Football has always been a great passion of mine, and whilst I like to follow the progress of my home team, the Wolverhampton Wanderers, I'm a true Red at heart. One of my first memories of football was watching Manchester United become the first English team to lift the European Cup - May 29, 1968 - beating Benfica 4-1. In fact, I remember everything about the game and that day, from who scored the goals - Bobby Charlton (two), George Best, and a lad who was 19 on that day, Brian Kidd - to where I sat on the sofa by my Uncle Les, drinking my cream soda and enjoying the smell of the Vesta curry my Aunt Audrey had cooked for halftime. My passion for the beautiful game had been ignited, and from that day, I did all I could to earn the money to see Manchester United play. By the age of 15, I had the biggest paper round in the Midlands, selling extras on the way around, and a Friday night shift at the local dog track and speedway on the turnstiles. I had more leisure money to myself than most grown men with families, all of which went on the same ritual every week. My dad would drive a group of us to the first service station on the motorway, where we would take out a sign, the only thing I ever made in woodwork: OLD TRAFFORD, PLEASE. The earlier we got a lift, the better. Win, lose, or draw, these were great days, and I carried on going until I was 21, hitchhiking from Southampton to Newcastle and every other ground in between.
This is all just background to enable you to imagine how I felt when I realised I could combine two of my greatest passions, football and gambling. At the same time I was delivering newspapers, I had had my first major bet up: Chelsea to beat Leeds in the 1970 FA Cup final replay.
All of this is background, once again, to enable me to come to the subject of this column.
Imagine, now, how I felt when I was asked to be the professional poker player at the first poker game held at Old Trafford and filmed for
MUTV, organised and run by aworldofpoker.com.
The inaugural legends and poker charity tournament had snooker player Steven Hendry, jockey Tony Dobbin, four former Man UTD players, an online qualifier, and myself.
This was one time that I definitely wouldn't be hitchhiking to Old Trafford. Taking my 15-year-old son along to the executive lounge to watch his dad play at Old Trafford was made even more special after the seat numbers were drawn and I was next to Lou Macari, a player I use in one of my after-dinner speeches.
Predictably, according to the commentary, I won and lost the chip lead several times before eventually exiting in fourth place, on the bubble, as the top three won money for their chosen charities. This was my one regret of the whole experience. My charity was Donnas Dreamhouse, for which aworldofpoker has done a lot of work promoting and raising funds, and I'm sure will continue to do.
Ex-United player David May emerged victorious after beating Tony Dobbin heads up.
Hindsight
After witnessing a few players really come into form in the last televised event, I remember thinking how well Roland De Wolfe was playing. A month later, he had another major title under his belt, winning the
EPT in Dublin. Since then, I've decided to name some players who I believe are in form, and who make the game a real pleasure to watch. Devil Fish, Conor Tate, Tony Bloom, Robin Keston, and Dave Clayton have really impressed, and should have an outstanding year in 2007.
