With over $6.5M in recorded tournament earnings, Niall Farrell is Scotland’s number one ranked poker player. And thanks to his recent appearance in the BBC Scotland documentary The Four Rules of the Poker Kings (check out our review), he’s also probably one of the most recognizable.
In the time since the documentary aired last month, he’s even been the recipient of one of poker’s greatest honors: being one of the five top trending names on The Hendon Mob.
Back in his ‘day job’ at EPT Barcelona, the man they call ‘Firaldo’ caught up with PokerOrg to share his reaction to having his life - wins, losses and all - broadcast on-screen.
What was it like being followed around by a camera for the documentary?
I’m not sure it really changed the way I behaved, maybe a little bit. The first couple of weeks of filming I was a little bit nervous, so I was swearing a little bit too much. But then again I'm Scottish, I just kind of swear too much anyway, but it was kind of enhanced the first couple of weeks.
But then you kind of just get used to it. Like, if I'm massively tilted after busting something, you do get to see that. It's just me bemoaning my awful life for about 20 minutes.
There's a bit when I'm in Monte Carlo and there's a little café just outside the venue, and I’m bemoaning my life because I got 16th or something… the little bits of entitlement kind of creep into you. Sometimes you need to be a little bit more self-aware, but it is how you feel. I need to work on being more grateful for my situation.
Farrell is in Barcelona this week for the European Poker Tour.What was your reaction to the film when you saw it?
Overall, I really liked it. I don't know if it's just my personality, or if it's just a human thing, but I think whenever you watch yourself you always focus on a lot of little things that maybe other people aren't even paying attention to. I'm like, ‘Oh god, did I walk weird?’ or ‘I could have brushed my hair,’ you know, stuff like that. But I think the only person that really cares about that stuff is yourself.
But I thought it came out really well. I think it did a good job of showing the reality of poker. I tried to be a good person. I'm not for everyone, but hopefully I didn't come across as a total a**hole or anything, which is always nice, you know?
The best bit for me was the end, where David Docherty won the Irish Open, because I hadn't seen that bit, I didn't know they were going to put that in. So I really enjoyed that, and at any time seeing my child on camera, you know, he steals the shot. One of the cutest toddlers of all time. Thank God he got his looks from his mum.
David Docherty's Irish Open win gives the film a feel-good ending.Speaking of mums, how did it go down with your family and friends?
My mum said I swear too much, which is right enough. Everyone is pretty happy with it, though. My girlfriend was, like, ‘That scene 10 minutes in, your shoes were dirty, disgraceful.’
It's more real when you see it, you know? I think particularly my mum didn't realize the sums involved at times, so maybe seeing the big numbers might have been a little bit eye-opening for her, but yeah, very positive overall.
And how about the wider public?
It's been a really positive reaction, actually. I think I was quite nervous as to how the poker world in particular would take it, because I know we're notorious for stuff like, ‘That guy doesn't have jacks here, that's not a real hand,’ you know, stuff like that.
It seems to have been really good, and I've had a lot of messages from people I don't know just saying they really enjoyed it, and it was really interesting to see. Saying things like, ‘Oh poker's not what I thought it was at all,’ you know. So I hope I’ve made it more clear to people that it's not this seedy gambling thing. Poker’s more corporate, it’s more like an e-sport nowadays.
Any plans for getting more involved with content creation?
I really want to do a lot. I had a couple of content ideas during the summer; I want to do a rip-off of the Amazing Race. The problem I have is that it's tough for me to find time to do this when it's not, you know, something where it's my job.
I've done poker for a long time now and I still enjoy playing and I enjoy competing, but doing this kind of content stuff might be something that I'd be looking to do. I don't know, I still love poker, I'd like to keep playing, but it’s something that is tough for me to take two months off to do.
I did a bit of Twitch streaming and I quite enjoyed some of that, mostly during lockdown. It was pretty good, I quite enjoyed the content side of it.
The Four Rules of the Poker Kings is available now on BBC iPlayer in the United Kingdom (use a VPN if outside the UK).
Images courtesy of PokerStars Live/Bodhi Media/BBC Scotland
