John Gale lays down his knife and fork and for a moment abandons the steak he’s enjoying in the restaurant at the top of Binion’s Horseshoe casino, and says, ‘My aim is to become the No. 1 ranked poker player in the world.’

This surprises me a little. It seems overly ambitious. And uncharacteristic for someone who majors in humility. Of course, he can be forgiven; he’s still on a high after just winning his first WSOP gold bracelet and becoming only the second British player (Devilfish is the other) to have won both a WSOP and a World Poker Tour title.

But what it really reflects is the contradictory strands in the man’s personality.