With the next GUKPT event in Plymouth on the horizon, the Great British Poker Tour continued to rear its head and say "Look at me! Look at me!" by hosting another highly successfully event, this time in the sunny Yorkshire town of Leeds.
As usual, the £500 freezeout lured in amateurs and pro's alike, but whilst Willie Tann, Joe Beevers and WSOP finalist Jon Kalmar all made the trip, it was the amateurs who reigned supreme as fitness instructor Lee Richardson went on to defeat 109 other participants to become the latest GBPT champion.
At the end of the rainbow was a pot of gold containing £20,820, but it wasn't easy, Richardson being forced to overcome a tough final table:
Lee Blackburn -- 231,400
Michael Eglitine -- 161,300
Richard Howe -- 159,500
John Bousfield -- 120,800
Simon Grace -- 116,600
Lee Richardson -- 98,600
Mark Angioy -- 91,600
Willie Tann -- 84,400
Although lowest in chips, poker veteran and former bracelet winner Willie Tann (below) was touted as the dangerman, but after he ran Q-3 into the Pocket Fours of Richardson, he proved no longer a threat and was forced to watch from the rail as the first departure of the day.
Richardson, who himself began the final with less than 100k in chips, would then go on a one man wrecking crew by triggering the next two exits. First, Michael Eglintine would feel the Richardson wrath with A-9 versus A-Q before Liverpool's Simon Grace failed to outdraw Jacks with 7-6 on a 5-K-6-T-8 board.
Possibly still stacking his newly acquired mountain of chips, the new chip leader would enjoy a brief respite as Angioy took out Blackburn before Richardson once again adopted the role of assassin, John Bousfield being his next victim with K-7 versus A-T on a 7-3-T-6-Q board.
3 left, and after Richard Howe had eliminated Blackburn, we were heads-up, but a K-J versus A-J later and it was all over, Lee Richardson left to raise his arms in triumph as the latest GBPT victor.
The Grand Final will conclude the ‘GBPT 2007’ in spectacular style with a week of big money poker tournaments culminating in the £500,000 Main Event. This will take place at the Gala Casino Harbourside, in Bristol, UK from 5th – 11th November 2007.
Lee Richardson will be there, and so could you.