Sparked by Shane Warne’s departure from 888Poker, Lee Davy continues his confessions series with a little ditty about his brushes with celebrity stardom during his time in the poker circus.

Did you know there is a disorder known as Celebrity Worship Syndrome? It’s a bone fide disorder that affects people that become obsessed with the details of a celebrity’s personal life.

I have always been very anti-celebrity. I remember once being sat opposite the former Wales, Liverpool and everybody else striker, Dean Saunders, on a train ride home from Manchester. I texted my mate to tell him and he asked me to get his autograph. There was no bloody way I was going to ask him for his autograph. Although I did share my bag of crisps with him.

Then there was the time I was standing in the urinal next to the former Welsh footballer Barry Horne. I remember telling everyone that I got to see Barry’s Horne. I mean, come on. You’ve got to have a little look haven’t you? Although that wasn’t the case when I found  myself peeing next to the New Zealand winger Jonah Lomu, in a Swansea nightclub. I thought the size of it would create psychological scars from which I would never recover.

In all seriousness I think my celebrity phobia is based around my little man syndrome. I hate it when there is a hierarchy. I have no time for authority. I guess I view celebrity in this way. Either they believe they are a superior class, or I believe they believe they are a superior class. Either way, it bugs the shit out of me. I don’t know why I let it bother me. Most celebrities I have met all seem very nice and down to earth.

But I still get star-struck on occasion and poker has been fortunate to me on more than one occasion in this regard. One of the greatest things I love about poker is it breaks down social and cultural barriers. You can sit down next to Don Cheadle and shoot the shit whilst playing cards. There are no burly minders, no distance, no rules around what you can say and what you can’t.

Think about it.