Barny Boatman

Barny M. P. Boatman is a British professional poker player and original member of the Hendon Mob. He had his first live-event cash in 1998 and in the first 13 years, Barny cashed 146 times, made 92 final tables, won 13 events, cashed at the WSOP 22 times, and earned over $2 million.

Barny was born in St. Pancras, London in 1956 and while growing up, his babysitter was future actor Dudley Moore. He left school early and was soon travelling the world, living and working in Barcelona, Australia, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka. Over the years he has worked as a bartender, journalist, computer programmer, builder, English teacher, and as a legal advisor in Bermondsey, where he never lost a trial.

In the early 1990s, along with his brother Ross, Barny started playing poker in the home game of Joe Beevers in nearby Hendon. Befriending Joe and the other regular player, Ram Vaswani, the foursome would travel and play poker together, soon becoming known as “The Hendon Mob.” In August 2001, thehendonmob.com was launched in response to the increasing interest in both the group and the game of poker. Today, Barny writes articles and runs the website, which is well-known as the most extensive database of poker players and their tournament winnings on the internet.

At the Torneo Di Poker 1998 in Nova Gorica, Barny made his first live event cash when he finished 7th in the L.500,000 Stud to earn L.21,400,000. He cashed 7 more times that year, including a pair of runner-up finishes for DM19,680 in the DM1,000 Stud at the European Open, and the DM1,000 PL Stud at the Hohensburg Championships.

In 1999, Barny cashed 8 times and won events at the Late Night Poker Warm-Up Cardiff, and the Helsinki Freezeout. In 2000, he cashed 17 times, won the Late Night Poker Series Cardiff and made the money at the WSOP twice, finishing in the Main Event for $39,120. Barny’s first cash of 2001 was at the WSOP, where he finished 33rd in the Main Event for $39,120. He went on to cash 6 more times, winning another Late Night Poker Series event.

Out of his 15 cashes throughout 2002, Barny’s biggest score was at the WSOP, where he cashed 3 times, finishing runner-up in the $1,500 PLHE to collect $77,160. He went on to win the £500 PL Stud for £18,620 at the European Poker Championships London, and finish runner-up in the €1,500 NLHE at the Helsinki Freezeout to earn €24,648.

In 2003, Barny cashed 14 times and won 3 events. His first win was at the Four Queens Poker Classic, where he took down the $300 PLO to earn $14,010. He also won the €1,500 NLHE for €27,342 at the Helsinki Freezeout, and won the £500 NLHE at the Christmas Cracker Luton to collect £17,220.

Throughout 2004, Barny cashed 15 times, which included 3 money finishes in the WSOP. He also was runner-up in both the £500 PLO for £13,440 at the European Poker Championships and in the £750 NLHE at the European Poker Classics to earn £25,270. To end the year, he had his first WPT cash when he finished 15th in the $15,000 NLHE Championship at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic to earn $49,008.

Barny’s 11 cashes in 2005 included his first EPT and WSOP Circuit event cash, and 4 WSOP cashes. His biggest cashes were at the Midland Masters, where he finished runner-up for £34,600 in the £1,500 LHE Main Event, and at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, where he finished 18th in the $15,000 Main Event to earn $64,400. In 2006, he cashed in 8 events.

Of his 11 cashes in 2007, Barny cashed in the WPT Five Star World Poker Classic, at the WSOP and the WSOP Europe, and finished 3rd in the £2,500 Grand Final at the Great British Poker Tour for £36,500. In 2008, he cashed 8 times, including cashing twice at the WSOP, and won an event at the Poker Million.

Barny also cashed 8 times in 2009, which included a WSOP cash where he finished 6th in the $5,000 NLHE Shootout to earn $16,739. He also took 4th in the €9,000 NLHE High Roller event at the WPT Marrakech for €41,017. In 2010, Barny cashed 7 times. He cashed at the WSOP and at the WSOP Europe he finished 13th in the Main Event for £42,454.

As of November, Barny had cashed 8 times in 2011. In January at the Aussie Millions, he made the money 3 times, finishing 4th in the Full Tilt Poker Invitational Shootout for A$50,000. At the 2011 WSOP Europe Cannes, he finished 51st in the Main Event for €21,475.

At the 2011 EPT in San Remo, Barny had the biggest cash of his career when he made the final table in the €4,600 NLHE Main Event, finishing 4th to take home €225,000.

As one of the best all-around players in the UK, Barny has been one of Europe’s top-ranked players in both Stud and Omaha during his poker career. Known as \\\”The Voice of Poker,\\\” he was one of the pioneers of poker on television, regularly appearing on the Late Night Poker television series. Barny has also been a commentator for the EPT, Poker Million, the Celebrity Poker Club, World Heads-Up Poker Championship, the Victor Chandler Poker Cup, the Poker Nations Cup, and for Fox Sports Net. He also starred in his own TV series called \\\”Barny\\\’s Home Games,\\\” where he attended home poker games throughout the UK.

Barny currently makes his home in Archway, London. When he is not working on the Hendon Mob website or playing poker, he enjoys sky diving, snowboarding, and scuba diving.