The UK’s British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) spent a year following Scottish pro poker player Niall Farrell (pictured) as he traveled the globe entering poker tournaments and won just shy of $400,000.
The series,The Four Rules of the Poker Kings, aired this week on BBC-TV in the UK and online. Filming started in 2022, with the European Poker Tournament Main Event in Prague, where Farrell won $54,000 for finishing in 9th place.
The documentary showed Farrell in his modest suburban home in Dumfries, Scotland, where he lives with his partner and young son. It then followed him to casinos in famous and glamorous destinations around the world, including Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, Dublin, and Barcelona.
The biggest win of his career before filming began was $750,000 for winning the WSOP Europe $25,000 High Roller event. He had total career earnings of $6.1 million as of the documentary airing.
The Documentary
The documentary took an everyman approach to the poker world. It was narrated in parts by veteran Scottish actor and voiceover artist John Hannah, of The Mummy and Four Weddings and a Funeral fame.
The documentary began with the 2022 European Poker Tour Main Event in Prague, where Farrell won $54,000. The next events took him to Monte Carlo, Dublin, and Barcelona. He won the Dublin main event of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour, bagging £54,000 ($60,000) in the process.
The hour-long show built up to Farrell flying out to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker 2023. During the filming, Farrell also scored a sponsorship with GGPoker to the tune of $100,000.
The WSOP
However, in Las Vegas, Farrell, who often mentioned the ultimate unpredictability of poker throughout the series, crashed out the first few events without making a good run. That included falling out of the $10 million prize pool Main Event on the first day. He was, at one point, down on money on the whole Las Vegas Strip.
However, in the final few events he entered, Farrell managed a 6th place top table finish twice, which bagged him $80,000. He also had fairly deep runs in several other events, hitting the cash bubble in three.
Overall, he won $150,000 for his 2024 poker career, all being filmed by the BBC. Farrell said he lost around $50,000 on the six-week trip to Las Vegas for the WSOP.
After the hectic series of events and filming finished, Farrell took several months off. He won more than $50,000 for 16th place at the EPT Prague 2023 in December. And he hasn’t played much live tournament poker since, according to the database Hendon Mob.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
