It's rare that salivating poker enthusiasts and hordes of scantily clad models share the same air without a pole in the vicinity, but this past weekend, that unlikely encounter marked the fifth outing for Poker in the Park, the world's largest poker festival and hotspot for curvaceous beauties.
With Leicester Square undergoing a makeover and off limits, Hanover Square in the heart of Monopoly's most wallet-emptying property provided the temporary abode, with Starbucks picking up the unwitting toilet duties from Burger King and ensuring that purchases from the bar found a legal and non-grassy home.
As always, attendees were treated to an array of activities, such as tuition, freerolls, heads-up, chess and mahjong, whilst a festival stage formed the centrepiece with live music, card magic and the highly-crowd-pleasing Indian poker. Meanwhile, the lecture tent returned once more, housing talks from several Black Belt Poker pros including Nik Persaud, Neil Channing, Sam Razavi and the artist formerly known as 'Mr. G-Bucks', Kevin Williams.
On the Sunday afternoon, comedian Lucy Porter joined forces with Bluff Europe editor-in-chief Michael Caselli to host the 2011 British Poker Awards, a celebration of "the players who have done us so proud on the world stage", as well the bloggers, social media users and poker leagues that "have kept us entertained through a challenging year in poker."
At the start of the year, our Black Belts conferred over Mission Trophy Cabinet, agreeing that Sam Razavi would take over brick and mortar duties (see UKIPT Cork, May '11), whilst messieurs Ashby and Channing sacrificed podium-topping to take home silverware from PITP V. They achieved that goal with two illustrious titles: Best Mixed Game Player and Best Blogger.
"Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who voted for me," commented Channing humbly. "I have written the blog for seven years now and, generally, I love to write it - I'm just glad people still want to read it. I haven't won anything for ages, so it's nice to get something for the trophy cabinet."
Also leaving with hand-luggage were Sam Trickett, Chris Moorman, JP Kelly, Vicky Coren, Jake Cody, and Kara Scott, as well as the collective forces behind Two Plus Two and Champion Poker League. Meanwhile, Jason Mercier opted not to travel across the Atlantic to accept his award for Best International Player, whilst John Duthie pipped Neil for 'Best Contribution to Poker', despite the latter continual donations to opponent's pockets.
Over the two days, Black Belt Poker had a strong presence, both in and out of the limelight, as many community members made the jaunt to show their support and taste the delights on offer. Showered with seven nominations, it wasn't quite the clean sweep we were optimistically searching for, but the two titles were warmly received and with Neil's Irish Open trophy looking a bit worn, certainly gives us something else to buff on a rainy Sunday.
Our appreciation goes out to everyone who cast their vote Black Belt Poker's way; we look forward to thanking you in person at the inaugural Nottingham Live…
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