During my years at PokerStars, I got to do a fair amount of commentary for livestreamed tournaments, mostly on the European Poker Tour.
It was never my main gig, but the broadcast folks graciously let me come sit in for a couple of hours now and then. I got to hang out with legends such as James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton and talk about poker.
Live from Leicester Square
Fast forward two decades, and I was chatting with another legend, Kerryjane ('KJ') Craigie. KJ is the Director for Poker Operations at the Hippodrome Casino in London, and the creator of the Live Poker at the Hippodrome livestream.
They stream cash games every Friday with KJ and various guests doing the commentary. The formula seems to be working because their viewership numbers are strong and growing, a testament to the work that Kerryjane and her team are putting in.
All the commentary I’d ever done was for tournaments, and being exclusively a cash player, I thought it would be great fun to talk about a cash game. So I just came right out and asked KJ if I could join her in the ‘cupboard,’ as she calls it, some time. Much to my delight, she said, “Sure,” and we set a date.
On the appointed Friday, I wandered down through Soho en route to the Hippodrome and was tickled to recall that two decades prior I had recorded commentary for an EPT TV show with the aforementioned James Hartigan. In Berwick Street – the very road I was walking along. Life has a way of looping back on itself.
In the cupboard
I was welcomed into the PokerStars-branded poker room at the Hippodrome, and shown the space that serves as the broadcasting cupboard.
I put my headphones on, KJ showed me how to use the mixer, and we were off. I got important instructions such as, “Do not, under any circumstances, touch that laptop,” and, “We order dinner from the Heliot Steakhouse. If you like fish, the yellowtail is wonderful.”
The stream is on a 30-minute delay, with technical control in a completely different room. KJ mentioned that the actual location of the technical control room is a closely held secret, and very few people are allowed into it.
I did get to meet the technical wizard, Freddy, who popped in on occasion to make sure things were running smoothly. The very good news is that not Freddy, not anybody, can see live cards.
The $10/$25 no-limit hold’em game started around 7pm, so with the half-hour delay it was 7:30pm when we went on-air. Within minutes, I was just sitting with an old friend chatting about poker hands, the best James Bond actor, and whatever else the people in the YouTube chat wanted to discuss.
KJ missed her true calling
The time and hands flew by, and there’s one reason for that: Kerryjane Craigie was born to do this. Which isn't something you take for granted.
She runs a huge poker operation at the Hippodrome, is an Ambassador for PokerStars, and is the Vice President of the Women's Poker Association. Oh, and a fearsome tournament competitor.
There are a lot of skills and experience wrapped up in all of that, but they don't necessarily extend to being a sparkly poker commentator.
But sparkle she does. KJ has an unerring sense of when to talk about the poker (piles of chips are headed for the center) and to muse on the possibility of a female Bond (she's anti, I'm pro) when the poker is mundane.
She is also a Royal Ballet quality dancer of livestream propriety, standing en pointe on the double entendre knife edge.
This is a woman who realized that the acronym for 'Under The Gun,' has an anagram in 'TUG,' and now Hippodrome livestream newbies have to adapt to a different positional notation in the graphics. 'First to Act' ('FTA') turned into 'FAT' and we're off to the races.
She handles toxic chat trolls with a grace that belies her intolerance: "TrollBridge47, it's been lovely having you here. Please come back <24-hour timeout, click> this time tomorrow."
I mean, if she'd made a left, instead of right, turn on Shaftesbury Avenue, poker's loss would have been the West End's gain.
My two pence
Look, I'm a poker cash game junkie, so an evening spent with a friend watching people play cash poker for moderately silly sums – I was like a pig in, um, mud.
That plus a cappuccino would magically appear at my side (frighteningly close to the verboten laptop) just for the asking.
As I've told many people, I commentate and Discord this game far better than I play it – but man, on the mic, I'm a crusher.
Me: "You're sitting there with AK on an A-7-4-9-4 board, and your man checks to you. If he flipped up AJ and I told you to make him fold it, how much would you bet?"
KJ: "Would you please quit that?"
Me: "Probably not."
Me (throughout the evening): "What's his range? Stop thinking about the Heliot wine list, and ask yourself what's his range."
I've spent the last few years diving deep into poker strategy, particularly with Hungry Horse Poker. That evening gave me a chance to opine on hundreds of hand histories, live. Because I'm frequently wrong, but rarely uncertain, KJ and I had many exchanges like this:
KJ: "You reckon he'll call here?"
Me: "No way. All the draws came in, and he has a bad second pair. Even if the other guy was bluffing, most of the bluffs just got there."
(Two seconds later)
Dealer: "Call."
Like every good poker session, time melted into an amorphous blob, Leicester Square woke up, partied hard, and (mostly) went to bed. Then it was 3am, and KJ told Freddy to find a good hand to wrap up the evening (recall that we could see 30 minutes into the future). Freddy found a wicked cooler (no spoilers here) and then we packed it all in.
Good night, London
I had a wonderful walk back to my hotel, modulo the first few blocks where I had to wade through the all-night partiers in Soho. Then slept 'til noon.
Thank you to Freddy and his colleagues for making everything work, including locating and fixing a YouTube streaming problem in the first handful of minutes, the staff at PokerStars Live in London for making me feel welcome, the players in the $10/$25 game who kept me riveted with attention all night, and the chatters, pro and amateur, who sat on the rail with us to watch the fun.
A massive thanks to Kerryjane Craigie for giving me a seat in the cupboard. KJ, I hope you'll have me back sometime – as far as poker goes, that's the most fun I can have if they're not actually pitching (or sliding) cards to me.
Postscript
Walking home I read a handful of texts from American friends, of both genders, asking if Kerryjane is as attractive as she sounds on the mic (her Kentish accent is honey on the ears).
It's not for me to say – I could be stone blind and my friends' beauty wouldn't diminish a whit. But you decide for yourself.
If you've never watched the Hippodrome livestream, give it a click. There are no silly side games, so we get to watch people play four streets of unlimited Texas Hold Them, which I love.
Contrast this with many livestreams where the straddles and carnival games run the poker game off the rails, and people are ripping in stacks preflop with K5o because reasons.
Better yet, if you find yourself in London-town, walk into Soho, stop at Sushidog for a poke bowl, then continue south to Leicester Square and pull up a chair at the Hippodrome poker room.
If it's a Friday night and you're flush, you can put your name on the list to have Kerryjane Craigie and her guest announcers critique your play. Good luck.
Additional images courtesy of Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
