Zero and the Neighbours Part 1 - Demo version 0.1 (3/4) By Joe Hakim

(1/4), (2/4), (3/4), (4/4).

Any fuck-up on the part of the dealer was meant with bile and venom - this is serious goddamn it, there's a tournament to win and a thousand quid up for grabs, y'know... And there, on the frontline, was Frank. He was getting the usual round of stick, 'Ey it's Christmas Frank, aren't yer usually busy this time of year?' 'Where's yer reindeer Santa?' 'I bet you won't fit down many chimneys with that belly,' shit like that. But he didn't listen. He didn't care. He was playing like a man possessed.

Here, finally, was a chance to win something, not just seventh place in a shitty five-pound buy-in comp on a Sunday afternoon, but a major amount of cash and the limited prestige that went with it. Frank's jokes and banal conversation were replaced with an intensity that surprised everybody. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the fact that it seemed to work.

For the first time in months, Frank made it to a final table. And not only that, he had won his place in the semi-final, a step closer to Sheffield and the fortune he imagined waiting for him. What a lot of people don't understand about poker is the sheer amount of time it takes to play. A tournament that starts at eight on the night can continue all the way until four in the morning. Half of the skill involved is the patience to sit there for hours on end, waiting for the right cards, the right moment. As we cleared the chips it was obvious that Frank was over the moon.

He sat back and smoked a hand-rolled cig with the relaxed manner of a man fresh from a great fuck. But he looked fucked; the old man was tired. When he took his ticket, he winked and shook my hand. Only a month or two earlier he had been telling that I was the worst dealer he'd seen in his life, and I wasn't even fit to wipe the tables. But not tonight - tonight I was the man, the lucky dealer with the golden touch who'd helped him through. He practically floated out of the casino.

A couple of nights later, and Frank had been notably absent from the card room for a couple of days. When a guy spends nearly half his life in a casino, people start to notice when he's not there for more than two days in a row. I sat at my table and spread my cards, waiting for the announcement to bring the players up. As the players slowly filtered in, checking their tickets and looking for the seat with their number, Gary, our card room manager, stood solemnly, waiting for them all to settle. 'Excuse me,' Gary shouted. 'If I could have all your attention for a moment, please, I have an announcement to make.'

The players and the dealers waited, all expecting some sort of speech about card marking, or chip passing, or a new buffet that was being served. 'I have a bit of bad news,' Gary continued. 'It's about Frank.' Everyone stopped talking.

'After the tournament the other night...' Gary paused, not quite knowing how to put it. 'Well, he must have fallen asleep at the wheel or something because unfortunately his car got into trouble on his way home... An ambulance took him to the hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival. His wife rang up today... she wanted you all to know that you're all welcome to go to his funeral. In fact, she would like as many of you to attend as possible. I'll let you know when it is. That's all, thanks. 'Start your games please!' So I started to shuffle the cards.

Continued...Next Page (4/4)

Articles - Charities - And Albert Foundation - Trading Roots at The Zoo Café

	The Zoo Café on Newland Avenue in Hull is currently selling goods produced by the And Albert Foundation ... The founder of the And Albert Foundation, David Murden has been working for almost 15 years to realise his vision of creating long-term ethical trade with villages in the developing world. Fifteen years retail experience has Read more...

Articles - Made In Hull: Stories 1969 - 2005 Part 2 By Rich Mills

	Much of the lower half of his face was carpeted with a dense mat of short-cropped wire. Stroking his hand across his chin, he evoked a long distant memory of adolescent profundity. Another's name floated into his mind, Pat, he'd always thought that was a girl's name, short for Patricia. However Pat was also the name of his former college lecturer, from when Read more...

Articles - For Those About to Rock...We Salute You...Again! by Joolz

	For those of a certain age and musical leaning, the name Trog Bar will hold great memories. For a goodly number of years, Trog Bar was the place to go on a night out if you liked your music Loud and Rockin'. The place itself seemed to act as a gravitational force to all with long hair, tattoos, denim jackets and a preference for patchouli. It wasn't the sort of venue Read more...

Articles - Made In Hull: Stories 1969 - 2005 Part 1 By Rich Mills

	A romper suit with plastic feet, dancing to the transistor radio placed high up on the kitchen shelf. We really did have a mouse that lived in the skirting-boards of the kitchen, didn't we? Lift the lid on the Danset, slap on the vinyl, drop the needle. Here comes the crackling sounds of my deep grooved and somewhat scratched Pinky and Perky LP, Jungle Book Read more...

Articles - Love Me, Love My Band By Kate Wood

	So I met someone. He was charming, well-read, funny and heartbreakingly cute. He liked my Yoko Ono jokes and my love of lab coats. I also think he could even put up with my snotty elitism when it came to music. This is it, I thought, Romance at last! And I love romance. If I could pick any line that describes my outlook on love, life and the universe it would be Read more...

Articles - My Saturday Nights By Harry Slater

We'd kill for the four o'clock stumble home at around one, when the cocktails are just about to kick in, and we're forgetting the indignity of cheap fucks bumming cigarettes off us. Acute nihilism's filling the air, the kind of repulsion that drags you away from sense, sends your head spiralling into the same unforgettable-dross filled rant about how we're all better than the people who are Read more...

Articles - There's Nothing Familiar Within 500 Miles! By Matt Hill in Thailand.

I finally managed to get a picture with some People in for you, this was taken yesterday in my favourite tea shop. The entire bill came to less than a pound, the tea's really thick and sweet, and they leave plates of cakes, buns and somosas on the table in a clever ploy to get you scoffing. So, I've hit the half way point of my time here and suddenly everything's changed - when, at first, I Read more...

Articles - Hami Kurd's Response to "At a Turning Point?" by Gary Craig 25/7/05

	This is a Hami Kurd response to the above report by Professor Gary Craig. This was a research report on race relations in Hull. It seems that Gary Craig has sentenced the research to be negative before he even started writing it. Below is what we think of it as a Kurdish community living in this city with normal people of Hull, not behind nice desks and offices. Read more...

Articles - Concerned About Africa? A Chance to Help Hulls Twinned City

	Hull is twinned with Freetown in Sierra Leone, a city which is trying to become a Fair Trade city like York. Fairmade is a new business employing 25 people in Freetown; a place where everything, every day and every penny is a struggle. It's trying to do its bit to reduce the devastating poverty of the war torn West African country. Help Sierra Leone Read more...

Articles - On 'At a turning point? The state of race relations in Kingston upon Hull' a report by Prof G Craig, 26 July 05

	'What do you think about the state of race relations in Hull? Your chance to express your views. Professor Gary Craig has been commissioned to conduct an enquiry into the state of race relations in Hull'. Prof Craig issued this invitation through the local press and radio and Hull City Council departments and other Read more...

Articles - Funky's Matt Hill writes to us from Thailand By Matt Hill

Hey, Matt here :-) I know it's been AGES since I sent some pictures, so I finally made myself take some - you know what it's like, the weather's never good enough or you know the camera won't do it justice, but the time has come. OK, so you have to realise that these pictures aren't going to really impress you, this place isn't big or clever. Also, my digital camera disk keeps getting wet Read more...

Articles - Panic, Paranoia and Peter Levy's Top Lip By Joe Hakim

	The world is a welter of conflicting fanaticisms - Betrand Russell And so it begins... You can feel it, a charge building - energy rushing up through our veins, a huge shock to the brain, fuse has gone, no light anymore. The smell of candle wax in your nostrils. Squinting in the dark. The fuse has gone. Read more...

Articles, - The Drugs Box By Rich Mills

	The Drugs Box; I'd heard of these things, I'd even seen one once, but never had a chance to have a go on one. So when I got the chance to see one in action I jumped at it. As an ex Drugs Worker, particularly having worked with young people, one of these would have been invaluable. A fully interactive, touch screen, educational tool, ideal for use Read more...