Let me first start by pointing out what a difficult task picking the England team has been for Rich, JP and myself.
We started off having 12 spots to fill over our 3 teams, and i think it is fair to say that non of us could have anticipated the hard thinking and too-ing and fro-ing that was to ensue.
We have had in excess of 40 applicants to represent their country and each and every one of them could have stepped in and filled a spot and done their country proud.
40 people. 12 spots.
I would like to thank JP and Rich, they have both been superb and fair in the way they have gone about their business, utter gents.
We have had many discussions, many debates about the whole matter, moving from one method of picking the teams to another, before we finally decided on what we were going to do.
This has been the most difficult thing i have done, and as JP said, many fine players and many good friends are going to be left disappointed at this moment in time, I apologise, and if we could have picked more people we would have, but now lets get on with backing those players picked and bringing the title back to England where it belongs
Now, enough of the preamble.
As captain of England "C" for the forth coming Home Internationals in November, it gives me great pleasure in annoucing the following players to represent their country.
Phil Tompkinson
Phil is somewhat of an APAT stalwart nowadays, and the first man to introduce me to APAT. Phil has played in alot of APAT events in recent years, including trips to Las Vegas, Spain, Estonia and Austria and has numerous cashes to his name, importantly including final tabling an APAT Omaha side event in 2009.
Phil currently acts as IT Guru for APAT, and I am sure everyone will agree is well deserving of his second England Cap.
Paul Davis
Paulie is another member who contributed massively to APAT, both on and off the felt.
Given the nickname Travel Guru, Paulie is always found on the forums, as is shown in his 4000+ posts.
Paulie is another person who attends as many APAT live events as he physically can, often found around the update table, sharing the goings on with the many forms of social media that he frequents!
He also has no little skill at the events we will be playing, claiming Omaha to be his besst form of poker, and we have all seen he is no mug at Hold "em too.
Matthew Ward
Matthew is obviously a player that I know well, but is also a familiar face to APAT regulars too.
He has travelled the world with APAT, attending events in Estonia (being the last Brit standing) Spain and Las Vegas as well as travelling all over the country to play domestically too.
Matty is known as The Stockton Rock, and it is a well earned reputation, and a playing style that I am convinced will bring the team points in the STT"s AND the MTT. I really wouldnt be surpirsed to see him near the top of the overall points scorers come the end.
James Barber
James makes a return to the England team after his appearance in the APAT World Championships last year.
As everyone knows, JB has been a fixture within APAT for a long time. The first time I met him was on the Estonia trip when he was assisting Tighty with the updates, and he has been seen many times since.
James is a very accomplished hold "em player, who has made a few deep runs in APAT's, and has an excellent SNG game, which is sure to bring us points. He is also a very good Omaha player, so ticks all the boxes on that side of things too.
I will be the other playing member in the team.
I really do feel that this combination of players and the skill sets they have will give England C a massive chance of medalling and indeed winning the Home Internationals.
