| Joe Beevers | |
|---|---|
 Beevers with his trophy after winning the 2007 Poker Million | |
| Nickname(s) | The Elegance |
| Residence | London, England |
| Born | Joseph Charles Beevers 9 December 1967 (1967-12-09) (age 57) Marylebone,London, England |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 15 |
| HighestITM Main Event finish | 151st,2005 |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | 1 |
| Money finish(es) | 1 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 1 |
Joseph Charles Beevers (born 9 December 1967 inMarylebone,London) is an English professionalpoker player and a member ofThe Hendon Mob.
During his lengthy poker career, Beevers became one of the pioneers ofpoker on television by appearing in every series of Late Night Poker, where he made a record 3 grand finals.[1][2][3] Beevers also won the 2007Poker Million and finished runner-up in two further televised poker events.[4][5]
Beevers' father taught him how tocount cards inblackjack from age 10. His father also taught Beevers how to work outpermutations andprobabilities on aSinclair ZX81 computer. Beevers left school at age 16, and became a part of a card-counting team with his father and two others at age 18. They often played at the Sergeant Yorkes Casino inLuton, where they found acroupier who often paid out 3–1 on blackjacks, and sometimes also paid out when a player's hand was bust. The team eventually stopped playing as their success led to Beevers being banned from 4 Londoncasinos, and his father being banned from 19. Between them they were banned from 21 out of 23 London casinos. They also went to gamble onhorse racing events about three times a week.[6][7][8][9]
Beevers worked first forNatWest (as his father had done before him) then forCitibank inHammersmith. He went on to attendMiddlesex University as amature student towards of the end of his 4 years playing regular blackjack, and graduated with aBachelor of Arts Honour's degree inFinance andAccounting at the age of 24.[6][8]
Around this time, Beevers placeddog racing bets for future Hendon MobsterRam Vaswani inHarrow, and they later met in Luton, starting an ongoing friendship.[7]
Beevers began playing poker by entering a £10pot limitstudrebuypoker tournament during a blackjack session in Luton. He went on to regularly play in aseven-card stud game in North London, where he estimates he won £35,000 to start his bankroll. By the time he finished university, he was earning well enough from playing poker and giving lessons to teachers and other students that he never returned to office work.[9][10]
Prior to the emergence oftelevised poker, Beevers ran private poker games with Ram Vaswani. They played much pot limit Omaha there, which Beevers considers to be his preferredpoker variant.[11] It was in this game that they metBarny andRoss Boatman, the other two members of the Hendon Mob. Beevers began to travel to tournaments and won his first major event inAmsterdam in 1997. Upon winning, Beevers called hisflatmate at 3am and sangQueen's "We Are the Champions" down the phone to him.[6][12]
Beevers and the rest of The Hendon Mob were invited byNic Szeremeta to appear in the brand newLate Night Pokertelevision series, and supported the then-questionable idea of using ahole cam to make poker into a spectator sport.[6] Beevers appeared in all 6 series of the show, and is tied withDave Colclough for a record 10 appearances. Beevers made the Grand Final in seasons 1,[1] 4[2] and 5.[3]
Beevers was the first member of The Hendon Mob to cash in aWorld Series of Poker (WSOP) event, placing 14th in the $2,500 pot limitTexas hold 'em event in the1996 World Series of Poker.[13]
Beevers also finished as the runner-up both toJimmy White in the 2003 Poker Million and to Xuyen Pham in The Gaming Club World Poker Championship. He also finished on the TVbubble of theWorld Poker Tour (WPT)season 3 championship and finishedin the money of the2005 WSOP $10,000no limit hold'em main event.[4][5][14][15][16]
His major titles include:
As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,400,000.[25]
He is sponsored byFull Tilt Poker.[26]
Beevers has written over 40 articles[27] on The Hendon Mob'swebsite, the introduction to the European edition of Michael Kaplan's bookAces and Kings (ISBN 1-84529-298-7)[28] and two poker lessons forMatthew Hilger's websiteinternettexasholdem.com.[29][30]
Beevers' nickname "The Elegance" originates from the lifestyle he has been able to live through his poker winnings. He drives aPorsche 911 with the personalised number-plateJoe 911.[8] In fact, Beevers is the only member of The Hendon Mob who kept his original nickname given byVictoria Coren in the first article on them, in theEvening Standard in September 2000.[9] He is aseason ticket holder atWest Ham United F.C.[31]
Beevers lives inHendon with his wife Claire, whom he married at theBellagio inLas Vegas,Nevada at the conclusion of the 2005 WSOP.[6] He has twin daughters, born 21 February 2006, named Millie and Lola.[32]
