Nice guy Jonathan ‘Skalie’ Kalmar saw victory sail away at the Ladbrokespoker.com Caribbean Cruise in January. Kalmar, from Lancashire, had led the field throughout until he got hijacked by Eirik Bjorklund’s pocket Queens with land in sight. Kalmar, who came 82nd in the World Series of Poker Main Event last year, had taken 919,000 chips into the final – nearly a third of the 3.2m in circulation at the $5,500 tournament. Sinking feeling

However, his luck turned when he went moved all-in on Bjorklund. The Norwegian had flat-called a short stack’s 205,000 attempt to steal the blinds and had to think long and hard before calling the notoriously aggressive ‘Skalie’ with pocket Queens.