The first tournament of the Great British Poker Tour (GBPT) in association with Gala Casinos kicks off at the Gala Maybury Casino in Edinburgh on the 21 February and is expected to be a great opening night.

The tour, which will take in 6 cities across the UK, is being televised and will feature a £2,500 buy-in Grand Final for a significant prize pool.

Big names confirmed for Edinburgh so far include Joe Beevers, Ross Boatman, Barny Boatman, Surinder Sunar, Neil Channing, Arshad Hussein and Ewan Jones as well as snooker legends John Higgins and Mathew Stephens and local comedians Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan of Still Game on BBC 2 Scotland.

Furthermore, keen poker player Michelle Heaton from pop group Liberty X, will exclusively front the GBPT as ‘Queen Of Hearts’ with the aim of encouraging more women to take up the sport.

Michelle will be present at the Edinburgh event, playing alongside the public. Please find attached pictures of her recently celebrating her entry into the GBPT.

The number of entries to the tournament has been high, so players who want to take part should register soon on the GBPT website to avoid missing out.