黑洞社区

鈥淭hat is a very difficult hand,鈥� Willie 鈥淭he Dice Man鈥� Tann muses. A frown of concentration creases the poker legend鈥檚 face, as he peels back the corners of my cards again. 鈥淰ery difficult鈥︹�� The other seven players and the dealer wait with baited breath 鈥� will he advise me to go all in or fold?

It is only three hands into 黑洞社区鈥檚 first Poker Kings tournament and I鈥檝e bottled it on the first decent hand I鈥檝e been dealt. The cards look quite promising 鈥� unfortunately I have no idea what to do with them. Each player can ask Willie to help them make their move once during the evening and, with my hands already shaking from the beginners training rounds, this seems as good a time as any.

Tonight, we鈥檙e playing the wildly popular Texas Hold 鈥楨m. I鈥檝e been dealt a king and a jack, the dealer has produced a king, jack and a six on the flop, and a three on the turn. Everyone else has folded apart from Eric Roberts, construction director at John Doyle Group, who鈥檚 raised me 500, more than half of my remaining chips.

Eventually, Willie decides to fold. It's good advice 鈥� there was an ace on the river and Roberts would have won with a pair of aces and a pair of threes. But the other players are amazed. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 go out on a pair of Kings and jacks if you hung me!鈥� explodes Stef Stefanou, chair of John Doyle Group. 鈥淚t鈥檚 against my religion

Stef鈥檚 the driving force behind Poker Kings, and he arranged for it to be held in his favourite casino, the London Grosvenor Victoria on Edgware Road. A poker-playing friend describes it as the 鈥済rimy home of London poker鈥�, but it鈥檚 disappointingly non-intimidating in the flesh 鈥� it鈥檚 got more in common with a bingo hall or bowling alley than anything I鈥檝e seen in the films.

The crowd sipping champagne in our roped-off enclave eye each other warily but the atmosphere鈥檚 pretty friendly. The players seem to be divided between people who鈥檝e travelled suspiciously long distances to take part 鈥� Suffolk, Leeds, New York 鈥� and those who claim they鈥檝e never played before. But it鈥檚 the serious players who are nervous of the novices 鈥� 鈥渨hen you鈥檝e got people who don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e doing, anything can happen,鈥� notes one, casting a hawklike eye over the beginners training sessions.

Stef has a different concern: 鈥淭he thing I worry about, that everyone worries about, is being the first one out,鈥� he confides. Within minutes, someone is out 鈥� but it鈥檚 Stelio, Stef鈥檚 brother. He went all in on his first hand, a pair of Aces and a pair of Sevens 鈥� only to find ex-MP Tony McWalter has two aces and two tens.

Poker isn鈥檛 a natural spectator sport 鈥� players keep their cards close to their chests and try to betray as little emotion as possible 鈥� but as the tables thin out and the losers crowd round, the atmosphere builds. Stef鈥檚 exuberant heckling helps. 鈥淒on鈥檛 you feel GUILTY?鈥� he accuses Eric as he cleans out another opponent. 鈥淒o you feel guilty when you sign a final account?鈥� Eric retorts.

My suspicion that I do not have the big match temperament is soon amply confirmed, so I seek Willie out for some advice. He must be a formidable opponent across a poker table, because he鈥檚 pretty inscrutable in general chit-chat. 鈥淧oker鈥檚 a game you can learn to play in one day,鈥� he finally says, 鈥渂ut it takes a lifetime to master. Remember the five Ps. That鈥檚 patience, psychology, position 鈥� being the dealer is best as you鈥檙e the last to declare your intentions in a hand 鈥� perseverance and practice.鈥� If you want to buy a book on poker, he rates anything by Dan Harrington.

The second calmest person in the room is Tony, who has been steadily amassing most of the 36,000 chips in play with a cool, detached serenity 鈥� he looks more like a local vicar daydreaming through a parish committee meeting than a man systematically destroying his rivals. With the blinds 鈥� the forced bets players must make each go - rising to 600 and 1200, it鈥檚 not a massive surprise when Tony takes the 拢6,000 prize.

Afterwards, he makes an extraordinary admission: he has never played poker before and his only training consisted of buying a book on it the day before. Perhaps this game isn't as hard as I made it seem...