Some of poker’s biggest names will have to wait another year to get their hands on the European Open title as the tournament heads to the semi-finals.

In Heat 8 we said goodbye to Ian Woodley and Luke Patten, Heat 9 saw the end to challenges from Andy Black and Anthony Hardy, Heat 10 was the end for defending champion Liam Flood while Ian Cox fell in Heat 11.

Perhaps the biggest story of the latest heats was the victory in Heat 9 for charity qualifier Dave Mattey, who won a heads-up with Norwegian sensation Annette Obrestad to reach the semi-finals. Annette goes into today’s Turbo Heat, while Mattey has promised to donate any winnings to charity.

Heat 8 threw up another surprise when late replacement Josh Tyler beat a field including Woodley, Patten and Tim Flanders to make the semi-finals.

Robin Keston won Heat 10 with Lascelle Barrow finishing second, while Roland De Wolfe beat Marc Goodwin to make the semis in Heat 11.

Today sees the final heat with Phil Hellmuth coming to town to take on Juha Helppi, John Magill, Roy Brindley, Paul Jackson and Darren Brown. In an action packed day the second Turbo Heat takes place after Heat 12, and the first semi final will be decided.

Celebrity qualifying heat:
1) Michael Le Vell (Coronation Street actor) – through to Heat 1, 2) Spoony (DJ), 3) Jack Marsden (Heatbeat actor), 4) Austin Healey (Rugby Union), 5) Wayne Mardle (Darts), 6) Brandon Block (DJ)

Heat 1
1) Craig Burgess – through to semi-final, 2) Dave Hancher – through to Turbo Heat, 3) Dave Gregory, 4) Achilleas Kallackis, 5) Simon Craig, 6) Michael Le Vell

Heat 2
1) Mike Ellis, 2) Ian Frazer, 3) John Exley, 4) Rob Cooper, 5) Graham Smith, 6) Nathan Lee

Heat 3
1) Andrew Feldman, 2) Ghassan El-Hoss, 3) Leon Loukaides, 4) David Smith, 5) Scott Fenton, 6) Andy Greekfish

Heat 4
1) Jeff Buffenbarger, 2) Barny Boatman, 3) Dave Garbacz, 4) Albert Sapiano, 5)Piers Shepperson, 6) Ryan Fronda

Heat 5
1) Nick Slade, 2) David Johnson, 3) Jonny Hewston 4) Andy Arnott, 5) Theo Dalton, 6) Christoph Haller

Heat 6
1) Dave Broadhurst, 2) Anthony Nicholl, 3) Jan Peter Jachtmann, 4) Simon Zach, 5) Darren Hickman, 6) Dale Hoy.

Turbo Heat 1
1) Ian Frazer, 2) Ghassan El-Hoss, 3) Anthony Nicholls, 4) Barny Boatman, 5) Dave Hancher, 6) David Johnson

Heat 7
1) Phil Curtis, 2) Dixie Dean – through to Turbo Heat 2, 3) Ben Grundy, 4) Surinder Sunar, 5) Michael McCool, 6) Neil Channing

Heat 8
1) Josh Tyler, 2) Tim Flanders, 3) Gary Paterson, 4) Luke Patten, 5) Ian Woodley, 6) Steve Holden.

Heat 9
1) Dave Mattey, 2) Annette Obrestad, 3) John Tabatabai, 4) Andy Black, 5) Roberto Romanello, 6) Anthony Hardy.

Heat 10
1) Robin Keston, 2) Lascelle Barrow, 3) Bronwyn Campbell, 4) Marty Smyth, 5) Barry Carter, 6) Liam Flood.

Heat 11
1) Roland De Wolfe, 2) Marc Goodwin, 3) Damon Ioannou, 4) Richard Ashby, 5) Albert Kenny, 6) Ian Cox.

Still to play:

Heat 12 – Thursday, February 7
Phil Hellmuth, John Magill, Juha Helppi, Paul Jackson, Roy Brindley, Darren Brown

Turbo Heat 2 – Thursday, February 7
Dixie Dean, Tim Flanders, Annette Obrestad, Lascelle Barrow, Marc Goodwin, Heat 12 runner-up.

Semi-final 1 – Thursday, February 7
Craig Burgess, Mike Ellis, Andrew Feldman, Jeff Buffenbarger, Nick Slade, Dave Broadhurst, Ian Frazer.

Semi-final 2 – Friday, February 8
Phil Curtis, Josh Tyler, Dave Mattey, Robin Keston, Roland De Wolfe, Heat 12 winner,

Turbo Heat 2 winner

Final – Friday, February 8