Barny Boatman

“Barmy” Barny Boatman is the oldest of the Hendon Mob, born in London, England, in 1956. Before becoming a professional in poker, he tried his hand at many jobs – including work as a bartender, builder, English teacher, movie reviewer, computer programmer and legal adviser – working in various locations across Europe, Asia and Australasia. He did all these with few qualifications, leaving school at the first opportunity and often truanting whilst he was still a pupil.

It was whilst he was at school that he began to experiment with poker, playing with his friends when his teachers weren’t looking or when he was at home. He taught his brother, Ross, how to play and the two began to enter poker tournaments together. One fateful night they were invited to play in a poker game alongside Joe Beevers and Ram Vaswani. The four became good friends and soon became known as the Hendon Mob.

Boatman’s main game is No Limit Hold ‘em although he has also enjoyed successful in other areas. His began career at the 7-Card Stud table and in 1999 he was ranked as Europe’s best Stud player before winning the European 7-Card Stud tournament in 2002. He also topped the European ranking in 2000 and 2001 but this time for Omaha rather than Stud.

He has been present at final tables the world over – his appearances include the finals of the Master Classics, the European Open, the Irish Championships, the British Open, the European Finals of Poker, the Aussie Millions and the Poker Million. In 2002 Boatman became the first player to reach three consecutive World Series of Poker final tables.

2000’s final was Boatman’s first cash placing and, in the third of these finals, Boatman came close to his first WSOP bracelet in the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold ‘em as he finished second, earning $77,160. He almost made it four consecutive finals the following year but missed out by one seat. His career earnings at the start of 2007 exceeded $900,000.

Recently, Boatman has started to work as a television commentator for various poker events including the 5th and 6th series of Late Night Poker after reaching the grand final as a contestant in the 3rd and 4th series. He has also appeared on television on Barny’s Home Games, where he visited home games around Great Britain and the Hendon Mob have released a DVD instructing watchers on how to play poker.

After an almost tragic motorbike accident – and the loss of his younger sister Jo through cancer – Boatman looks to get the most out of life that he can. He enjoys travelling the world sky diving, scuba diving and snowboarding. Although he isn’t married and is yet to father any children, he is the godfather to Ross’ son.