Having only taken up the game following the passing of her mother, Donna Morton has been hailed as ‘the godmother of UK poker’.
Donna will be the first to admit that her strengths are away from the table, though she does enjoy and has some success in competition, with many within the UK poker community familiar with her work through Twitch. The Sheffield-based ‘Darkangel’ can often be found moderating streams of live online games on Twitch, an online platform synonymous with streaming.
With the loss of her mother making for a significant and difficult time in Donna’s life, it was a phone call from her friend, Rosarie, inviting her to support her at a poker tournament that helped to turn things around.
Donna told Fen Regis Trophies: “Rosarie was playing in a final with the prize to go to Las Vegas. She phoned me up and said ‘Donna, I’m playing poker…come rail for me’ and that’s how I got started in poker. Poker saved my life.”
Railing
For those not familiar with the term ‘railing’, it is when someone supports a competing player away from the table. Within the confines of online poker, which is where Donna’s love affair with the game began, railing takes place in the instant messaging chatbox feature where players and viewers can engage in conversation.
Donna became known as the ‘queen of railers’ for her efforts away from the table, finding a home within the poker community.
“The social life is amazing,” said Donna. “The social scene is amazing.
“We now don’t play poker as much as we used to, but I’m always there. I’m well known around the world.”
Twitch Moderator
Twitch has become an integral part of the online gaming community, particularly esports where professional gamers will routinely stream themselves playing games for audiences in their thousands. Donna looks after the channels for numerous online poker players, ensuring the conversation is clean, as well as answering any queries that may be asked.
“What I do is I help people with different queries. I keep the chat fairly clean.
“If there are any arguments, then I step in. People know if I’m on there, and I warn them.”
Currently, Donna moderates for United States poker star Joe Ingram, who has more than 18,000 followers on his Twitch channel and an even more impressive 154,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel. It is clear that Donna is held in the highest regard within the poker community on both sides of the Atlantic.
Donna at the UK Poker Championship
While Donna is not best known for her time at the table, she is no stranger to rubbing shoulders with seasoned players – and more than holding her own. Having first gotten a taste for poker online, she soon tried her hand at face-to-face competition in the UK Poker Championship (UKPC) at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham.
With just a handful of online experience, Donna set herself two simple objectives – not to go out after the first hand, and to make it to the first break in play. Donna was delighted to achieve both milestones.
“I was on a table with quite a few big names,” Donna said. “I was like a rabbit caught in headlights!
“My main thing was to get through the first hand, take it from there and get to the first break. Then just take little steps.”
Through her railing and presence in the online poker community, though Donna was making her in-person debut she was far from an unknown.
“Everybody knew who I was, even though I didn’t know them! That was quite daunting,” she admitted.
“I’ve got my own unique style, nobody can understand how I play. I just play the cards when I want.”
Going from starting with online poker to playing at the UKPC is, in Donna’s own words, her biggest playing achievement and one that she is hugely proud despite “not being that good a player”.
For the ‘godmother of UK poker’, it is less about winning trophies and more about the social side of the game and playing an active role within a community that she credits with saving her life. Donna is always the first to greet players to events, whether online or in-person, and hopes that she can give the same warm welcome to those new to poker that she received at the beginning of her love affair with the game.
By Aaron Gratton
