The gambler who never showed his hand

Albert Reynolds’ softly-softly poker tactics mirrored the strategies that he deployed to build a lucrative business empire, writes Michael Brennan.

Albert Reynolds at home in 1996. Picture: Derek Speirs

Benny Reid has been described as Albert Reynolds’s right-hand man, having worked alongside him throughout his long political career.

A former Fianna Fáil constituency chairman and director of elections for Reynolds, Reid got an early glimpse into Reynold’s approach through regular poker games with him in Longford in the 1960s.

“He was a very, very good poker player. There were nine or ten of us in the poker school, but the balance would ...