Kevin Allen is a renowned cash game professional from London. The Tottenham Hotspur supporter has also won huge live events, such as the GUKPT London Main Event for £158,700, which featured Will Kassouf, Ben Jackson and Matt Davenport at the final table.
Renowned for his dedication to poker, he is as tough as they come at the felt, but the ultimate happy family man away from the poker table and his cheeky smile is his regular pose among the Brit Pack on the rail whenever he’s not at the final table himself.
How will Kevin Allen deal with our 15 bigs, though?
If you were to be shot at dawn, what would be your last meal/drink?
A home-made curry by the missus, she could bring it along in the slow cooker while they were loading the rifle alongside an ice cold cider!
You’re on a long-haul flight and can only choose one TV Show or Movie to watch on repeat, which is your pick?
Only Fools and Horses. No many how many times I watch episodes, they never fail to make me laugh.
Stranded on a desert island, you have one book for company until you are rescued. What is it?
There’s Only One Clive Allen. School books aside, it was the first book I ever read. It could keep looking at pictures of some of the family [Kevin is related to Clive]. They’d lift morale until I was rescued.
That’s positive thinking. What’s the song you could listen to on repeat forever?
Tracy Chapman – Fast Car. I just love that song.
We have to agree on that one.
What’s your favourite place to play poker and why?
Las Vegas. It’s the most amazing place to play poker. There’s nowhere else in the world that you could win a big pot off someone in a cash game and they high-five you and say what a great hand it was!
Where’s your favourite non-poker holiday destination?
I took the family to Egypt once, Sharm El-Sheikh. It was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. Taking the kids out snorkeling and spotting Moray eels; we all still talk about it to this day.
You can play poker every day for a year or play no poker for a whole 12 months – which do you choose?
This one is easy! I still absolutely love poker. No way could I go a whole year without playing the beautiful game.
Who is the person you don’t have around anymore that you miss the most?
My Grandad. He was a gambler all his life. He passed away a few weeks before I had my biggest score at the time at Dusk Till Dawn. It still hurts me to this day that he wasn’t around to see it as he would have been smiling from ear to ear looking at the cheque.
Which person would you most like to meet but never have?
There’s not anyone I would like to meet; I’m not a person that gets giddy when I see a celebrity.
When’s the last time life put you on tilt?
It’s very hard to put me on life tilt. No matter how bad things get, I always try and stay upbeat and positive. You have to be when you have three kids, as they are always watching and learning from you.
You can’t play it yourself…so which family member do you trust with your $10k WSOP Main Event entry?
My brother Richie. He’s played the Main Event before and has a very decent no-limit hold’em game. He also has a lot of gamble in him and wouldn’t be afraid when the big money came into play.
What’s your best poker skill?
My mindset for sure. I don’t tilt and I battle on whatever the game throws at me.
And your biggest leak?
My biggest leak without doubt is bankroll management. I’m always over spending and when I’m flying I’m constantly looking out for others as I hate seeing other people have money struggles.
If you became the world’s first global president what would be your first unbreakable rule?
To scrap the 40-hours a week workload. Let’s all have a long lay-in!
You have just ten seconds to call anyone in the world on the phone… but what do you say?
I would call my beautiful girlfriend Rachael and tell her how much I love her and the kids.
For a hard man to beat the table, what a softie he is at heart. You might want to avoid getting into a pot with him in cash games because he’s such a pro, but you can follow Kevin Allen on Twitter and enjoy his thoughts on poker and sports. We reckon he used his 15 bigs well, doubled up and soon made chip leader!
