Set to take place on Sunday 30th April, this year sees the return of the ever-popular UPL Oxford Cup in which in excess of 300 young poker fanatics are expected to battle it out for the coveted title.
Staged at the prestigious Randolph Hotel, the main event will be a £20 No Limit Hold 'Em Rebuy tournament with online satellites being held every Sunday at 8pm.
With big names such as Al Avarez, Malcolm Harwood, and Padraig Parkinson already confirmed, there appears to be no shortage of star guests. Not to mention Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliot and commentator extraordinaire Jesse May, who are both in the melting pot for potential appearances.
For a taster of what's in store, here's another chance to read their excellent trip report from last year's event.
Poker Mania Grips Oxford
The poker extravaganza, organized by ex Oxford student Joe Barnard with the help of the University Poker League, culminated in a main event on the Sunday of a 244 person rebuy tournament refereed by Roy Houghton, the ref at London's Gutshot casino. Celebrity players included Dave 'El Blondie' Colclough, 'Mad' Marty Wilson, Jac Arama, Ashley Hames and poker writers Al Alvarez and Anthony Holden. Players paid £20 for 1,000 chips and for the first hour could purchase 1,000 more if they fell beneath 500, with a last chance for anyone left in the game to pay to add on 1,000 more at the end of this hour. First prize would be £4,200 with a total prize pool of £13,800. The full tourny would play out for some eleven hours.
Before this, on the Saturday, there was another smaller freeroll tournament held on the university campus, this after a talk from current World Series Of Poker champion Greg 'The Fossilman' Raymer, at Oxford's Museum of Natural History (amongst the fossils). This tournament was only open to the first 72 to arrive at the
museum. (I was fortunate enough to be one of them.) Raymer, whose gimmicks include snake eyes sunglasses and fossils that he places on his cards, gave out poker strategy and spoke of how he bettered over 2,500 contestants to win $5 million in Las Vegas last April. Also speaking were - a Norwegian internet player making an average of £200 an hour online, and - a 30 years playing UK professional.As well as the tournaments there were cash games going on all over the place. These were where I did best, paying for my £60's worth of tournament rebuys and just about breaking even, though savaged quite badly right at the end of the Sunday on one table full of sharks. The weekend's biggest winner, of the Oxford Cup and £4,200 cash, was Neil Wright of Manchester, with second place Mark Elliott from Durham University pocketing £2,400 + £1,000 and an aluminium case of University Poker League chips as the highest finishing student.
The event was a great success for Joe Barnard, who set up Oxford's Poker Society in 2002, when there were just a handful of poker societies in the UK. From just a few students playing with the blanks from washers it got sponsorship for baize, chips, etc, to an increase in numbers and support from professionals such as Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer and Dave Colclough (who has just signed a deal to become captain of ‘Team University Poker League’). Four big tournaments on www.universitypokerleague.com has also been launched, with online tournaments and UK student teams to take on students from around the world. There should also be another bigger and better Oxford Cup event on next year! So shuffle up and deal!