Sleazy. Grim. Desperate. Card rooms can typically have a foul power about them that will get painstakingly exhausting, even to the seasoned professional. But on this explicit Friday night time, the poker site on the Grosvenor Birmingham Hill Street Casino was a spot of magic.
The stakes have been small, simply £40. But this recreation wasn’t about successful and earning money. Rather, it was an evening of celebration and remembrance.
“The G” performed host to a memorial event honoring Maxine Preston, a nightly event common who just lately handed after a battle with motor neuron illness (MND), higher recognized stateside as Lou Gehrig’s illness or ALS.
“Max,” as she was recognized on the desk, made the native on line casino her second house. Michelle Bricknell-Sheils, who organized the memorial event, can nonetheless recall the night time they first crossed paths about 12 years in the past.
“Max and I met at Hill Street,” Michelle recalled. “She was playing in a casino for the first time after making a pub poker final.”
“We acquired to chatting, I used to be there for the nightly. I instructed her she ought to come again, now that she realized it wasn’t as scary as she thought. She despatched me a drink over, I despatched one again, and we promised to satisfy outdoors the subsequent week. From that second on, we have been agency ingesting and poker mates.”
The two grew to become inseparable, touring throughout Europe to play poker collectively whereas knocking again a number of drinks within the course of.
“We took poker as a bit of a laugh and it was always a bonus if we cashed. We would always say, ‘Right! Less drinking next time and let’s try to concentrate.’ That never happened though.”
The memorial featured loads of reminders of Max’s infectious power. Some of her favourite sweets embellished every seat, and mates popped bubbly at almost each desk. There have been even free drinks for gamers who gained with Max’s favourite hand, Okay-Q, courtesy of a participant named Colin.
“I was pretty numb. It had been so emotional since she passed on Feb. 19,” Michelle admitted. “I just wanted it to go well and for the whole night to be about her.”
Given the buy-in and the truth that we have been elevating cash for MND consciousness, I made a decision to personify the true Max spirit. I wasn’t about to take this event severely.
10-6 suited from under-the-gun? It’s in there!
Hell, a few of Max’s mates on the desk had actually by no means performed poker earlier than, so I wished to contribute my good vibes to the get together. (However, that didn’t cease one of many regulars from performing an incredibly-obvious angle on one in every of them… in a memorial event!)
The turnout was bigger than anybody may have imagined, with the event attracting a stunning 137 entries. After buy-ins, add-ons, donations, and extra, the event raised £1,418, or simply underneath $2,000.
I used to be additionally fortunate sufficient to be seated subsequent to my girlfriend, CoinPoker’s Peggy Crawford, and we have been taking the night time off from our self-induced, month-long alcohol ban. (We’re getting our our bodies prepared for the Irish Open in spite of everything.)
Naturally, I rivered the nuts towards her with Okay-Q and was one of many first gamers to get a free drink. I had just lately flush-over-flushed her in a major occasion in Slovenia for piles, so for sure, I’m not on her good aspect in the mean time.
We have been nearly on the 18-player, £80 cash bubble when Michelle moved to my desk with about 15-20 huge blinds. She was going to cruise into the cash however, all of the sudden, the poker gods determined to begin having some enjoyable. The quick stack went all in and UTG+1 shoved excessive. Michelle regarded down at A
Okay.
“Normally, I’d have folded. I hadn’t invested any chips, and I used to be doing okay. But if I wished to win, I needed to take possibilities. I felt like a drama queen – I had A-Okay suited, however I actually didn’t wish to exit. I referred to as and shouted, ‘One time, Max!’ I used to be up towards A-J and J-10, so I used to be forward anyway. The flop got here down all spades. It felt like Max was there.”
Michelle would find yourself busting me in sixteenth place a short while later. As I left the desk, I couldn’t assist however really feel that one thing nearly divine was taking place within the on line casino that night time. But seeing because it was already 2 a.m., I wasn’t going to be there to see it.
I couldn’t simply money out, nevertheless. I took my £80 min-cash to a slot machine downstairs, anticipating to shortly give it again. After simply 4 £5 spins, I banged off a bonus recreation and hit a ridiculous jackpot for over £1,200.
I then took the rest to the roulette desk and put a fiver on 8, 13, and 22. Boom! I banged off a 13 and walked out of there with about £1,400 in my pocket.
As I left, I assumed to myself, “Michelle’s gonna win that tournament, huh?”
Sure sufficient, after I awoke the subsequent morning, Peggy confirmed me a photograph of Michelle with the trophy in a single hand and a photograph of Max within the different. It’s some of the poetic issues I’ve ever seen in my poker profession.
.
As it seems, Max had Michelle’s again the complete approach. With three gamers left in a blind-on-blind spot, Michelle cracked pocket aces with A-6 offsuit (a 6.5% likelihood!) She ended up making a four-card diamond flush on the river, which left her almost even in chips with Herui Liu.
Liu, in a gracious present of sophistication, supplied a chop to offer Michelle each the win and the trophy.
“He said, ‘I told myself if her and I get heads-up, no matter what the chips are, I will offer her the win and chop the cash.’ He said his mom had also died, and that completely broke me,” Michelle recalled.
Though the £970 was removed from her largest money, it was the sweetest victory she’ll ever expertise.
“As soon as I realized that I’d won, the tears came. Because I genuinely didn’t think for one second that I was going to. I laughed and thought, ‘Max would have absolutely loved this.’ She was one of my biggest supporters in poker and in life.”
Michelle and her household are hoping that this can grow to be a yearly celebration of Max’s unforgettable spirit, which had nothing sleazy, grim, or determined about it.
“I hope people remember how short life actually is and enjoy it while they can, as we all forget and get bogged down with day-to-day things,” Michelle mentioned. “The tournament represented what a great community the poker world really is and how we all come together when needed.”
I, for one, can not wait to return to Birmingham in 2026 for the second-annual Maxine Preston Memorial Tournament.
Blaise Bourgeois a WSOP Circuit ring winner, poker journalist, and contributing columnist for Card Player. Find him on Twitter/X @BlaiseBourgeois.
