Local poker players and national celebrities alike are practising hard for the arrival of the Great British Poker Tour in Nottingham on 9 May 2007.

The GBPT in association with Gala Casinos will take place 9–13 May at Gala Casino Nottingham, Maid Marian Way.

Local poker talent will be playing alongside a host of TV celebrities including Douglas Henshall from ITV1's Primeval, plus Chris Simmons (DC Mickey Webb) and Daniel Flynn (Super Int John Heaton) from The Bill.

The winner of the televised Main Event from 110 players is set to walk away with a tidy sum as well as a place in the GBPT Grand Final this Autumn. Eddie Gaines, the winner of the inaugural GBPT festival in Edinburgh in February, kept his cool to scoop £25,000 as well as securing his place into the Grand Final.

Colin Pearson, winner of the second GBPT festival in Teesside walked away with £20,000 plus a place in the final. Now the search is on for the best of Nottingham poker talent.

Following Nottingham, further festivals will run in Bournemouth and Leeds before culminating in the GBPT Grand Final in late October 2007. In addition to the title of Great British Poker Champion 2007, the Grand Final winner will also receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas in December 2007.

From early May, interested players can qualify for the following GBPT festival in Bournemouth (13th – 17th June) by playing online at www.galapoker.co.uk (Gala Casinos’ online poker website), or at selected Gala Casinos throughout Great Britain. For further information about the GBPT, please visit www.gbpokertour.com

Neil Howells, Manager of Gala Casino Nottingham said, “We are very excited to be staging the Great British Poker Tour. We have some of the best of British poker talent in the Nottingham area and the GBPT is a fantastic opportunity for all players to prove themselves. We’re rooting for a local poker ace to go all the way, win the Grand Final and be crowned Great British Poker Champion 2007!”