After finishing second in January's event, the Black Belt Poker faithful returned to the APAT UK Team Championships this past weekend with the goal of climbing one more rung and bringing home the coveted team title.
'The British Cowboy' Jon Woodfield jumped into the saddle once more, captaining an eight-player team that included a trio of Orange Belts in Richard Hurst, Chris Osborne and Nick Mazur. They were joined by Alan Lake, Michelle Gascoine, and future husband-wife combo Adam Sharples and Julie Holness.
In the end, 184 runners ambushed the G Casino in Luton, thus creating a £9,200 prize pool. 50 percent would end up in the welcome hands of the top three teams, whilst the other half would be spread across the highest individual finishers.
Although Black Belt Poker boasted two players in the top 50, only one man made it to the money, Nick Mazur, and with the final table set, he lay in a respectable fourth place with 195,000. The then-leader was Rob Swindells of the Gambling Network Forum with 353,000.
Thankfully, Black Belt Poker's lone soldier enjoyed a fruitful start when he eliminated Phil Laws in ninth, Nick's aces holding against kings in an unavoidable cooler. A few spots later, and Nick found the bullets again, this time snipering down fourth-place finisher John Murray who'd moved all in from the button with 4-2.
After disposing of Karl McDonald in third (A-J improving versus T-T), Nick found himself heads-up for the title against final hurdle Ian Thompson of the APAT Forum. Armed with a substantial chip lead, Nick saw off his foe an hour later with 7-4 versus K-J, all in on the turn of a J-4-x-4 board. A harmless river and Nick was the Champion, earning himself £1,300 and giving Black Belt Poker back-to-back titles following Niall Farrell's triumphant performance in January.
As per that occasion, Black Belt Poker weren't quite able to compliment individual success with a team victory for the desired double. That honour instead went to Gambling Network Forum (who boasted two finalists) whilst The Hendon Mob came second. Team Black Belt didn't miss out entirely, however, as their pooled performance was enough to pick up third for a highly respectable £920, placing them above no less than 20 other teams.
"I'm glad I managed to secure some money for the team," beamed Champion Nick Mazur later than night. "I'm also very happy that the boss agreed to give me the morning off since I've just got in after a few beers and jaegerbombs with Jon!"
"The structure of these APAT games are superb," added Chris Osborne, "and there are loads of play in them if anyone is looking for live games to play."
So, all in all, a profitable journey for Team Black Belt, in particular Nick who left with some silverware in hand. Our thanks go out to Jon for organising the team, and the team members themselves for keeping Black Belt Poker on the podium.
Individual results:
1st Nick Mazur -- £1,300
2nd Ian Thompson -- £700
3rd Karl McDonald -- £450
4th John Murray -- £350
5th George Lawson -- £250
6th Gary Peniket -- £200
7th Rob Swindells -- £170
8th Peter Lawton -- £150
9th Phil Laws -- £130
Team results:
1st Gambling Network Forum (120 points) -- £2,300
2nd The Hendon Mob Forum (108 points) -- £1,380
3rd Black Belt Poker (105 points) -- £920
4th APAT Forum (101 points)
5th Hetton Social Poker League (98 points)
6th Blonde Poker (91 points)
7th A World Of Poker (89 points)
8th Live Pub Poker League (89 points)
9th Newcastle Poker Forum (89 points)
10th Punters Lounge (80 points)
11th Black Country Poker Club (44 points)
12th APAT Luton Club (41 points)
13th Lee Barrett Poker Nights (38 points)
14th Bristol Meetup (36 points)
15th Elite Amateur Poker League (35 points)
16th Eatmystack Forum (34 points)
17th Chorley Poker League (21 points)
18th London Poker Meetup (20 points)
19th Maple Dragon Poker Club (18 points)
20th APAT Champions (10 points)
21st FISO (8 points)
22nd Betfair Forum (0 points)
23rd iLovePlayingPoker (0 points)
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