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Sleepless in Fulham: Rambling and gambling by David Young
Sunday, 26 September 2004
Looking for mugs.
In the latest edition of Card Player Europe, regular columnist Keith 'the camel' Hawkins bemoans the practice that has taken place in previous Amsterdam festivals of 'scalpers' buying up tickets and selling them at a profit to desperate punters just before events start. He informs readers that this year the Lido casino will be admitting alternates to any tournaments that sell out, meaning that players who are eliminated in the early rounds can be replaced by those who couldn't get in.

I support the casino doing this, but not for the reason that Keith gives. In the past, it's clear that demand has exceeded supply and the profit made by the scalpers represented profit that the casino could have made but didn't. Since I want poker operators to make money from poker, rather than roulette and blackjack, I don't mind them increasing their earnings this way. But I don't share Keith's disgust at scalping, because to me it cuts to the heart of what poker is really about: finding mugs. For some people, including myself, this means finding mug players. For some it means finding mug backers and for others it means finding mug sponsors!

I must confess that I have myself once sold a seat at Amsterdam for a profit. I had paid ?220 for it a few weeks in advance and was offered ?450 for it fifteen minutes before the event was due to start. I was happy to grab a profit and take the afternoon off that day. Imagine my delight at some mug buying my ticket!

And who was the mug who bought the ticket at this overblown price? If you guessed that it was Keith 'the camel' Hawkins, award yourself a gold star. Amazing, huh?

_ DY at 11:37 AM BST
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