Anthony (Tony) James ''"tikay"'' Kendall (born in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

) is an English professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player, based in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Biography

Anthony lost his mother at the age of four months, as she died from cancer. He was raised by the help of his aunts and uncles, as his father had 11 siblings. Tony had psychological and learning difficulties when growing up – as he could not read or write at the age of 15, but nowadays reads a book every week. Kendall worked as an apprentice building merchant, but was given a break by John Kirkland, who allowed him to set up a company. The company went on to make a turnover of £53,000,000 per annum, allowing Kendall to retire early and concentrate on poker.

Career

He shared his beginning on the poker circuit with Julian Thew and Ian Oldershaw. In 2003 Kendall finished

in the money In finance, moneyness is the relative position of the current price (or future price) of an underlying asset (e.g., a stock) with respect to the strike price of a derivative, most commonly a call option or a put option. Moneyness is firstly a thr ...

of three tournaments, scooping over $5,000. His highest finish was at the £100

pot limit 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. Different games are played using different types of bets, ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

event at the Napoleons Owlerton Casino,

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on 12 June 2003. He finished 5th out of 69 entries and 94 rebuys. 2004 was a busy year for Kendall, seeing him cash in ten tournaments. His highest finish and prize money was 2nd and $14,386, at the £150 pot limit

hold'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fac ...

Grosvenor Grand Challenge 2004 at the Grosvenor Casino,

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

on 23 January. The tournament saw 129 entrants and 315 rebuys. He earned $51,014 in prize money throughout the year, and began writing articles on The Hendon Mob and for Poker Europa. 2005 was an even busier year for Kendall, as he cashed in fifteen tournaments. Kendall cashed in events of both the

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

(WSOP) and the

European Poker Tour The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour (WPT), created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Tex ...

(EPT). Although entering both of these prestigious tournaments his highest earning tournament of that year (and his career to date), was at the SportingOdds.com London Poker Masters at the Gutshot Card Club, London on 1–2 October. Although he finished runner-up, he collected $27,895 in prize money. This was his highest earning yet to date, accumulating over $63,000. He was invited to Screen Test as a Presenter for Poker 425, & got the job, the show airing nightly for the rest of the year. He also became a contributor to Cardplayer Europe, continued to write for Poker Europa, started up www.blondepoker.com with Dave and Rhowena Colclough in January. Accepted an offer from Sporting Odds to become their Site Pro. He began presenting on the

Sky Poker Sky Betting & Gaming is a British-based gambling company, owned by Flutter Entertainment, with headquarters in Leeds, West Yorkshire and offices in Sheffield & Solihull. Sky Betting & Gaming consists of five core brands: Sky Bet, Sky Vegas, Sky ...

channel in October and was offered the role of Poker Consultant, which he accepted. He later screen-tested for an ''analysts'' role on the same show, where he was given the job as the Grandad of Sky Poker. He was hired by William Hill to help organise, host, and run their four Land-Based Qualifiers for the William Hill Grand Prix. Kendall became the chairman and one of the founders of the Amateur Poker Association & Tour (APAT)
/sup>. His career earnings exceed $370,000.

References

External links

BlondePoker profileBlog entriesCard Player profileHendon Mob profileWSOP profileTikay's DiaryRankingHero Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kendall, Tony 1947 births Poker players from London Living people Poker commentators