Well, some of you may remember me falling (hook, line and sinker I might add) for a cruel cruel April Fool's joke last er... April.
With my dreams of an array of fully naked young felines severely dashed upon the realisation that the press release (click here to view the news item) was indeed one of PaddyPower's malicious and unprovoked pratical jokes, I slumped back into my chair and, with the assistance of my corrupt imagination, pondered on what might have been.
So, a few months later, what am I to think when a second PaddyPower email drops into my inbox, this time informing the poker world that due to the amount of calls received regarding the hoax, that they would indeed host the real deal? Like the investigative Beagle I am, and keen not to be fooled again, I checked my calender - yep, I was right, we were no where near April this time around.
Anyhow, I still wasn't convinced, until, that is, I received a third press release in my inbox, this time containing some rather revealing photos of the event in action - my eyes widened to an immesurable extent.
Apparantly, the Event did take place, and people did turn up - 195 in fact!
The location for the PaddyPower World Strip Poker Championships was London's Café Royal and the winner was a young (predominatly in name) fellow from the exotic town of Slough.
Although I'm not too sure why he is so scantily clad in this picture if he was the victor, John Young was understandably overjoyed with his win.
“It was quite hard to bluff in the buff but luckily I kept my pocket aces hidden away! This was easily the most fun I’ve had at a poker table.”
Wise words indeed from the warmest man in the building!
With 195 hopefuls from an impressive 12 countries, the lure of playing poker in the nod was clearly a major attraction, especially with various female participants in such charitable mood.
One of the last standing women (right - I do hope you don't zoom in too close) was Laura Barnett from Stirling, Scotland, who went out in a blaze of towel waving glory after a valant effort at the table. Oddly, her exit was welcomed with open arms by the male crowd who failed to resist in giving her an unnecessary rub-down.
Upon breaking the Guinness world record for the biggest strip poker tournament ever, Mr PaddyPower, who was still gleaming from Laura's recent exit, commented, "“Sometimes I just love coming into work! The event was an amazing success considering it grew originally from an April Fools story. I’ve never seen so many people so eager to lose the shirt off their backs. Hopefully next year we’ll break our own record.”
So, there you have it, another fine accomplishment in poker and I for one have now become a fully pledged member of the Female Poker Association - I'm not sure it exists but I'm willing to start it in order to push more women into poker. Are you with me?!
Bring on next year!
[Ed Note: I am patting myself on the back for the reluctant inclusion of endless sexual innuendos and sickly puns, although resistance is futile when it comes to naked women, so I apologise for letting the odd little one slip in.]