James Akenhead - Poker Player Profile

Akenhead, a British poker pro, has just two World Series of Poker (WSOP) cashes to his name, both of which came after deep runs on poker’s biggest stage. Akenhead finished as the runner-up to Grant Hinkle in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament during the 2008 WSOP for $520,000. He also took 39^th in a £1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event as part of the WSOP Europe festivities in London that year for just over £3,000. Akenhead is a former railroad conductor who now competes on the green felts for a living.

Akenhead is a regular on the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour and finished fourth in the 888.com U.K. Open in 2008 after winning two preliminary heats. Akenhead is one of Britain’s top players, coming from a long line of pros from the country including David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Roland de Wolfe, John Gale, and Liv Boeree. In July of 2007, Akenhead made his mark on U.S. soil by winning a $1,000 buy-in tournament during the Bellagio Cup for $41,000. He’s since cashed in tournaments around the world, including the United States, Bahamas, Germany, Ireland, and France.

Akenhead is a Full Tilt Poker pro, joining fellow member and seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Ivey at the final table of the 2009 Main Event. Also reaching the feature table of the tournament are two sponsored Full Tilt Poker players, Steven Begleiter and Eric Buchman. Ivey, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, and Gus Hansen, among others, headline team Full Tilt. The site’s slogan encourages poker hopefuls to “play with the pros” and is the second largest room worldwide in terms of cash game traffic. Its acceptance of U.S. players and fully-downloadable Mac client have made the online poker site an industry staple.

Akenhead is one of two non-U.S. players at the 2009 Main Event final table, joining Frenchman Antoine Saout. He’s just 26 years-old and is the tournament’s short stack. He’ll likely have the support of poker’s established pros during the finale, who are looking to buck an ongoing trend of amateurs winning in the Main Event.

Together with Praz Bansi, Chaz Chattha, Sunny Chattha, and Karl Mahrenholz, Akenhead is a member of the Hit Squad. After Akenhead reached the final table to become a member of the newest November Nine, Chattha commented on the Hit Sqaud’s website, “All going out to celebrate now, gonna be crazy.” In an interview that appeared on Bluff Europe’s website, rumors of profit sharing among the Hit Squad were addressed: “We help each other now and again, but we’re not a business; we’re just a group of friends that travels together and supports each other. You always want someone on the rail cheering for you and they’re always there.”

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Useful poker terms:

SPLIT [THE POT] - To split the pot between two or more players. Related term: QUARTER.
BET - To put money into the pot, pursuant to the rules of the game, thus maintaining a chance of winning the pot.
TO GO - The current betting level, as in "$20 to go" meaning every player must contribute $20 (total) or drop. A $10 raise would then make the pot "$30 to go".
TRIPS - Three of a kind. In Hold'em the term SET is used when two of the three cards are hole cards.
ON TILT - Playing worse (usually, more aggressively) than usual because a player has become emotionally upset.
BLACK - When referring to chips, black usually stands for $100 casino chips. "This guy sits down with a stack of blacks and raises the first bet." Not ALL casinos use black for $100 but that is the common usage.

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