Playing cards have had a continual presence in my life; no more so than when I was growing up in ‘60s London.

As a young child I’d play Snap and Beat your neighbour out of doors.  The latter made me think we had violent neighbours who came round for cups of sugar and needed to be discouraged.

At secondary school Whist was a popular game – especially when it was wet playtime and you’d forgotten your Owzthat kit.

I went to two secondary schools; at the second (marginally posher) they played Bridge:  this is like Whist – only for toffs and numerate toffs at that!  Sadly, for me, the more I played, the less revision I did.  This was reflected in my exam results.   If there’d been a question during any of my O-levels asking “what are trumps?” I’d probably still be at university or running for office in the US.

During the ‘70s, there was a gaming club on Balham High Road.  My friend’s dad ran it. I would visit on Sunday afternoons; we walked through the very quiet snooker hall and upstairs to the gaming rooms – still smelling of Saturday evening’s cigarettes; beer and the Kray brothers.  

Having failed Maths O-level three-times, I’d never knew if my cards were anywhere close to adding up to twenty-one, so, I stuck to Snap during my twenties, rather than playing Pontoon.

Wonder if they ever found the lady?