Once upon on time, long ago, there was a merry band of players, not Robin Hood and his Merry Men, but fairly close. You know them as ‘The Hendon Mob’. This isn’t a fairy-tale ending, but the beginning of a new era for one of that famous gang of four. Joe Beevers is one of that gang, which was responsible for many of us taking up poker, pre-Internet days (circa 1999).

    If life is good to you and you manage to reach your 40th birthday, you may well experience a phenomenon called ‘the mid-life crisis’, a time where everything comes on top, it all goes  pear-shaped and you live on tilt. For one man that myth or fact has never been so far away, for Joe ‘The Elegance’ Beevers has just suffered a mid-life blessing. Joe and his compadres in The Hendon Mob are and will always be the Daddies of British Poker, but 2007 was a very special year for Mob Don Joe – it was the year he sanctified just why the Mobsters merit the respect of the British public.

      In 2007, Joe pulled in $1.3 million of his lifetime’s documented tournament take of $2.3 million. One of the victories – the Ladbrokes Poker Million – has launched him into the next echelon of an already landmark career.

      Joe’s life clearly has taken a huge change from the smoky existence he once dwelled in, and the reason is clear. I picked up Joe from Nat West Bank in Hendon en route to his house, to the usual droll tones of, “I’ve never been in one of these, and I don’t know whether I should be seen in this,” as he got into my little Orange Smart Cart. Joe held a huge bouquet of flowers, which I thought was a little over the top if he thought he was going to seduce me into writing something nice about him. But those flowers may give you a clue as to why ‘The Elegance’ has gone from hero to legend in one year (let’s not worry about his previous 22 years of poker play).

    Because image and record play such a part in the standing of a poker player, this win provides a move up world rankings equivalent to a Sumo wrestler’s transition from Big Fat Son of a Gun Master (‘Ozeki’) into a Tsunami of Danger, a Grand Champion (‘Yokuzuna’). Something special happened to Mr. Beevers at the end of last year to gain him back-to-back wins in the Gala British Poker Tour Grand Final and the Ladbrokes Poker Million, along with a seat at the final table of the first WSOP Europe H.O.R.S.E. event against the best in the world, all in the space of a few months.

    Something that changed his play and win rate, from a steady casher ($1 million-plus – don’t you wish you were that bad?) to a fully accepted member of poker’s big knobs, now with more than $2.3 million to his name. Just what has changed Joe from a respected runner to a bookie’s favourite? What has blessed this man? 

They Say It’s Your Birthday…

A couple of weeks earlier, I received an invite for Joe’s 40th, a bit like getting a ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, for Joe Beevers is a man who embraces life and friendship in a way becoming of a saint. He also knows the true meaning of giving, generosity and making you feel good. That night Joe got to sing along with the famous Cockney Band Chas and Dave. He sang, ‘I am forever blowing bubbles’, the anthem for his beloved team, The Hammers. He is a man of tradition and a historic part of European poker’s history. Along with that, Joe seems to possess a spiritual understanding of poker players. He embraces and feeds the poker community, and is without doubt, a true British Gent.

    We sat back in Joe’s lounge in his Hendon home with a nice cup of Rosey Lea for our interview. I told him I wanted to christen him The Hitman, as he fitted the image so well, always smiling and charming and a man who made so many strong decisions.

    Joe left school at 16 and went into the world of banking, ending up at Citibank before deciding it was time to go back to Uni at 23 and get a degree.

      Was he always so elegant?

      “It’s funny that life is all about decisions, just like a poker hand – before flop, on the flop and game choice. The best thing I ever did then was to go back to Uni. Many of my closest friends came from University. My friends really got me through the degree; Jane, who was one of my best friends at Uni, did a lot of my course work for me. I wasn’t so good at opening Excel spreadsheets then, a bit of a handicap in a business course.  I went to Uni for fun and an easy life. I had a Porsche 911 by the time I was graduating, but that was from poker and blackjack. Friends are so important, I met Claire through a poker friend – she is my life with the kids.”  

Introduction to Poker

Joe had a very special introduction into the world of poker and gaming: “For my 18th birthday, my dad took me to the Golden Nugget. He died 15 years ago, but he taught me to count cards and how to back horses. We used to get the money from the casino and give it back to the bookies,” recalled the laughing cavalier.

      “My dad was amazing with figures, and if I had a choice of heads-up poker with anybody, it would be him. Poker is not all about money, but he was great at numbers. We would go in the casinos and spend half the time avoiding getting caught. You had to be reasonable – it was hit and run for small amounts.

      “Just before we got barred from The Sportsman, we had three inspectors with folded arms standing right by us. In total, we were barred from 21 casinos; well, I was only barred from two.      “Horse racing was a big part of our life, going to the races three or four times a week, sometimes twice a day.”

      I got the feeling he loved being a bit of a rascal in those days.

    Poker came to Joe when he was invited by some blackjack player to play in a £10 stud game at Sgt. Yorke’s in Luton, and from there he spent about a year paying to learn the game. “I used to watch what the winners did and avoided playing like the losers. I read lots and took as much info in as I could.”

      By the time Joe had finished Uni, he was making enough from poker to retire into the world of smoky home games, which he himself ran for five years or so.

      One day dog betting saw him stumble into a character that he would forge a lifelong friendship with.

      “My friend sent me to a phone box, he told me to wait there and when the phone rang I should answer it and back the horse I was tipped by the phonester. The call came telling me to back trap 5. I rushed into the shop and the dog had gone from 4-6 to 1-3. It came in fifth and my mate did his £200. One week later, I went to a private game, a man entered and the voice was that of the tipster on the phone – it was Ram Vaswani.”

       In the early days, most of Joe’s poker income came from the private-game circuit, and every single Monday night for five years, Joe and Ram held one of London’s most successful private games. With food and hot drinks on tap, Joe’s hospitality along with his play would often provide for 24-hour games with piles of cash flowing. As a novice in 1999-2000, I used to bump into Joe at the £20 squidder at the infamous Stakis Russel Square Casino (the ‘Dungeon’) as well as the Luton Grosvenor and The Vic. In those days, that was pretty much it for British poker. It was an arena that was growing, purely on the back of the TV series Late Night Poker.

     Later, Joe and Ram would join forces with fellow players Barny and Ross Boatman to form a group that travelled Europe, known now as The Hendon Mob. Joe got the nickname ‘Elegance’ from Victoria Coren in the first article writtten about the Hendon Mob in The London Evening Standard in 2000. The four were the first big stars of British poker. 

The Mob Begins

The team did well and in 2000, formed a website, thehendonmob.com, originally devised to attract sponsorship prior to the days of Internet poker. The site now is a major force in the poker community, attracting 175,000 unique visitors a month.

      But back then, The Mob was looking for sponsorship.

      “I wrote to 50 companies looking for sponsorship to the Poker Million on The Isle of Man, from BA to Virgin, etc. I  got three replies: Two said no, and  Red Bull said they were into extreme sport, but kindly sent me three cases of Red Bull that kept me up for two weeks. Eventually, we got there. Our first sponsor was Betfair and then we signed Europe’s biggest sponsorship deal with Prima, which lasted about 2.5 years. Finally, we met the perfect match in Full Tilt Poker, which as far as I am concerned is for life.”

    Was there ever pressure on the ultra-cool Beevers? “No, it’s always been fun. The Mob have never professed to be the best or fantastic poker players. I am not as good as Danny Negreanu and if only I knew half of what Phil Ivey does. Our lives started in smoky rooms. We were playing pre-Internet, pre-Scandinavians, and we wanted to do it. We weren’t scared to go on TV with Late Night Poker. We didn’t mind if people saw how we played.”

    Joe and the Mob were unique. What does Joe feel today’s player can do to get similar sponsorship opportunities?

      “We were very lucky and had great timing. We were there at the beginning, so people came to us. To emulate us now would be so hard. You need to earn and build sponsorship. I suggest: learn, study, embrace and learn again. Exposure helps, either by writing, helping or winning big. Only winning the WSOP really counts, but less so than before. Unless you are an awesome talent like Ivey, you’ve got to be a great writer, a huge personality plus a unique hook. Don’t ask me what.” 

A Few Tips

I ask Joe for a few winning tips. He comes up with: 

•    Try and play like Roland 

•    Try and be lucky like Roland

•    Be patient

•    Work hard

•    Timing     

Joe, of course, is a friend of Roland de Wolfe, and said these words in a complimentary manner, but at the same time, I must make you aware that he does have a wicked humour. Joe is Old School, he comes from deep inside the world of gambling, where honour and respect are key words. When the Internet first came about, you would see faceless gamblers slowly appear at live events, easily recognisable by their persistent all-in moves with ace-crap. At that time it was Old School versus New School and you know what they say: ‘The cream always rises to the top’, a little like the Beevers family. 

Nappy Factor

Claire Beevers, his stunning wife of two years, had just entered the house, and after she asked Joe, “What have you done” as he presented the flowers, we got a minute to chat.

      How do you feel about Joe’s amazing win, I enquired: “I am very happy, proud; no, I didn’t coach him, but I am a very supportive wife. Channing [poker pro Neil] told us it had something to do with the ‘Nappy Factor’. After your first child, you are blessed with a fantastic year, but I had twins,” beamed Claire, who, like Joe, makes you feel part of one big happy family.

      Have you bought any new shoes from the winnings? “No, I just bought a new house out of the winnings. Well, Joe said it is my birthday and Christmas present in one.”

       Joe and Claire have two beautiful twins who are nearly 2, Millie and Lola. When the kids saw the Poker Millions trophy, they kept saying ‘Kismass’, thinking it was a Christmas tree. The good news is that Joe has since taught them to say ‘Poker Million Champ’. So here is a little clue to the new Joe Beevers, from casher to big basher – the man does have family as inspiration.

    The Ladbrokes Poker Million with its $25,000 buy-in (and $1 million first prize) was an event Joe had some history with. In 2003, he had finished second to Jimmy White. The format was a six-seater shootout, leading to two semis with three qualifying from each.  

Man With a Plan?

Did he have a plan or new strategy to beat the Poker Million this time?

    “My plan was to get all the chips. It was weird, the heats and the finals were all four to five hours long. Chips and levels dictated that mistakes were expensive. In the final, my mindset was to make  correct decisions, but in the heat I was prepared to take strategic chances.”

      Was the final lineup a good one?

    “It was very tough – anyone could win. Julian Gardner and Marty Smith are players I would model myself on, if I were starting out. Howard Lederer was the second out, unluckily. It was an unforgiving table. Liam flood was another who played his very best poker, and he changed his game. Ian Cox could have won, but I was luckiest on the night.”

    What about the final hand against Smith? Did you hold your breath? What did you pray? I ask.

    “I don’t remember it,” says Joe as we both crack up with laughter. “Putting aside religious beliefs, what will happen, will happen, and don’t beat yourself up. It’s bad luck to be superstitious.”

    So just how much of winning is luck?

    “Playing good, playing winning poker, even with correct decision-making, the smallest piece of luck can affect the result. You need a little luck – you only have so many shots in a big event…Barny [Boatman] could have been a WPT champion, he could have won the 2003 Main Event if his kings weren’t beaten by A-K. He has made three WSOP finals and should have won them all, if it wasn’t for being unlucky.”

      What else helps?

      “It also helps when I am mentally and physically fit. I get the best results when I am in a sports regime. It’s all about focus.” 

Hitman Beevers

So 2007 saw the advent of ‘Hitman Beevers’ – my new name for the red-hot player who took two of Europe’s most prized events back-to-back, and final tabled the WSOPE H.O.R.S.E. I played with Joe throughout the H.O.R.S.E., a mixed game where an analytical business mind like Joe’s will give him the edge over the less-controlled gambling lunatics who are attracted to this mother of a game.

      Something happened, whether it was the spell cast by ‘Chas and Dave’ at his birthday, the Nappy Factor or – was there something else? I wanted to squeeze the secret out of Joe: What did he chant, what lucky charm did he have – had he been taking lessons?

    “In 2007, I only played 15 or 20 tourneys in total,” he says. “It’s hard to win when you might be playing with 500, 700 or 1,000 players, but I played three WSOP events, cashed in two. I played two WSOPE and made the final H.O.R.S.E. I made one Grosvenor final, played four GBPT events and won the final. Seven cashes and two victories. I chose what I wanted to play and played them good. I play when I feel good, and if I feel good, I play good. I got my two biggest results back-to-back.”

      Joe’s record was sensational (69 cashes) without these wins, and to win a million is still a tremendous feat, but when you are a member of one of the world’s most famous poker clans, you will always be up for criticism. Winning these major prizes will push Joe into the second phase of his poker career.

    “I am more relaxed, happy with life, and when you are happy things go your way. You know, I don’t think a year in advance. I just go and give it my best shot every time. I am secure, have great family and friends and the right mental  attitude. My attitude has improved and in turn I make better decisions.”

    So whom has Joe learnt most from?

      “Hemish Shah, who died seven years ago,” he answers. “I learnt attitude and poker friendship. I don’t idolise, but I have respect for many. Poker players are normal people, though some aren’t so normal. However, there are a lot more normal ones these days.”

      If you have ever seen a film called Being There with Peter Sellers playing a deity-like philosopher called Chancey the Gardner, then you might have some respect for this answer. For Joe Beevers is a wise man, and not a bad role model for poker players.  

The Future

Will the world change for Joe, now that he has banked another million and won a major? Not likely.

      “This year will be dictated by my family and children. I will spend six weeks in Vegas and play a dozen events, instead of three. I am a little more hungry, but very choosy.”

    Your success…apart from yourself, who would you like to thank?

    “I thank Catman for the interview, and my friends and family who support me,” he says simply.

    This man needs to become a priest or something similar, I jest.

    In my many interviews of poker stars, I try to learn a little more to improve my own game of life and poker. For example, Phil Hellmuth told me he has only learnt patience in the last two years.

      Joe Beevers really has learnt something much more powerful, something that changed his game in the year 2007. Yes, he loves and enjoys poker, but without sounding a softie, Joe has found true love and happiness in his wife and family.

    Perhaps to be good you need to be happy, and Joe Beevers is deservedly a very happy man, and very successful, too.

Catman is Europe’s leading poker agent. Contact him at www.thepokeragency.co.uk .