Blackpool in November is a bleak place to be - as the holiday season has long since gone - but  it received a boost when BlueSqPoker.com held the ninth leg of its Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) and brought some much needed money to the town.

Ten competitions were played out at the G Casino with large fields of players entering these events.  In the No Limit Hold’em Main Event, it was Scotsman Brian Clarke who emerged with the best form to win the event.

Clarke was the short stack out of the nine remaining players, as the final table poker action began.  The final table also included: Damian Evans, Zachary Ford, Darren Hickman, Andreas Hoivoid of Norway, Guy Johnson, Gareth Jones, Eddie Lundon and Alan Vinson.  These players were guaranteed to win at least £7,650 for making it to the final table.

As play began it was Andreas Hoivoid who had the edge in chips.  There was some cautious play at first which meant it took some time for the first player to be eliminated.  Damian Evans was the first casualty though, as he lost a lot of chips in the first big confrontation of the table, as Zachary Ford’s two pair did some serious damage to his chances.  Evans went to the rails shortly afterwards to finish in ninth place.

Afterwards Ford knocked out Guy Johnson with his pocket rockets.  The next player to go was Gareth Jones as he lost out to Alan Vinson.  Eddie Lundon finished in sixth place and Hoivoid eliminated Darren Hickman into fifth place.

Brian Clarke then worked his way up to move off his short stack position for a short while but a hand was all that was needed to turn things around and he again became the short stack after an encounter with Hoivoid.  However, Clarke kept in the game and eliminated Alan Vinson.

The field was now down to three with Hoivoid in first place, Zachary Ford in second and Clarke trailing back in third.

Clarke again turned things round as he doubled up in a hand against Hoivoid.  The Norwegian was then sent crashing out of the game by Ford.

Ford had the lead over Clarke as the two players began battling it out for victory, which was reversed on the opening hand of the heads-up.  Ford then caught Clarke up to make it very close. 

The Main Event was brought to a finish when Ford hit a king on the flop and an ace on the turn, but Clarke hit a queen on the river to clinch the title.

By winning the GUKPT Blackpool Main Event, Clarke’s reward was £96,500.  He also wins a seat at the GUKPT Champion of Champions event in Luton next month as do all the winners from the nine other poker competitions played in Blackpool.       

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