Lam Trinh was crowned champion in the Nottingham leg of the 2010 Coral British Masters Poker tour.
Lam Trinh claimed the title of champion in the Nottingham leg of the 2010 Coral British Masters Poker tour last weekend (30/07 – 01/08) in a hard fought game ending with a thrilling final table and an epic heads up contest.
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While local hero Trinh bought in as an alternate, he not only made day two, he also took home a £11,580 prize and a seat at the end of season play-off* and will now have the chance to win an additional £10,000 sponsorship package for 2011.
In the main event, competition was fierce among the 61 players, which were made up of both locals and tour regulars whose quality of play was exceptional. Only 11 made it to day two including four of the 14 online qualifiers.
Lam played a great game against the seasoned field. Having started day two second in chips, he kept the pressure on the competition knocking out the first player of the day and experienced poker pro Ash Hussain.
After WPT magazine’s Duncan Wilkie got knocked out by eventual runner up and tour regular Tom Fielding, the leg was down to nine and the final table.
The final table started with cautious play all-round due to only seven of the nine remaining players being guaranteed to cash. It did not take long to heat up though as Lam started to take advantage of the cautious nature of his opponents.
Mark English was next to go, beaten by well-supported local favourite Aarun Bernard. Shortly after, Ramazanali Abbassi was knocked out on the bubble by Tom Fielding. The next hour and a half saw Lam Trinh and Tom Fielding carve up the table between them taking it in turns to eliminate Danny Hernon, Michael Moore, Julian Davies, David Maudlin and Aarun Bernard consecutively.
The scene was set for an epic heads up battle between Lam and Tom Fielding. Lam started ahead but the chips were passed back and forth. At one point he was down almost 5-1 with only 80,000 left. But his aggressive style and his confidence counted and after a series of double-ups he was right back in it. Trinh won in style when he trapped his opponent, snap calling an all-in on the river with his flopped full house (2’s full of 6’s).
Coral.co.uk’s assistant poker manager Philip Harper, who was present at the event said: “The coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour is known for attracting the best of the local players and Nottingham was no exception. Nottingham is the UK’s poker capital and it really showed in the quality of the play. There were some incredible moments in the main event and the feedback from the players was immensely positive. Lam’s style was very aggressive and combined with his confidence he was a true force at the tables, victory was only a matter of time.”
Harper added: “We do however have to congratulate Tom Fielding. This was his third final table and he was unlucky not to win here. He does have a strong lead in the cash winnings league though, which could secure a seat in the end-of-season play-off. The next leg is in Teesside on the 10 September. They have a huge local following and we have six weeks of online qualification so there is plenty of time to win your seat at www.coralpoker.co.uk.”
Next Stop: Teesside
The next leg of the 2010 CBMPT is in Teesside from the 10 – 12 September. The main event will start at 2pm on the 11 September.
The dates and venues for the 2010 CBMPT are:
· Bristol – Gala Harbourside Casino: 07 to 09 May
· Leeds – Gala Casino Leeds: 11 to 13 June
· Liverpool – Gala Leo Casino: 09 to 11 July
· Nottingham – Gala Casino, Maid Marion Way: 30 July to 01 August
· Stockton-on-Tees – Gala Casino Teesside: 10 to 12 September
· Edinburgh – Gala Maybury Casino: 29 to 31 October
Players can claim their seat at the Teesside event in the following ways:
1. Qualify online at Coral.co.uk
2. Live scheduled satellites in Gala Casinos across the country
3. Buy-in at the cash desk of any Gala Casino – information can be found here
Teesside CBMPT Schedule
· Friday, 10 September: £200+20 NLHE, 6pm start - one day
· Saturday, 11 September: £500+50 NLHE Main Event, 2pm start – two days
· Sunday, 12 September: £100+10 NLHE, 5pm start – one day