Ex-Footballer Wins GUKPT Grand Final

Normally it is Teddy Sheringham that captures the headlines in Poker as the ambassador of the football playing fraternity. But another excellent poker player with a very successful football background, Tony Cascarino, often falls below the radar and has a history of excellent performances in poker. This week gone he enjoyed his best result so far in his poker career, with a £168,800 cash prize for being the winner of the Grosvenor UK Poker Grand Final Main Event. He beat some of the biggest names in poker for the prize, validating him as one of the finest poker tournament players in Britain.

What makes the win even sweeter for Cascarino is that he made the final table last year and this win takes him to the top of the GUKPT All Time Money List. This marks yet another poker tournament where someone who came close in 2008 has returned to win the event in 2009. You cannot really call Tony the “Ex-footballer Tony Cascarino” anymore despite his 88 caps for Ireland, he should be given his proper respect as “top professional poker player Tony Cascarino”.

The Grand Final was played in The Vic in London, where 183 players contested for the £168,800 first prize. Cascarino beat players like Bambos Xanthos, a regular player at the cash game tables in the Vic who finished 6th and claimed a prize of £27,400. The official final table results and prize money were as follows.

1st – Tony Cascarino – £168,800
2nd – Antoine Arnault – £107,100
3rd – Philip Patrick – £71,400
4th – Daniel Millar – £43,900
5th – Albert Iversen – £32,900
6th – Charalambos (Bambos) Xanthos – £27,400
7th – Romano Pizzo – £22,000
8th – Mike Hill – £16,500
9th – Stuart Rutter – £11,000

Cascarino was divorced earlier this year and expressed his relief at not having to share any of his winnings with his ex-wife. In December 2008 things turned ugly when he was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his ex-wife and assaulting her. Cascarino hopes that his win marks a turning point for him after the public divorce he endured earlier this year.

Other colourful characters had a good run at the final table. Daniel Millar, £43,900 richer after finishing in 4th place, is a full time online poker professional who specialises in poker tournaments. Daniel proved that online poker tournament players can do very well in live tournaments. This was his first major deep finish according to the Hendon Mob database and you can expect more from Daniel in the future as he is obviously a talent.

Special congratulations must go to second place finisher Antoine Arnault who is an amateur poker player from Paris who has a full time job as the Head of Communications for fashion house Louis Vuitton. This goes to show that many people from many backgrounds can do well if they have a bit of talent and put the hard work into playing good tournament poker. The money will probably not mean that much to Arnault. His father Bernard is listed as the 14th richest person in the world with an estimated worth of approximately $16 billion.

But the day belongs to Tony Cascarino. Many footballers learn their poker playing in card schools on the buses to away matches. Only a few of these players emerge as anything more than keen gamblers with a hole in their deep wallets. Cascarino was quoted saying “Getting respect from your peers and being acknowledged for being good at whatever you do with your life means a lot to me…I think I have proved myself now” He certainly has the respect of the poker playing community who know that he is a threat to win each and every poker tournament that he enters anywhere in the world.

By Malcolm Clarke

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