Brighton isn't only renowned for being the home of megastars (ahem) such as Chris Eubank and Norman Cook, it is also emerging as a fine place to play poker, and, like the former boxing champ, it's starting to pack a punch.
In the face of fierce competition from the Grosvenor Casino, the Rendezvous are responding by staging their Christmas Cracker, a cracking little festival that kicked off at the start of this week.
With freezeouts ranging from £200 to £500 and satellites aplenty for those looking to sneak in on the cheap, the week is a rather more affordable one than what the circuit players are used to. What's more, they even stage a 7 card Stud rebuy Event, an admittedly unique addition to the standard schedule. But we here at blonde love to see the other variations of poker getting a run-out, and so did 23 others as Monday night's comp created a respectable £4,500 prize pool, the lion's share of which went to T James.
1st T James
2nd M Sellwood
3rd Anon
4th D Rodgers
5th S Costi
But of course, this is a Hold'Em invested world, and so it proved as Tuesday's £100 No Limit Hold'Em rebuy attracted a rather more sizable crowd, 73 in all. And after 85 rebuys and the amassing of a £15,800 prizepool, it was M Moore who rose above the rest to take top honours with the familiar name of 'Racing' Ronnie grabbing 4th.
1st M Moore
2nd J Cameron
3rd C Hopkins
4th Ronnie Debeaulox
5th R Prior
6th D Buckland
7th Anon
8th R Searle
9th G Neave
Next up was the £300 Pot Limit Omaha Freezeout, a more consistent addition to the schedule but still one that would disappoint the Hold'Em enthusiasts, and it showed as only 23 turned up to fight it out for that 1st prize, a monetary reward that finally went to A Conner who fought off tough competition from Rendezvous regular H Leff, who just missed out in second.
1st A Conner
2nd H Leff
3rd M Cook
4th R Gryko
5th B Charalambos
And whilst I await results of the sure to be popular £200 and £300 freezeouts, please keep an eye on that Main Event, a £500 No Limit Hold'Em double chance Freezeout.
Commencing on Saturday, it's not too late to enter the final event of the Rendezvous' Christmas Cracker. All you need to do is put your money where your mouth is and purchase your seat. Do that and who knows, it could be you who walks away with what is sure to be a monstrous 1st prize, especially if James Dempsey is handing out chips.
Good luck, folks, and remember, keep your eyes peeled for further results as we receive them.
[Ed Note: For all the details (address, hotels, etc) for the Rendezvous Casino, please click here]