Offside News

Poker

Yorkshireman relishes Vegas win

Comment: 0 July 29th, 2011 by: admin

It pays to be in the final 8 of the National Finals.

The qualifiers from the United Kingdom’s longest-running poker tournament – Poker in the Pub – found out after they were hauled off to glitzy Las Vegas to vie for the title.

Venue was ESPN’s featured TV table in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
York’s Craig Thomson wound up wearing Poker in the Pub Season V winner’s engraved silver bracelet after coming back from a 3-1 heads up deficit against Plymouth’s Frazer Bolt.

Thomson was not only ecstatic by the victory. He was awe-struck by Las Vegas, too, describing the gambling haven as an “incredible, massive and one of the most impressive places’’ he had been to.

The 24-year-old also called the Las Vegas trip as a “trip of a lifetime,’’ comparing his journey to an amateur tennis player seeing action at Wimbledon or a rookie football player playing at Wembley.

From the unexpected limousine ride, walk on the red carpet all the way to the poker room where they played on the championship table, Thomson cherished them all. “Unbelievable’’ was how he recalled the experience.

Having tasted the Sin City adventure, Thomson said this will give encouragement to Poker in the Pub competitors in the coming season. The Yorkshireman started began playing in his local pub – the Puss `n’ Boots – which is just 2 minutes away from where he lives – and moved on to reach the Regional Finals where he excelled to make it to the National Finals.

In praising Poker in the Pub, Thomson said that in the last two years, it is the best league he had played in. He also lauded the tournament’s bigger prizes and the players’ higher chances of winning.

Thomson, who is eyeing a career as an accountant, said he has proven that one does not necessarily have to be the best player in the world to play in the best arenas.

More