HOWZAT

It is known, however, that the business had a turnover of more than $250m (€202m) in 2002, a figure that is likely to have been dwarfed since Chandler took a strategic decision to invest heavily in the then-unproven market of online poker.

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Marmion’s Irish online poker business is the one area where he has stolen a march on his former employer. “I’d expect poker to overtake sports betting in terms of profitability,” he explained. “We had six months head start on Paddy Power and we have about 8,000 registered players of which about 2,000 are active on a monthly basis. It was a case of first-up, best dressed. Poker is a fantastic business for us because there is effectively no risk-management function attached to it.”

The principal selling point for Vcpoker.com is its ability to make payments and receipts in local currency, allowing winnings to be lodged instantly to punters’ accounts.

Marmion confirms that he has struck a deal with Chandler whereby “down the line” he will become an equity partner, but in the meantime he has been indulging in a spot of online poker play himself.

“I’ve just won a package worth 10 grand to play in the European Poker Championships this weekend,” he said. “It’ll be high-pressure stuff, but it can’t be a bad as Galway.”

VITAL STATISTICS

Age: 32

Home: Ratoath

Family: Married with one child and another on the way

Hobbies: horseracing, poker, GAA

Favourite movie: One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Favourite book: Racing Post

WORKING DAY

I’d start about 8.30am reading the trade papers and see if there’s a betting angle in there. We might put together a few press releases and get them off at that stage. I have a full office at home, which is great because I can leave for Baggot Street after the traffic dies down a bit. A lot of my time in the shop is in a concierge role looking after the punters. I also represent Victor on-course, which involves going racing a couple of times a week.