When I was at school we had a regular game of football on a Friday evening(inventively named Friday night football) and decided to hold our poker game afterwards. I had instigated this as I had been inspired, like so many, by the 1 – 2 combo of Late Night Poker on Channel 4 with Helmuth pretty much dominating as I seem to recall through my very hazy memories being up late on school nights to watch men gamble money over cards, it was always going to suit me. The second thing to urge me into creating our home game was of course rounders and which kid hasn’t been inspired to pick up a hand or two because of that! I am not entirely sure I took the correct message out of that film but I am certain neither did many others who quickly helped poker get enough attention to get a book or two put on the shelves over here.

That first game when I think back must have had Sherwin, Paul, Guy, Scott, Hehir, Lauder and Colborne. I may be wrong of course but most of these players would go on to form the basis for a home game that would last on and off for 5 years or so. Hehir quickly disappeared in a fog of alcohol & drugs, the last time I saw him he was blowing a whistle at a pole dancer. This might seem like the actions of a crazy person but Hehir had always been reserved and quiet at school so this transformation was still waiting to happen and he played poker in exactly the same reserved fashion. He barely got involved never rebought and built a fort with his chip stacks. I haven’t pointed out that we basically played cash games for hours on end. Actually the first few cash games there were a lot of other players who turned up because of the gambling nature of our hobby but I can not remember exactly. Boydy was certainly there once or twice although I can’t remember his playing style. A point though is that picking at playing styles when these guys were kids is fairly harsh. I had read one book (and judging by the date on that I must have bought it when it came out and quickly formed the poker night not long after so the date for all these events is around October 2000) and had a really basic level of knowledge and I am not sure how much I must have taken in. I certainly identified players who were weak. As kids so many of us stuck around longer than I think I could imagine being possible now. Everyone wanted to see the action. The difference in our game between a fish a “good” player was being able to lay down a hand on the turn card forcrissakes. But none of had played before and were all learning at the same time and certainly a few of us started to regularly walk away with the cash and it did become increasingly difficult to attract new players to blow their pocket money on our weekly game. We did keep a fish or two too keep coming, notably Scott but there was a(n extremely small) pool of players we would call and harass every single week trying to get them round to hang with us lowlifes on a Friday night. Personally my style never went to either extreme and was left with a style I would have to make changes to down the line but it served me well. My instincts were in control probably too much but it is a benefit you gain over time to have a real sense for how a hand is going. As kids we fell into the same trap as a lot of home games I have attended as a guest since and that is people playing with far too many chips. We wanted deep stacks and we let our chips represent everything down to single pennies. The players who rose to the top were the ones who became aggressive with their betting and I suppose it is a very effective style even at much higher levels.

Not really sure the point of all this but it was certainly interesting to think back on those humble beginnings. I remember being told by my mum while we were playing that some kids nearby had asked her where the rumoured poker school was. It tells you that it certainly was popular back then and it was only with the popularisation of online poker that really took it to the next level. It was probably also the next time I would delve back into the world of poker. It is a rich world that you really do need to invest plenty time into and I have only ever had the time in bursts to commit to it although I often wish I could find the time to get back into it but the fact I am not finding the time tells me I don’t have the same burning passion for it as I did back in school when I was starting up a poker game in my kitchen and without the passion I would question the point in pursuing it.