The Victor Chandler Poker Cup (often abbreviated to The Victor Poker Cup or The VC Poker Cup) was a poker tournament

Poker tournament

A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table , and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables...

 held in 2004 and 2005 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 for broadcast on Sky Sports

Sky Sports

Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

.

The £5,000 buy-in event commenced in 2004 and is played out in a no limit

Betting (poker)

In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing...

 Texas hold 'em

Texas hold 'em

Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...

 format.

2004

The event was held from 23-24 July in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. 100 competitors took part, with the following making the final table.

The event is noted for featuring three of the four members of The Hendon Mob

The Hendon Mob

The Hendon Mob are a group of four professional poker players from London, England:* Joe Beevers* Barny Boatman* Ross Boatman* Ram VaswaniThe name of the group was first publicised by the Evening Standard newspaper in September 2000....

 at the same final table, together with John Kabbaj, who is considered their unofficial fifth member.

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Harry "Wise Owl" Demetriou Harry Demetriou Charidimos Demetriou is a British poker player.-World Series of Poker:Demetriou first became known in poker circles for his 3rd place finish at the $2,000 no limit Texas hold 'em tournament at the 2002 World Series of Poker won by Layne Flack...	£250,000
2nd	Ram "Crazy Horse" Vaswani Ram Vaswani Ram Vaswani is an English professional snooker player, turned professional poker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob...	£125,000
3rd	Paul Leckey	£50,000
4th	"Rocky" Ross Boatman Ross Boatman Ross Boatman is an English RADA-trained actor, professional poker player and a member of the poker-playing foursome known as The Hendon Mob.-Acting:...	£30,000
5th	Garry "The Whacker" Bush Garry Bush Garry "The Whacker" Bush is an English professional poker player based in London.Bush started off as a cash game player in North London, but turned to tournaments in the late 1990s...	£15,000
6th	Sean Murphy	£10,000
7th	Julian "The Kid" Gardner	£5,000
8th	Joe "The Elegance" Beevers Joe Beevers Joseph "Joe" Charles Beevers is an English professional poker player and a member of The Hendon Mob....	£5,000
9th	John "Large" Kabbaj John Kabbaj Jean-Michel Kabbaj is an English professional poker player, referred to by The Hendon Mob as their unofficial fifth member.-Before poker:Kabbaj quit school at the age of 16...	£5,000
10th	Rory McIntyre	£5,000

Other British players who played the event include Jac Arama

Jac Arama

Jac Arama is a professional poker player of mixed English/French descent...

, Bruce "Elvis Senior" Atkinson

Bruce Atkinson (poker player)

Robert Bruce "Elvis Senior" Atkinson is an English professional poker player and the President of the European Poker Players Hall of Fame.Atkinson started off playing seven card stud in the early 1980s, but moved to hold'em later....

, "Barmy" Barny Boatman

Barny Boatman

Barny M. P. Boatman , is an English professional poker player and the oldest member of the poker-playing foursome known as The Hendon Mob...

, Dave "El Blondie" Colclough

Dave Colclough

David E. Colclough is a Welsh professional poker player, now living in Thailand.-Before poker:Prior to becoming a poker professional, Colclough worked as a computer programmer. Amongst the companies he worked for were the Post Office and the National Health Service...

, Victoria Coren

Victoria Coren

Victoria Elizabeth Coren is a British writer, presenter and champion poker player. Coren writes weekly columns for The Observer and The Guardian newspapers and hosts the BBC Four television quiz show Only Connect....

, Zac Goldsmith

Zac Goldsmith

Frank Zacharias Robin "Zac" Goldsmith, MP is an English environmental journalist, entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for Richmond Park since winning the seat at the 2010 general election.Goldsmith is the middle child of the late financier Sir...

, Vinnie Jones

Vinnie Jones

Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is an English film actor and retired Welsh footballer.Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. As a member of the...

, John McCririck

John McCririck

John McCririck is an English television horse racing pundit. He is notable not only for his racing opinions but also for his old-fashioned style of dress and mannerisms...

, Grub Smith

Grub Smith

Michael 'Grub' Smith is an English television presenter and journalist for FHM and Poker Player magazines.-Early life:Born Michael Smith, he adopted the name Grub when at Downside School, effectively a promotion after being given the nickname Maggot by a master at his prep school.Grub Smith is a...

, Willie "The Dice Man" Tann

Willie Tann

Willie "The Dice Man" Tann is an English professional poker player.Tann was born in Singapore and came to England to study law in the 1960s.Tann has numerous nicknames on the poker circuit...

, Simon "Aces" Trumper

Simon Trumper

Simon Trumper is an English professional poker player from South Kensington, London, England. He is chiefly noted as the winner of Late Night Poker series 2 and runner-up of series 4...

, Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott

Dave Ulliott

David A. Ulliott , known by the nickname Devilfish, is an English professional gambler and poker player. Formerly, Ulliott was a minor figure in the Hull underworld, but went on to become a World Series of Poker bracelet-winner, and a mainstay of televised poker...

, Mickey "The Worm" Wernick

Mickey Wernick

Michael D. Wernick is an English retired bookmaker and professional poker player from Birmingham.Whilst growing up, Wernick was a keen amateur boxer and won the Midlands Area Amateur title. He has also met Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammed Ali.Wernick formed a poker club in 1970 with his father Solly...

 and "Mad" Marty Wilson

Marty Wilson

Marty Wilson is an English professional poker player from Wolverhampton. His nickname originates from when, as a teenager, he escaped several rival football fans by jumping into a polar bear pit....

.

Foreign players included "Gentleman" Liam Flood

Liam Flood

Liam Flood is an Irish bookmaker and professional poker player who is a former European poker champion.-Poker career:Flood began playing poker tournaments in the 1980s in Ireland. He won the Irish Poker Open in 1990 and 1996, becoming one of only four players to have won that tournament multiple...

, Noel Furlong

Noel Furlong

J. J. Furlong is an Irish businessman and recreational poker player who won the 1999 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:Furlong was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland...

, Tony G

Tony G

Antanas Guoga , more commonly known as Tony G, is a businessman and professional poker player. As a child, he was the Rubik's Cube champion of Lithuania before moving to Melbourne, Australia at the age of 11. He has played poker since the age of 18, and is known for his outlandish table talk and...

, Mel "Silver Fox" Judah

Mel Judah

Mel Judah is an Australian professional poker player, also known as "The Silver Fox" . He learned poker at the age of 14 by watching his father play 5-card draw....

, "The Flying Dutchman" Marcel Lüske

Marcel Lüske

Marcel Lüske is a Dutch professional poker player. He finished 10th in the 2004 WSOP main event and as of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,700,000 USD...

, "The Don" Donnacha O'Dea

Donnacha O'Dea

Donnacha "The Don" O'Dea is an Irish professional poker player. In his youth he was a swimmer, and represented Ireland in the 1968 Olympics. He was also the first Irish swimmer to swim 100m in less than one minute...

, Padraig Parkinson

Padraig Parkinson

Padraig Parkinson is an Irish professional poker player. He is chiefly recognised as the grand final winner of Late Night Poker series 5 and as the third-place finisher of the 1999 World Series of Poker, where he lost to fellow countryman Noel Furlong.Originally, Padraig refused to play in Late...

, Barry Shulman

Barry Shulman

Barry Shulman is an American poker player who has enjoyed success in competitive poker tournaments over the past 15 years, and is the CEO of CardPlayer Magazine.-Life and career:...

 and Charalambos "Bambos" Xanthos

Charalambos Xanthos

Charalambos "Bambos" Xanthos is a Greek Cypriot hotel and restaurant owner based in London, England. Following on from being a backgammon player, he became a semi-professional poker player in 1993.Xanthos learnt poker from his father in 1960....

.

2005

The event was held from 1-5 August in London. 96 competitors took part, with the final 12 competitors progressing to semi-finals.

Semi-Final 1

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Rolf Inge Kavik	advances to final
2nd	"Gentleman" Ben Roberts	advances to final
3rd	Xuyen "Bad Girl" Pham Xuyen Pham Xuyen "Bad Girl" Pham is an English professional poker player.Pham was introduced to poker by playing Texas hold 'em in her local casino in Luton....	advances to final
4th	John "Large" Kabbaj	£11,000
5th	Lee "Final Table" Nelson, M.D.	£9,000
6th	Stuart Fox Stuart Fox Stuart Fox is a professional poker player who started off playing online poker and has now become one of the United Kingdom's most recognized and successful tournament players.-Poker career:...	£7,000

Semi-Final 2

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Tony "The Lizard" Bloom Tony Bloom Anthony Grant "Tony" Bloom is a football club chairman and successful poker player.-Poker and betting:Bloom made a name for himself as a successful sports bettor and property investor...	advances to final
2nd	Jan Sjavik	advances to final
3rd	Kevin O'Leary	advances to final
4th	Thomas Gundersen	£11,000
5th	Robert Cooper	£9,000
6th	Richard Holmes	£7,000

Final

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Tony "The Lizard" Bloom	£200,000
2nd	Rolf Inge Kavik	£100,000
3rd	"Gentleman" Ben Roberts	£50,000
4th	Jan Sjavik	£35,000
5th	Kevin O'Leary	£25,000
6th	Xuyen "Bad Girl" Pham	£16,000