In this week’s confessions series, Lee Davy, talks about some of the characters in his local home game, and why their attitude towards the game blends in with the success of the PokerStars Spin & Go format.

I have just come off the phone, from a conversation with my mate Steve. We always have a little chat the afternoon after our local home game. We’re gossiping. We talk about how lucky people are, who unlucky others are, who deserves to win, and who deserves to lose.

I use this time to give my friend some advice. Steve loves the game, but it’s his love for the game that gets him into trouble. He plays too many hands, sees too many flops, and loses more money than he wins. I know I shouldn’t give him advice. I should take his money. But I like Steve. He’s a solid bloke. He’s salt of the earth.

“You just don’t get it Ching.” He told me when I castigated him earlier for ruing a hand he played where he folded, instead of chasing a one-outer that duly arrived. “I don’t play to win money. I love the game. The money is a nice bonus. But twice I week I sit down and play. I’m in my element. Like a pig in shit.”

Steve used to have a nasty habit on the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs). He used to tell me that they would wink at him, and beckon him over like a young woman in a pair of fishnet stockings. That was an expansive affair. He never complained though.

“I loved every penny I spent.” He once told me.

Gary is another one of the boys. He likes the wheel. He has a system, and it seems to work for him. I use the word ‘seems’ because I know that the outcome is generated by luck. I guess he’s a very lucky man. He loves it though.