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Gareth Getting Down to Business
Dai Pro Lewis Building a Strong Stack
The ITF Crew!!!
Paul Wheeler - 1st Out on Sunday
To call or not to call???
Wookie looking pretty pleased with himself
Cocker - Fresh off the plane!
Wake up Glyn.. Someone's nicked your bacon!!
 Molly - Finished 8th
 Final Table Action
Just one of Craigs many hoodies
Craig Fletcher - WPL 2008 Season 1 Champion!!!!
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2008 Grand Final Report!!
The first WPL Grand Final of 2008 promised to be the biggest and best to date and judging by the feedback from you the players over the weekend, there where no disappointments.
The first qualifying session started at noon on Saturday with 109 eager runners ready to make their claim on some big pots and in true WPL fashion the action was fast and furious from the off… Within the first few hands Glyn Taylor, holding A/7 was delighted to see a flop also bearing A/7 to give him 2 pairs, what he may have failed to notice was that the flop also contained only spades and after calling Stan Kerswells all-in Stan turned over 2 more spades for a flush, leaving Glyn desperately hoping for another Ace or 7 that never came. Glyn took to his feet and walked out of the playing area to a roar of cheers and applause from his competitors. It should be said though Glyns tail didn’t stay between his legs for long, no sooner had he tried his luck on a fruit machine than his fortune quickly changed, we’re not sure exactly how much he won but it’s fair to say Glyn spent more time listening to the sound of the fruit machine spitting pound coins into his cash tray than he did playing poker that afternoon!!
After Glyns departure it was business as usual on the poker floor with big raises and pushes from many players including one from Steve “The Cobra” Harding, holding 9-9 who was called by Adam Eames holding A-Q who went on to hit a straight and take Steve out of contention for Vegas.
Going into the last break Dai “Pro” Lewis had played a strong game and had amounted 38,900 chips with Damo “Wookie” Kempson not far behind with 37,000 chips, but by the end of the session it was Darren Dally who played into the position of chip leader with an impressive 49,100 chips.
Sunday afternoon started with a slightly larger field of 117 and as usual the action started early on – If the pocket Kings dealt to Paul Wheeler weren’t enough to make him push, the sight of a 3rd King on the turn certainly was but unfortunately for Paul that third King was also the third spade which completed Ian Jones flush draw.. with no miracle King on the river Paul was first out on Sunday and received the customary roar of cheers and applause.
Plenty of action packed poker followed and by the end of the afternoon session there where just 29 players remaining. The last hand of the day was controversial to say the least with Craig Fletcher pushing his 19,000 chips all-in blind before even being dealt any cards, a move that several opponents reacted to furiously, protesting that this was terrible poker etiquette – Poker room manager Gareth agreed and warned Craig that there would be strong penalties should he do so again, but as the house rules stipulate the bet must stand. Colin Morton however was more than happy with the play, being the only person to call it meant fewer challengers for the pot and he was able to double his stack up to 4,100 just before the end of the session.
The top 10 stacks going into the Sunday evening session where Darren Dally (49,100), Richard Hughes (41,500), Darryn Ribbon (33,200), Barry Jones (32,800), David James (30,200), Jason Watkins (29,400), Damien Kempson (24,900), Gary Hoskins (23,700), Gareth Prosser (23,400) and Damien McSherry (22,800), the top lady was Charlie Edwards with 11,600 (impressive considering Charlie was down to just 400 chips at one point).
The aggressive play Craig Fletcher displayed at the end of the last session showed no signs of slowing down, Craig seemed to be playing a tactic of push all-in against any raise, a tactic that will always result in one of two things, an early exit or an early chip-lead.. in Craigs case it was the latter and his stack swelled from 17K to over 60K in the first hour. The only player who seemed to be getting any respect from Craig was Sheldon Gould (his 45K stack may have had something to do with it) – Sheldon was taking full advantage and managed to get Craig to lay-down his cards on a few large pots. Shortly afterwards, when the table folded around to Darren Dally on the small blind, and Craig on the big blind Darren decided it was time to make a move of his own and pushed all-in for 15K, Craig folded and showed 8s/9s with a smile on his face Darren showed 3s/4s and collected the blinds.
Elsewhere in the tournament, with the blinds creeping up Adam Belchers decided his A/Q of diamonds was worthy of pushing his 8K stack into the middle of the table, unfortunately it wasn’t enough to keep his tournament life afloat and he exited in 30th position. After an early chip lead Damo “Wookie” Kempson pushed his 19K chips into the pot holding J/K against 8/8, the board produced no pairs for Wookie and he finished 29th.
Ben Price’s pocket Aces looked good against Fred Spellmans pocket Kings until Fred hit a third King on the turn and Ben busted out in 27th. Charlie Edwards’ pocket Jacks didn’t hold up against Barry Jamies’ 9 high straight, giving Charlie 26th position. Geraint Edges 10/8 clubs lost to Darren Dallys Q/J and he finished 24th, Huw Llewellyn failed to make a set of his pocket 10’s against Shaun Enos Kings and he finished 22nd. Daniel Rumsey matched his holed K/2 with a King on the board but Terry Burnett called his all-in with a hearts nut flush draw and hit on the river, busting Dan out in 21st. Richard Williams A/J came up against Sheldon Goulds pocket 10’s and with no help from the board Richard finished 19th.
Richard Hughes would have been pleased to turn over his pocket Kings against Damien McSherrys 5’s and Derek Georges Jacks but when the turn produced another 5 Damien tripled up and Richard finished 17th.
The final 16 are announced with the blinds at 3K/6K – Dai Lewis finishes 16th holding pocket Queens and soon after Barry Jones finishes 15th. Terry Burnett takes 14th position holding A/K Suited, with Darren Dally and Derek George finishing 13th and 12th respectively. Sheldon Gould finished 11th after his A/7 lost to Fred Spellmans Q/10, Dale Evans finished 10th claiming he’s the one to watch and he’ll be on next seasons final table!! Barrie Jamie finished in 9th position and although he moved all-in before actually sitting at the Final Table Dave Malsom finished in 8th position to win an entry to the Grosvenor Sunday £50 freeze-out.
The 7 WPL Final Table qualifiers where:
Seat 1 - Damien McSherry, Seat 2 - David James, Seat 3 - Michael Cox, Seat 4 - Mark Trodd, Seat 5 - Craig Fletcher, Seat 6 - Shawn Enos, Seat 7 - Fred Spellman.
The final 7 players took their seats just after 11.30 and the blinds on 6500/13,000, we had an all in call immediately from Mark Trodd with K/10 who was down to his last 700 chips, Fred Spellman called A/K as did Damien McSherry, it ended being a split pot for Fred and Damien, Mark left the tournament in 7th place with a seat at Grosvenors £50 Sunday freeze-out.
For the next few hands there were raises and all in's announced but everyone folded.
Jam bet 31,500 to which everyone folded, Jam casually showed that bluffing could work when he turned over 2/6 off suit.
Damien announced all in with pocket queens and was quickly called by Michael Cox with A/J, the flop produced 9,2,3, the turn a K and the river a 6. Michael left the tournament in 6th place and a Grosvenor £50 freeze-out seat.
The blinds are now on 9000/18000, again several hands took place where all-in's and raises were announced but everyone folded.
With Fred on the small blind, and only Damien with 8/7 spades in the hand, Fred called with 7/2 hearts, the flop 7d,Ah,10d,the turn 8s and the river 5h, Damien bet 30,000, Fred called, Damien won the pot with his two pairs.
Shawn Enos announced all in for 30,000, Craig called but Shawn won the pot after hitting a straight.
Craig picked up a huge pot after Jam announced all in for 103,000, Craig caught his 7 on the river putting him into a very strong position.
At 12.40 the blinds were on 10,000/20,000 and the rolling ante of 400.
Jam announced all-in for 159,300 after hitting two pairs Aces and sixes, Craig called with a pair of 5's, Jam took a huge pot.
Fred announced all-in for 28,500 with A/2, worried that he may not make his flight to Majorca, which was leaving at 6.00, Shawn called with J/10 and hit two pairs. Fred left the tournament in 5th place, bagging a seat in a £50 Grosvenor freeze-out.
Shawn Enos won a seat in the Grosvenor £250 Freeze-out when Jam beat his hand and he finished in 4th position.
There was good aggressive play from all players as the clock ticked on for the next hour towards 1.35am – Damien McSherry A/K was dominating Craig Fletchers A/5 when he went all-in and owning the smaller of the 2 stacks Craig was looking weak until the turn produced another 5 and he doubled up yet again.
After moving all in with K/8, Jam scooped a Grosvenor £250 freeze-out seat when he left the tournament in 3rd place, Craig having called with pocket 5's won the pot giving him a considerable chip-lead over his heads up opponent Damien.
The final hand with blinds on 15,000/30,000 saw Damien raise 60,000 with Jd/Qc, Craig announced all in with A/J of hearts, the flop 3h,5d,9h, put Craig on the flush draw, the turn 4h and the river 9c, gave Craig Ace flush and the tournament win and a seat in Las Vegas!!!
As 2008 Season 1 runner-up Damien McSherry wins a package to the GUKPT Grand Final at The Grosvenor Victoria in London in November.
Craig Fletcher becomes the first Wales Poker League Season Champion of 2008.. Congratulations Craig!!!
Being WPL champion at 18 years of age could be a sign that Craig has a bright future ahead of him in the world of Poker – However it also means that Craig is currently too young to compete in Las Vegas. Craig has the option of competing in Las Vegas after he reaches his 21st birthday or taking an alternative tournament prize.
Congratulations and thanks to all those players who made the 2008 Season 1 Grand Final such a fantastic event and good luck to Dave Malsom, Damien McSherry, David James, Michael Cox, Mark Trodd, Craig Fletcher, Shawn Enos & Fred Spellman in the tournaments that they won this weekend!
Thank you also to all the staff at The Grosvenor Casino Cardiff Bay, especially Gareth “Take No Crap” Ingles for their contribution to a fantastic weekend of poker.
Good luck in Season 2 everyone... We hope you enjoyed Season 1 as much as we did!!
Jason & The WPL Team
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