Real Name: Mark England
Username: BBMrDarkAngel
Mark has been around the poker scene for decades – he thinks he first played live poker in the Vic in about 1988, when you had to be recommended by a member, have a week’s cooling off period before you were let in, and wear a tie – and it was limit hold ’em or stud 7 only, too. He freely admits that he really didn’t know how to play, but he was hooked, continued to learn and still loves the game to this day.
He’s married to the long-suffering Helen with two adult kids, and lives in rural Worcestershire. He’s had a varied career – straight from university into management in the civil service, with a series of roles culminating in being a pollution inspector for the Environment Agency, before leaving to set up a thriving garden design practice. He reluctantly had to admit defeat to the recession in about 2013 after 10 enjoyable and successful years, and it was while waiting for the phone to ring in his studio that he decided to treat online poker seriously.
He had a sponsored online coach through Blue Blood and played six tables at once for 60 hours a week at the midstakes tournament grind for some years, making a decent living but never quite breaking through into the big time, before finally admitting once he hit his 50s that the intensity of concentration required is more of a young man’s game. He moved across the felt to become a professional dealer for Grosvenor Casinos and can now be found spinning cards and bantering with customers at Hill St Casino in Birmingham. He also had decent live tournament success: he chopped two 25/25s, cashed a GUKPT and has a World Series flag amongst many others. He still plays regularly and loves meeting up with Blue Blood members whenever he gets the chance, and if not in a card room you’ll find him skiing, cycling, in the gym (but not as often as he’d like), wild camping in some remote part of the British countryside, or just enjoying a quiet drink in the company of his friends.
