Ram 'Crazy Horse' Vaswani

A talented sportsman, Ram is a former professional snooker player. he would probably still be playing that game at the highest level if he hadn't discovered his even more prolific talent for tournament poker.

Ram has always believed that he will be a world champion. He says it is 'nailed on', 'destiny'. This is not arrogance or bravado; it is Ram's natural optimism, enthusiasm and love of the game. No one who knows him would bet against it either.

Ram loves to gamble, he would bet on anything that moves, but when he plays poker it is a game of skill and it’s a war. He is respected and admired as a player with 'gears'. Many people believe he is Europe's best all round tournament player.

Joe 'The Elegance' Beevers

He went back to University to study Finance and paid his way by dishing out poker lessons to some of his teachers and wealthier classmates. He left with a BA Honours degree and a new trade! It's kept him in fast cars and designer suits ever since.

Joe has gained admiration and respect as a strong and consistent tournament pro. Career highlights include six final placings in eight events at the Paris poker festival. He won the 2002 European championship Omaha event the 2003 Irish Open championship and the 2004 Four Queens championship event. In 2005 he finished 7th in the WPT Championship event collecting $188,000 and went deep in the WSOP Championship collecting $46,000.

Barny Boatman

Barny Boatman is the only Mobster without a poker nickname. 'With a name like mine', he reasons 'Who needs one?'

He loves adventure and has always been a traveller, living and working in such disparate places as Barcelona Hong Kong and Sri Lanka. He has had countless jobs from barman to builder from teacher to journalist, and before turning to pro poker he was chief computer programmer for a multi national company. In recent years he has worked as commentator for countless televised poker tournaments including Late Night Poker, The World Heads Up, The Poker Million, Poker Million The Masters, The Victor Cup and 'Celebrity Poker Club'. In 2005 he recorded the first series of 'Barny's Home Games' a popular TV show in which he visits and plays in home poker games around Great Britain.

'It was a great game. There was this superstar raising every pot blind…I went skint.' Sounds familiar? Then read on. We've all been in a cash game either live or on-line where one or more players seemed to want to set fire to their money. How do you play against them? You should have a big edge, right? But so often it seems to go wrong.

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.

Those who have seen Phil Helmuth play will know that he loves to put someone on an exact hand, although experience shows that he usually puts you on a pair of eights. Is it possible though? Sure it is. Are we going to show you how? Sure we are (well we'll try to anyway).

Have you ever found that sometimes you start tournaments well and in others you just can't get 'tuned in'? Sometimes you make finals but when the money counts you make mistakes and have difficulty focusing? What should you do about it?