The Hendon Mob

Joe Beevers, Barny Boatman, Ross Boatman, and Ram Vaswani, collectively known as The Hendon Mob, are the four coolest guys on the UK poker scene, and are quickly making a name for themselves here in the United States. They have accumulated a long list of poker tournament wins and in-the-money finishes all over Europe and in the United States, including the European Super Bowl, the Dutch Master Classic, the French Championship, the Irish Open, the Austrian Open, and the World Series of Poker. They have an amazing sponsorship deal with PrimaPoker.com and a very successful website of their own, thehendonmob.com, which features their tour diaries, a forum, pro tips, and an interactive beginners guide to poker.

In town for more than two months to play in the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio and the World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe, the Mob decided to rent a house in Las Vegas for the duration of their stay. The large house on the west side of town boasts a swimming pool, hot tub, pool table, a Hollywood-style screening room, and enough room to comfortably accommodate the "Mobsters" and their families. Along for the Vegas adventure were Ram's wife, Jackie, Ross' partner, Stephanie (gorgeous English women, and great cooks), and Ross and Stephanie's unbearably cute toddler son, Buster. The group welcomed me into their home, fed me dinner, and graciously answered every idiotic question I could ask, starting with …

What is bangers and mash? I've always wanted to know, but never asked.

Barny: It's the pinnacle of British cuisine.

Joe: If you go to any pub in London, bangers and mash and fish and chips are on the menu.

Barny: Done properly, you fry up onions and make a nice gravy with them, thick and rich. Then, you fry up sausages in that gravy, get a nice big pile of mashed potatoes and leave a few lumps in it – it's got to be lumpy – arrange the sausages all over the top, and pour the stuff all over it.

Ram: I like the gravy just on the sausages. You've got to have big lumps of butter in the potatoes.

That sounds amazing. I could eat some right now. How did you guys decide to market yourselves together?

Barny: We didn't decide to market ourselves together, we were together.

Ram: First of all, Joe is the only one from Hendon. The rest of us are from much cooler places than Hendon. Joe used to run a private poker game there and we all played there. We all started traveling around Europe playing the big tournaments and people started recognizing us as The Hendon Mob.

Barny: The thing was, we could see it coming, what's currently going on with poker. The thing that changed everything for us was Late Night Poker. We all got invited to play on it because we were well-known faces on the European poker scene. We could see that this was going to be massive. It's such a great thing for TV. There were going to be characters people would get to know. Because people know us as that group, The Hendon mob, it kind of came naturally. What really started it all was a big article in Esquire magazine about the Poker Million that was held on the Isle of Man. That's the first time we were ever referred to publicly as The Hendon Mob, because the journalist asked us what we were called. It really started as a joke. The web site started as a joke. It was a bit of fun. We were sending ourselves up. If you go back and find the first page of the web site, which is about three years old, we were actually having a big laugh at ourselves.

Joe: you should read the first thing that Barny ever wrote on the web site. It actually describes us as different animals and things. You can see that we don't take ourselves seriously.

Barny: Or, if you look at all the little one-line descriptions we've done of all the players on Late Night Poker, they're all jokes. That gives you a pretty good idea of what we're about. We were never about trying to say that we are the best or that we can take on the world. That's for other people to say. There are lots of good poker players out there, and hopefully we're amongst those people who can play and get results. We wanted to promote the game and we wanted to popularize it without picking ourselves up and taking ourselves too seriously, and we've just about managed to do that so far.

Who decided on the cool "Reservoir Dogs" look?

Joe: That just kind of happened. We were all playing in the Poker Million and we were having our picture made for Esquire, so we were all wearing suits. You can see how serious we are in the photos. We're all on the beach on the Isle of Man, taking these very classy black-and-white photos. We've all got one card from a deck. The three of us have aces, and Barny has the deuce of clubs stuck to his forehead.

Barny: Do you know what? We were all playing in the Poker Million and it was the day before we were down to the last 12, and I sat down and pulled this card out of my pocket. I nearly got disqualified from the tournament. We were playing for a million pounds! It was a bit of a screamer, but we got away with it.

Tell me about your sponsorship deal with Prima.

Barny: It must have been about this time last year. We got an e-mail from one of the managing directors of the company (Prima Poker), and he wanted to talk about the possibility of sponsorship. He was actually going to be passing through London the following week, and would be in Paddington Station for about two hours. So, Joe and I went down and met him, had coffee with him, and chatted about the idea. He was obviously very ambitious for Prima and what they wanted to do. They were coming from a position of being huge in online gaming but new to poker. In the course of having a cup of coffee and chatting with him, we went from wanting to make the web site bigger to coming up with the whole concept of the Prima tour. They are so easy to deal with and so ambitious. Once they decide to do something, they put all of their resources behind it very quickly. We've done lots of deals and lots of projects with online betting and poker markets, but this was the easiest, the most natural, and the most comfortable of all the things we've done. They just "got it" about us straightaway. One thing about them is that they're really keen on supporting the live game. That's what they want to be all about. I know that all the online sites have satellites that bring people to the main events, but they really are pushing that and making that their focus. They're taking people to events all around the world, and they want part of the experience for these people to be to hang out with us and be part of the Prima Poker Tour, which is great. There were a dozen or 15 of them at the main event at Bellagio, and we went to dinner with them, had drinks, and gave them tips. Some of these guys have never played live poker and have never handled chips. In Australia, we played a fast little satellite the night before the event …

Joe: Actually, it was in the live cardroom to help them make the transition from online to live. When they actually played in the event, they felt much more comfortable. After that, we all went to the bar and had drinks. When we got home, I got an e-mail from one of their mothers, thanking me (and the Mob) for making this guy's trip.

Barny: The guy who knocked me out never thanked me. We played this really fast game the night before, and were playing for a thousand dollars, but we couldn't win anyway, so we were just messing about and having a few beers. I moved over the top with 5-4, and this, that, and the other, and this guy had been watching me do this. The next day, he was actually at my table in the live game. I got aces and he decided to play like I had played, and moved over the top with a 5-4 and knocked me out. This was a big tournament, probably the biggest tournament in the Southern Hemisphere.

Joe: There are actually quite a few testimonials from different online qualifiers who have met us, played with us, chatted with us, and been to dinner with us, and they say that Prima really rolls out the red carpet for them. They send limos, take them to really nice places, and really look after them and make them feel comfortable. That transition becomes much, much easier than just sending someone off on an airplane to play in a poker tournament with the money. It's much more personal, and it's better that way. On The Hendon Mob web site, one of the most popular features is the forum. Lots of these guys, after they've met us, come to the forum and ask questions and stay in touch with us. The Hendon Mob web site acts as a tool to further those relationships, as well.

Do you guys get into many arguments with one another?

Barny: Never!

Ram: I'll tell you the main argument. Ross and I are a bit lazier than the other two. Obviously, with this deal, there's a lot more work to be done, and Ross and I just kind of squeeze out what we have to.

Joe: Both of them really contribute a lot of stuff, though.

Barny: We completely agree. Both of them are lazy. We don't argue about it. We all are a lot like brothers. In fact, Ross and I are really a lot like brothers. So, we all end up arguing about stupid stuff, like who's going to pick up whom at the airport, and such. It's a weird thing, because we are like family, but when we get out there and play poker, we're probably more competitive against each other than just about anybody else. We love to see each other do well, and if one of us is knocked out, we'll be there watching the other ones. But when we are actually playing, we go for each other's throat, because we know each other's game so well.

I read that you trade 5 percent of your winnings with each other.

Joe: It's a small enough amount not to make any difference. Obviously, if one of us isn't winning, we want the others to be winning.

Have you been doing anything for fun since you've been here? Visited any Vegas attractions?

Barny: I took a drive up to Red Rock when my girlfriend was here. But this is actually the first day we haven't played since we've been here. It's been like a job: drive down there every day, start playing, and at night get to bed. There haven't been any wild stories of mad things we've done this time around.

Let's say you bust out of a tournament. What is your routine after that?

Barny: We congratulate the guy who came first.

Ram: That's why we're staying here (at the house), because usually it would be straight to the pai gow tables, and we found out that's not really a good move.

Barny: When did you find that out, Ram? Because you got me involved about a week ago. Seriously, I jump in the car and drive out here and put it behind me.

Joe: There's a lot of other stuff we've done since we've been here. We have been on breakfast TV on Fox News, and Barny did "The Big Kahuna" drive-time radio show. (They also were on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" after this interview.) There's been quite a lot of media and interviews with different magazines and newspapers, and we still have to do a lot for the web site. Last night, Barny and I were up late updating the web site and conferring with our technicians in London to make sure everything was done, and we all have our e-mails to do and all of our stuff from the forum. Every day, one of us writes a diary about how we're getting along in the tournaments. There are lots of other things going on besides playing poker. It's certainly very hectic.

Ross: (laughing) Yes, that's what Joe and Barny are doing.

Barny: One of the nicest things is coming back here and having Ross' little boy running about. It doesn't matter if you've had a bad beat, or what other things have happened. You can't really think about that when this cute little kid comes up and gives you a hug. It's really lovely. He's my godson, by the way.

Joe: He's the only one who will listen to our bad-beat stories.

What do you do to celebrate when you win?

Barny: (amidst the whole group laughing hysterically) We'll let you know!

It sounds like Joe and Barny are doing a lot of work.

Barny: All four of us are a team. We've all got stuff that we do. There's no manager, there's no leader, and there's no captain.

Joe: If there were three of us, there wouldn't be a Hendon Mob. There has to be all four of us.

Was there ever a fifth Mobster?

Ram: There could have been.

Barny: That's a bit like the fifth Beatle, isn't it? John Kabbaj was lurking on the sidelines.

Ram: He thinks he's the first person who called us The Hendon Mob.

Barny: He might well be. He can take that to the bank. He's a very good player and a good mate.

Which of you draws the most lady fans?

Barny: Well, we appeal to different demographics, don't we? Ram is the simple answer to that. I seem to be the choice of women of a certain age.

Joe: We got an e-mail from three wives who wanted Barny to come to their house and teach them to play poker during the day while their husbands were at work. They sent us a photograph and we made them Mobster of the Month.

Barny: Someone asked me once before if women had been throwing themselves at us. I told him that if they were, they were missing.

Ross, you were an actor before your poker career. What kind of role would make you go back to acting?

Ross: A cheese roll – with extra mayonnaise. Actually, I am still acting. The last thing I did was a British drama for ITV called The Wall of Silence. It was the true story of a kid who was murdered in Southeast London, which is a rough part of town. I played a policeman who was involved with the investigation. I have to put acting aside to play poker, which has me a bit worried. I'm afraid I might get sacked by my agent.

You turned down a role in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, right?

Ross: I had just had a leading role in a British gangster movie called Hard Men. I had just come off that and was offered a great role in a black comedy at a very well-known theater in England. They offered me Lock, Stock at the same time. I had just done a gangster movie and figured Lock, Stock would be one of those little British movies that no one sees. I thought, "The heck with it. I'm going to do the theater." The rest is history. I still do stuff, but I'm a little bit more choosy about what I do now. I'm fairly well-established as an actor in Britain, having done London Burning. (Ross starred as "Kevin" on that highly acclaimed series for eight years.)

Which of you is the butt of the most jokes?

Ram: We all get our fair share of teasing.

Barny: I make lots of jokes, and I'm not part of any of the jokes I make.

Tell me something I don't know about Ross.

Barny: Ross is my younger brother, but in lots of ways, he has been a role model to me. He was into acting since he was young, and he's famous and gets recognized and gets a lot of adulation, but he's never let it affect him in any way. Everyone in poker will tell you that he has no airs and graces. He's the most genuine person you're ever gonna meet. If ever anybody thinks he is something special because he's won a poker tournament or whatever, I will never fall into that trap because I've seen Ross handle celebrity so well.

Tell me something I don't know about Barny.

Ross: He's all right, nothing special (laughing). He really is my big brother, and not only does he look out for me, but he looks out for everyone he cares about. He's a very special person. He's generous and funny and clever, and he's not a bad poker player.

Joe: Barny makes a lot of things work. Without Barny, I would be lost. Without Barny, we'd all be lost. He's a great friend to all of us, he's great at business, and he's great at poker. We all love Barny.

Tell me something I don't know about Joe.

Barny: Joe is very sweet and caring. He works so hard for us, and if he ever does get ribbed, he takes it with good humor. There's no malice about him. It's very important for Joe to be friendly with people, and he goes out of his way to do things for people. He puts himself out like nobody else.

Tell me something I don't know about Ram.

Ross: He is Mr. Super Cool of the gang, but he's one of the most sweet-natured people you'll ever meet. You meet lots of unsavory characters in poker, but Ram is genuine and honest and loyal.

Barny: He's savory. I've never heard Ram say anything bad about anybody. He's actually quite extraordinary. We've all got a little bit of malice about us, but Ram doesn't have any. He's different like that. He is someone you'd absolutely trust in any situation, completely. Well, maybe you wouldn't trust him with your account number, because your money would be gone in five minutes. But, he'd pay you back. He loves gambling like nobody else. He is the sickest gambler on the planet.

Joe: Ram is a guy who could have a hundred thousand dollars in his pocket one minute, and be broke the next. The next day, he'll have two hundred thousand dollars in his pocket, and be broke the next. The next day, he'll have half a million dollars in his pocket, and be broke the next. At the end of the day, if Ram's your friend, you've got a very, very good friend.

Barny: We are all great guys, and you can print that.