Qualification for the Virgin Poker Festival is in full swing, with Tony Sloan one of ten qualifiers set to take part at the next leg in Newcastle.Tony Sloan, a 34 year-old from Blythe, Newcastle, was one of ten players from a field of 190 this week to win a spot at the Virgin Poker Festival in April. The £105 buy-in tournament held at Aspers Casino on the 12th and 13th April, and so will be a tournament on home soil for the online qualifier.
Commenting in an interview with Bluff Europe Sloan spoke of how impressed he was with the standard of play during the qualifier. “It was different from a lot of other freerolls where everybody is going all in. It was a better class, with proper raises and nobody just going all in really early on. That’s why I enjoyed the Bluff freeroll. It was a much better style of play from everybody.”
He also admitted to getting a helping hand early in the tournament from Lady Luck. “I got a few good hands, and the flops were just coming at the beginning! In the first four or five hands I had pocket aces and Ace-King, and I was up to 3,000 quite quickly.”
The trip to Aspers won’t be the first for Tony, who enjoyed success there in his debut tournament at the Newcastle casino. Speaking about his ambitions for the Virgin Poker Festival itself, Sloan fired out an early warning to the field.
“To get to the last two tables in Newcastle, with a lot of people who play from the Virgin website as well, it would be outstanding. If I do get to the final two tables though, I think that’s where I’ll push on. I think when it gets near the end I can play really good poker. Later on, the better players won’t risk the tournament on middle pair, and they’re going to have to make some really good decisions.”
