Bexhill man wins poker title

A FORMER Bexhill resident swept to victory in a prestigious poker tournament recently.

Neil Blatchly, 26, beat amateur and professional players to win the Bristol leg of the Gala Casinos British Poker Tour (GCBPT) and landed the title of Bristol GCBPT champion.

Neil, who attended Bexhill High and Bexhill College, defeated IT salesman Marcus Farthing, from Bristol, to scoop the 34,750 prize.

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His parents and other members of his family still live in Bexhill, and

Neil is a frequent visitor.

He stayed in Leicester to work after completing his degree course.

Neil gets in plenty of practice by playing in a poker night with his friends every week. One of his fellow players there is Rupinder Bedi who won the Nottingham leg of the GCBPT in April.

"I took it up about three years ago," said Neil. "I started on the internet and play with friends. I do get very competitive about things and work hard at them, so it's nice to win.

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"I'm looking at buying my first house, so the money will go as a nice deposit towards that."

He will now go forward to the UK final in December, which will see the tour return to the Harbourside Casino in Bristol where he will compete with regional winners from across the country for the coveted GCBPT championship title.

Neil added: "I feel absolutely fantastic '“ tired but elated.

"For me, the prestige of winning the title and trophy is worth more than the money and I'm off to Las Vegas with my poker pals later this week to see if I can recreate my success across the pond."

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