Every day I scour the virtual world to check who’s winning the big bucks, and whilst the ‘name’ players always provide an entertaining read, sometimes it’s important to highlight the lower stake players who acquire equally commendable accolades.One of those players is Michael Langley, a Birmingham born odds compiler whose current choice of abode is somewhere rather less mundane – Salzburg, Austria.
Although live poker remains popular with our European friends (The Concord Card Casino being the focal point), Michael is happy to ambush the online cardrooms and while away the hours in front of his laptop.
And whilst that can be a fruitless exercise to many, it has reaped it’s awards for Langboy (as is his online moniker) with many big cashes, and, most notably from recent times, a victory in the November Blue Square Super League.
“I know it sounds cliché, but for me, it wasn't about the money,” comments Michael. “I felt the need to justify why I dedicated so much time to online play, so a month ago, I bought a laptop and committed myself to winning the League. Four weeks later, I had achieved just that and the lappie was paid for 3 times over.”
But as many would agree, there is more to poker than sitting in front of a computer screen all day, and in that sense, the Blonde Bashes have been of the utmost importance to Michael.
“Oh yeah, they're really enjoyable. I flew home for BB1 (Broadway) and BB3 (Walsall). I just missed the final at The Broadway, but made 7th place at Walsall. The glass paperweight memento sits proudly on my desk at the office and my sister has a video of the TV interview with Rhow. Still haven't seen it myself.”
“The Blonde Bashes are a phenomenon really,” he continues. “There is no other £30 buy-in tourney in the world where you can find yourself at the same table as poker giants like Thewy, Foxy, ‘Aces’ Trumper, Actionjack and Simon Nowab, plus, these guys are so classy, they're happy to give out tips and tricks to the novice players. That's quality!”
But although Michael could be viewed as somewhat of a jet-setter (Spain, London, Berlin to name just three locations), the 40 something bookmaker still considers the Midlands to be his home.
“I miss England, it's my home and I still have a property in Sutton Coldfield (Mickey Wernick’s home town). Plus I have plenty of mates in and around the Midlands. I can leave work at teatime, jump on a plane at Mozart Airport, land at Coventry at 6pm, pick up a hire car, round up some friends and get to Gala Birmingham in time for the £10 Re-buy.”“When I'm home, I play at the Gala, Broadway and Walsall Grosvenor. In Salzburg,” he adds. “There are a couple of really friendly poker rooms where I play regularly. If work permits, I try to get to a few of the festivals too, just for the supporting events. €200-300 or £100-£200 buy-in tourneys. The stakes are not too big to scare me and I do get to play against some household names like Marcel Luske and Isabelle Mercier. I've been lucky to play in some world-class venues - The Concord in Vienna, The Vic in London and The Mirage in Vegas.”
From that statement, it’s clear that even though Michael is predominantly an online player living in Salzburg, live poker still remains a passion of his. It’s not as if he doesn’t venture into the live arena from time to time - as well as playing local events around the midlands, he has participated in several big comps, one of which was the 2005 WSOP Event that Willie Tann won. Unfortunately for Michael, however, his 12 minutes didn’t quite live up to Tann’s impressive bracelet winning stint.
And so, with Michael Langley, we have clear proof that blondepoker reaches further than our mere English borders. With players like Rob Sherwood in Thailand, Brian Wilson in America and Nomad in Austria, it is incredible to think how vast an effect our seemingly miniscule community can have, but for people like Langboy, it’s not about location…
“I first met tikay about the time I signed onto the forum in early 2005. There were only about 50 members in those days. We met at the Midland Masters event that Dave Colclough won. I told Tony that I liked the site and was happy to post a few threads. Six weeks later at the Grosvenor Grand Prix at The Vic, I was running round doing chip counts for the live updates. It was great fun. And now I’m in Austria, I still follow the site and I remain a big fan.”
Michael sure is leading an intriguing life. From his first taste of poker at the Rainbow Casino in Birmingham to playing in the less renowned poker rooms of Salzburg, Langboy remains content with the way his life is panning out. With his unique experiences outside England, the ability to log onto blonde from his Salzburg home, and his recent online success, he certainly has reason to be.Congratulations to Michael on his Tribeca League victory and good luck for the future.