21-year old Holden, then editor of the Oxford student magazine, Isis, first met Al Alvarez (see Part One of the Poet Laureates of Poker), the editor of The New Poetry in 1968. He found him to be a warm, wise-cracking enthusiast . . . short and worried about his weight.

He has since joined Al at over a thousand poker tables. That is, when he has time away from his day jobs: once a speechwriter for Prince Charles, music and opera critic for the London Observor, and biographer of the Royals. He is a thorn in the side of Charles, with whom he has since fallen out, writing biographies to coincide with the Princes 30th, 40th, and 50th birthdays.

Of the Prince, Holden says, He is a puerile, bawdy, hot-blooded adulterer. Also a confidante of Diana, Holden writes, She has a husband who no longer understands her, nor even, it seems, much likes her.

Like Alvarez, among his 29 books is one just one on poker. Yet he says, When people say they have read my book, I know which one they are talking about. They are, of course, talking about Big Deal, his account of a year as a poker pro from 1988-1989.

People may know about the Holden book because of this single quote, which has earned him a place in poker literature: "Poker may be only a game, but it is not a matter of life and death. It's a lot more serious than that."

He traveled the globe on the poker circuit, coming close to being busted out of his original $20,000 stake many times. He writes about playing against Stu Ungar, World Series of Poker champion and perhaps the greatest poker player in the world, during his decline from cocaine. He looked like a stick insect, writes Holden, who won a big pot from him in a tournament. He played in the personal guest house of the King of Morocco and recounts the hilarious story of Amarillo Slim Preston (self-styled as the Worlds Greatest Gambler) riding a camel through the magnificent palace to win a bet.

The end result of his year on the road: a profit of $12,300. Big Deal is scheduled for release as a production of Celadon Films in 2007. His son, Joe, is doing the screenplay and Hugh Grant has been mentioned as the lead.

Bigger Deal is in the works. In Bigger, Holden does it again a year as a touring pro between 2005 and 2006. This time, he says, Im keeping my day job. His first stint in poker tournaments around the world was motivated by a public falling out with his boss, Rupert Murdoch, in front of the Queen of England.

There are a lot of differences in the culture of poker between Big and Bigger. In 1988 there were about 200 participants in the championship event of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the top prize was $700,000. In 2005 there were more than 5600 players and the top prize was $7.5 million. Poker now seems to be on TV, 24/7. $60 billion per year is wagered on internet play.

I realize with a sinking heart, Holden told Victoria Coren of the Observor, that the game I have loved for nearly 40 years as a romantic, seedy, maverick outpost of la vie boheme has now become just another branch of corporate-logo American capitalism.

Holdens latest book (2005) is The Remarkable Life of Leigh Hunt: Poet, Revolutionary, and the Last of the Romantics. Among Hunts poems:

Jenny Kissed Me

Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in!
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.

See Part One (Al Alvarez) and Part Three (James McManus) of the series, Poet Laureates of Poker.

(c) 2006 Murphy James