Poker Player - Vicky Coren
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Vicky Coren is one of the most intriguing poker players around. She is a talented player, one who has a major win to her credit. A true Renaissance woman, she is famous for a great deal outside the poker world.
Coren, born in 1972, is an Oxford graduate with an impeccable pedigree – her father is the late journalist Alan Coren, and her sister is famous journalist Giles Coren. Vicky Coren has been a writer since age 13, when she wrote for the Daily Telegraph. She has written many successful books, including Love 16, King Lear: Fathers and Daughters and Once More, With Feeling about her attempt to make a porn movie.
Writing is just part of her skills. She is a presenter of the BBC show Balderdash and Piffle, and BBC Radio’s Off the Page. Her television and writing skills alone would make her an incredibly successful person. Coren however, is also an excellent poker player, one of the best in Europe. Her live tournament earnings are over $1 million and she is a frequent Hold ‘Em player at London’s Victoria Casino.
Her biggest claim to fame is winning the main event of the EPT-London in 2006, beating an Australian poker pro heads up for the title. She has appeared on Late Night Poker, and worked as a commentator on William Hill Poker Grand Prix 2. Coren plays on Paradise Poker online, and she is friends with the Hendon Mob, the famous group of English poker players.
She is also an outstanding cash game player, writes poker columns on the side, and essentially is involved in several creative outlets. Coren’s creative skills and analytical skills have transferred well to poker. For such a well-rounded person, she plays a mean game of hold ‘em and is especially adept at pot limit. In many interviews, Coren comes off as a life-loving, intelligent person who enjoys poker and working on all her various endeavors.
Coren isn’t as well known in the U.S., but she is one of the biggest stars in Europe. Her on air charm and her poker skills and refreshing honesty make her appealing as a star. Coren’s heads up in win the EPT came with 6-7 to a 3-4-5 flop. Her opponent had 6-8. She was able to fade the 7, which would have given him a bigger straight, to take down first place.
Coren credits the Hendon Mob for much of her poker development and her story on the group helped them combine and market themselves, which has helped promote poker in England. The group is affiliated with Full Tilt Poker and plays online there.
Coren is one of the biggest stars in poker, and will only get bigger and better from here. Like many poker players, Coren would be a huge star whether or not they played poker or not. Her writing skills combined with her on-air talents would be enough to take her a long way. But her poker playing ability has introduced her to an all-new group.
It has also shown that successful people in life are often successful people in poker. Coren has certainly been all that, and she’s not done yet.
“Heavens no, I hope not!” she said in an interview. “Poker has been wonderful to me.”And Coren has been wonderful for poker, and will likely continue to be.
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