Inside Edge Contest Winner - Rebecca Jackson

Rebecca won a seat at the Caribbean Poker Classic™ held in beautiful St. Maarten, Dec 5-11, 2004 by entering a contest sponsored by Betfair.

Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I am 28 and I live in Nottingham. I work for a Health and Safety Product Manufacturer in the local area.

When did you start playing poker?
I have played a little in the past for fun, but only really started when I found out I had won a trip to the Caribbean Poker Classic.

What made you decide to play online?
It's convenient - you can play when ever the mood takes you, plus you don't have to worry about dressing up and putting your make up on. So you can sit there on a Sunday morning looking hideous and no one knows!

What is your favourite poker game?
Texas No Limit Hold'em

What is it about the game that you love so much?
It's much faster you can go from the bottom of the pile to the top in a couple of hands, which is really exciting. I like that you can never really say what will happen, with the best intentions you can play what you think is a great hand like pocket aces and then you can be beat by pocket 5's - you never know!

Describe the tournament in which you won your seat at the Caribbean Poker Classic.
I actually won a prize draw from Inside Edge to go. I didn't have to go through the hard work of qualifying.

Have you ever played in a land-based tournament before?
Until my first night in St Maarten, I had never played any live card game. The first night we were there I had a go on one of the sit and go cash games. I started with 150 dollars and came off with just under a 1000 - it was fantastic! I had some really great hands and bluffed some, too. I had no idea I was playing with some professional players. Still, taking their money was even more fun.

Did you do anything to stay sharp for the Caribbean Poker Classic?
I just played on the internet when I could and read over a few books.

Is winning a tournament luck or skill?
I think mainly it's luck, but you do need to be skillful, too. If you have the best hands all night, that's luck, but it's making the seemingly unplayable hands win that is where the skill comes in. I think to win a tournament you have to have good luck and be skillful and have great nerves. It's more fun playing live but it's also far more never racking. You don't have the luxury of hiding behind a 17" monitor!

Describe the highlight of your game play at the Caribbean Poker Classic.
The whole thing was great. But after about an hour or so I had gone a little short staked. I was dealt a pair of pocket Jacks and I really like Jacks - they are normally very lucky for me. So I got into some strong betting with a few others; the first three cards came 6 6 K. Then it came down to two of us. The next card was a King. I was a little worried he had a King but for some reason I always push it with Jacks. So I went in big, he called and the final card was a Jack, so I had a nice full house. We turned and he had a pair of aces. I went from only having about 8,000 left to having about 25,000.

It was such a fantastic time. I met so many really friendly and genuine people from around the world. The tournament was amazing; it was great fun playing live - a real buzz. It was nice to see one of the guys from Betfair win, John and his wife were both very nice people. The island is amazing, such a beautiful place, I can't think of anywhere better to play poker.

I would like to thank the people at Betfair and all the other people who made it possible for me to go. Everyone has been so helpful and put so much in to making it a really enjoyable trip.