The Company that brings you Sky Sports and the Simpsons, 24 and Lost is now bringing poker to life with the launch of Sky Poker. Sky Poker is a revolutionary new channel and internet website giving poker fans simultaneous online and TV poker entertainment. On offer is the chance to win over £5,000 every day. Sky Poker is the first interactive poker format that lets players watch their online tournament televised as they play. It is a brand new home for the growing number of British poker converts and features an unlimited number of tables to join. Your table could be featured on TV, or you could be lucky enough to find yourself playing at the same table as one of our studio guests. TV coverage will follow all the pulse-racing action of individual games as they happen with live commentary.This exciting new station is being hosted in the studio by the gorgeous blonde TV presenter Helen Chamberlain amongst others.FemaleFirst we lucky to have a chat with 39-year-old Southern based star whilst she was driving down the M3. Find out more about what she had to say to us below. When did you first learn how to play poker Helen?It was one of those things that I found out by accident that I had a bit of a flair for it because I was entered into the Poker Million tournament. They always have a celebrity qualifier just to kick the series off – the winner of the celebrity qualifier wins the wild card into the tournament.

So I won the celebrity qualifier went into the tournament and expected to be knocked out immediately. I went from that table into the semi final and won that table and then went into the final and came runner up in that one. If you do it once, then people can say “Oh you got lucky, you were a bit jammy and you didn’t really know what you were doing” but to do it four times in a row I think I did gain a little bit of respect from the poker players. It wasn’t just a one off or a flash in the pan – She can actually play.

Although the rules – I do know how to play but a lot of players work out things like pot odds or percentages of cards that can win them that game. I just purely played on gut instinct. I have since learnt there is a whole lot more about the game. You find that some people play it to the rulebook and other people play it on gut instinct. I’m by no means a master of the game – I’ll probably get my backside kicked another hundred times in a row. (Laughs) It’s just everything fell right for that tournament. Any tips and hints about the game that you can offer to help First readers improve their game?

Most people will say be patient. If you’ve got a hand that you think looks really good – then just have a think about what’s out there that could be beating it. If you haven’t spent any money on it yet – just say well I’ll wait for a better hand. Most people will tell you that its patience that is the virtue in poker. The thing is I tend to do the opposite. I tend to have a look at it and if I like the look of it I’ll gamble it and if I go out of the tournament then so be it. I find a lot of new players they really beat themselves up about losing and maybe going out of the tournament early in the first half an hour or something. But if that’s your style of play then you have to live by it. Think about what style of player you are. I’ll either go out of a tournament after three hands or I’ll win. I’ll just put my coat on and say I’m out – so don’t be too hard on yourself if you get beaten. That’s the way it goes.

A lot of people say “Oh I wish I’d done this and I wish I’d done that” afterwards when they get knocked out. Don’t reflect too much – because after all it doesn’t matter how good a player you are there are still five random cards that are dealt in the middle as well as your two. So anything could happen. I know that 95% of the time it doesn’t if you playing with rubbish cards but just don’t be too hard on yourself if you haven’t won anything yet.

Who do you think gambles more as a rule – men or women?

Well it all depends how you look at it because if you were to think about maybe horse racing and football betting you would say, “yeah, I reckon it’s the blokes” but if you think about things like bingo. I would say I got my “punting” bug from my grandmother and my mother. My grandmother is bingo mad – she’s ninety years old and she still goes to bingo. She will have a game of cards with anybody at anytime, even if she doesn’t know the rules. She’ll say, “Just deal them out and I’ll make it up as I go along.” At Grand National as well, “’C’mon lets have 50p each way on a couple of horses.” People would imagine that it’s them but believe me the housewives little punt makes up for nearly 50% of the gambling in this country. I go to casinos as well and there are a lot of women who play black jack and roulette.

Which female celebs do you know have a good ability to play poker? Who can handle themselves and know what they’re doing?

Generally sportspeople. A lot of the snooker players can play really well as can footballers and darts players. Teddy Sherringham and Tony Cascarino, for instance. Sports people have one sort of mentality – to win. If they come runner up they’re a loser. So they learn how to play it properly and of course they have a lot of spare time on their hands. Cricketers have time between games – so they all play. Cricketers, rugby players etc, they have oodles of time to sit in hotel rooms and get bored. So they all play and are very good. Michael Grecco who used to be in EastEnders could play properly.

Women - Leilani Dowding – bless her she did learn how to play it!

Your fiancé is Nathan King from Level 42. When are we finally going to be able to buy a hat for your big day?

You know it’s one of those things. We got engaged really quickly – after six weeks. Everybody just went “Oh Crikey – six weeks that’s a bit bloody quick.” Where still engaged and it’s been three and a half years now. We made a commitment because we were so excited about it and then we’ve done absolutely bugger all. I’ve not even looked at dresses. We’ve not looked at venues, absolutely nothing.

Would you have a big do though by choice?

I’m not sure. Half of me would like to have a great big party and just invite absolutely everybody that I know. The other half of me would like to get married barefoot on the beach – not even in an exotic location. I’ve got a little house, in Torquay, so half of me would like to get married on the beach there and have a fish and chip supper for everybody afterwards and then go home. (Laughs) I can’t be fagged with all the – it’s so much stress for just one day and then you go and get on a bloody train and go on holiday straight after. I’d have to go home and sleep in my own bed that night or I’d get too freaked out. I’ve got too many animals to look after as well I’ve got cats, dogs, horses, chickens. I’ve got hatching eggs in my incubator that are about to hatch in a week. I’m eyeing up some pigs and some ducks and I might get a goat as well. I think we’ll have to get married in our back garden. I love it – we don’t like kids so we’re just going to fill the house up with animals.

What’s your favourite Level 42 track then?

I just generally like all their stuff, really. That’s how we met, I didn’t realise Level 42 were still going, and then by accident stumbled across –where Sky hold their World Darts Championship – because Level were appearing there. I got a couple of VIP tickets through the Sky connection (Helen works on the darts for them) and managed to worm my way back stage afterwards to say hello to the band. I met Nathan there – we said hello. They then went on a 30 day UK tour a couple of months after that and there were loads of venues that were close to me, so I just kept turning up at these gigs and by the end of it we were together.

I believe you’re the owner of the engagement ring that Sid Vicious bought for his girlfriend Nancy Spungeon. Are you a fan of the Sex Pistols?

Yeah I did buy the ring at an auction. There’s no stone in it, it’s just a metal ring from Camden Market. It probably cost about 50p but I think Nancy used to claim that it was her engagement ring. When I was growing up I was quite influenced by the Sex Pistols, I had my nose pierced at 14 which doesn’t sound too rock n roll now but 25 years ago and being brought up in the sticks in Somerset. People used to cross the road to avoid me because I had a ring in my nose. They’d never seen anything like it and it was quite a big thing. I thought the music was crap I liked everything that punk was apart from the music. I just thought what an amazing piece of memorabilia.

Ever been to a pure gamblers paradise – like Las Vegas say?

I’m not a great traveller – I don’t like it very much. I couldn’t possibly live in Las Vegas, if I went out there I suspect I would never come home. My idea of heaven is a day at the races – I’ve got a couple of racehorses. That’s quite hardcore.

You appeared in a photoshoot for the May 2004 edition of Penthouse and have also modeled underwear too. Can you tell us more about what goes through your mind when you first begin posing for pictures in shoots, etc? Good looking women are often critical of themselves so is it a scary business initially?

I’ve done loads of various photo shoots and bits and pieces. I modelled the World Cup bra and pants in Trafalgar Square. Triumph brought out a nice set of underwear – like a ball on one side and a goal net on the other. I was launching them in London and a two double Decker buses ran into each other whilst I was there. It was quite funny because you heard this big crunch and then of course all the photographers ran over and started talking pictures of them. It went into the papers next day saying that a bus driver got so distracted looking at me in my bra and pants that he crashed into another one. (Laughs) But I’m not an underwear model at all. In fact somebody said to keep my clothes on and that I looked more like the back end of a Bus! You just have to say, “Oh well, I got paid for it – they didn’t”! It’s easier to be bitchy.

You have a tattoo with Torquay’s club crest on it – are you considering anymore? People like David Beckham apparently say they’re very addictive.

No not at all. I think the biggest fear I have of getting more tattoos is everything goes out of fashion. You can buy the nicest car on the road but within five years it will look really old. At least with a football club, although I support possibly the most unfashionable football club in the first place, but it is a football club. If I have some Chinese symbol – everybody was having them done three or four years ago – but nobody is having them done anymore because they’re out of fashion. They’re there forever. It’s like people who are 60 or 70 years old with anchors on their arms and you think how old fashioned they look. That’s going to be everybody else’s Chinese symbols and barbed wires and stuff. I’ve just the one on my backside and that’s it no more.

You’ve mentioned Meat Loaf in the past as being one of your more wacky guests on Soccer AM who took you really by surprise. Anybody else really bizarre or bad like that?

Dirty Pretty Things came on and were still hopelessly drunk from the night before. We had to gently ease them off after a couple of commercial breaks because it was just terrible television. But it was great TV in that it was so rock n roll. Noel Gallagher was on the same show and it just made it so funny. Carl Barrat and the guy – we were asking them questions, and they just didn’t know what to say. Noel Gallagher was just in pieces and was laughing his head off. After two parts, we just said, “you know what guys you can go now.” They were like “alright, fine,” and had no idea that in effect we were booting them off the show. It was hilarious. But because our show’s been going for so long if anything like that ever happens – we get somebody a bit weird we just ignore it. The show carries on.

Do you believe in aliens?

No, because somebody would have turned up by now. I also don’t believe in any religion and I don’t believe in the afterlife or time travel. We would know about it by now. We would have hard facts and there aren’t any. I don’t believe in ghosts, hell, and heaven or in any of that stuff.

You’ve done presenting for other TV shows like the Big Breakfast and Ri:se as well. Who would you like to see as the next host of the X Factor?

I love it in the early rounds. It’s not so much who would be the presenter it’s the fact that whether the producers will allow them to have their own personality because Kate’s got a fantastic personality and all she was allowed to say on the show was “Simon – your comments” “Sharon – your comments” So somebody who’s going to stick two fingers up when the producers say that’s all you’re allowed to say.

Who do you believe has been the greatest footie player to wear an England shirt and why?

Oh God! In my lifetime Paul Gascoigne because I just loved watching him play. It was always so exciting when he was playing.

We’ve seen you doing your fire-eating trick on telly - you could always join the circus if things didn’t work out. Any more nifty tricks that you’d like to learn before you die though?

Ooh! I would love to do acrobatics and stuff. I would love to be able to stand in a pub and just do a back flip – how impressive would that be. I would like to have been a bendy gymnast.

What other projects have you got coming up?

I’m working on making a gardening show at the moment. It’s different from the ones on at the moment because A) they tend to be very boring and B) they tell you things like lift your Dalais and put them in a frost free condition and then they’ll go a shed that’s the size of Luton. I’ve never seen one with a child or a dog in it either. It’s a pilot – but we’ve got a couple of people interested in it.

Helen Chamberlain is one of the expert poker presenters on Sky Poker – the only place where you can play poker simultaneously online and on air! Find Sky Poker at www.skypoker.com and live every night from 9pm on Sky channel 846.

Rebecca Leach