June 2009 Archives

PLAYING poker makes your brain ache at the best of times.

You can really stretch the old grey matter if you are a number cruncher who looks at all the complex maths - including pot and implied odds - involved in either checking, raising or folding.

Yet some unversity boffin has now come up with a whole new world of problems by writing a paper on Quatum Poker - the way that the online game of the future could be played.

Don't ask me to explain this seriously complicated theory. I only just scrapped an O
Level in Maths at school and the only Quantum I've ever heard of was Quantum Leap, that fantasic US show about a time-travelling scientist.

But it's something to do with today's 'old' binary computers being replaced by superior Quantum computers in the future. If that happens then the online game could be changed beyond recognition, apparently.

Follow the link to read more - and leave a reply if you can explain it all to me in less than 80 words!

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227081.300-quantum-poker-are-the-chips-down-or-not.html

IT'S the hottest event in the Midlands' poker calendar - and my first tilt at a major live tournament.

The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, sponsored by Blue Square Poker, is holding its third Summer Series Festival of 2009 at Walsall's Grosvenor Casino from June 25 to 28.

Three quality tournies take place over fours days, featuring the cream of the region's talent as well as some of the best players in the country - and me!
Dates for your diary are:

• June 25/26 - The £200 (plus £20) No Limit Hold'em Freezeout. Dealing gets underway at 8pm on the first day, with each player receiving 6,000 chips;

• June 26/27 - The £300 (£30) NLH Freezeout. Again, it's shuffle up and deal time at 8pm on the first day with 7,000 starting chips;

• June 27/28 - The £500 (£50) NLH Main Event. First day begins at 6pm with players on a 10,000-chip deep stack.

Thanks to my friends at Blue Square, I'm trying my hand at the £200 NLH event.
I've won plenty of big MTTs online, including beating a 2,500-plus field. So it will be interesting to see how I measure up against the UK's best live players.

I'll be filing a live blog to keep you up to date with my progress, as well as regular Tweets on my Twitter account: tlarner

But the field is bound to be a tough one as the prestigious GUKPT continues to go from strength-to-strength.

Launched in 2007 the tour, run jointly by Blue Square Poker, brings the excitement of the big game experience to a casino near you, with nine main legs before a Grand Final in London in November.

The GUKPT previously called at Walsall in February when 301 entrants competed in the Main Event for a prize pool of £301,000. It was won by professional Sunny Chattha who collected a cool £88,150.

And this year Blue Square and Grosvenor are adding £150,000 to the total tour prize money. The pot for the Champion of Champion's event, which takes place in Luton from November 30 to December 6, has increased to £100,000, while the overall tour rankings will pay out £50,000.

For years Grosvenor Casinos have been the major provider of UK poker festivals, while Blue Square is the country's oldest online bookmaker, having opened for business in 1998.

Together they have created a series of events that allow passionate amateurs, like myself, to really test themselves against the best in a thrilling live environment.

And with exclusive online satellites running regularly at http://www.bluesq.com you don't have to spend a fortune to win a place at those final tables.
Roll on June 25...

• Satellites to the GUKPT run exclusively at http://www.bluesq.com
Every Wednesday and Sunday you can win $2,250 packages, plus expenses, for any Main Event or the Walsall Summer Series Festival, whereas on a Friday night you can win a seat-only package, worth £1,060, for any Main Event of your choice.

• For more information on the Summer Series or the GUKPT visit http://www.grosvenorukpokertour.com/