London Virgin Poker Festival winner takes

 

London, 29th September, 2008 – Following the success of previous Virgin Poker Festivals in Nottingham, Birmingham and Newcastle, Virgin Poker held its fourth event at the renowned Loose Cannon in the City of London, on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September 2008. Over 180 poker enthusiasts took part in the two-day live poker tournament and battled it out for a share of a prize pool in excess of £25,000.

 

Having won a £120 Buy-in at www.virgingames.com, the main tournament saw 183 poker players compete in the Texas Hold’em No Limit Freezeout. Canadian and current London resident Niels Rock aka “Rock231” triumphed against Ollie Crawford aka “olliecrawf” and took home the £8000 first prize. Ollie Crawford from London was the worthy runner-up scooping the £5000 second prize.

 

Despite it being a low stakes event there were a few notable names who sat down next to the online qualifiers, with two time World Series bracelet winner Mel Judah and high stakes pro Brain ‘sbrugby’ Townsend both involved. Townsend, famous for playing $40,000 heads ups games online, showed that poker isn’t his only skill as he also recorded the fastest time of the weekend on Nintendo Wii Mario Kart challenge.

 

To add a Virgin twist to the tournament, players in the main event were given the chance to knock-out key opponents whose heads carried bounties of fantastic Virgin giveaways. For those not lucky enough to win a seat at the main tournament table – or those players who suffered an early exit – side events ran over the weekend giving everyone the opportunity to get involved and be in with the chance of winning 50,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Miles courtesy of Virgin. Practice tables offered ‘live play classes’ for less experienced players, while Wii bowling took place in search of a player worthy of the Wii bowling crown. 

 

Joe Legge, Poker Manager for Virgin Poker, said: “The London Poker Festival lived up to expectations following in the footsteps of the previous festivals in Nottingham, Birmingham and Newcastle. We’re looking forward to a re-run which is scheduled to take place in 2009…..watch this space!”

 

For details on the next Virgin Poker extravaganza visit www.virginpoker.com.


 

Main Event – Winners

 

Place

Prize

Winner

1st

£8000

Niels Rock

2nd

£5000

Ollie Crawford

3rd

£5000

Eugene Cummins

4th

£2100

Stuart Hopkin

5th

£1700

Robert Law

6th

£1300

Simon Kinnard

7th

£950

Graham Tomkinson

8th

£650

Steve Docherty

9th

£500

Dave Woods

10th

£400

Joe Reid

 

 

Player Bounties - Winners

 

Player

Bounty

Winner

Matt Broughton

Ollie Crawford

Hot Air Balloon Ride

Lucy Rokash

Ian Rockett

50,000 Virgin Flying Club Miles

Steve Docherty

Oliver Crawford

Rally Driving Day

 

 

About Virgin Games

Virgin Games a subsidiary of Virgin.com Ltd, launched in July 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct offerings, giving consumers the chance to play their favourite online games the Virgin way:

 

  • Virgin  Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros – as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
  • Virgin Bingo, part of the St Minver network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as featuring regular celebrity guests in the Virgin chatroom  
  • Virgin Casino, part of the Wagerworks network, brings consumers classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Elvis, MegaJackpots and The Wheel of Fortune