Competitions: August 2002

August 2002 Winners were Gordon MacMahon, David Young & Endo Denman

Here it is: The most keenly awaited decision since they put the clock on Michael Arnold when he fell asleep in the middle of ordering a sandwich! It's Vicky's picks.

We asked journalist and poker player Victoria Coren, a regular and popular contributor to the Mob Forum, to select her favourite three postings from last month. Congratulations to the three winners who each receive a fabulous prize which makes the ubiquitous Hendon Mob T-shirt look like the cheap marketing gimmick it quite frankly is. The talented trio who have tickled Vicky's fancy will each receive a personally dedicated copy of Vicky's hilarious new book 'Once more with feeling' in which she and her co-author tell the true story of their attempt to make the best porn film ever. Here's what Vicky said and the posts she picked:

"It's a shame there weren't any episodes of 'Poker Big Brother' this month - as of course that would definitely have won!.. the world is gagging for more episodes!"

"My first pick is The posting from Gordon MacMahon about "UK poker progression" and how tournaments will run in future. He is perfectly in tune with the unique demands of the Hendon Mob Forum, i.e. being funny while also making good observations about poker. I usually cheat and talk about something else entirely. And the line about working in McDonald's is brilliantly timed."

Read Gordon's Post

"I have picked the one from David Young about Dundee because it does one of the great things that poker web sites can do, which is get across the atmosphere of a tournament for people who can't attend themselves. For someone like me who hates flying, it's a great service to get reports which don't just tell you the results but help you to imagine being there. It one also reminded me of the Poker Million on the Isle of Man (eight hours by road and sea), and that rainy day in Douglas when I saw an enormous Texan in a black hat trying to buy a local paper in a tiny shop with a £50 note peeled off a wad. The shopkeeper was so baffled."

Read David's Post

"The post from "Endo Denman" about Eskimos is an appropriate winner because - although the writer is obviously being satirical - what he doesn't know is that everybody in our porn film DOES ACTUALLY SPEAK LIKE THAT. Reading his post brought back happy memories of the day that one of our leading actors (a 35-year-old Dutch gigolo) didn't explain that he was dyslexic until five hours into the shoot. That's the reason why the first scene of our movie is completely incomprehensible."

Read 'Endo's' Post

Thanks to everyone for the hundreds of great postings and emails we get every month. We enjoyed this competition so much we have decided to give something to our favourite posting every month from now on. This month we'll reward the top forum posting with that most classy and classic sartorial item, a Hendon Mob T-shirt ! Or a cap if you prefer. Not enough ? OK, you'll also get free £25 bet on the Master Classics of poker, and that's in addition to the free £20 bet you'll already be getting if you take up our offer and open an account with Betfair through this site.