At 11am on Monday morning, the lights dimmed at Black Belt Poker HQ as an important meeting was held. After a gruelling four weeks of grinding six hours a day, five days a week, Judgment Day had arrived, and the remaining Graders were called to the docks for the final time.
Initially a 50-strong field, the Vegas Five-O was now the Vegas Three-1, but before the clock struck six, a decision had to be made, and one that would tackle the seemingly impossible task of whittling the survivors down to our final eight, the company’s first ever Brown Belts and the lucky players who in just over a fortnight’s time would be taking a $20,000 all inclusive package to the World Series of Poker as the Vegas 8.
Naturally, the decision-making process was more challenging than one could ever have imagined, and as the day grew long, it quickly emerged that there were more than eight worthy contenders battling it out for those top eight spots. However, after more heated debates than an entire series of Question Time, a decision was made, and we had our Vegas 8.
Later on in the day, the Vegas 8 were announced live on air on ‘The Poker Show – Live’, Neil Channing joining regular hosts Jesse May, Padraig Parkinson and Matt Broughton as they prepared to deliver the welcome news. Of course, just reading out the names wouldn’t suffice, and so, with 31 poker warriors braced by the phone, the team began dialling out the numbers of the lucky recipients. Some were alerted early doors, whilst others endured the sweat of their life, but either way, all eight were genuinely delighted to have made the cut.
And so, in alphabetical order, the Vegas 8 are…
Adam Latimer
David Tighe
James Keys
Jamie Roberts
Jerome Bradpiece
Kevin Allen
Richard Hawes
Sida Yuen
On behalf of Black Belt Poker, we’d like to congratulate the Vegas 8 on their achievement and wish them all the best when they fly out to Vegas on June 14. At the same time, we applaud all 31 Graders (16 Blue Belts; 7 Green) who completed what was a truly demanding Grading process and thank them for making the four weeks such an educational and fun-filled ride. Plans are currently being discussed for a future Grading, so for those who just missed out, and for anyone who wish they’d applied first time around, watch this space.