With the buy-in upped to £1,500, an extra day added and a potentially more popular Manchester GUKPT event on the horizon, fears were that attendances would be low at last week's Springfest, but with 60 players making the trip down the M1 for Friday's Main Event, the G Casino in Luton could rest easy that its first festival would be far from a lackluster affair.
Within that motley crew of 60 was an array of talent, the likes of Willie Tann, Julian Thew (left) and Jim Reid all gracing us with their presence. And in fact, it was those three who would help produce a star-studded final table and one which was further strengthened by Singapore finalist, Jeff 'Jaffacake' Kimber, Midland Masters' Champion, Rob Garfield, and local shark Norman Reynolds, fresh off his 20k victory earlier on in the week in the £500 freezeout.
Although Jim and Rob will be disappointed with their 9th and 7th placings respectively, the player they sandwiched in 8th, Tim Hiskett, should be immensely proud of his achievements, taking home £3,150 for by far his biggest result thus far.
Although snatching the chip-lead off pace-maker Jim '77dave' McShane after eliminating the unfortunate Paul 'M3boy' Garnham (right) with Queens vs. Aces, Julian 'Yoyo' Thew's loose aggressive style failed to see him through as he was forced to settle for 6th and just over four grand in spondoolies - not bad for someone whose specialty seems to be the less lucrative side events, perhaps this is a sign that the long awaited 'big win' is approaching.
With Norman, Jeff and local player Ambro Morreale taking 5th, 4th and 3rd, we were left with two veterans of the game in Wille Tann and Chandra Khajuria, the latter a fierce Omaha cash player making a rare venture into Texas Hold'Em.
With no signs of a deal, although this cannot be confirmed, it was Chandra who would run off with the lion's share of the dough, eventually seeing off the bracelet winner (left) for a cool £31,500 when his flush draw with A-5s rivered a fifth club to outdo Tann's flopped straight, J-Ts.
blondeite and G Casino cardroom manger Alistair later commented: "I'd like to thank everybody who came along this week and played in any event, many thanks for your support. While the numbers were dissapointing all week, i think everybody had a great time. See you all soon."
Brother of the equally successful Lalit, Chandra was a worthy winner and showed just how broad his poker skills are. A big congratulations to him from everyone at blonde poker.