Last night i got a night away from the kids and headed off to Leeds to play in a Charity Poker game. The event #HoldEm4Charity was organised by Ladbrokes and brilliantly hosted in the Sky Lounge: the Chic hotel bar that offers a panoramic view of the city like no other!

The night pulled together around 30 bloggers from all over Yorkshire and tested our Texas Holdem poker knowledge and skills, all in the name of charity. Everyone in attendance had the chance to win the tournament and earn their charity of choice an incredible £500 donation.

Upon arrival we had the chance to grab a couple of glasses of the posh-stuff  in the lounge and get the awkward introductions over and done with, before slowly moving onto the Great Gatsby themed games room for the evening.

All the attendees really did go the extra mile with their outfit's as they looked phenomenal and breathtaking! As you can see from the image on the right the Fat Dad in Leeds and i favoured similar styles.

We jumped into practise rounds quickly and skilled those newbies up, learning through the school of hard knocks.



I would say the majority of bloggers hadn't dabbled in poker in the past, but i can honestly say that they held their own, pulling some ballsy bluffs and constantly earning some stellar hands. A shout-out to Rebecca who dealt some major blows during the first round and had the misfortune of having to sit next to me.

The first hour was a roller-coaster journey for me as i was knocked out early and had to rebuy-in. Since everyone was testing the water it was a fast, fun and furious game. We played for a good hour and a half before it was time for our first break and in that time many player like me had bounced back from noble defeats.


During the break we had the chance to top up with brilliant food, tasty wine and enjoyed some outstanding entertainment in the form a magician. Anybody that plays with fire is a legend in my eyes and Pete James really did wow the crowd with his insane mind boggling tricks.


During the break i got to mingle with some of the other bloggers, like Jennie who i hadn't yet caught-up with during the night. We probably broke the record for the most selfies taken in an hour, the poor house photographer was run ragged


After the break we got back to the action and the three table became two, the blinds were raised and the atmosphere changed as it now felt real to us that someone could be walking away with the grand prize.


People quickly fell-away as the hands became more intense and of higher value. I witnessed some incredible hands and i was very lucky to escape Lucy Loves killer pocket Aces by catching a straight on the River. Shortly after my lucky escape we headed onto the final table, a table of eight, all in good spirits all exchanging stories and friendly banters.


As the chip leader for the majority of the night i was able to hang on for dear life when i needed to and bully my way into the final two. On the final table i was going up against Bryony, the crowds gathered and we exchanged three good hands before we both called 'all in'.



Bryony won that hand leaving me with a depleted stack and licking my wounds i played my next hand blind, in which we both went all in again. Bryony won the hand again was crowned the champion of the evening.


As a gracious loser we caught up after and took a couple of photos. All in all i had a great night and met some fantastically funny folk who i hope i see again very soon.

If you want to see more photos of the night i emplor you to check-out the #HoldEm4Charity twitter feed:

Intense game on Table 2!! #HoldEm4Charity pic.twitter.com/JNQusSgkNo

— Yorkshire Dad (@TheYorkshireDad) March 19, 2016