When I Met the Queen

Anyone who knows me will know I love quiz questions — like what is the capital of Peru? What is the most consumed fruit in the world? etc… etc…

But my speciality is football — who scored the first ever Premiership goal? Who was the first Premiership manager to get the sack? And many more.

However, back in 2005 my friend Jesse May went too far. What he did will live with me forever. It all began when myself, Jesse, and Padraig Parkinson had been asked to provide tuition for a charity poker event being held after the Royal Variety Performance.

What an honour this was for me to be working alongside Michael Parkinson, who was the host, along with Sharon Osborne and Shirley Bassey. There were also numerous acts backstage including Andrea Bocelli, Charlotte Church, Ozzy Osborne, and, of course, Cliff Richard.

We went around the changing rooms with our chip box and cards teaching people how to play, but the embarrassment came at the end of the night, when we all got to meet the Queen and Prince Phillip.

I was standing, as proud as punch, in between Will Young and Bradley Walsh. We had all been briefed — under no circumstances should we speak to the Queen unless she speaks to us.

In my heart of hearts, I knew this would be impossible for Jesse as he speaks to everybody and, sure enough, as Her Majesty walked along the line I noticed her stop and bend slightly to catch something Jesse was saying.

They spoke for a few moments, both smiling and laughing, and she did not stop again until she got to me and whispered, “I’m sorry Martyn, I cannot help you.”

Now, as you might expect, I was curious to say the least. Just what had Jesse said?

The suspense was killing me and I had to wait until the minibus dropped us off at Jury’s Hotel where I ran across to Jesse’s room to ask what had gone on.

His reply nearly had me speechless. He’d asked what football team Her Majesty supported and she had replied, “I don’t like football that much and don’t support any one team. In fact, I prefer rugby.” Without hesitation Jesse then asked, “In that case, could you let Mad Marty have your FA Cup Final tickets please?”

Seriously though, I can’t tell you how excited I am about my newest venture after RedHotPoker asked me to host their poker and football weekends. The first one is at the Manchester United versus Liverpool game this coming season and if anyone had asked me my dream job, this would be it.

With Las Vegas now a distant memory for all but the November Nine, I’ve been having a look at the poker calendar and deciding where to play next. London now seems to have September/October pretty much covered with the World Poker Tour, World Open, World Series of Poker Europe, and the second round of heats for the Full Tilt Poker Million.

But with so many large buy-in events attracting the big names, I’ve also been looking further afield for value. I remember about eight years ago while a main event at The Vic was taking place, a casino in Southampton held its very first no-limit hold’em festival.

This surely was the value as most casinos at that time still played pot-limit. I won the first two events and the only other player who had the same idea, Roy The Boy, won the last.

Mad Marty Wilson is a professional gambler and poker consultant for Matchroom Sport.