It is a question that will come up from time to time in countries around the world. Who are the best poker players in a particular nation? In the United Kingdom over the span of February, Sky Poker attempted to determine the answer to this question, at least on their own patch of turf.
During February, Sky Poker ran its “Play The Nation” promotion, which divided up the U. K. into ten different regions. Sky Poker used the postal codes of its customers to track their performance over a wide span of poker options – cash games, Sit and Go’s and multi-table tournaments – and awarded players in their particular regions points for their performance. As a reward to the players, Sky Poker offered special bonuses for battling it out for the bragging rights.
“When thinking of a way to embrace poker in the U. K., we had to think of a promotion that we thought the customers would enjoy but would also tell us something about the players themselves,” Sky Poker spokesman Dave Bland stated regarding the competition. “’Play the Nation’ gave us so many conversation points as well as chances for players to rally around their region and compare their skills. We’re delighted with how it turned out and we hope the winning regions enjoy their Cash for Points boosts.”
Once the final totals were rung up, the results were a bit surprising. The Southeast Region, which included the cities of Portsmouth and Dover, emerged as the overall champion. While they only earned a third place finish in cash games (good for eight points), the Southeast Region was the champion of Sit and Go’s and MTTs. For those first place finishes (each worth ten points), the Southeast Region earned 28 overall points to vastly outpace the competition.
Tying for second place in the U. K. were Northern Ireland and the city of London, which was its own region. Northern Ireland and London ran 1-2 on the cash game tables, but failed to keep their lead in the other two disciplines in the program. Northern Ireland was third in Sit and Go’s (eight points), but finished a disappointing ninth in MTTs (two points). London, for its part, was fourth in SNGs (seven points) and seventh in MTTs (four points). Once the points were tallied, both regions were distant second place finishers, earning 20 points each.
For every competition that has a winner, there has to be those at the bottom of the ladder. The Northeast Region, including the city of Sunderland, only managed to get six points during the month of competition. The Midlands Region, including the city of Liverpool, was in the ninth place spot with 12 points, one behind Wales.
Overall, it seems the Southern edge of the U. K. has the best poker players. The Southeast and Southwest Regions totaled 47 points, while the Northwest and Northeast Regions could only manage to garner 20 points. As far as the different nations under the Union Jack, Northern Ireland took the honors over Scotland (17 points, fifth place overall) and Wales (13 points, eighth).
Other competitions have pitted countrymen against each other, but those battles haven’t returned again. In late 2010, PokerStars ran individual Regional Championships modeled along its World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) format, with thirteen different regions of the world fighting it out. The promotion was highly successful but, following the aftermath of “Black Friday,” the individual Regional Championships format has not been revived.
Competitions such as this are part of the fun side of poker. Such a promotion done by country would give players a chance to battle for their particular region and make the statement that they are the best in their country. Who would be the best in a battle for Canada? Who would be the best in the United States? (Oh, wait…) Perhaps one of the online rooms – or Sky Poker for that matter – will step up with similar competitions for the rest of the world.
