The Hendon Mob

Renowned as some of poker’s most famous ambassadors, the Hendon Mob is a group of professional poker players from various parts of London. The name of the group came about from a publication by the Evening Standard in September, 2000.

Regarding their name, the Hendon Mob came about acquiring such an interesting title for various suggested reasons. The members of the Hendon Mob travel in a group of four, and often have had an accompanying fifth or sixth unofficial member that joins them at tournaments. The Hendon Mob has also been titled as such due to their persistent style of dress and fashion, dressing in all black and wearing dark shades to each game. Lastly, the Hendon Mob may have gained their title from one of their member’s place of gaming, which is Hendon, a district within London.

The members of the Hendon Mob have never faltered in their allegiance to one another, but have been known to play just as hard against each other in poker games as they do against their opponents. Notoriously so, some of the members might even go easier on their opponents than they do on each other!

Rounding up the mob are players Harry and Barny Boatman, the brothers out of Archway, North London. The brothers were playing home games in Barny’s home, and gradually moved into playing with Joe Beever, one of the other members of the mob. At Beever’s games, a regular named Ram Vaswani was invited to join them at their accompanying matches, and from then on in, they were officially the core of the group known as the Hendon Mob.

The Boatman brothers have quite a history with the game of poker, having started off playing at home and with various friends throughout the course of several years. Deciding to move into higher stake and more populated games, the brothers joined Joe “The Cheat” Beever’s games and started playing against larger groups. Beginning to win various poker tournaments throughout their inception, the Boatman brothers recruited Beever and Vaswani and decided to take their group touring to various areas of poker game play.

Joe Beever began honing his card skills at the age of 10, learning from his father how to count cards in Blackjack. By the age of 18, both Beever and his father had been banned from 21 of 23 London casinos at the time. Regrouping and pushing his talents into other areas, Beever began gambling on horse and dog races, gaining many confidantes and regular bet placers. It was at this point that Beever met Ram Vaswani, while Vaswani was interested in placing bets on dog races.

Ram Vaswani started his career off as a professional snooker player, snooker being a tabletop pool cue sport. Delving into playing cards, Vaswani found he had a knack for poker. Due to his involvement in Late Night Poker, the show the mob was invited to play on, Vaswani and the rest of the mob as renowned as the pioneers of poker television. When Vaswani became a regular at placing bets with Beever, the two decided to start a private table, inviting the Boatman brothers to participate. This led to the true gathering of the Hendon Mob.

Invited by Nic Szeremeta to partake in a late night televised poker series, titled appropriately as Late Night Poker, the group known as the Hendon mob began to play officially, ranking well among their peers in several tournaments.

Late Night Poker lasted from 1999 until 2002, gaining much popularity among poker aficionados and celebrities from their minimalist use of hand-showing cameras. Unlike other variations, the opponent’s cards were not shown until the climax of the hand, either the last card on the river being placed, or a player going all in. In many ways, this set a very suspenseful standard, in that the commentators could then elaborate on how to read the opponent’s hands and body language instead of just ignoring how to read your opponent and having the audience know their cards.

Among their poker playing peers in Late Night Poker, the Hendon Mob ranked favorably among audiences, becoming regulars on the seasonal game circuit. This led to their popularity increase and their eventual move into the World Series of Poker tournaments. The Hendon Mob regularly attended the World Series of Poker and has finished in the top 20, not as a whole, but individually for the most part.

A certain group to keep your eye on, the Hendon Mob has made quite a name for themselves among poker players and celebrities alike. Now sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, the Hendon Mob has made a big impression on the US tournaments of poker play. Staying true to their love for poker, Thehendonmob.com has one of the most complete and up to date poker player databases in the world, and if you have ever cashed in at a poker tournament, regardless of where, there is a good chance you will find yourself on it!

Barney Boatman Lifetime Winnings: $1,484,350

Ross Boatman Lifetime Winnings: $1,791,450

Ram Vaswani Lifetime Winnings: $3,274,588