Casinos

Your local casino almost certainly runs poker tournaments. Often, poker is just an excuse to get you inside the casino, but there are also some excellent games. Good examples are Aspers in Newcastle, and the Vic in London, both of which have thriving cardrooms.

Clubs

Dedicated poker clubs have been springing up around the UK for years now - from the famous Gutshot in London, to the brand new Dusk 'til Dawn in Nottingham. Technically, many of these clubs are operating illegally, but they're no dingy spielers. You'll find some of the best run tournaments and friendliest people in your local poker club.

Home Games

If you want to play casual poker for small stakes, then home games are for you. If you can't get one together with your friends, you can find public home games listed on the internet.

Pubs

Due to changes in the law introduced this year, pubs will be able to hold poker games for small stakes for the first time. Get on to your local landlord and ask for a game to be introduced!

Universities

Many universities have poker societies, and often the games are better organised than local casino affairs. If you're a student, these are an ideal, friendly place to start playing live games. Wherever you choose to play, make sure you practice your shuffling before you go - as most games in the UK are self dealt (even in casinos), and brush up on basic poker rules - or your first excursion into the exciting world of live poker might be a short one!

British Poker Professionals

Many of the most famous professional poker players in the world are based in the USA, winning millions of dollars each year, and not staying quiet about it. It's well known that most of the biggest money tournaments in the world - including most World Poker Tour events and of course the World Series of Poker - are held in the States, and it's not cheap to travel that far on a regular basis. You'd think that would be a big disadvantage for British pros, but it hasn't stopped some of them building reputations of their own on the global stage. Some of our players to watch are:

Dave Colclough

Welshman Colclough, also known as 'El Blondie', has been tearing up the tournament trail for years. Some of his most impressive finishes include back-to-back final tables in the 2004 and 2005 WSOP $2000 Pot Limit Omaha event, a £70,000 win in Walsall in 2005, and a win and second place cash in the Omaha and Hold'em events in 2004's Euro Finals of Poker.

Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliot

The Devilfish is probably the UK's best known professional poker player and has been beating our biggest cash games and tournaments for decades. He wound down 2006 with a win at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas, and has kicked off 2007 with a win at the Gold Strike World Poker Open in Tunica. Devilfish is one of the original stars of Late Night Poker, the TV show that started it all.

Julian Gardner

Julian hails from Manchester and has had some of Britain's best finishes across the pond, with a huge second place finish in the 2002 WSOP followed by ten cashes in subsequent years. He's one of England's most popular and respected players, contributing to publications like 'Inside Poker' magazine and others.

Roland de Wolfe

Ex-journalist Roland de Wolfe is one of Britain's rising stars, with a first-place finish in the Irish EPT, three WSOP cashes, and three WPT cashes including a win in Paris in the last two years alone. He's taking part in more and more televised events and is a regular contributor to British poker publications.

The Hendon Mob

Who could forget the Hendon Mob - a group of players from the early Late Night Poker days who have become possibly the most recognisable faces in British poker. Consisting of Joe Beevers, Ram Vaswani and Barny and Ross Boatman, the Hendon Mob has millions of pounds in tournament winnings between them and run one of the friendliest poker communities on the internet, at www.thehendonmob.com.

John Gale

John is a fairly new player to the British scene, quitting his job after a massive win at the WPT Caribbean Adventure in 2005 to play poker professionally. Since then he's racked up millions of dollars in winnings and picked up a WSOP bracelet and five cashes including a runner-up finish on the way. John is known as one of the friendliest faces on the UK scene, with a bear hug always on standby.

We've mentioned just a few of Britain's top players - there are many more with excellent tournament finishes, and others who contribute to the British scene in other ways, through commentary, writing and promotions work. Let's also not forget the hundreds of professional cash game players, quietly raking in a fortune without a second's TV coverage. Poker in Britain is certainly a force to be reckoned with, and it can only get stronger in the years to come.