Roy The Boy says...

The Secret of Success

Wednesday 7 Nov 2007

It was George Bernard Shaw who said that "The key to success is to insult the greatest number of people", which is lucky for me as I’ve got that incredibly rare talent of doing just that without even trying!

John ‘Scalie’ Kalmar is the latest to be reportedly vexed with me, telling Sky’s TV cameras in an interview that my humorously-intended comment that: "He had more shareholders [in his WSOP exploits] than BT" was an example of me boosting my self esteem by taking a dig at others. Oh dear, nothing could be further from the truth.... Oh well, never mind - like I say it’s a rare talent!

Talking of successfully insulting large numbers of people, the BBC have clearly taken this to a new level insulting the intelligence of a million daytime TV viewers with their latest show, Food Poker. TV light entertainment has finally reached its lowest point - it is the worst program I have ever seen, and that includes Peter and Jordan’s new chat show!

Just seeing those poor chefs sat around a table being dealt cards with leeks, pork chops and the like printed on them is cringe worthy. Selecting additional ‘food cards’ from a flop – an appropriate word – they are then sent off to cook a dish using the ingredients they have in their hand; it makes me want to throw up without even tasting the finished product. Terrestrial television counterparts ITV are little better with their evening show, Poker Face, having nothing to do with the game we know and love despite the title.

Why on earth don’t they simply take the plunge and put a proper poker show on their channel? I’m not talking about a re-make of Play Your Cards Right, I’m talking about the real deal! Until then I fear their desperate attempts to tap into poker’s popularity with such dreadful themes will ultimately lead to a downturn in interest in poker from an ever-evolving audience.

Roy "The Boy" Brindley, Ladbrokes-sponsored professional