Adelaide Hills Poker Press releases

Channel 44 to broadcast weekly final of Adelaide Hills Poker.

Birdwood, Adelaide Hills - March, 2014.

Adelaide’s community television broadcaster, Channel 44, has agreed to broadcast the Adelaide Hills Poker (AHP) weekly final.
The weekly final will be played each Friday night and will feature players who won AHP tournaments played during the week; the final will be filmed and broadcast on Monday night starting from April 14th.

“What the AHP is trying to achieve is to have all poker venues in the Adelaide Hills together in the one league; currently Mt Pleasant and Woodside are in one league, Birdwood is in another league, Murray Bridge another and Mount Barker in yet another!” says James Clifton (owner/manager of AHP), “The major problem with being in a league is that their Quarterly finals are played at large venues like those at Port Adelaide, Elizabeth or Noarlunga - there has never been a league final in the Adelaide Hills, the closest I have heard of was at Modbury North.”

The first final is to be played on Friday 21st March and that game is to be played with the best nine players from across the Hills region, this will be the Summer grand final. Currently the only tournament that is eligible is the Friday night game at the Blumberg hotel, Birdwood.
Starting that same week there will be several tournaments throughout the Hills, each winning player will be invited to the weekly final on Friday night. The previous weeks final winner will also be invited back.
All players that compete in a AHP tournament throughout Autumn will be eligible for the Autumn championship if they accumulate enough points, even if they didn’t manage to win any tournament during the season.

All AHP tournaments will be open to anyone whether a beginner or a seasoned player. There are no residential restrictions on any venue either, everyone is welcome. For beginners there will always be a tournament director on hand to teach the game and answer any, and all, questions a player may have. “There is always new players,” James explained, “I sit down with this person and teach them the basics for about thirty minutes and then they can make a choice on whether they wish to play or not. Most people play that night while others are not confident so they sit and watch the nights proceedings - and then they play the following week!”

AHP has plans to expand throughout the Adelaide Hills including Houghton across to Mannum and Mount Pleasant down to Mount Barker. Murray Bridge will also be targeted.

“I think this is a great opportunity for poker players in the Adelaide Hills to showcase their poker skill,” says James, “not many players can get to finals that are one or two hours drive away, but those who do usually place very well. Hills players have punched above their weight in finals and will continue to do so.”

Most venues have a $20 entry fee for the tournament and, under state law, all this is to be given back as prize money. This has made for some very large prizes in venues with many players.

Poker experienced a boom in 2009 with over half of pubs in the Adelaide Hills running a tournament; most with the backing of leagues but some running their own. During the boom it was not uncommon to find 40-80 players in a venue even in a small country town. This boom lasted for approximately 12-16 months and player numbers have dwindled since then. “Currently there are eight venues left in the Hills region that I know of,” says James, ”unfortunately two of those are considering their future because of low numbers.”

Information on the when and where of AHP tournaments can be found on their website www.adelaidehillspoker.com.au

Companies:
“Channel 44” (Bringing you the Community through TV) is Adelaide’s community television station.
“Adelaide Hills Poker” (AHP) runs poker tournaments throughout the Adelaide hills. Currently the only weekly game is at the Blumberg hotel, Birdwood each friday night but this will soon expand throughout the Adelaide Hills on all nights.

Contact:
James Clifton
Owner of Adelaide Hills Poker
www.facebook.com/AdelaideHillsPoker
www.adelaidehillspoker.com.au
cliftonbazaar@gmail.com
Birdwood, Adelaide Hills

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