Pre-Match Nerves
The players are now finally seated and ready for some hot poker action. All we need now is for the man with the power, who I believe is Mr. Roy Houghton, to blow that whistle and we'll be off.
At the moment, I feel as though I'm more tense than the players who seem to possess the patience of a millipede having a pedicure. The reason for this relaxed status, however, may be evident in the neighbouring picture, the likes of Roy Brindley, James Dempsey, Dan Carter and company all enjoying a bit of Dutch courage to settle any pre-match nerves.
I do spot the odd Pepsi on the table, so not everyone's jumped on the Booze Bus.
Dave Colclough & Gary Jones
After finaling in one of the £500 events earlier on in the week, and winning the next £500 freezeout the day after, Dave 'El Blondie' Colclough is keen to continue his terrific NPL run.
Pictured here with fellow veteran player and part-time commentator, Gary 'The Choirboy' Jones, Dave was in confident mood, relaxing (not boozing!) with the rest of the starters in the bar as they await commencement of today's Main Event.
"I haven't played too much since the World Series," commented Dave, "but I'm having a good time this week."
Only time will tell if his laid-back nature translates into another trophy accruing victory.
Preparing the TV Table
That's the ballpark figure on number of runners expected in this tournament. The usual mix of reserved seats ("No, I promise, Tony G is paying for me"), pre-registrations from TV Poker veterans and the odd satellite qualifier blended in the bar. Meanwhile the construction crew put the finishing touches on the hole-card-camera table, zooming up and down ladders like the guy in Donkey Kong as the sweet sound of power tools still fills the air.
More players registered:
Alexander Roumelitou
Izak Young
Patrik Selin
Mike Conway
Josh Gould
James Hart
Sunny Osman
Brian Prescott
Lee Watts
Richard Wheatley
Stefan Jedlika
Unfortunately, there is no sign of flying cards just yet, the slight delay that tends to accompany any televised event pushing our start time past the scheduled 4pm kick off.
However, players have indeed been spotted, as mentioned by Djinn in the aforementioned post, and they seem to be in fine fettle...
... apart from one Matt Dale who is quietly questioning his last minute decision to buy-in for this event as he nurtures a rather sore head. The phrases 'last night' and 'drunk as a newt' provided an explanation.
UK Open Logo
The bar in the atmospherically cavernous Loose Cannon Club in central London is now host to milling poker players, eager to start the day's £2,600 NPL Main Event. Among them, Dave Colclough, Tony G, Jennifer Tilly, Roy 'The Boy' Brindley and Peter Gould wait for the inevitably time-consuming process of constructing a TV Table to be finished and signal the tournament's start. When that's all done - it's time to play on HDTV...
Also spotted:
James 'Flushy' Dempsey
Maria 'Chili' Demetriou
Dan Carter
Matt Dale
Jason Ho
Jeff Buffenbarger
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