With popular Tours such as the GUKPT, APAT and GBPT (crikey, that’s a lot of letters!) running wild through 2007, it has emerged that poker remains rife in the UK with new players springing out of every nook and cranny to join the rest of us degenerates on the live circuit.However, although total numbers remain high, the sheer increase in venues and festivals mean that the level of competition has shot through the roof. As a consequence, certain, less accessible casinos such as the Grosvenor Casino in Southampton and the Aspers Casino in Newcastle have either been forced to cancel their week of poker festivity in advance or scrap their Main Event due to lack of numbers.
With this in mind, it was with great surprise that I learned that even with the APAT in Luton, the Gutshot in London and EPT Season 4 kicking off in Barcleona the week after, Brighton were going at it hammer and tongs by staging two festivals simultaneously.
Whilst Grosvenor were hosting their annual Summer Shaker, a few streets along, the Rendezvous were braced for their Beach Break festival. Which casino set their dates first is unclear, but what is evident is that with the competition so intense, there was only going to be one winner.
As expected, the Rendezvous Casino would reign supreme throughout the week, Martin Green lifting the trophy when he rose above a respectable 64 thick field to win the £500 No Limit Hold’Em Main Event. With James Dempsey, Ryan Fronda, Willie Tann and Joe Grech all finalling, the Rendezvous was clearly the choice of the pro’s.1st Martin Green 'Roy Cropper' -- £7,800
2nd James Dempsey 'Neverends' -- £7,750
3rd Willie Tann -- £6,500
4th Ryan Fronda -- £3,200
5th Lim-Wai Cheung 'William' -- £2,250
6th Ray Miller -- £1,600
7th Glenn Altham -- £1,300
8th Michael Chivers -- £950
9th Jo Grech -- £650
In contrast, the Grosvenor’s Main Event could only attract 10 players, meaning that their £750 STT managed a paltry prizepool of £7,500 and a first prize of £3,750. However, unlike Aspers a few months prior, the show went on and was eventually won by Kim Callow.
1st Kim Callow -- £3,750
2nd David Gregory -- £2,250
3rd Anon -- £1,500
But with the Grosvenor brand such a force, why would the Rendezvous win this battle so convincingly? Well, according to Tony ‘tikay’ Kendall, the answer was simple:
“You can park for free at The Rendezvous, right on the front of the Casino, and they even valet park for you. It's a hike from any car park to the Grosvenor, then another route march to the small cardroom on the second floor.
Rendezvous Brighton is a premier league cardroom, right up there with G-Luton, Grosvenor Walsall, Broadway and Aspers. Grosvenor Brighton, with due respect, is not. Scheduling fessies against each other, no matter whose idea it was, is just plain daft and sets off the ‘poker is dying’ scaremongers. Supply and demand will sort it out.”Why these two festivals went head to head we may never know. Perhaps there were crossed wires, maybe both venues were happy to compete, or perhaps someone simply didn’t want to swallow their pr
ide and reschedule. Either way, the conclusion is clear – with so much competition in poker, there simply isn’t enough custom to go around for a location like Brighton.However, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t enough custom period. The EPT has been forced to increase buy-ins to cater for the demand, the Gutshot Series of Poker is more popular than ever and the APAT event was an instant sell-out. The poker boom is still in full force, but less populated, or less accessible venues need to realise that the market isn’t endless and if they wish to compete, they must schedule their festivals more shrewdly. The old western saying, ‘this town ain’t big enough for the both of us’ can’t help but spring to mind.