I was bitten by the poker bug nearly two years ago when I started working for The Poker Channel presenting the British Poker Open, and the World Cup of Poker. It was pretty scary stuff as it was all live, all ad lib and all reactionary to what was going on at the table....and as you can imagine by 2 o'clock each morning I struggled to remember my own name let alone the implications of a certain flop, fold or player on tilt; but as soon as I got to grips with the lingo, hand rankings, and at times strange demeanour of poker players I realised why the poker revolution is still going from strength to strength. It is a gripping, mind boggling game, and I love it!

We have just finished the third season of the European Poker Tour.The Grand Final in Monte Carlo was an apt way to round it off. If you could dream up the ideal tournament - this would be it. Stacks of sunshine, fast cars and stunning girls. Player attendance was over double that of last year - which meant the total prize pool swelled to well over 6 million euros; we presented a cheque to the winner American Gavin Griffin for 1.8 million euros. Happy days. He is only 25 and a great player - totally unfazed by the pressure. He fought through a field of 706 players - including the likes of Gus Hansen, Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Devilfish, Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius. You'd like him - not only is he friendly and modest but he also promised to donate 20% of his winnings to Breast Cancer research. Top bloke.
 
A couple of points to note from this tour have been the amount of good young players emerging from Germany - where poker has finally gripped the nation; and perhaps more expected was the immense talent we saw from the Scandinavian players. One of the reasons the Scandis are so good at poker is that they are taught self control from a young age, they give so little away at the table making them very difficult to read...now this is great for them when it comes to bluffing a pot - but when I have to interview them after they have crashed out of a major tournament - well it can be like getting blood out of a stone! Nice blokes, great players - but not much banter, but hey they can't have it all.
 
Anyway if you fancy reading any of my interviews with some of the worlds top players click on www.thepokerchannel.co.uk, for any info on the European Poker Tour see www.pokerstars.com.