(For Warren’s first report, with some Devilfish mischief, see here)

The brilliant Late Night Poker tournament filmed in Cardiff, Wales, featured a strong line-up of top players and PartyPoker qualifiers who were impressed with the format – seven heats of seven players, with an eight-seat final. One was Annette Obrestad, the youngest-ever winner of a WSOP bracelet who also came second at last week’s European Poker Tour event in Dublin. Annette was a great person to meet and thoroughly nice for such a shark. But the Norwegian found herself at a table next to old Late Night Poker “villain” Kourosh, a man who is quite simply evil but brilliant for TV! He hadn’t got his buy-in when he arrived in Cardiff – something about it being left in the Mercedes rather than Porsche – but he eventually sorted it out and was at his villainous best.

Big pair: Kourosh and Annette Obrestad

Then there was a Late Night Poker debut for Jon Kalmar from Lancashire in the UK, who finished a sensational fifth in the WSOP Main Event this year, winning a cool $1.25 million. Jon had nothing before the event, but the ultimate fairytale saw him walking away from Vegas a rich man. Unfortunately, for me anyway, one of the online qualifiers at the WSOP had backed Kalmar at 250/1 with $100 to make the final table at PartyBets.com before the event. Cue me revealing myself as an idiot as I was involved in the odds! Fair play for putting up the $100, though, especially as Kalmar wasn’t even going to play in the Main Event until a last-minute satellite win!

Big WSOP winner: JonKalmar in action

One person I know extremely well is Londoner Roland de Wolfe, who was around for the week as he has developed into an excellent commentator. Roland and I crossed paths way before he was a World Poker Tour (Paris) and European Poker Tour (Dublin) multi-million-dollar winner and one of Europe’s hottest pros. He was originally a writer on a poker magazine, which prompted Phil Hellmuth to say when they first met at Premier League Poker: “I know where I recognise that guy – the last time I met him he was interviewing me!” Roland is now well and truly amongst the big boys, though, and his instinct in laying down hands in particular was applauded by everybody all week.

Later in the week we hit the town again following our earlier excursions with the Devilfish, Padraig Parkinson and Maud Mulder. This time it included me, the majority of our PartyPoker online qualifiers, some colleagues, Robert Williamson III, Roland and the Devilfish (again!). That night, much to the delight of most, Robert Williamson really thought he was a monkey (don’t ask, but it all started when the bar manager came out in a gorilla suit).

Monkey nuts?: Robert Williamson III

These guys who are used to the glitz and glamour of Vegas just go a bit wild in Wales! In typical poker player fashion it was time to play rock, paper, scissors for the bill – and I got down to the final two before my rock blunted Swedish pro Bo Sehlstedt’s scissors and he had to pay up. Phew! One person who would have found it particularly funny if I lost was Erik Andren from Stockholm, Sweden. This man is the PartyPoker King of Qualifying – he seems to win a seat everywhere we go! I would actually be surprised and concerned if he wasn’t at the next one. He’s like part of the family now, but I wish he would stop trying to buy me drinks – it is supposed to be the other way around!

Suffice to say all our qualifiers had a great time in Cardiff. To play in Late Night Poker is a prestigious opportunity and, because it was a small group, it made for a fantastic atmosphere all the time. There were a number of German qualifiers there and they spent a lot of time picking the brains of Premier League player, countryman and bracelet winner Eddy Scharf. What I will always remember about Eddy, though, is that he is an airline pilot and is not full-time on the poker scene despite all his success. Just imagine: “Hello, this is your captain speaking. I am going all in, I repeat, I am going all in.” It sounds like something Tony G would say.

Towards the end of the week another wildcard entered the tournament to play with the pros. Agnieszka Rylik is a top Polish TV presenter and all-round action girl. She does reports for primetime television in Poland on flying F16 jets and is also famous for being a boxing champion. She’s glamorous, solid and not the type to put up with being called “baby” by the Devilfish. By coincidence they were drawn at the same table but you will have to wait until you see it on TV as I’m not going to tell you what happened!

TV star: Agnieszka Rylik and Joe Beevers

The last day saw the celebrity heat which featured a variety of UK comedians and entertainers. All of them were good value, but only one of them was the last person in the Hilton bar on the last night of the tournament. Step forward Mr Howard Marks. We didn’t finish the tournament until 1am that night and it was time for goodbyes and see you soon.

*********************

So the PartyPoker Late Night Poker was another huge success. Keep an eye on our latest news and promotions at PartyPoker.com for the best chances to play in big events. Did you know, for example, that you could win a seat at the Latin American Poker Grand Final? No? Then click here for details of how to grab one of our $7,500 packages to the beach in Uruguay.

*********************

Share your poker news and views and leave a comment. Want to be a featured PartyPoker player on this blog? Send us some details at www.partypoker.com/blog, together with a pic, and we’ll take it from there.

Good luck at the tables!

I am just back from a week in Cardiff, Wales, where next year’s Late Night Poker was being filmed. Suffice to say the tournament is expected to be broadcast in January, so I will not be revealing any results. But having a lot of the world’s top poker pros in one place for seven days is bound not to pass without incident. Let’s just say it involved a fair bit of Dave “Devilfish” Ulliot – and singing…

PartyPoker has sponsored Late Night Poker for a number of years now, but this year it returned to the format of the original show in 1999 with 49 players, seven heats of seven players and an eight-seat final. What is interesting to lots, however, is what went on off the felt.

Swish: The Late Night Poker set in Cardiff

Everybody involved in the tournament stays at the Cardiff Hilton, so after games there is a communal atmosphere in the bar. On the first night I spent the majority of time with Irish poker legend Padraig Parkinson, who many don’t know was just one bluff away from becoming the first European winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event in the late 1990s. Padraig is always a good craic and this night was no exception. In the same bar was Wolverhampton Wanderers and former Republic of Ireland football manager Mick McCarthy, famous for his massive blow up with the legendary Roy Keane at the start of the 2002 World Cup.

As Padraig expressed over a pint of Stella, he was more of a Roy Keane man himself. But, despite attempts to get Padraig to say that to Mr McCarthy, the night was pretty uneventful. I copped abuse for drinking fruit juice but finally wilted and had a drink in the residents’ bar next door.

We were joined there by the Hendon Mob’s Barny Boatman, Joe Beevers and Ram Vaswani. Also there was Denmark’s PLO runner-up in this year’s World Series, Rene Mouritsen. Rene won over $500,000 for finishing 2nd on a final table that featured Doyle Brunson, Michael Mizrachi and Patrik Antonius. A good tip, then for the prestigious Late Night Poker title. With Rene was the delightful Maud Mulder, a lady who deserves a picture and needs some explanation.

In fine voice: Maud Mulder, right, with Paul Jackson

Earlier this year Maud beat off all the pros to win the first PartyPoker Dutch Open. But she was supposed to be an also ran, a celebrity who was merely bait for the sharks around her. Maud rose to fame by finishing second in the original Pop Idol series in Holland, is a pro hockey player, as well as being a legitimate pop star in her own right. She was put into the Dutch Open tournament as 100/1 outsider, but tore them apart and as a result got herself an invite to Late Night Poker.

Anyway, Maud is unaware of who is who in the poker world and this showed when Padraig informed her that he was a mere online qualifier, and WSOP bracelet winner Ram Vaswani, from England, said he played “a bit”. I felt a bit guilty and put her straight the next day, but sometimes it is fun to prod fun at these poker players, some of whom expect everybody to recognise them. I remember a conversation one night last week where two top pros were seriously questioning whether they were more likely to be recognised on a UK street than actor and comedian John Thomson, who played in the celebrity heat. John was a central cast member of one of the UK’s top television’s dramas (Cold Feet) for several years so I suggested to the poker pros that Thompson would be better known. But then the argument got on to international recognition. These poker players, eh?

One person who does tend to get recognised more than most is Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott – and, boy, do you know about it when people recognise him. I have been out with him before in Las Vegas and he is treated like a god, but in similar bars in London there is a little bit more of a recognition problem. If one European player is going to get recognised, however, it will be the Fish as we saw when he was greeted by the McCarthy’s Wolves team – who were there for a match against Cardiff City (which they won 3-2). Despite what some people say about the Fish, he is a good bloke and is great value on a night out as I was to find a couple of days into the tournament.

Strong bar performer: Dave “Devilfish” Ulliot, right

The Hilton is in the centre of Cardiff and we ended up at a very empty bar that was having a karaoke night next door. Within 60 seconds someone had put the Fish’s name down and we had Shall I Play Or Shall I Fold instead of The Clash’s classic Should I Stay Or Should I Go. He was dancing, thrusting and hogging the microphone as much as possible. He even did a duet with former Late Night Poker winner Simon Trumper – and Elvis was very much on the menu.

We even saw a different side to the Fish as he serenaded to Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight. This made me smile all night! I would never get on that stage, but who was to join us later that night? None other than our own Pop Idol star Maud Mulder! After buying her a few drinks she delivered a flawless version of Proud Mary by Credence Clearwater Revival as I teased the Fish about getting upstaged. The PartyPoker online qualifiers who were there on the night found it hilarious: but it is well known that the Fish is as an aggressive party general as he is a poker player. Fish is a bit like a pop star but that night he had to deal with a real one!

It’s in the cards: Flopshot from Late Night Poker

****************************

We’d love you to get involved in the PartyPoker Blog. Leave a comment or send us an email at www.partypoker.com/blog.
Play at PartyPoker? Fancy being profiled on the blog? Then tell us about yourself and you could be featured right here. We’re also looking for your great poker pics. Been snapped next to a top pro? Then send it in and we’ll put the best of them up on the blog.
Remember, this is your poker community. Enjoy!

****************************