Some newspaper suggested that, while not intentional, Mr Cameron’s raised arms were an ungracious way to celebrate in front of his German counterpart, although later pictures showed the now smiling Mrs Merkel embracing Mr Cameron.

It’s a scene that will be mirrored countless times this summer as the World Series of Poker begins, the vanquishers celebrating in front of the vanquished, only later (if then) considering the feelings of the player now reduced to spectator status.

In the United Kingdom Debrett’s, the authority on all matters of manners and etiquette, made helpful suggestions, reminders you might say, of how best to handle your own success at the expense of others.

“All things in moderation especially if the other person can be offended,” suggested etiquette advisor at Debrett’s Jo Bryant. “You can celebrate and be happy but don’t rub their faces in it.”

Yet sometimes even this simple code is a request too far, particularly in a unique environment like a high stakes poker tournament where emotions can be turned over and then back again in a matter of seconds, usually on a showdown.

One player will find himself behind and needing miracle cards, and then get them, eliminating their opponent. It’s a scene that takes place dozens of times during any poker tournament and the natural reaction is to celebrate, hopes having gone from being crushed to reborn. The other guy? Well he just wants to run away and hide, and while some stay to graciously shake hands, others do just that.

But like with the emotions attached to football, poker too will keep its colourful antics. Players will still raise their arms aloft and shout, and a player nearby, not in the hand, will find this schadenfreude amusing, while the defeated will be crestfallen and doing their best to keep a brave face.

One final note, and as the BBC pointed out, the last time Cameron and Merkel watched a football match together, Germany trounced England 4-1. Feelings of revenge, however inconspicuous, will always prove hard to tame.

One of the appealing aspects of Mind Sports are these moments of intense focus, which while often agonising for the player – Gelfand was pictured with his face scrunched up – offer delightful segments of analysis for the spectator, be it a chess match of a hand of poker, which can later be analysed at length. In the post-mortem, Anand, World Chess Champion since 2008, admitted that Gelfand had played “very well.”

While chess grandmasters are permitted lengthy periods in which to make their move, in poker when the clock is ticking and the blinds ready to go up, the pressure is on to act before other players call the floor. If they do thinking time is cut to one minute before a tournament director can declare a hand dead.

Yet good players know when the circumstances require serious thought and tend to allow players as much time as they need to make crucial decisions that can be the difference between survival and elimination.

Gelfand and Anand shook hands on the game, after Anand’s 22nd move, watched by 400 spectators in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and many more watching on screens outside.

The four-match tiebreak presents the possibility of yet another draw, at which point the Armageddon phase comes to effect, a match in which each player has only a few minutes to act. White receives five minutes while black receives four, although in the event of a draw black is declared the winner.

At stake will be $1.5 million to the winner, with $1 million to the runner-up.