Blackpool Lights

Twenty years ago, whenever I was broke, I could always get a few quid if I headed up to Blackpool. I'd stay in the Whitten Hotel for £5 a night and play in all the £10 competitions, building my tank back up against some of the great players who are still about today, such as Howard Plant, David Gardner, Alistair Findlay, and Bob Haworth. Those times are long past, but Blackpool is still a great place; there's always action in the cardroom and plenty to talk about.

I recently attended a tournament in Blackpool called the Northern Lights. The first time I heard about this tournament, as far as I can remember, it must have been three years ago when we were working on the 888.com UK Open. We were having the times of our lives, and David Mayall, who is also known as Nice Dave to all of the people of Blackpool he has helped, had written on his profile sheet that he had reached the final table of the Northern Lights tournament at Grosvenor Casino Blackpool. And not a week after we'd finished filming, "The Wise Owl" Harry Demetriou e-mailed me asking if I would be in Blackpool for the event. Harry had offered his services as a poker tutor in a competition run online, and he was due to meet the winner in Blackpool and wanted to know if I could help him with the tuition. Not having any previous plans for the weekend, the next thing I did was enter the Northern Lights tournament.

Obviously, nobody writes about a tournament that he hasn't cashed in. And I won it that year, taking home £47,000. Three years on, and the Northern Lights tournament was now leg 10 of the Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour (GUKPT). A cool first prize of £109,000 was on offer. Although cashing out in 18th place that year, I stayed in Blackpool to watch my good friend Paul Murrell. He made the final table, taking fourth place and collecting more than £28,000.

Muzza - aka Lemon Drop Kid, or as I call him, Chelsea Paul - and I became great friends when we met on the Ladbrokes poker cruise in January 2005. Having also met his parents on the cruise, he was keen to point out that they had traveled from London to support him at the final and were now in the slots area of the casino. Without my glasses, armed with only blurred vision, I waltzed over to a couple playing the slots and kissed his mom on both cheeks while shaking his dad's hand. I told them how proud they must be of their son. So when the lady asked, "Son, why are you kissing me?" Paul Murell turned me in the opposite direction and personally introduced me to his parents. I had kissed two people who didn't even know him! Despite the initial confusion, we went on to spend a brilliant evening drinking beer and laughing. This is a day and night I won't soon forget, made special by Chelsea Paul's friend Paul Bracken, who went on to win the main event and the £109,000 first prize.

Prior to this evening, on day two of the event, Surinder Sunar and I walked to an Indian restaurant whilst on the dinner break. Not realizing the break was only one hour, we asked if they did takeaway. Upon seeing the rain pouring down outside, we gathered the confidence to also ask if they delivered. "Certainly," was the response of the manager. "Where would you like to have your curry delivered?"

"To the Grosvenor casino," I said.

"No problem," he replied. I then asked him if we could accompany our meal in the takeaway car, which he agreed to! We sat in the car eating Madras-style curry and broken poppadoms with natural yogurts out of plastic containers with plastic knives and forks, courtesy of Sal Patel, who owns Blackpool's Indian Taj restaurant. What a great guy.

I mentioned some of the great characters who come from Blackpool, and I've just got to tell you about Bob Haworth. Bob has been a Manchester United fan for the last 70-odd years. And since the war - 62 years - he has missed only four home games at Old Trafford, and he missed those only because he was in hospital. He is still glued to the telly in Blackpool every time a football game comes on. At all the home games, Bob sits next to Sandy Busby, the son of the former Man United manager Matt Busby. Haworth could get you tickets for Manchester United if they were playing on the moon. But, unfortunately, sources tell me there would be no atmosphere at the game.

So, later on tonight, I will take a toast to Matt Busby and Bob Haworth. And well done, Blackpool, for providing me such a great weekend.