Saturday 18 December 2010

Grading III Results



After six weeks of intense poker, Grading III: Journey to Oz finally came to a close at Midnight, Sunday, December 12. In total, 24 players (the Aussie Two-4) commenced the Grading, but when the smoke had cleared, only 12 had survived. Of those, 9 would be eligible for the Aussie Millions package after 3 had decided to venture along the Blue Brick Road, an added option that enabled players to vie for Blue Belt whilst playing stakes lower than the rest of the field.

A few days later, Neil Channing and his band of merry men gathered at Black Belt Poker HQ to analyse the stats, hand histories, and overall capabilities of the remaining participants. It took several hours to confirm the names of the first two winners, and they were Adam Stoneham and Sam Razavi, both of whom had emerged from the other side as big winners with profits of $10,382 and $6,952 respectively. Financially, Adam and Sam had won by a landslide, and all judges agreed that they would be great representatives of the brand and a formidable force on the live tournament scene.

The third spot was a little more difficult. After whittling the contenders down to four, the judges arrived at a stalemate and whilst each individual offered a valid reason as to why they warranted a trip to Australia, they were utlimately unable to set them apart. In the end, an alternative suggestion was proposed that would reward all four players for their efforts, without singling out anyone in particular.

At the expense of Black Belt Poker, it was decided that Joe Roberts, David Docherty, Oliver Schaffmann and Tom Drew would all be promoted to Blue Belt and receive a £5,000 UKIPT package, in which they would get to play every UKIPT Main Event of the current season, as well as receiving travel and accommodation expenses. In the process, they would be able to travel the Tour as a team, feeding off each other and offering encouragement when required. After four swift phone calls, the decision was made: Grading III had six winners with two Brown Belts going to Australia to play the Aussie Millions Main Event armed with a £10,000 package and four Blue Belts ambushing the UK circuit with £5,000 in buy-ins at their disposal.

A key element of the judging process is acknowledging and rewarding the efforts made by all participants, not just the winners. The Grading is undoubtedly a gruelling process in which players are asked to play ring-games of $0.50/1, and later $1/2, over a month and a half, and we pride ourselves on ensuring that all Graders, including those who didn't reach the finish line, are justly rewarded. In this instance, we felt it necessary to offer Belts that suited the individual, and their ability to maintain, and, in many cases, supplemented their promotion with a combination of Belt points, tournament buy-ins, extra training, or free Belt maintenance depending on the requirements of that person.

So, without further ado, here are the official results of Grading III: Journey to Oz. Congratulations to all players, especially Adam and Sam who will be representing Black Belt Poker in February in the Aussie Millions Main Event in Melbourne.

Brown Belts

Adam Stoneham
Sam Razavi

Blue Belts

Joe Roberts
Tom Drew
Oliver Schaffmann
Mike Carroll
David Docherty
Adam Unwin
Michael Morley
Vincent Diver

Green Belts

Shaz Roberts
Richard Dally
John Hayes
Paul Garnham

Purple Belts

Adam Saunders
Richard Hurst
Adam Carey
Brian Gallagher
Ollie Noonan
Stuart Longster
Richard Eatock
Gareth Alder
Liam Crawford
Graham Murray
Darius Demetriou

Grading III was a fun-filled, roller coaster affair, and hopefully a rewarding one for everyone involved. There were casualties along the way - including Adam Carey, whose partner gave birth to their firstborn - but it is testament to the process that all participants left with a feeling that their game had improved, and that they had learned valuable skills from attending Workshops, conversing with the Black Belt Poker sponsored pros, and engaging in sweat sessions with their fellow Graders. We'd like to thank everyone who embraced the process, and we very much look forward to you becoming a prominent member of the site.

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