A couple of days ago, we heard from Black Belt Poker League XI Champion Robert Bulman as he braced himself for a weekend in the East Midlands, but in the same League, three other players secured themselves a seat in the Nottingham Live. They were: Andy Butcher, Karl Briggs and Nick Hemming, all of whom will now be competing for a free London Live seat in a Nottingham Live last-longer.
The three amigos are a mixed bag, with various levels of experience, although the common trait shared between them is that this will be their first live Black Belt Poker event having missed out on the fun and frolics of a London Live. They’ve also never been to the highly acclaimed Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club, but are looking forward to the debut in equal measure: “My brother has played there a number of times and is really impressed with the venue,” reported Nick. “I’ve only ever heard good things about it, so can’t wait to experience it for myself.”
But the question remains: can these online warriors translate their cyber form (top four in the League after eight legs received a Nottingham Live seat) over to the green of the DTD baize? Can one of these players become Sheriff of Nottingham? The Nottingham Live is upon us, and it’s time to find out.
Snoopy: Tell us a little about your journey over the eight legs.
Andy Butcher: I think I finished fifth in the first leg, which is important as there are always more points for the bigger-field events. The second leg I bubbled in 21st, but I think this sent me to second overall and I knew from there that I had a chance. Leg 4 or 5 I had another fifth place finish and a big gap had opened up at the top of the table so I knew that if I avoided doing anything silly in the last three legs, I was in.
Going into the last leg, I was 28 points from fifth place and panicked when I was dealt A-A and someone pushed all in. At this point, only one player had been knocked out and I knew only two points would be a massive ‘sweat’. Nevertheless, I called his Q-Q, doubled up and finished in 15th place. It turned out that two points would have been enough anyway.
I was very pleased that ‘nickem1’ and ‘KBV1TALS’ made it through with me as they were really supportive during those last three legs.
Karl Briggs: I was over the moon to finish second in the League as I only joined Black Belt Poker recently this was my first attempt. I finished second in leg 1 which was a very good start, but it was hard work all the way and I felt that one mistake could be very costly. I think I finished in the top 20 in every leg apart from leg 6 or 7 when I went out early running K-K into A-A. I started the last leg in fourth so still had work to do. Thankfully, I managed to finish second in the last leg and second overall.
Nick Hemming: I was very pleased; this was my first full season of the Black Belt Poker League as I only signed up in July so really didn’t expect to do so well. It was a close run thing - although I was in the top four for most of the season, my seat was only secured when I final-tabled the final leg. I’d calculated where I needed to finish based on other people, so it was a very strange way to play the game.
Over the eight legs, I think my best finish was only sixth, but I achieved this twice as well as another final table in leg 8, so for me it was about gaining consistently high finishes rather than winning a leg.
Snoopy: What experience do you have at the live felt?
AB: I’ve played in a regular home game for four years now and I’m actually top of our annual league at present. I mainly play at the small poker clubs: The Full House, Big Slick, Royal Surrey, Fox Poker Club, etc.
I have won several times over the years, the biggest being a £10 rebuy (donkfest) at The Full house with 80 runners. It paid around £1,200 for first, and I beat Kirit Patel heads-up who is a very renowned local player. I once won the Celeb Poker League and they brought me into the Southend Poker Festival Main Event (£500 buy-in) £50,000 GTD and I came 12th out of 144 players, which just about covered the expenses.
KB: I've played live at my local casinos a few times but am still a bit of a novice really; got lots to learn. I played in Birmingham in the Superstack at the end of October and finished 30th. I was pleased with how I played and surprised how relaxed I was. I was happy to make it to Day 2 and I came second in a bounty tournament after finishing Day 1. I want to play live a lot more so Nottingham will be a great experience for me.
NH: After winning my seat in the League, I decided that it would be worthwhile to actually play a live tournament so I actually played a couple of weeks ago at a casino in Bristol. It was only a small game with about 70 runners but it was good to at least get an idea of what it will be like. The only live tournaments I’ve played in are ones in the local pub so my experience live is very limited, but everyone has to start somewhere
Snoopy: Will you be heading into the event with any set strategies?
AB: None whatsoever. Lets see what cards are dealt.
KB: My strategy will be to enjoy myself and learn a few lessons en route to the final table.
NH: Just my normal ‘online’ tourney strategy as that seems to be working so far; can’t reveal too much as I don’t want to give other players even more of edge over me than they already have. But seriously, as it’s a deep stack tourney, I will be looking to not doing anything stupid early, seeing a few flops, seeing what I can catch, and ideally start to accumulate some chips.
Snoopy: You get kings first hand and someone open-shoves all in. Do you call?
AB: Good question. If I know the player and think he is loose, then yes. If not, then I fold. I haven’t gone all that way to play one hand.
KB: It would be hard to fold but I'd think about it and maybe try to get a read. I can't see anyone shoving light on the first hand, so I think I would be able to find a fold. I intend to get all my big hands after I've had a little time to settle, so hopefully won't get such a tough decision so early :).
NH: No chance; would probably have to think long and hard even with aces [laughs]. I’ve worked hard to win my ticket so I want more than one hand. Now… if its second hand in, that’s a different story.
Snoopy: Do you think the London Live last-longer will affect your play at all?
AB: Not at all because I think the other three are all in Day1B so I will have no clue as to how well I am doing.
KB: The last-longer will be important as it's just the four of us but I don't think it'll affect how I play unless it came down to two of us and I had more chips. I'd probably tighten up and wait for the other guy to make a move before committing myself with anything but a monster.
NH: Not really, certainly not at the start anyway. It may be in the back of my mind if we get down to just two of us left, but hopefully it won’t have a major impact on my play.
Snoopy: Which Black Belt Poker pros are you looking forward to meeting?
AB: I have met them all except Richard Ashby, so maybe some of the 'guests' Mr. C invites might be good to meet.
KB: I'm looking forward to meeting everyone as there are some people I've played with for a long time but haven't met. Obviously Mr. Channing as he's one of the best ambassadors the game could wish for and it's great that he still finds time to help people like me - this does seem true of all the pros at Black Belt Poker though so I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone.
NH: Definitely Neil as he was the reason I signed up to Black Belt Poker in the first place. It would be great to meet all the Black Belt Poker pros and try to extract good pieces of advice off as many as I can.
Snoopy: In an ideal world, name three players who you would choose as the pro poker bounties?
AB: Devilfish, Hellmuth and Tony G. They would moan like hell when I take them out because I can’t spell Pokar.
KB: Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Liv Boeree. Again, good ambassadors for the game in my opinion.
NH: Phil Ivey, as he is probably the best poker player alive (sorry, Neil).
Phil Hellmuth. It would be brilliant to listen to him at the table and even better to knock him out with 7-2 off-suit and hear him moan.
‘Devilfish’. When I started following poker a very long time, Devilfish was one of the first players I saw on TV and I really took to him. He is still doing it now so I have a lot of respect for him
Snoopy: What are your overall goals for the Main Event?
AB: To enjoy myself and win the damn thing.
KB: Firstly, I'll be trying to make Day 2 and maybe winning the last-longer. As long as I play well and don't make mistakes, I'll be happy wherever I finish.
NH: To win it, of course, but I’ll be taking it one step, and one level at a time. I’d be content as long as I feel that I have done my best; if I get my chips in ahead then I will be happy with my play, and as I’ve booked a hotel for Saturday night, it would obviously be nice to have a reason to come back for Day 2.
You can follow the progress of our League winners and all other entrants in our live coverage. Check the site on the day for details.