Event Three: Newcastle

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1st Samantha Grayson	2nd Sandra Constantinoy	3rd Nikki Short

 

The weather in Newcastle was a far cry from the gloomy conditions we experienced in London . The sun was shining and the hustle and bustle of a busy city centre provided a pre-tournament buzz.

 

The ideal settings were more than matched internally, Aspers Casino providing a warm welcoming feel. Newcomers may have been mistaken for thinking the card room had been custom decorated for the tour, with deep reds and pinks providing the perfect backdrop for the 68 ladies that made their way to the North East.

 

Players old and new took to their seats, and at approximately 3:30pm following a few welcoming words from Chris the Card Room Manager, the dealers were instructed to "shuffle up and deal".

 

With the exception of a couple of the tables, the opening hour or so was played in a style much akin to the first event at Stoke. Many of the players were approaching pots apprehensively so as not to put too many chips at risk.

 

From the seven starting tables there was one in particular that caught the eye. Amongst the competitors at Table 5 were Event Two Finalists Rachel Howard, Heena Sheth & Dulcie Thatcher, Event One Finalists Debbie Witcombe & Nikki Short, Event One runner-up Enid Musson and last but not least Event One winner Susan Adams!!

 

It was at this very table that we witnessed the first casualty of the day. With no pre-flop raise the flop offered K...5...2. Somkhuan ‘Tiger’ Harwood lead out and was called by Nikki Short to her immediate left. The 3 on the turn resulted in an all-in bet from ‘Tiger’ which was quickly called by Nikki who turned over pocket deuces for trips leaving ‘Tiger’ drawing to any A or 6 to complete a straight with her K 4. The river revealed an 8 to eliminate Somkhuan from the tournament.

 

Following the first elimination of the event, the players appeared to relax somewhat, and the play slowly but surely became more and more aggressive. An all-in move from London ’s 3rd place finisher Heena Sheth was quickly called by Rosie Montgomery. Rosie’s pocket A’s held up comfortably against the pocket ‘ladies’ of Heena leaving her to make her exit and commence plans for the Reading event.

 

There are occasionally tournaments when you just know that no matter what you do, it is just not going to be your day. The ‘Poker Gods’ were certainly not smiling for Wendy Rees! Having already had pocket K’s busted by trip 9’s, and her own set of J’s losing out to a straight, she threw in her last few chips with J 8 to be called by her opponent’s K 9. Wendy’s hopes were momentarily kept alive when she made her straight, only for them to be dashed as her opponent made the bigger straight!

 

At approximately 5:40pm the 57 remaining ladies broke for a buffet lunch. Amongst the chip leaders at this stage were Debbie Witcombe (20.3K), Cherie Joy (17.45K), Nikki Short (17.25K), Elizabeth Costa (13.55K) and Kim Jagger (13.45K).

We are not entirely sure what the buffet consisted of, but whatever it was lead to some ultra-aggressive play on their return to the tables. In the hour following the break a total of 18 players made their exits from the tournament.

 

Lynne Beaumont was playing a strong game, steadily increasing her stack, but not without her fair share of luck! Holding A T she moved all-in on a flop of 3…4…A and was called by the A 4 of Elizabeth Costa. The turn and river produced running Q’s and a 21,500 pot was pushed in Lynne’s direction.

 

There are periods in tournaments where players don’t mind being dealt poor cards so as to avoid running into trouble. Rachel Costa must have wished she’d been dealt 7 2 in the consecutive hands that contributed to her elimination. With Samantha Grayson having pushed all-in, Rachel looked down at her cards to see J J and made the call for approximately 20,000 chips. Samantha revealed A A and Rachel was in terrible shape. The flop unbelievably ran out J…6…A with a K…7 turn and river. Rachel’s very next hand was A K, so an all-in move was as good as mandatory. Cherie Joy was her opponent and this time it was Rachel’s turn to be in the dominating position pre-flop up against Cherie’s A 8. All that changed very quickly as the board ran out 9…8…6…8…7 to stun Rachel and eliminate her from the event.

 

Bubble Trouble…

 

Stoke runner-up Enid Musson pushed in her short stack with A 9 from the small blind and was called by Danielle Allen who revealed A Q. A board of J…T…6…A…7 offered no help to Enid and her designs on making two final tables within the space of three events were dashed.

 

Final Table Chip Counts:

 

Seat	Name	Chips in Play
1	Samantha Grayson	35,500
2	Kim Jagger	34,000
3	Lynne Beaumont	89,000
4	Sandra Constatiaou	47,000
5	Sui Cheung	27,000
6	Nikki Short	31,000
7	Cherie Joy	32,000
8	Danielle Allen	66,500
9	Claire McGregor	33,000
10	Ratsamee Mayall	15,500

Nikki Short, who has now successfully reached two Final Tables alongside Danielle Allen is the first player to make a move. Her pocket 7’s are called by chip leader Lynne Beaumont’s A T and they are on their backs. The board comes 4 6 6 7 6 completing a full house for Nikki to double her up to approximately 62K. Lynne on the other hand has seen a good chunk of her stack being pushed away from her.

 

Moments later the short-stacked Ratsamee Mayall pushes with Q 7 and Kim Jagger makes the call with Q J. The flop runs out 6 J 5 offering no help whatsoever to Ratsamee. The T on the turn however opens the flush draw, but the J on the river is the nail in her coffin and she walks away with a £200 prize.

 

More all-in action, this time from Sui Cheung and again Lynne Beaumont makes the call. Sui’s A is in great shape, but Lynne has two live cards with 5 2 and anything can happen! The flop is 7 K 2 and another 5 or 2 is required by Lynne. The turn is the 8 and the river the 4 to double up Sui.

 

Lynne is called into action again minutes later when she calls another all-in bet with pocket K’s against the J Q of Sandra Constantinoy. The flop of 2 Q Q is a crushing blow to Lynne who now prays for one of the two remaining K’s. The 4 6 offers no assistance and Lynne, who had a commanding chip lead at the start of this final has seen that stack deteriorate to approximately 40K.

 

To rub salt into Lynne’s wounds, she watches as Nikki Short eliminates Claire Macgregor with pocket K’s. Claire’s A T fails to improve on a board of 7 3 3 7 9 and it’s off to the rail with £230 in her back pocket.

 

The Dreaded Cowboys…

 

Lynne Beaumont has played out of her skin today, showing real class and nerves of steel. Having taken a few hits to her stack over the course of this final, she now pushes all-in with pocket T’s and is immediately called by Sandra’s pocket K’s!! Lynne’s tournament is now on the line as the flop is flipped to reveal 2 J J . The 7 6 on the turn and river end what must have been a painful half hour or so of poker.

 

Danielle Allen is the next to go in 7th place as she attempts to double up through Sui Cheung with pocket 9’s. Unfortunately for Danielle, Sui turns over pocket T’s which develops into a full house, T’s full of 5’s by the river.

 

With blinds now at 6,000 / 12,000 Sui Cheung pushes in her remaining few chips with K 9 . Sandra Constantinoy has little choice but to call and shows Q T. Sui's hopes of survival are dashed as the board runs out A 7 2 T A .

 

All-In or Fold…

 

With the exception of the few players that have held a deep stack, it has so far been one of those final tables where the move is either all-in or pass. This time it’s Kim Jagger making her move, as she pushes with pocket 9’s. Cherie Joy reluctantly calls for her remaining chips and turns over 5 6 off suit. The flop of T J 8 offers little help for Cherie, but the 6 on the turn provides a glimmer of hope. The Q on the river however, completes a straight for Kim leaving Cherie to tell her story to her boyfriend, who has been supporting her from the rail from the very first hand of the day.

 

For the majority of this final table, Sandra Constantinoy has never had much more than the average chips at the table. She has survived several all-in moves and as she pushes in again, she needs her A K to hold up against the K J of Samantha Grayson. Sandra does more than just survive, as the board runs out A A J 3 A for quads!!

 

Kim Jagger pushes her remaining 109,000 chips into the middle, and after a moments deliberation, Nikki Short calls flipping over 6 6 . Kim’s A 3 is in a little trouble, and her tournament is now on the line. The flop of 4 5 J gives Kim extra outs, as she can now hit any A or any 2 to take the lead. The K on the turn leaves just the river, which is slowly turned to reveal a 3 . Kim pairs her 3 but Nikki’s 6’s hold up and Kim Jagger takes home £620.

 

Within two hands Sandra Constantinoy turns her 62K chip stack into a 239K stack, both times through Nikki Short. With Sandra all-in with pocket 7’s, Nikki makes the call with K J but fails to improve. The very next hand it’s Nikki’s turn to make the all-in play with Q 6 . Looking down at pocket J’s Sandra makes the call. The flop comes 9 7 T with an A on the turn leaving Nikki drawing to only the Q or Q . The river is the K giving Sandra the flush for good measure and putting an end to Nikki’s Newcastle adventure.

 

It has been a demanding day of poker for these ladies, but we are finally down to the last two players. Samantha Grayson and Sandra Constantinoy have played very different styles of poker, and it will be interesting to see just how this final develops.

 

Several hands in and we have our first all-in situation. Samantha is in a great deal of trouble with her A T dominated against Sandra’s A Q . Astonishingly the board runs out 9 8 K 9 A to split the pot, both players making two pairs A’s & 9’s with a K kicker!

 

On the very next hand the ladies are at it again and this time Sandra is dominated! Samantha shows K Q and Sandra has to make do with K J as the flop is laid out to reveal 4 T 2 . The 4 leaves Sandra chasing more outs as a second pairing on the board will offer her another chopped pot. The 8 on the river is not one of the cards required leaving Sandra with a £1,560 payday.

 

We have our third Grand Finalist in Samantha Grayson!! Samantha will join Stoke Champion Susan Adams and London Champion Vicki McKay to make up three of the eight seats available.

 

Nikki Short and Danielle Allen have also climbed into 1st and 2nd places in the points leaderboard, both players having reached two final tables in the first three tournaments.

 

The bar was raised at The Western Club, but Aspers have more than matched the Londoners in terms of hospitality and event organisation. Chris the Card Room Manager was coolness personified and made all of our jobs so much easier on the big day.

 

The final word goes to Samantha, who has played outstanding poker and remained calm under pressure throughout what has been a long day of No Limit Hold’em. She is much deserving of her £2,630 payday and seat in December’s Grand Final.

 

Following another successful leg of the tour, we look forward to seeing you in Reading in three weeks time.

 

The Final Result:

 

Saturday 25 August	Position	Name	Prize
£100 Betfred Women's Poker Tour Entries: 68 Prize Pool: £7,800	1	Samantha Grayson	£2,630
	2	Sandra Constatiaou	£1,560
	3	Nikki Short	£780
	4	Kim Jagger	£620
	5	Cherie Joy	£550
	6	Sui Cheung	£470
	7	Danielle Allen	£390
	8	Lynne Beaumont	£310
	9	Claire McGregor	£230
	10	Ratsamee Mayall	£200