People cried salt tears when X-Factor drew to a close; they twiddled their thumbs when the final whistle was blown on the World Cup; and they sighed begrudgingly when the November Nine was no more. All good things must come to an end, and so it was with great chagrin that we entered into our final Leg of League VII, an epic eight-week encounter which saw a total of 192 poker fanatics do battle across the virtual felt in a bid to capture the game's most illustrious prize: a Black Belt Poker League title.
In the end, only one man could enter the Christmas period with that prestigious honour, and that man was Tom 'Werrrrd' Drew. A Grader and long-time community member, Tom dominated proceedings from as early as Leg 2, only conceding the top spot temporarily to Blue Belt Kevin Williams on Week 5. Heading into the final Leg, however, Tom boasted a commanding lead, and only a slip-up, along with a strong showing from the rest of the pack, would potentially see the sands of victory seep through the palms of his hands. Of course, Tom remained vigilant, and pulled out a 20th place finish to vanquish any doubt.
Despite Tom's destined triumph, there was still plenty to play for in Leg 8 as Black Belt Poker completed a hattrick of Academy bonuses thanks to Steve Rigby, who had kindly vacated his ticket in order to deliver one lucky punter an early Christmas present. After fending off 62 other fierce competitors (a credible turnout to say the least), it was Mark 'SebastianKat' Cooper who snapped up the added value, as well as the $100.81 first prize.
1st SebastianKat -- $100.81
2nd S0lution -- $69.30
3rd SurrealKiller -- $42.52
4th Brewski1 -- $31.50
5th ZoeRiZZ0 -- $23.62
6th insider66666 -- $18.90
7th cikarang5 -- $15.75
8th russellhansen -- $12.60
As a result of his fourth place finish, Dean 'Brewski1' Brewer snuck into second in front of Simon 'ourkidsid' Hollick who finished 27th, whilst Kevish47 slipped down to fourth having only managed 44th. As 'Mr. Consistent' Lee '4kingdonktard' Neary held onto sixth place with considerable ease, we had a last-ditch entry into the 'prize zone', former Champion Mark 'russelhansen' Brassington creeping into 10th with yet another final table finish.
1st Werrrrd (640 points) -- Party Package & DeucesCracked Token
2nd Brewski1 (591 points) -- 1,000 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
3rd ourkidsid (571 points) -- 850 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
4th Kevish47 (552 points) -- 750 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
5th losbert40 (549 points) -- 600 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
6th 4kingdonktard (525 points) -- 500 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
7th RedKiteBlackBelt (516 points) -- 400 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
8th UsainZeus88 (512 points) -- 300 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
9th JHobbit1 (489 points) -- 200 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
10th russellhansen (483 points) -- 100 Belt Points & DeucesCracked Token
Of course, the 'one in, one out' rule applied, and the man to be stopped at the door and sent home for wearing trainers was Ian 'mbdnr235' Grieve, his disappointing 58th place finish on the final Leg meaning he, sadly, and as Anne Robinson would say, "goes home with nothing." But poker's a cruel game, and perhaps the lowest blow was in fact dealt to Alan 'tealcSVU' Steer who, despite a solid set of results, and a 17th place finish at the death, bubbled the top 10 just 13 points shy.
11th tealcSVU (17) -- 470 points
12th mbdnr235 (58) -- 469 points
=13th blackbeltninja -- 460 points
=13th rattersbrfc -- 460 points
15th 300300299 -- 446 points
16th 99Ranny -- 444 points
17th ACarey -- 438 points
18th UKPB -- 432 points
19th 5upern0vae -- 425 points
20th sceaga2 -- 424 points
As always, the Mulligan reared its head 60 minutes later, this deep-stacked bonanza offering League casualties the perfect opportunity to claw some of their losses back, whilst providing a competitive, well-structured tournament for them to get their teeth into. Sharpening his gnashers this week was reigning League Champion 'Mark 99Ranny' Ranson, a perhaps fitting victor for the final outing of the season.
1st 99Ranny -- $142.50
2nd bh0yw0nder -- $85.50
3rd mbdnr235 -- $57.00
Meanwhile, in the Donkament, it was a fairtytale performance from Patrick 'course00' Scott; he sought entry via a token, and spent zero on rebuys, meaning that victory came absolutely free.
1st course00 -- $31.75
2nd Werrrrd -- $19.05
3rd JHobbit1 -- $12.70
And so, on that Donkamenting note, we check out for another League venture, and bid you a fond farewell. But out parting is only short-term, as League VIII will soon be on the horizon, and the war of the felt will commence once more. Before then, we'd like to take the opportunity to thank all who took part, and in particular offer our congratulations to League VII Champion Tom 'Werrrrd' Drew. He'll be joining Neil Channing, Richard Ashby, and the rest of the Black Belt Poker sponsored team at the Black Belt Poker Christmas Party, as well as participating in a £1,500 SNG freeroll. Oh, and of course, he becomes the proud member of a very exclusive list…
League I: Adam Saunders
League II: Mark Brassington
League III: David Meunier
League IV: Andy Brisland
League V: Trevor Myers
League VI: Mark Ranson
League VII: Tom Drew
Merry Christmas all. Feel free to give us a spin during the festive period.
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