A BORDON pub poker player is heading to the bright lights of Las Vegas this month in a bid to be crowned the UK Pub Poker Champion.

Now in its 12th year, Vegas100, organised by Redtooth Poker, is said to be the UK’s largest live pub-poker league, with more than 1,000 venues and 200,000 registered players.

Qualifiers for the Vegas100 event secure their place at live events around the UK. Redtooth Poker gives away more than £270,000 in prizes to pub-poker players throughout the year.

Attention now turns stateside as the 100 qualifiers and guests travel to America, on May 24, for a trip of a lifetime and the chance to win a slice of the £25,000 prize pool.

Included in the winner’s prize is a £5,000 sponsorship deal for the year ahead. One player will also receive the title of player of year during the visit to Las Vegas.

This year the Vegas100 players and guests will have the opportunity to take part in an additional tournament with more than $6,000 of prizes which includes a return trip to Las Vegas and a seat into a World Series of Poker event in 2019.

Bordon’s qualifier for the tournament is Jason Ayres (also known as Jason Toovey) of The Royal Oak pub in Liphook Road, Hollywater.

Martin Green, managing director of Redtooth Poker, said: “We are delighted to finally secure our 100 players for the trip to Las Vegas. All have done remarkably well to reach this stage, progressing through from their local pubs to numerous regional and national tournaments.

“These are the best pub-poker players in the UK so they fully deserve this once in a lifetime trip to America. This year we are celebrating 12 years of the Redtooth Poker league, and we continue to grow from strength to strength.”