The Gutshot Poker Club, which opened its doors to the public on March 2004, was one of the most well-known poker clubs located in London. The Club which also housed a bar, restaurant and internet café grew to become the hot spot to be at for any poker player. The club played venue for poker ring games and tournaments and hosted four poker festivals per year. On top of this, in 2006 it even held the Showdown Poker Tour which was a £3,448 buy-in event.
Over time the venue not only saw many English professionals walk through its doors, but it also started to become a place where you could spot WSOP champions. Some of the big names included Phil Hellmuth Jr , Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem where just some of the regulars to visit Gutshot Poker Club when they were in London.
The club seemed to be unstoppable and it wasn’t until 2007 when it first struck trouble. Derek Kelly, Gutshot Poker Club owner was been prosecuted of contravening the Gaming Act. After almost 3 years of trading and having over 23 thousand members, its hosting of poker games without a gaming license meant big problems for the club.
As Derek Kelly prepared for his court hearing his lawyers started building his defence against the allegations. Their main line of attack was that poker games shouldn’t be treated in the same way as roulette or blackjack because it is more a game of skill rather than luck. Obviously, the owner fought the conviction as best as he could but ultimately after two failed court appeals this spelt the end for Gutshot Poker Club and it was forced to close its doors for good.
Although Gutshot Poker Club was required to shutdown, its online site called ‘Gutshot.com‘ which was started in 2001 managed to survive the closure. Part of the Cake Poker Network, Gutshot.com has built a reputation as being an online poker room that offers one of the best returns for it valued members. Run by players for players the online site is not just another poker room to play at, but also offers a forum, poker news, strategy articles and blogs within it site.
