It's time to start practicing your Poker face in the mirror again.

Now, we know that the Poker zeitgeist has passed, thanks to all those horrific Internet playing rooms and Ben Affleck endorsements.

However, the allure of Vegas is still potent (seems even Las Ramblas and Philippe Starck can't resist the neon lights) and besides, this event is not to be missed.

Next Monday, Albannach, the West End Scottish haunt, is hosting a Poker evening in their cocktail lounge, where guests will be taught by pros at training tables, given free chips to gamble with, and play for vintage bottles of whisky and gift vouchers (not to Boots, either).

Dinner will be sorted with Chivas Regal cocktails and canapés from Ramsay-trained JP McLachlan, and is, unexplicably, free of charge.

Admittedly, I've had my journalistic fingers burnt by promises of event ligging in the past - a free alcopop on entry and then charged £38 for a couple of brandies - but this event is genuinely gratis.

All you have to do now is sort your poker look.