The New Star of Poker in the UK

James Akenhead is suddenly one of the most well-known poker players in the world. Why? Because he is part of the “November 9” and will be fighting it out for the main event World Series of Poker title as the sole UK player left in the poker tournament.

He battled as a short stack for much of the final day, but now sits alongside Phil Ivey as a part of the final table of the main event. He is guaranteed $1.2 million and alongside the many endorsement contracts he will be able to take advantage of building up to the final table, he should be set for life financially. James has also just signed up with Full Tilt Poker which is a massive achievement for him and a major endorsement that he has arrived in the poker world.

Before he was a poker player, James was ranked as a 20 year old in the top 25 of the UK professional 9 ball pool rankings. He was also a train driver. Within Pool circles he was always thought of as a tough player to beat, but switched over to poker when he realised earnings were potentially much more lucrative than Pool could ever offer. It was a good decision.

After domestic success winning around £25,000 at a big event in Newcastle, James flew to the 2008 WSOP and bought into one of the first events with a buy-in of $1,500. After carving up the field and the final table he went heads up for the bracelet. He took a vicious beat to deny him the win and eventually settled for second place and around $500,000 in prize money. He was touted as a future champion, with comparisons to Stu Ungar made by more than one fellow professional, which is massive praise indeed as Ungar is known as one of the greatest tournament players of all time.

After his big win, his profile increased and he was picked out as a potential UK player to watch heading into this years WSOP. How right they were! James beat out all-comers and clinched a place in the November 9 after a rollercoaster run in the main event. He is the short stack heading into the final table with just over $6 million in chips. He will need to work them very quickly to get into contention; the chip leader has $58 million!

James is joined in the final nine by Phil Ivey, known as the “Tiger Woods of Poker”. Jeff Schulman also takes his seat, showing that professionals can do well in this event as the final table has for the past few years been inhabited mainly by amateurs. This helps the skill versus luck debate that rages about poker, there are a lot of very good players at this final table.

Barry Carter of Pokernews writes that James’s appearance at the final table will be great for Poker in the UK. I agree. Barry believes that as the short stack the UK poker public will get behind him as the underdog with true British vigour. James is a normal, easy going guy by all accounts and a member of the new Hendon mob type group of young poker players, the Hit Squad. He is the perfect pin up for British poker and we hope that he beats the odds as he has done so many times before and takes the title. It will be awesome for James, and awesome for poker in the UK. If James wins the reaction in the UK may be similar to when Chris Moneymaker won in 2003, the general public will see the route to riches within poker and it will reignite poker as a genuine opportunity. We all hope James has a great final table and we will be railing him all the way to the bracelet!

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Tags: november 9, Phil ivey, poker, poker player, poker tournament, world series of poker, wsop