Deputy head hopes poker will boost pension

A deputy headteacher who took up poker as she approached her 50th birthday said she hoped to top up her pension by playing in tournaments around the world when she eventually retires.

Nicki Kelsall, from Nuneaton, only started playing the card game about three years ago, after being invited to attend a beginners' poker night run by her brother.

Despite being a bit nervous having never played it before, she said she "loved every minute" and went on to win her first tournament.

"I'd never played before, did not know what I was doing and I had beginner's luck because I actually won the whole tournament and ever since I've been hooked," she explained.

Kelsall, who works at a Coventry school, now runs her own league on a Monday night.

"I am a teacher, that is my day job," she said. "And working with lovely, wonderful children really helps me with my poker skills."

Kelsall also highlighted the social aspect of playing poker and described how it was a way to meet new people.

She added it was a great way for people she knew who had lost partners or who were a bit isolated, to find a new community.

"You can walk into a room full of strangers and by the end of it, they're all friends," she said.

"You can play from [age] 18 to 80 and you don't need to have a big, massive social network."

The teacher hopes to continue her love of poker after she retires by travelling to play at major poker tournaments.

"So I've decided when I get to retire... [in] whenever many years, I'm going to go around the world and play all the major poker tournaments and supplement my pension," she said.

"Currently there's a big tournament going on in Malta and I can't think of anywhere nicer to be."

Kelsall said poker was not as it was often portrayed on television, with spending limits in place.

"It's not, as you see on the TV, a smoky back room and it's all dark and people are losing their cars, it's not like that," she said.

"It's a £5 buy in and it's set at that so you can't be ridiculous. Some of them you might be able to enter twice but that is the maximum, so maximum you're going to be spending is £15."

She added: "Everybody's there just to have a great time and it's very friendly."

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