Stunning Abi playing her cards right!

Oh how poker has changed over the years! Not so long ago it was mainly restricted to smokey back-rooms and played by over-sized sweaty men!

Now though playing poker is seen as a fashionable wild act with more and more stars flocking to join high profile championships.

With this in mind glamour model Abi Titmus (pictured left) signed up to this year's Ladbrokes Poker European Ladies Championship. 

It's been revealed that  John Leslie's ex will be among the 50 female poker players taking part at the event next month.

Ladbrokes Poker spokesperson Samantha Alleyne has called the competition "the FA cup of the poker circuit", adding that it is "an unmissable tournament guaranteed to deliver a few shock results".

For many, the inclusion of Titmuss could be the biggest surprise of them all, but several women celebrities have gone on to succeed at the very highest levels of the sport in the past.

Shannon Elizabeth has finished third at a National Heads-Up Poker Championship, for example, while Soccer AM's Helen Chamberlain once came second at the Ladbrokes Poker Million.

The most impressive switch to poker playing, however, has perhaps come from Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Tilly, who has won a World Series of Poker bracelet.