Northern Ireland is one of the very few countries in Europe that has laws in place that ban the organisation and participation of live poker games, an outdated law that needs to change.

It’s time for someone to give the sleeping lawmakers in Northern Ireland a nudge with a sledgehammer.

Christmas is a time for many things: family, turkey, and heading down to your local for the annual Christmas poker tournament. It’s tradition. It’s a great laugh. There is no harm done.

And yet, we play with the money hidden from view just in case we are raided by police because it’s illegal for us to be playing poker for cash in a pub without a license.