What a great five days. It"s been an absolute rollercoaster ride, and although I was there from start to finish (Well nearly, thanks Tighty
), it"s only when you properly catch up on the forum, that you absorb everything that went on.
There"s a number of big thank you"s that really should be made, so I"ll do those first.
Dusk Till DawnTo Nick for all his hard work behind the scenes (Hopefully none of the players will have even noticed anything going on, which is a sign of how hard Nick and his team worked).
To Simon for supporting the five days from the floor and some expert commentary throughout the five days.
To Rob Yong for allowing APAT back to his club and for an excellent final table commentary session.
Darren and Kevin, who I think TD"d most, if not all of the APAT events over the five days.
To Phil and Linda at the cash desk, who"s patience we tested on numerous occasions with some last minute seat exchanges.
To all the bar staff, valets and kitchen staff, who looked after us superbly.
And finally, to all of the dealers. Simply the best, and I know that every one of the players will have appreciated the difference it makes to have such quality dealers.
APATJames, Mayliss and Phil who keep APAT TV running over the events. They battle against all sorts of technical difficulties, but always do so in a professional manner.
Our additions to the updating team over the five days. Sian, Amanda and Ian, without you being able to answer so many of the chipcount queries etc, the content would never have been so good.
To Adam, Andrew T and James, excellent commentary.
To anyone who came over to give us additional bits of information (I exclude anyone who came over to give us a bad beat story
), it all adds to the updates, so thank you.
And a huge thank you to Rich and Des. It can get a bit hectic at times, but I think we managed not to fall out, and kept each other in check.
BETFAIRThese guys have offered so much added value to APAT this season, it"s difficult to know where to start.
Ahhh, the massage girls. Didn"t get a chance myself, but I know a lot of the players actually enjoyed a rubdown for once.
Congratulations to Paul Pitchford, who as player of the championships, is now off to the WSOPE courtesy of Betfair, and good luck to the 57 players battling it out for the other WSOPE seat on the 6th September.
A special mention to Joe, who did a lot of organising prior to the event, and to Matt, Martin and Louis who made it to Nottingham to support the event.
So, that just leaves......
The PlayersTo everyone of you that cashed, congratulations.
If you won a medal, we hope you enjoy showing it off. They do require daily polishing (It"s a full time job for Tony Trippier now
).
If you can now call yourself a "World Champion", then bask in the sunshine of success, you deserve it.
A special mention to Team Cymru. Although I tried to hide the fact, you guys know I was supporting you all of the way, and along with some other great results, it"s been a great five days for the Welsh.
That just leaves around 400 players who didn"t cash. But without your passion and enthusiasm to attend APAT events, it just wouldn"t work. We hope you all had a great WCOAP experience, and maybe Dublin, Luton or Coventry might be your time to receive that significant media exposure.
Until next time,
Leigh
