Poker Player - Ross "Rocky" Boatman
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Ross Boatman played the role of Kevin Medhurst in the long running UK telelvision drama "London's Burning" bringing his acting skills into the public eye. He also has experience in theatre and film, including the award winning West End production of "Dealer's Choice" and the 2003 Mike Hodges film "I'll Sleep When I'm dead", in which he appeared alongside Oscar nominee Clive Owen, and Charlotte Rampling.
In spite of his acting successes however, Ross Boatman is far better known on the poker circuit as top poker player, who works as an actor from time to time! Ross is the younger brother of Barney Boatman, who is also a professional poker player, and the pair form one half of The Hendon Mob (Ram Vaswani and Joe Beevers being the other half!)
Ross was first introduced to poker by his brother, as you would expect. His brother would play poker with his friends, often when their parents went out, leaving Ross in Barney's care. Ross recalls " I saw these shiny coins and colourful cards. I said 'please let me play.' Sure I didn't have a clue what I was doing. Barney and his friends let me sit in. I just remember raking in these big piles of shiny coins, and that was it
[I was] hooked for a lifetime!" And this love for poker was also matched by a skill for the game that has earned Ross the respect of poker professionals the world over.
In 1992 Ross took up poker at a professional level. From 1998 to 2001, Ross made it through to four consecutive final tables in the Vienna World Series trial. In 2002 he made it through to his first World Series of Poker final in the Pot Limit Omaha event, and finished in 7th place. In the World Series of Poker $10,000 No Limit Hold'em main event of the same year, he managed to finish in the money, beating many other professional poker players to finish in 34th position.
Some of Ross's major tournament titles include:
- FF3,000 No Limit Hold'em Autumn Tournament 1999.
- £100 Pot Limit Hold'em Christmas Cracker 2001.
- 300 Pot Limit Omaha, Austrian Masters 2002.
- £2,000 No Limit Hold'em European Poker Championships 2002.
- 400 Pot Limit Omaha Irish Winter Tournament 2002.
- £200 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo British Open 2004.
His tournament winnings as of 2006 total in excess of $900,000 but he has yet to make a final table on the World Poker Tour.
Ross Boatman is a likeable character, who is easy going and good natured. At the table however, he is difficult to read and uncompromising. It may well be that his acting skills serve him well under pressure as his style gives no clues away as to his hand. And despite his impressive rise on the international poker stage, he remains self-effacing. His brother Barney was enthused about the importance of the Prima Poker sponsored tour in 2004 building a link between online poker and live play, saying "Prima Poker has brought poker up to a proper sport. It's big news I poker, big news in sports and big news in television!" Ross simply responded "It's big news in Hendon anyway."
For Ross Boatman, Las Vegas is the only place to be in order to pursue a serious Poker career, believing that professional poker does not enjoy the same status in Europe as it does in America. With the support of the Hendon Mob behind him, and his unquestionable poker skills, it is a near guarantee that Ross Boatman will continue to represent British Poker players at a professional level the world over.
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