New Paddy Power Strip Poker Champ Crowned

Not much we can add to this one. John Young, a 32-year-old freelance writer from the outskirts of London, bested about 200 other contestants to win the first prize of 10,000 pounds (nearly $19,000) and the title of the first World Strip Poker Champion.

The contest itself was a publicity fluke, growing out of an April Fool's post from Paddy Poker. Nonetheless, it turned into a fun concept and an easy headline for poker writers in a slow news week. Still, it's fun to see just how some of the mainstream media handle such an event, and it's often hard to tell what's presented tongue-in-cheek, and what isn't. As in the case of the report on the RedOrbit site, and its perhaps-unintentional "Click to Enlarge" caption (below).



Umm, no. I'm reminded of the passages from Al Alvarez's seminal The Biggest Game in Town, where he describes how poker quickens the blood, if you get what he means.

Funny that that's not mentioned in any of the news reports on the Paddy Poker event. Still, don't you wonder if that was an issue?