Poker Why It's London's Biggest Deal ; Once the Preserve of the Hardened Gambler, Celebrities, Sportsmen, and Even Women Are Getting Out the Chips

Summary

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THE MAN sitting across the table from me is the former world champion, a man who has won more money playing poker than I will ever earn by the rather more mundane process of picking up a salary cheque every month. But with his dark beard, stetson and long hair, Chris Ferguson looks more like someone who has come straight from Dodge City, and in another time and another place I might have taken the precaution of making sure he had checked his guns at the door. The gaunt expression and dark, fathomless eyes all add to what poker players would call an intimidating table presence.

I am not going to be intimidated. In fact, I am going teach this guy an expensive lesson, show him that just because he won the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas he thinks he can come to London and push us British players around. Oh yes.

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Poker Why It's London's Biggest Deal ; Once the Preserve of the Hardened Gambler, Celebrities, Sportsmen, and Even Women Are Getting Out the Chips

I am not the only player trying to get one over on "Jesus" Ferguson. The game - an invitation-only event hosted by the Poker Channel - is full of rugby stars and wannabe pros, hopeful amateurs and old lags like Anthony Holden, author of the seminal book Big Deal. And each of them is trying to work out the best way to relieve the cool, impassive Mr Ferguson of the pile of chips sitting in front of him.

That was the scene at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, but similar scenes are being played out all over London ev...

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