UK Poker Player Boom - Britain takes on the world at WSOP

 

The America-centric universe of poker is quaking from a new surge in skilled British poker players led by Sam Holden, the 22-year old World Series of Poker final table contender.   Sam is from Brighton, UK and is about to challenge for the 'world cup of poker' in Las Vegas.  Just what has been behind the recent wave of new UK based poker players then?

During an interview Sam's relaxing poker game in a London, UK casino is halted briefly as a man comes over and hands him a wad of bank notes only to disappear just as mysteriously.   Sam explains that the man in question has just bought a piece of him, a percentage of his winnings should he win cash in the tournament.  This is not unusual in high rolling poker circles.

This was how ex-student Sam collected enough money to pay for his WSOP main event entrance fee of $10,000.  And even though he sold a total of 62% of himself to pay for his place in the competition, the UK based player has done Britain proud by beating off all but nine of the starting 6865 players to reach the final table.   That takes some stamina!

The WSOP takes place every year and is widely regarded as the ultimate prize in poker.   The final table players are known as the 'November Nine' as the tournament starts in July there is then a break until November once the final table places have been decided.

The WSOP main event uses the ever popular poker variant Texas Holdem and features as its top prize a fund of nearly $9m as well as a coveted WSOP gold bracelet.  The last player from the UK to win this prestigiuos tournament was Mansour Matloubi way back in 1990, it has always been dominated by American poker players.

Sam Holden, whose wacky hair and intelligent geekiness brings to mind Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, began his assault on the poker world as a fresh faced student studying for a degree in forensic science, where he would play low stakes games with his friends.

When he noticed he was regularly winning and had a sharp eye and talent for the numbers side of the game he started playing during the UK university holidays with a view to playing full time when his course was over, just for a year, to see how it went.  And he hasn't looked back since, having been a pro player for over four years.

The 2011 World Series of Poker main event was the first time he had entered the tournament and his progress has caused quite a stir in the poker establishment.  Sam says "It will be a large sporting event with a big crowd, I've got a good chance and if things go right I can win the bracelet".

The break from July to November has taken 108 days and on November 6th the famous November Nine will become the November Three who will fight it out for the title of WSOP champion two days later.

Sam Holden has said that he's spent all of his time out analysing the poker styles of the other players at the final table, watching videos and looking for patterns, tells and possible weaknesses in their game.

He confesses to being comparatively new to poker but he can see that he is only one of a large number of UK players who are making their presence felt in big tournaments around the world.

Sam goes on to say, "UK poker is doing amazingly well right now, over the last two years we've had incredible results in the largest tournaments in the world, in both live tournaments and on line. When you consider the UK population and the relatively small number of players, it's fantastic".

"Previously the US had a real hold over the whole market. It's their game, they're brought up playing poker at the kitchen table, whereas we don't really do that in Britain."

Because Sam Holden has sold 61% of himself in this tournament already he will keep 'only' £92,900 if he is the first player of the nine to be eliminated but will win £2,140,000 if he claims the main event trophy.

Liv Boeree is another UK player who has burst onto the scene in recent times.   The 28 year old model, TV presenter, pro poker player and first class astrophysics graduate sent shockwaves through the international game when she brought down a host of stellar names to capture the EPT (European Poker Tour) title in 2010, winning over £1m in prize money.

Despite her varied career, Liv insists that her future is in the poker world and she emanates pride for her fellow Britons.  "Poker used to be seen as an old person's game but these days your average player is young, probably a university graduate and the largest representation is from among the 18-30 age group".

"The UK has exploded onto the international poker scene. The boom started with the spread of online poker sites, and that's trickled down into the nation's subconscious. It was always popular in the US but now we're having our boom."

Liv attributes this success to poker become more acceptable and mainstream.

"Twenty years ago people maybe imagined poker being played in underground rooms or in casinos with big high rollers. This is not the case, it's so accessible now."

Liv is taken back by the suggestion that earning a living from poker is easy money, "It's a game of skill with an element of luck," she says.

Far from the glamour and showbiz of the big money tournaments there are a great many Brits who are making a small but steady amount of money from playing poker, mostly on the internet using online poker sites.

These players who just keep their head down and get on with the task of accumulating a living wage slowly but surely are known in the poker world as 'grinders'.   They don't go in for the big tournaments but they make enough to earn a living and class themselves as professional poker players.   They usually follow a strict set of rules for each set of cards they're dealt and each situation they find themselves in and by staying disciplined are able to make the correct decisions the vast majority of the time.  

One such player is 34 year old Ian Taylor from London, UK who plays online for about eight hours every day during the week.  He says "If you took all the professional poker players in the country, you'd find there are a lot more like me than the Liv Boerees and the big live tournament players that you've heard of.  I'm not a millionaire, I'm not super rich, I make a fairly decent living, probably better than in most other jobs, but it's a slow steady income rather than six-figure sums."

Alun Bowden who is editor of PokerPlayer has said that the current rise and rise of British poker on the world stage is due to what he calls a 'community spirit' amongst a new wave of UK poker players.

"Sharing of information and talking poker is one of the reasons UK poker has come on so much recently.  For every guy that breaks through with a big result there are 10 waiting in the wings with just as much talent and ability to win. These are guys who were 17 or 18 when the poker boom hit the UK and have played hundreds of thousands of hands online and are really, really good.

"Expect to see more Brits at the final tables in years to come."