Killer...

While contemplating the prospect of picture sales slowing down - just when things had been going so well - I found a cheerful little pub in Teignmouth. I played a few games of pool, without much success, before the locals suggested a game of killer, so everyone could join in. The rules are simple: everyone puts £1 into the kitty and, when it’s their turn, tries to pot any ball on the table. Missing a pot means losing a life; losing three lives means you’re out of the game.

But there was one extra rule I’d never heard of before: the pound coins were stacked in a neat pile right in the middle of the table (where the blue ball would go, on a snooker table). Anyone who knocked the tower over would lose a life and have to add another pound coin to the pile. The kitty built up until there was about £20 to win. There were just two of us left in the game when I tried to pot a ball. I missed, assumed I’d lost… then watched another ball roll slowly across the table, just missing the stack of coins, and, by some fluke, drop into the opposite pocket. So I trousered the money and walked, via a curry take-away, back to the van…