Poker News: 27/05/09

This week’s latest poker news includes news on the winners at the GUKPT Newcastle, gambling and the current economic crisis and how poker is still in vogue in Tinsle Town. Read more below.

Tony Phillips Wins GUKPT – Newcastle
The GUKPT moved to Newcastle last weekend and it was Tony Phillips that took the spoils.  Dark clouds may have gathered over Newcastle in terms of Premiership football but the sun was shining on this popular event.  151 players made the trip to the north-east including a few very recognisable names. 

One of those names was Steve Jelinek.  Jelinek is a long serving UK poker pro’ who almost picked up another title, to add to his collection, here in Newcastle.  The eventual winner, Phillips, took on Jelinek during the heads up stage and it was a coin flip that decided the outcome.  Phillips pushed all-in while holding Ace-Jack.  Jelinek snap called with pocket Nines and the race was on!  Jelinek sank back into his seat when a Jack hit the flop to end, what was, the fastest GUKPT final table in history.

The full payouts from Newcastle were:

1st Tony Phillips £47,200
2nd Steve Jelinek £30,200
3rd Henning Granstad £20,400
4th Dave Clark £12,850
5th Peter Smithson £9,050
6th Laurence Houghton £7,550
7th Haitao (Colin) Wu £6,050
8th Mohamed Muse £4,550
9th Finn Stewart £3,000

Online Gambling still growing in the UK
While many industries are suffering from the recession, it appears that the UK gambling industry is standing firm against the economic crisis.  The UK Gambling Commission released some statistics from a new survey last week and the results made for encouraging reading.

Remote gambling has seen an increase of 3% in the last four years as more adults enjoy playing poker and other gambling activities whilst on the move.

Online gambling continues to be the most popular method of gambling at present.  8.2% of UK adults enjoy placing bets on the Internet, including online poker.

The survey also found that males, aged between 25 and 34, were the most active group of people when it came to gambling online.

Poker still in Fashion with Hollywood Stars
It seems that poker is still ‘cool’ with the A-list celebrities in Hollywood.  Boogie Nights star, Heather Graham, was recently spotted playing poker in a Las Vegas casino during a break in filming for her new movie called The Hangover.

Graham admitted; “We had a poker tournament and I did really well. I came in fourth. Poker is pretty vicious and dark. It brings out an ugly side of me that’s pretty competitive.”

Many celebrities have taken up poker as a hobby or second profession in the USA.  Regular movie star players include; Ben Affleck, Shannon Elizabeth, Tobey Maguire, Edward Norton and Jennifer Tilly.