Out NOW!! Issue 34

Picture the scene: The semi-finals of the World Cup. England have finally won a penalty shootout against the old enemy Germany to win a place in the fi nal. Meanwhile, in the other semi, a late Cristiano Ronaldo piledriver has sent home a brave Croatia team who’ve punched above their weight through the whole festival. Riding high, England go forward to the final with their heads held high, particularly as the mercurial Portuguese forward is likely to miss the game with a late injury caused by a bout of over-celebration. Except, England won’t get to face a Ronaldo-less Portugal. FIFA, to drum up more support for an already slavishlysupported game, have postponed the final till November, a full 4 months after the semis. ‘It’s for the good of the game’ say FIFA. ‘It will create increased anticipation and make the game even bigger than ever (plus, the players involved will get some nice fat contracts out of it when they go home)’. Sound implausible? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening to the World Series of Poker, as Harrah’s, in their infinite wisdom, have decided after 2 months of poker mayhem to postpone the final table of the $10,000 main event until autumn.

Terrified of another Big Namestarved final (the last few winners have all been unknown amateurs), the 4-month gap will give rise to all kinds of opportunities, corporate, financial and personal. But the accusations of collusion will continue to fl y over the intervening months. Flush columnist Rick Theobald goes into more detail on the possible implications on p.28.

Among the thousands of poker players descending on Sin City for the Festival of mayhem will be the Brit contingent, hoping to secure glory for the boys and girls back home. We gathered a few of the young British hopefuls preparing to mix it up with the usual mix of celebrities, top names, internet kids and drunk Scandinavians. Well, it wouldn’t be a poker event without drunk Scandinavians would it?

Jon Young, Editor

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