Black Belt Poker Launch in Soho

Had an ill-fated journey down to London on Monday. My girlfriend, who was giving me a lift to Newark train station about half an hour away, decided to go and fetch our cat from the vets shortly before we were meant to leave. Of course she was late back, and I ended up missing the train, by an agonizing 30 seconds (it was pulling out from the platform as I ran onto it).

So I'm now unable to meet my friend who lives in London and who is putting me up for the night. She is unwilling to leave her house keys somewhere hidden, and isn't thrilled about the prospect of letting me in at 2am with her having work in the morning. So I make the decision to get a black cab to her house thinking this would be the best remedy. Wrong!

£50 in cab fees later, having now picked up the keys, I'm now stuck in a traffic jam near Trafalgar Square. I tell the Cabbie (who was an awesome chap who I had a good chat with!) that I'll walk the rest of the way, and get my Dad on the phone to guide me there using Googlemaps! Lol...

So I arrive in the middle of the presentation that Neil Channing is giving, although I believe I only missed the very beginning. This new venture sounds very interesting, and I imagine I will be talking more about it once the website goes live at the beginning of April.

I had a good evening, caught up with Jen Mason who I hadn't seen for a while, and fellow WWE enthusiast Snoopy who I had a good chat with. Also spoke with Dean from Blonde Poker and circuit regular Kevin O'Leary.

I hung round until the end, as I really hadn't much else to do in London. Ended up going for a very nice Chineese meal with Neil Channing, Nik Persuad and the legend that is Mickey Wernick; along with some other poker players interested in Black Belt Poker. Lots of interesting poker discussion and stories ensued, and despite the horrible journey getting there, it was worth it as I had an enjoyable evening.

I'm not a huge fan of London so I pretty much left straight away the next morning. Felt a bit of a tool as I disembarked the train, as I had been watching The Green Mile on my iPod Touch, and it was nearing the end at a very sad moment when the sodding train pulled in! "I've got something in my eye, honest!"

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James Atkin