| Back in the early nineties
brothers Ross and Barny Boatman played in a home game
in Ross's flat which was underneath Barny's flat in
Archway, North London. When that game broke up they
started frequenting Joe Beevers’ game in nearby
Hendon, befriending Joe, and the game's other regular
player, Ram Vaswani.
The four would often drive together to games and
tournaments around the country.
Perhaps it was the dark jackets and shades, or maybe
a jokey reference to actor Ross's on screen gangster
roles, but everywhere they went people would say 'here
comes the Hendon Mob'. The name stuck. They are not
a team. They play as hard against each other as they
do against anyone in poker and are universally respected
for their integrity and fair play. What they are though
is a family. Like four inseparable brothers, they
are always there to enjoy each other's successes and
support each other when times are hard. 'That' says
Barny 'is our greatest strength.'
In the nineties the European tournament scene was
growing and the Mob travelled every where together
winning money and tournaments in Paris, Helsinki,
Vienna, Amsterdam, anywhere that poker was played.
In 1999 Late Night Poker, the first ever televised
poker tournament started it's immensely popular run
in Great Britain and The Hendon Mob were invited to
take part. Already well known on the European poker
circuit, the show brought The Mob to a wider audience
and as poker grew in popularity they grew with it.
Countless appearances on TV and radio as well as innumerable
features in magazines and newspapers have made them
household names all over Europe and beyond. |
