Ace of hearts

Single on Valentine's Day? Perfect. Head for the city of romance and indulge your passion for gambling instead. Unlike a feckless lover, the casinos of Paris won't let you down, says Victoria Coren

Only 20 more planning days to St Valentine's. How about Paris? So traditional, so romantic, so full of iconic locations. I recommend that you set off immediately for the historic city of love.

If, that is, you are single. If you have a boyfriend, it doesn't matter where the hell you spend Valentine's Day. Don't waste the money – send him a cheap Hallmark card and take him for a prawn cocktail at that place on the corner with the cardboard hearts in the window.

No, the reason to be in Paris from 1 to 16 February this year is the Euro Finals of Poker 2003. Distract yourself from the hell of smug couples crooning at each other on the Big Love Day, waving their flowers around and having Wind Beneath My Wings played specially on the radio, by heading off to the international two-week poker festival at the Aviation Club de France. Casinos, traditionally clock-free, have no sense of time or date: if you want to forget that the rest of the world is holding hands and unwrapping chocolates, just don't look out of the window.

Poker, after all, is the ideal game for the loveless loner. You smile at people, then ruthlessly take their money. If you're one of those folk who gets bitter around 14 February (you're a cynic, perhaps, or have recently been dumped) then there's no better place to indulge your misanthropy than across a green-baize table. The international poker trail has a romance all its own: the solitary kind. It's just you against the world, and your love song is The Gambler by Kenny Rogers.

If you prefer to stay at home on Valentine's Day, perhaps to get drunk and make prank calls to your married friends, another great time to nip across the Channel for a card game is the last week of March: lovers will be heading for springtime in Paris and a boring old walk in the Tuileries; you'll be going straight to the Aviation Club for the annual Spring Tournament.

You must take the train, naturally. This is your own private love story, and a bargain flight on easyJet just doesn't cut it for romance like the trundling wheels of a train. You won't have forgotten that The Gambler begins with old Kenny "on a train bound for Nashville". A steamboat would be even better, but sadly they don't run between Waterloo and the Gare du Nord. So hop aboard the Eurostar and take a backgammon set with you: display it on the table and you're bound to get lucky with a passing Frenchman.

You'll want to check in to one of the hotels with a "poker rate". One of the best-kept gamblers' travel secrets is that casinos can invariably get you cheap prices on local accommodation. It also means you'll be staying somewhere familiar with gambling mores – they'll serve breakfast at 3pm, and won't bat an eyelid when you roll in broke at dawn. Ordinary hotels can be baffled by gamblers. I once saw a Texan pro on the Isle of Man asking the receptionist if they had a Jacuzzi. "No," she replied, "but we can lend you an umbrella."

The Parisian hotels which cut deals for gamblers are listed on the Aviation Club website at www.aviationclubdefrance.com. My regular choice is L'Arc Elysées on the rue Washington (00 33 1 45 63 69 33); it's not flashy, but for a poker rate of €120 (£80) per night you get a good, clean, simple room with en suite bath, just five minutes from the casino. If you're richer than me, or more optimistic about your blackjack chances, then take this solitary romance to the utmost and welcome yourself to the Hotel California (00331 43 59 93 00). At a poker rate of €205 (£135) it's much glossier and more American in style; and you can sing the famous song of lost souls as you walk through the lobby.

Now you're settled round the corner from the Aviation Club, which nestles in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe. But you don't want to waste any time looking at sights. I've been to Paris four times in the last year alone, and I've still never seen Notre Dame. I have friends who have gambled from Russia to Kenya, Vegas to Nova Gorica, and still don't know that the climate is different in each place. That's because they never go outside.

So it's straight down to 104 Champs-Elysées for you, to join the Aviation itself. All you need is a passport, and reasonably smart clothes.

The Aviation Club opened in 1907 as a smart hangout for airmen, who started gambling there after the First World War. They were given a licence, to help raise money for aviators' widows, but all that remains of them now is the club's name and little gold aeroplanes on the chips.

Poker is the main game (you must sit down with a minimum of €200, or £130) but you can also play backgammon, chemin de fer or French black- jack. It is an elegant, woody-leathery place, and unique among casinos for valuing style and peace over profit. No jangling slots, no noisy crowds.

In a classy move that would leave most gambling entrepreneurs sobbing at the waste, the Aviation has left several rooms simply as lounges: quiet spaces with low light and soft armchairs, where a fellow can have a calming drink and reflect on his losses. Or a lady, of course: women can drink alone in casinos without any hassle. The men are far too worried about money to think about sex. Happy Valentine's Day! Even if you don't take a special gambling holiday, any time you're in Paris you should pop into the Aviation for one quick game and some dinner.

Where else in this town could you get a lavish, four-course banquet, with wine, in a beautiful room for €35 (£24) a head? God forbid a French gambler should play all night without pausing for a bowl of fish soup, veal in cream sauce, profiteroles and cheese. You can also order foie gras baguettes at the card table; and at dawn they bring out a basket of freshly baked croissants. In British casinos, you're lucky if you get a ham sandwich.

I can't promise you'll win money at the Aviation – why, the amazing €35 dinner could yet prove the most expensive meal you ever ate – but it sure is a painless place to lose. The action goes on all year round (the cash games never stop, and there's a cheap Texas HoldEm tournament every Sunday night) but the cheeriest times to visit are during the poker festivals (February, March, July, September and December) when the club is buzzing with international card-sharps. So why not celebrate your single status by spending Valentine's Day smiling at the ace of hearts? On the big night itself they'll be playing a tournament of Limit Omaha Hi-Lo. It's a complicated game – but what the hell, it's nowhere near as complicated as love.