News 2009 British Masters Tour

See: 2009 CBMPT News and Results
See: 2009 CBMPT League and Leg Winners

Mark ‘The Threat’ Trett wins Coral British Masters Poker Tour

Mark Trett scooped the title of 2009 Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour Champion last night (19 November) after winning the final play-off at A World of Poker’s head quarters in Blackpool.

Mark, a 30-year-old recruitment consultant from Newcastle who won the Teeside leg of the tour in July, beat the seven other finalists in the single-table play-off to win the coveted title and £10k Coral.co.uk sponsorship for 2010.

The play-off began with Chris Brammer (Nottingham winner) taking an early chip lead after eliminating both Tom MacDonald (Leeds winner) and Jim O’ Connell (Edinburgh winner). But, Mark played a patient game and after doubling up with J10 of diamonds, he slowly started to accumulate chips.

He eliminated Richard Lewis (top money winner) and John Littler (online points winner) to take even stacks with Chris Brammner going into a three way with John Gardner (Bristol winner), who was still in the running, but slightly behind in chips.

John Gardner steadily built up his stack and eliminated Chris Brammer to go into a heads up as chip leader with just over half the chips in play. The heads up started tentatively until John went all-in with K10 and Mark called with A4 of diamonds. Mark won the pot with the nut flush and a few hands later won the tournament holding a pair of sixes.

After being crowned champion, Mark Trett said: “I really enjoyed the CBMPT play-off final even though the competition was extremely tough. The £10k sponsorship package from Coral is great as it gives me the opportunity to play big buy-in tournaments that I wouldn’t normally expect to play. I hope to build on the success I’ve experienced in 2009 and am really proud to be representing Coral in 2010.”

Coral.co.uk’s head of poker, Mark O’Donnell, said: “We’re delighted that Mark has won the title. It’s a fantastic achievement and we’re really happy to have Mark representing Coral in 2010, as he’s certainly a name to watch in the future.”

Mark O’Donnell added: “It was a great final with the high standard of play that we expected from the finalists. We’ve seen some amazing play throughout the seven-month CBMPT. It has been a real showcase of some of the UK’s best poker talent with £500k given away in total prize money throughout the tour. It has been extremely well supported and followed by the live stream at www.thenutz.tv/live.”

Lets Finish in Style!
John Gardner wins Leg 6 of the British Masters Poker Tour! view results

Never has a headline had more meaning. John Gardner was down to the felt when the Main Event of the final leg of The British Masters Poker Tour from the Gala Harbourside Casino in Bristol came down to the final three.

Having been reduced to less than a big Blind with three players left, John had the foresight to pass on the Small Blind although he had less than the Big Blind left in chips. Richard “Ripper” Lewis, sounds like a heavyweight boxer, had a commanding chip lead followed by Chris Brice second in chips and John was down but not out, to coin a boxing term. Within 50 minutes it was all over when John had achieved the unthinkable and after taking out Chris and having an equal chip stack to Richard, within 4 hands it was all over.

The Heads Up key hand happened when the chips flew into the middle of the table with Richard on a flush and straight draw and John with top pair. Richard missed everything and John took down a monster pot leaving Richard with less than a big blind this time round. He managed to survive only 2 hands before John took down the Title, the Trophy and the final seat into the Sponsorship Play-off for the £10,000 package put up by Tour Sponsors, Coral.co.uk.

With 150 runners in the main Event producing a prize pool of £76,000 the final three had agreed a deal for the money but played on for the glory, the seat and the trophy. Richard took the sharp end and £20,000, Chris took £16,500 and the eventual bragging rights and £13,500 went to the winner John Gardner. A big mention has to go to Neil Blatchly who won this event last year and yet again made the final table, eventually departing in 8th place.

With all three events full and overflowing the term “Let’s Finish in Style” could not be more relevant. With the Festival capped at 120 the team at Gala Bristol worked tirelessly to make sure everyone who wanted to play in the final events of the Masters Tour got the opportunity to do so. The £200 on Friday attracted a field of 138, as mentioned the Main Event was expanded to accommodate 150 and the final £100 event with a cap of 100 players managed to accommodate all of the 16 alternates who had registered providing a total of 116 and a prize pool for the week-end from the three events at £115,200.

A great finish to a fantastic first year of the British Masters Poker Tour. Our Sponsors, Coral.co.uk, our hosts Gala Casinos but most of all the players who took part and made the Masters Tour everything that we had hoped. A big thank you to one and all...roll on 2010.

Steve Holden wins Leg 5 of the British Masters Poker Tour! view results

Online qualifier Steve Holden is the latest champion of the 2009 Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour, after winning the £500 NLHE Main Event in Liverpool.

The professional player from Erdington in Birmingham won a package to the event in a $10 satellite on Coral.co.uk and went on to beat a field of 73 that included previous event winners and some well known tour regulars, over two days at the Gala Leo Casino in Albert Dock.

Steve took a chip lead into the final table and never gave it up. He had over half the chips in play when the final three, which also included Mark James and Frank Kenny, did a deal. Steve took the title, £9,350 and the fifth seat in the season end play-off for the coveted £10,000 Coral.co.uk sponsorship in 2010 while Mark and Frank each won £8,000.

After his win Steve, who is a familiar face on the UK poker scene and a regular player in the online satellites, said he was “absolutely ecstatic”. He added: “I always try to satellite into events that I intend to play because with the credit crunch as it is, you have to look for value. I qualified for $10 into the $75 and managed to take home over £9k and more importantly a seat at the Champions’ final table where there is a £10,000 sponsorship package up for grabs.”

Turning pro in 2007, Steve first came to prominence by winning the Main Event of the Great British Poker Tour in Nottingham in May 2007. He won his seat after taking first place in the £200 side event the day before.

Coral.co.uk’s head of poker, Mark O’Donnell, said: “We’re delighted that Steve’s through to the Champions’ final table as he plays all of our events and is really well known on the tour. There was a good turnout and Gala Casino Liverpool put on a fantastic event. It’s a great venue and always proves popular with our players with its views overlooking the Albert Dock.”

Steve is full of confidence going into the final. He said: “I’d like to do a British grand slam and be the first player to take down events on Great British Poker Tour, the Coral British Masters Poker Tour, the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour and the Dusk Till Dawn Deepstack. With two already under my belt I’m halfway there!”

Chris Brammer Wins Leg 4 of The British Masters Tour. view results

Leg 4 of the British Masters Poker Tour will be remembered for a long time after as one of the best final tables seen this year! It came down to three players, Matt Perrins, Jonathon Butters and Chris Brammer. They had to use all of their individual poker skills for over two hours as the chip lead changed on numerous occasions. Eventually Matt got it all-in against Chris with his 10 10 against K J off held by Chris. The river sealed the deal when the jack hit the board to eliminate Matt in third spot for £5950.

This left Chris and Jonathan heads up and that lasted all of 10 minutes when all the chips went in the middle with Jonathan holding Queen ten of diamonds against the dominant hand of Chris holding Ace Queen of spades. The board came down K 2 K with two spades and when the four of spades popped up on the turn it was all over and Chris Brammer was crowned British Masters Poker Champion, Nottingham 2009. Along with £14,000, Chris secured his place in the play-off for the £10,000 sponsorship package put up by Tour Sponsors Coral.co.uk and the coveted winner’s Trophy. Jonathan had his disappointment softened by second prize of £9,000. All credit must go to all three players who provided an enthralling instalment of top class poker.

Next leg of the masters Tour is in Leos casino Liverpool from September 18th thru 20th . This superb venue promises to be another great week-end of entertaining Poker and we look forward to seeing all the regular faces and many more new ones on the banks of the Mersey in four weeks time.

Mark Trett Wins Leg 3 of The British Masters Tour. view results

Mark Trett has been crowned Teesside champion in the third event of the 2009 British Masters Poker Tour, after winning the £500 NLHE Main Event.

Mark, a 30-year-old recruitment consultant from Newcastle, beat 107 rivals to take the title, the first prize of £12,650 and a seat at the season final play-off for the coveted Coral.co.uk sponsorship deal in 2010.

Mark and local player Dom Mahoney dominated a final table that included tour regular Dave Maudlin and former European player of the year Ash Hussain. And, it was Mark and Dom that faced each other heads up in the early hours of Monday, July 27 when Dom’s flush draw didn’t hit and Mark’s paired jack was enough to take first place.

Playing for just 18 months, like Tom MacDonald (winner of the Leeds CBMPT), this was Mark’s biggest result to date. “It feels truly surreal”, said Mark immediately after the final hand.

“I remember asking the dealer (and praying) to put a brick on the river when Dom called my check raise all in, with his huge draw. The big cash is fantastic but I can’t explain what it means to me to actually have the trophy, and most of all the title. This achievement is immense and not lost on me. As I said, I’m truly honoured and humbled to be in this position.”

Mark added: “I thought the event was superb, honestly, fantastic. I love the fact you can pay a £500 entry fee and play for potentially a five-figure sum. On top of this you’re 10k deep with a one hour clock and superb blind structure. Usually you have to pay more (£1,000 +) for this type of structure. The dealers and staff were first class.”

It was Mark’s brother Craig that got him into poker in the first place and encouraged him to play, and now that support is being repaid. He said: “50% of my winnings go to my brother Craig. We’ve always done that. He’s kind of carried me a little during my first year in the game so I’m delighted to pay a little bit back. I’m also going to pay the wife off a little to help to stop her complaining about all the time and money I spend playing poker. I’m hoping to play the rest of the tour, and with the rest, I’m 100% going to Vegas next year.”

Coral.co.uk’s head of poker, Mark O’Donnell, said: “Mark took a big chip lead to the final table and never let it go. It was a great performance and in only his second live event, it’s a massive achievement. He’s a really nice guy and definitely another name to watch in the future.”

Mark O’Donnell added: “Once again, Gala Teesside has put on a top-drawer sell-out event. You can bank on the local’s putting up a good show and they didn’t disappoint, with over half the final table seats. So it’s on to Nottingham next; that should be another fine event.”

So what next for champion Trett? “The next event I will play will 100% be Notts £500 CBMPT,” said Mark. “I would love to take my poker as far as I can but I’ll keep my feet on the ground for the time being. I have a mortgage, wife and two beautiful children so for now my job is my main priority. That said, hopefully I’ll get to play the rest of this tour this year and see if I can do anything else. Like most recreational players I dream of being a pro. I’m confident I can take a big step forward over the next 12 months.”

See you all in Nottingham!!!!!

Tom MacDonald Wins Leg 2 of The British Masters Tour. view results

After a short Heads up dual with Jamie Sykes, Tom MacDonald came out on top to secure the trophy, £14.000 first prize and his seat in The Masters play-off for a £10,000 sponsorship package from the Tour sponsors Coral.co.uk. Jamie can be well satisfied with his runner up cheque for £10,000 after a great performance throughout the tournament and just being piped at the post by Tom. Jamie Coonan secured 3rd place and £7,000 for his efforts.

With a starting field of 94 runners generating a prize pool of £48,000 Tom battled his way through some big names at the Gala Casino, Westgate in Leeds. The Festival was well supported throughout with 77 runners in the £200 opening event on Friday. This was followed by a full to capacity final event in the £100 No Limit freeze out on the Sunday. Another McDonald, this time Andrew, took the honours in the £200 to win £4250. With 70 players and 9 alternates in the final event S Savage crossed the winning line in the £100 and took home £1780 after a five way split where the other four players took £1500 each.

Another great Festival with strong numbers for each of the three events. Gala Leeds put on a fine festival which should see the Tour return there in 2010. The British Masters Poker Tour now moves on to Gala Teeside in the North. With the event structure proving to be a winner there will be no change come Friday the 24th July when Leg three of the Tour moves into town.

See you all in Teeside.