Met halts £1m poker game

The Devilfish was going to be there, and the Hendon Mob, and just about anyone from the world of high stakes poker who fancied their chances of winning a million pounds in what was going to be the biggest game of cards the capital had ever seen.

Poker legends such as Amarillo Slim were due to cross the Atlantic to prove that, when it comes to pushing chips across the green baize, Americans are the best in the world. And British players such as Simon "Aces" Trumper - winner of the second series of Channel 4's Late Night Poker - were equally determined to prove them wrong.

But now it may never happen. The world's most fearless poker players have run up against an opponent that not even they can beat: the Metropolitan Police.

With less than three weeks before the Poker Million competition was due to take place, Scotland Yard has forced its postponement amid concerns that it may breach the law.

World famous players such as Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott (arguably the best tournament player in Britain today, and certainly the best known) and the Hendon Mob - four north London players who include former London's Burning actor Ross Boatman and his brother Barny - have all had to put off their trips to the Metropole Hotel on Edgware Road for the three-day event.

Lawyers for the Met and the organisers, Poker Million Ltd - a joint venture between Ladbrokes' internet division and Barry Hearn's Matchroom Sport - are now battling it out to see whether the game can take place at all.

Barry Hearn said: "It's a great shame. I'm very disappointed. But once we were alerted by the Metropolitan Police that they felt there was a problem - well, we cannot take the chance of upsetting our friends in blue. It is very embarrassing."

The original Poker Million was held in the Isle of Man in November 2000. The first prize of £1million was won by John Duthie, 43, a television director from London.

Moving the competition to the UK mainland involved satisfying a much stricter set of regulations, but after nine months of planning the organisers were convinced that, having persuaded the Gaming Board it was effectively a private game - albeit one with up to 300 players each shelling out £7,000 to enter - there were no obstacles left to overcome.

The crucial point is that the tournament - which would have been screened in more than 50 countries and watched by as many as 150 million people - was due to take place in a hotel, not a casino, thus potentially involving the police's licensing powers.

The police said that they could not guarantee the tournament would not be raided, and the organisers had to postpone it rather than take the risk.

Leslie McGibbon, Poker Million Ltd spokesman, said: "We are extremely disappointed that an event scheduled to be watched by a global television audience and which would have been the biggest and most successful poker tournament cannot take place as planned despite the Gaming Board supporting the event. The police said they may intervene during the game."

Players, who had already paid their £7,000 stake money when it was put on hold, will receive a full refund. The Met believes the game, which was scheduled for 28-31 March, might be in contravention of sections five and six of the 1968 Gaming Act which determines whether the game is private or public.

Mr McGibbon said the game was seen as a private event by the Gaming Board but police disagreed. He said it was "very rare if not unprecedented" for the police to stop a match once the Gaming Board had approved it.

Mr McGibbon added: "We hope to iron out these difficulties but we cannot set a new date."