Gail Pirie and defending Betfred Ladies Poker Tour champion Lynne Beaumont claimed places in the Grand Final of this year's event when the last heat took place at London's Western Club.
Pirie, a tour regular from Sheffield, found herself in the last four with a trio of local players and saw them off one by one to secure the £2,630 first prize and a place in the final at the same venue on November 22.
Beaumont exited the game in fifth place but that was enough to give her the chance to defend her crown by virtue of topping the leaderboard for the most consistent non-winner, as she did in 2007.
The duo's qualification meant nine of the 10 seats in the final had been occupied with Michelle Bennett, Karen Dennett, Gina Short, Sue Adams, Emma Strutt, Anne Scambler and Linda Blundell already having confirmed their places.
The last seat will be filled on November 12 when an online satellite tournament is contested by the ladies ranked second to 10th on the leaderboard plus three others who competed in at least seven of the eight heats.
Runner-up on the leaderboard was Kim Jagger and she will be joined in the satellite by Elizabeth Costa, Hazel Birchnall, Rebecca Neilson, Carey Hollick, Carla Goddard, Angela Evis, Val Gray and Dawn Allen. Hayley Daffern, Somkhuan Harwood and Christine Evans are the three who played in enough heats to qualify for the satellite.
For Pirie, a pair of 10s clinched victory after Siggi Winters, her opponent in the heads-up, went all in with pocket 7s. Pirie held ace-10 and a 10 on the turn closed it out at 4.20am after almost 13 hours play.
"To have won a leg of the Betfred Ladies Poker Tour is fabulous, I can’t believe it," said Pirie, who works in an opticians’ shop. "I was lucky because early in the tournament I was low-stacked at around 2,000 chips but I managed to build it back up."
And there could be a double celebration in store when she contests the final, in which a £20,000 sponsorship package provided by Betfred will be up for grabs.
"I have a grandchild due to be born that day," explained Pirie. "It's unbelievable to have reached the final but I'm not thinking about that yet, I'm just so chuffed to have won a heat."
Final table finishing order in London:
1 Gail Pirie
2 Siggy Winters
3 Tina Abery
4 Annie Jones
5 Lynne Beaumont
6 Dawn Allen
7 Tina Bandyle
8 Tammy Monaghan
9 Somkhuan Harwood
10 Linda Hurry
by Jon Wilde 06/11/2008 BACK TO TOP ^ |
