GetSport: Poker's 'Hendon Mob' has a crazy horse- Ram Vaswani
Poker has been making a big comeback lately. Not that it wasn't already popular, but the game was essentially played and tracked by a core group of loyalists and fans, who had their own clique'. All that has changed and is changing ever more, mostly due to the advent of Television channels (like Discovery, Travel & living) and new media like Internet, covering the game and its stars extensively. Consequently, players who were known only to a few thousand people earlier have suddenly become celebrities known to millions of people world wide.Ram 'crazy horse' Vaswani(second from left, above), is one such Britisher of Indian origin who has shot into the limelight, having been associated with the 'Hendon Mob'. The Mob is a group of four poker players, Joe Beevers, Ram himself, Barny and Ross Boatman, who play together as well as separately, in Poker tournaments worldwide. They win big too. Ram's 2006 earnings from tournaments, for instance, are reported to be closer to the $23,00,000 mark! What separates 'the mob' though, is that in a volatile game like poker, where you could win and loose BIG, from one day to the other, the mob supports each other, in times of distress. A small percentage of everyone's earnings is shared with the other members, providing them with the much needed stability, when their chips are down.
Ram used to be a first class snooker player, when he was a child, so much so, that had he continued playing, he could have been on the world stage as a cueist. Ram's brother ,Sunit has keep the family flag flying in snooker, having finished second in the English amateur
award, in 2001.
Ram's known to be a inveterate gambler, who will bet on "anything that moves". He wagers big on golf, sports events besides his bread and butter- poker. It is not unheard of Ram to be loosing and winning in the range of a hundred thousand dollar, in a matter of a few days!
As for his professional poker achievements-Ram won the European Superbowl in 2000 and narrowly failed to defend his title when he came in a close second in 2001. His victories include the Dutch Master Classics in 1999, the French Championship in 2002 and the European Poker Tour Irish Masters in 2004. In the 2002 World Series he came second and third in two World Championship events and followed that up with an impressive three WSOP finals in 2004(Source:www.thehendonmob.com).
In Aug 2001, the Mob launched their own website- www.thehendonmob.com. It is now one of the premier poker sites read by hundreds of thousands of people, who use it not only to enhance their knowledge of poker, using the Mob's tips but also as a database of earnings of stakes earned and lost on tables across the world.
So when will Ram try and promote poker in India, where the game is still caught within the confines of private clubs and private parties ? Perhaps the time has not come as yet...but don't bet on it !
