An incredible heat with great poker moves, outrageously lucky rivers and a set of gold owls that every poker player in the country is now coverting!

For the first two levels, the table was conservative with the players sizing each other up and the Irishman Marty Smyth edging ahead. Ian Woodley was the first main out and that took Phil ‘Braveheart’ Starr to the top of leaderboard. It soon became obvious that the real battle was going to be between Demetriou and Smyth; they engaged in several one on one’s with each trying to push the other out of it with similar hands – a real battle of bottles and bluff.

Pocket Rockets for Harry took a big chunk out of Starr’s stack and he fell from the top, but it was one incredible hand which kicked the game into touch. A three player show-down with Starr and Wong all in against Harry Demetriou. Harry’s pocket fives were behind after the flop with Starr making a pair of nines. But unbelievably a five on the river gave Harry trips and a double knockout of Starr and Wong. Kenna James commentating on the heat was sure that it was the luck of the owls, the mascots given to Harry by top pro Surinder Sunar who had given him the nickname ‘Wise Owl’ after his reading abilities, and promptly promised to get himself a set for his next tourney.

Lothar Landauer, the German pro, was the next man to go losing out to Marty Smyth, and that left it heads up between Harry, and his owls, and Marty. Smyth took the advantage with trips nines against Harry’s pair of Queens, but it was another river miracle that tipped the balance back. Marty’s JK ahead of Harry’s J5 all the way to the end, until that five popped up on the river again. When your luck’s in, your luck’s in, and the next hand Marty dominating with a AK against Harry’s AJ, knew what was coming! Two jacks in the middle gave Harry trips and the semi final spot.

Afterwards Harry paid homage to his owls, and the lucky five’s on the river, saying that they owed him from his WPT event when the shoe was on the other foot and twice he got beat by fives on the river to prevent him winning that event. It’s a funny old game, this poker!