAdair]

Big Betts make Bucks promotions (I just made that up..can you tell) presents....

The Leeds Poker Tour 2008

Arriving at East Leeds Snooker Club on Thursday 17th January for the first of 24 fortnightly heats leading up to the Grand Final on 18 December.

Buy in for the heats is £10 (plus a £2 registration fee) for 10K in chips with an option for one further rebuy so the events are totally affordable - the most you can lose is £22.

All buy in monies paid out as prizes at each heat and all rebuy money goes forward to the prize pool for the Grand Final which will be open to 32 entrants based on the top 32 players from the heats, which will be determined by a ranking point league system.

Each heat is limited to 8 tables of 8 players, i.e. 64 in total in a multi table format.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that if half the players rebuy in each heat (not beyond the realms of possibility) that the prize pool for the grand final will be immense so it's well worth playing in as many heats as possible to stack up those ranking points - even by playing you will recieve ten ranking points.

We are currently building sites on Facebook and MySpace. We also hope to have our own dedicated site. Full details will appear on those and will also be available very soon on paper in the club.

If you want to know more, drop me a line on leedspokertour@ntlworld.com.

Cheers.

[RedAdair]

Important Update

Sadly Government Legislation means this tour won't go ahead under this guise.

The organisers thought that the club was classed as a member's club but it is not - it is classed as a commercial club.

This means that gaming laws apply - the maximum buy in is £10 and maximum pay out £250.

Our proposed format would have been legal if the club was classed as a members club but sadly we have to abandon it. It wouldn't be fair on our customers (especially those well ranked) if we had to abandon the tour half way through.

The tour will go ahead though!! Look out for a new and exciting perfectly legal format very soon!

[craig]

you could try the seacroft green that is a members club,i will have a chat with them for you if you want craig

[RedAdair]

Thanks for the offer mate but it's the same difference.

Basically the only clubs you can have unlimited buy ins and prizes are bridge and whist clubs.

Can't think there are too many of those around!!!

Thanks again.

[RedAdair]

We now have a structure in place that is perfectly legal but no less exciting. We launch next week - please try to get along.

More info at groups.myspace.com/leedspokertour and on Facebook.


• Fortnightly heats commence 17.1.2008
• All heats at East Leeds Snooker Club
• Registration 6.15-7.15pm for a 7.30pm start
• £10 entry fee plus £3 participation fee
• Players start with 10K in chips
• 20 fortnightly events throughout the year
• All entry fees paid out as prize money at each heat up to maximum allowed by law of £250 – all surpluses go to end of season playoffs
• Ranking points awarded per heat
• Top 16 ranked players invited to Playoffs free of charge
• 64 players maximum per heat – Register EARLY!
• The more you play, the more chance you have of qualifying for the playoffs
• Top twelve players each heat receive ranking points
• Top five receive cash payouts
• Each player at each heat receives 10 ranking points for attendance
• Register now behind the bar
• Need more info? Email us at leedspokertour@ntlworld.com

[RedAdair]

Just a reminder to all you poker players that we kick off this Thursday!

[RedAdair]

James Froggatt became the first player to obtain the title of Leeds Poker Tour Heat winner in taking the inaugural event at East Leeds Snooker Club on Thursday 17 January.

15 players turned up for the first event, a little disappointing but the word on the street indicates the organisers expect double that when the LPT returns to East Leeds on 31 January.

Nonetheless, a healthy two table event ensued with a high standard of play on display.

With LPT ranking points awarded to the top twelve players, just three participants on the night were going to walk away completely empty handed.

The unlucky trio who busted out first were Stu “Minator” Wilson, Lee Fisher and finally Chris Hagger – this being something of a surprise as Hagger is a previous APAT Regional winner and must be one of the favourites to be atop of the LPT rankings come October. His good friend Oli Cooper had the dubious pleasure of seeing him off in an all-in showdown.

The event was afforded some glamour by Amy Grant who, at one point, was almost hidden behind her chip stack. However, things didn’t continue to go her way. She did have the honour of being the first person ever to earn LPT ranking points under this format by busting out in twelfth place for 18 points.

Matt Endeacott followed relatively quickly, as did official LPT clown prince Andy Toal (I shouldn’t have mentioned that – he will expect a fee). Dave Mangham was the unlucky “bubble” player insofar as the final table was concerned and we were quickly left with an 8 strong final table consisting of John Betts, Paul and Dave Swift, Ian Richardson, Oli Cooper, Joe Stevenson, Paul Buck and James Froggatt.

LPT co organiser John Betts was the first to fall by the wayside when his semi bluff failed to pay off, Ian Richardson being the happy recipient of is chips.

Paul and Dave Swift quickly followed in that order. Not sure if there is any relation but they were very close in busting out, Dave being the bubble man this time in terms of pay out.

Ian Richardson had looked a threat all night but his luck ran out as he bust out fifth – at least he got his money back.

Morley’s Oli Cooper also looked the part and dealt to casino level (thanks, Oli!!) but his luck also ran out as his fearless play finally bit him on the backside.

Joe Stevenson had played with a real cocky swagger all night – very cool – essential for any good poker player. However, he had a run of bad calls (or at least he did if you listened to his sidekick Ian Richardson!!) and his stack was soon decimated. Buck finished him off, somewhat relieved to outlast a very dangerous opponent.

All of a sudden we were heads up with Froggatt’s stack dominating that of organiser Paul Buck.

Buck had some luck on the river on a couple of occasions to quickly reduce the deficit and go pretty much all square.

At this point the players decided to chop the pot and both take home £85 – not a bad night’s work for small stakes poker.

The heads up did continue though as there were valuable ranking points to play for – the top 16 ranked players in LPT will be invited back to a free of charge end of season Playoff Series.

The players visibly relaxed after the prize fund chop had been agreed. Froggatt moved 2 to 1 up on Buck in the chip stakes.

Buck had a great chance to draw level when going all in with A-6 off suit. Froggatt called and flipped 10-3 and, despite Froggatt having two live cards, it looked like parity would be restored once again.

Buck’s hopes were quickly blown away when the flop cruelly revealed a further 10 and a 3 to give Froggatt an immediate two pair. An Ace on the turn gave Buck renewed hope but the river helped neither player improve and James Froggatt became our first heat winner, gaining himself the maximum 84 ranking points.

Many congratulations to James – a great effort from a genial fella and good sport.

And so we move on to the next heat on January 31st. The signs are there that we are ready to lift off. Several people were so impressed with the set up that they have pledged to bring their friends next time.

We are still new to organising multi table events so it will take us a few heats to get things finely tuned. We really do appreciate the input and advice from our more experienced players. We are also in the process of obtaining some help from an APAT Regional Director who might well do some TD’ing for us – so our star is in the ascendancy!!

We will certainly never rest on our laurels.

Try to get along on the 31st – we think you will be impressed by the facilities.

All the best.

Paul Buck and John Betts
LPT organisers

See "The Leeds Poker Tour" groups on Facebook and MySpace for more details and pictures.