It seems that everyone from City slickers to suburban housewives are chip 'n visor happy about poker these days.

Very convenient timing - you'd think - for the London Poker Open, which opens next week. Although 'Open' is a bit of a misnomer because it's only really 'open' to people who've got ten thousand dollars lying around to pay the entry fee.

Mind you, the exchange rate is pretty favourable right now and just look at what that ten grand gets you. For a start, the chance to breathe the same, undoubtedly smoky, air as celebrities such as John McCririck, Willie Garson (Stanford from Sex and the City) and, erm, Nicholas 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' Gonzalez.

And then there's the prize money: two million dollars is up for grabs. Although, to be honest, we'd want that just for sitting in the same room as John McCririck for three straight days.

But if you're serious about this maybe you should get some practice in over the weekend. The Clooney/Pitt-endorsed Ocean's 13 casino in Vegas is yet to be built, but there's always the slightly less glamorous, but much closer to home, Gutshot Club on the Clerkenwell Road. No George or Brad, but their tournaments start at the £5 mark and we're pretty sure of no John McCririck, either.