Monday, February 05, 2007

Being a Poker Agent isn't quite the same as being a Footy Agent, mind you with the amount of footballers playing big league poker, I might look at "Vig" opportunities (Vig = interest charged by Mafia money lenders on loans)! My dear friends at Paddy Power Poker sent me an invite to play the likes of Ian Rush, Jan Molby and John Aldridge as part of their online partnership with Liverpool FC, a tempting offer but the combination of the Paddy Promo team and Liverpool, surely my liver could not take the punishment? My belief is that with the loss of the American market, the European players will soon get their chance to experience the big time. The Asian market is slowly opening up its doors to poker and shares are rising in companies that have interests in the Far East. This leads me on to my great friend and "poker guru", Mr. Willie Tann. I refer to the ex-Dice Man as "Sensei Tann" - Sensei, as in Japanese Master or teacher. "Catman, you have misquoted me", said the stern voice of one of my poker heroes. His anger was the result of a whisper from someone who had read an article I wrote about Willie. After we got over this misinformation - something which seems to be a part of our poker community - I got Willie to remind me of my favorite Tann quote, "If you want to know what is on the road ahead, ask the man on the way back". With this in mind, I continued with the road I have been on many, many times - the road of building the foundations of a club, that club being The Loose Cannon and VC Players Lounge. Many of my years were spent in the world of entertainment and night clubs, and building strength in a new product takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I spent many months inviting famous names to the launches of clubs like The Ministry of Sound and Sophisticats, only to be ignored; it was painful and disheartening. "Catman, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, in your case the lights may be that of an oncoming train"; the second of Mr Tann's telephone quotes I chanted after his phone call. Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry, you have got to push and push. Then, as if by magic, you have turned into Roland De Wolfe. Roland and I had many conversations prior to his first big win, something told me that this man's grit and determination would win through.