Sad News: Obituary

20 April 2000

It is with very great sadness indeed that we report the sudden death of our friend and esteemed Poker columnist David Spanier, from a stroke, at the age of 67.

David was a man who loved life with an infectious enthusiasm. He was a journalist on The Times where he had a long and distinguished career, from 1957 to 1982, where he was Diplomatic Correspondent, later changing careers to become a broadcaster with LBC. But it was his love for Chess and Poker which were the major influences on his professional life during the past two decades.

David first caught chess fever during his early schooldays, since when his condition, resistant to all known cures, proved chronic. He would often be found in one of London's few chess cafes, Prompt Corner in Hampstead, where he would revel in friendly chess games with all and sundry.

At major chess events in London and elsewhere he was a frequent personality and often brought his wit to bear in his role as commentator on the more human aspects of the struggle. His love for chess and his journalistic talents led him to write Total Chess, first published in 1984, which is a highly entertaining account of how chess casts its spell on so many addicts.

David's craving for poker exceeded even his great love for chess. His serious gambling days started while he was a student at Cambridge where he came close to losing his termly allowance in a poker game, despite which his love of the gaming world became one of his great, enduring passions.

One of his earliest books, published in 1977, was Total Poker, which was described by one reviewer as "The complete addict's guide to poker", but it is much more than that. It pays homage to the game and to the whole poker experience which meant so much to David and many of his friends.

His other books include The Gambler's Pocket Book (1980), Easy Money: Inside the Gambler's Mind (1987), All Right, Okay, You Win: Inside Las Vegas (1992), and at the time of his death he had recently completed a new poker book, his memoirs, The Hand I Played.

In 1997 David became the first person in the world to write a poker column for a national newspaper, The Independent. This appointment gave him great pride and a collection of his columns, The Little Book of Poker, was published in 1998. When we at MSO Worldwide started this web site in the autumn of 1999 David kindly gave us the right to reproduce his columns on the site.

David's enthusiasm for playing poker was all pervading. He played regularly, often several times a week, at various casinos, and was the leading light and often the host of regular private games in London. One of these private games, now defunct, became widely known in London gaming circles as "the Tuesday night game", when a tightly knit school of regulars would sacrifice all else to be at the table and play for moderately high stakes.

David often reminisced about how that game was more important to the members of the school than life itself - one of them had turned down a Tuesday dinner invitation at the home of his idol, Alfred Brendel, while another had declined a Tuesday invitation from Prince Charles.

It was this level of enthusiasm for poker which made it so much fun to be with David at the table and to play with him. He travelled to clubs outside London to play and was a not infrequent visitor to Las Vegas and other casino locations in the USA. Only last week we played at his house and at the weekend he called to tell me about the arrangements for the next game, which was to have been on Easter Monday.

David was married in 1969 to Suzy Menkes whom he met when they were both working on The Times. They had four children, a daughter, Jessica, who died soon after her birth in 1977, and three sons: Gideon (born 1971), Joshua (1973) and Samson (1978). Suzy is the fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune which she joined in 1988. She and their three sons survive him.

David was taken ill suddenly at a casino in London on Monday and died the same day. If given the choice of how he would end his life he would have had it no other way. Today The Times published their obituary with a most fitting photograph of David Spanier the bon viveur, resplendent in his tuxedo, offering a toast with his wine glass at the Ritz Club's casino restaurant in 1988. His joy of living will survive him in his many friends.

- David Levy