PRIZE MONEY AND AUCTIONS

PRIZE MONEY AND AUCTIONS

By Mick McCloskey

I was talking to Liam Flood, Irish Open tournament director, and to Noel Hayes, from Paddy Power Poker, at the recent EPT in Dublin. I wanted to air one of my pet gripes to both of them regarding next Easter’s Irish Open. Paddy Power, to their credit, are guaranteeing a €3 million prize pot for the main event. To cover themselves for this guarantee, they would need 715 players, excluding registration fees. This year they managed to attract 708 players to the Open and I would imagine that, due to the popularity of the tournament, they should be able to achieve similar numbers, even though it will cost an extra €1,000 to play in next years event. According to the official website, the top 72 players will be paid, with a juicy, headline grabbing, €800,000 for first spot. My problem with the payout lies at the bottom end of the scale. As presently published, places 64 to 72 will get €4,500 each for their efforts, exactly their money back. And when I say efforts that is exactly what it will take to get to this stage. Next years event will have two first starting days. So, lets say a visitor from the UK, or further afield, plays on day 1 and just makes the money, he will have incurred travel expenses and at least 4 nights hotel expenses. He will have played his heart out for at least three days just to get into the money, and for what? Just to be handed his entry fee back for a net loss on the event. I don’t think this is good enough and other players I have spoken to think the same. Even the people who run the WSOP seem to have realised that making the money in a big event deserves some reward/profit. This year, any one who made the money in the $10,000 main event got a minimum of $20,300 for their endeavours. No other major or minor tournament that I know off pays back the entry fee only. So come on Paddy Power, it’s not too late to change the payout schedule. Give a little bit of profit to the guys at the lower end of the prize list. I’m pretty sure that next years winner will be quite happy with ¾ of a million euro in his pocket and it’s still a hell of a good headline grabbing figure for the sponsors. It presently translates into more than 1 million dollars. It doesn’t seem that long ago that this was the top prize in the WSOP main event!
The Irish Open takes place in The Citywest Hotel, Dublin in March 2008. It kicks off with a €300 re-buy super satellite on the 19th with the main event (day 1) starting on the 20th. There will be a full programme of support events, including an Irish Open Ladies freeze-out.

AUCTIONS – IRISH STYLE

At the recent Simon Community charity event, organised by Padraig Parkinson and hosted at the Dublin leg of the Poker Stars European Poker Tour, “Mad” Marty Wilson added to the proceedings, and to the money raised, by organising tombola drawings and an auction for autographed sports memorabilia. The first item to come under the hammer was a snooker cue and case signed by former World Champions Steve Davis and Ken Doherty, who were both actually playing in the poker event. Marty got the bidding started at €100 and was raising the price of bids by increments of €50 at a time. He managed to get the bids up to €450 and was trying to encourage some one to make the next step to €500. An enthusiastic Rory Liffey shouts “550 euro” and is now the proud owner of a signed cue! I’m not sure if any alcohol had been taken at this stage as it was still early afternoon in Dublin. Well done Rory.

NEWS

No sooner do we get over the New Year festivities before battle commences again for the first major European tournament of 2008. The tournament is the Irish Poker Championship, sponsored by Party Poker, in conjunction with Poker Events.ie. The venue is the Radisson SAS Hotel in Galway and the event kicks off with a €200 + 20super satellite on Thursday 3rd January. The €2,000 main event will start on Friday 4th and will run over three days. The event will be recorded for television and will be broadcast by the national TV company, RTE, over six episodes. On Saturday there will be a €800 + 80 freeze-out and on Sunday a €400 + 40 freeze-out.

Green Joker Poker has announced details of an exciting event next February, namely The European Deepstack Poker Championships. The main event will be a €1,400 + 100 freeze-out with a 50,000 starting stack, played on a 60 minute clock and with every conceivable level, played over four days. Mike Lacey from Green Joker Poker says “This will be the best structure to be found in any European Poker tournament.” The tournament will have a two day start, with a maximum number of 150 players each day, starting on Wednesday 6th February at The Drogheda Poker Club, Drogheda, about 20 miles north of Dublin Airport. Support events will include a €500 short handed event with a 20,000 starting stack and 60 minute levels and a €500 Pot Limit Omaha event with the same structure. As numbers are limited, early booking would be advised. You can register and pay online on the Green Joker Poker site which is also running online satellites for a package to the main event. These satellites are also available on Bluesquarepoker. This event sounds like the business.

Finally, I just want to take this opportunity to wish all Poker Europa readers best wishes for the Christmas holiday season and a peaceful and profitable poker new year.

If you have any news, views or events, you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com.

World Cup and new record

World Cup and new record

By Mick McCloskey

Last month I mentioned the Poker Stars World Cup of Poker and promised a tournament report this month. Unfortunately, due to issues of space, this has not proved to be possible. However, I just wish to share a few details and memories here. The Irish team of qualifiers managed to play their way into the last eight to win an all expenses paid trip to Barcelona for the live finals. At this stage Poker Stars added a guest player to each team and I had the honour of being picked as the Irish team’s guest player. All the heats and the final were recorded for television so watch out for the broadcast. I’m not sure what channel it will be on but I will let you know as soon as possible.
Two of the better known players to be picked as guests were Greg Raymer for USA and Daniel Negreanu for Canada. Both of these guys made a big impression on all the teams in Spain. On the first night there we were treated to a reception in one of the beachside restaurants followed by a free roll for about $1,600 in the casino afterwards. Daniel, along with EPT tournament director, Thomas Kremser, got to be dealers for the night. Greg managed to get knocked out early and spent the next couple of hours teaching a bunch of guys around his table how to play three different games, 2-7 draw, Baduki and another game, which is a combination of these two games, with split pot possibilities. Not only did he explain the mechanics of the games but also explained the best strategy to employ. What a goldmine of information this former WSOP champion is and quite happy to share it all.
Daniel had mixed loyalties as he was playing for Canada but he also had a real affinity with the Romanian team, his country of origin, and was able to communicate with the Romanians in their native language.
Suffice to say that a great time was had by all, win or lose, and many good memories will have been taken to many different parts of the world following this event.

NEWS

Ireland has yet again broken all European records for tournament poker. At the recent International Poker Open in Dublin, a €150 buy-in event, organisers Stephen McClean and Derek Williams, from www.pokerireland.ie, managed to accommodate 1,072 players, representing 17 different countries. Irishman Colin King managed to keep a lot of the prize money in Ireland by taking top spot and €32,000. In second was David Pook from Netherlands winning €17,850 while €9,075 went to Daniel Rudd from UK for third spot.

Paddypowerpoker.com has announced further details about next year’s €3 million guaranteed Irish Open. The venue has been revealed to be the excellent Citywest Hotel to the south west of Dublin. The complex has two hotels with a total of 1,314 rooms, two golf courses and a health and Leisure Club. The dates are from 19th to 24th March and the tournament capacity has been set at 1,000. They have also announced that the longest lasting paddypowerpoker qualifier will receive free entry into the 2009 event and, should one of their qualifiers win the Open, he/she will receive free entry into the following five Opens. Qualifying satellites are currently underway on www.paddypowerpoker.com

Pokerevents.ie has announced that the Irish Poker Championship 2008 will be held at the Radisson Hotel and Spa in Galway from 3rd to 6 January. The event will be sponsored by Partypoker.com and will be Europe’s first major tournament of 2008. The event will kick off with a €200 + 20 super satellite for seats in the €2,000 main event. Two support events will also feature in the programme.
A PartyPoker.com spokesman said “We’re very pleased to sponsor this well established, highly regarded tournament and Ireland is a great country for poker with an amazing pedigree.”
Qualifying satellites are running in pubs and clubs across Ireland and online at www.partypoker.com


Finally, legendary Irish tournament director and card room manager, Luke Ivory, has opened a new casino and card room in Dublin, known, funnily enough, as Cool Hand Luke’s. Luke, who honed his skills for years at the Merrion Casino and at The Fitzwilliam Club, has returned to his old stomping ground at 81 Merrion Square (ex Merrion Casino) where he has instigated a full weekly tournament programme and cash games on demand. He is also running a monthly €330 two day special, with a Saturday start and a Sunday finish. For further details, call 003531 662 9325 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 003531 662 9325 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Tournament Payouts

Tournament Payouts

By Mick McCloskey

I understand that there has been some discussion lately about tournament payout structures so I may as well add my two pence worth to the debate.
There are basically two schools of thought. Those who think that the present top heavy structures are fine and those who think that a flatter payout would do away with most of the deal making that currently takes place in tournament poker. It is not unusual to see five or six way deals being done at many of the major festival events in Europe these days.
I would be included in the second school of thought but perhaps would go even further down the road of flatter payouts. I know many top European pros who have done well in tournaments and have accumulated plenty of prize money and ranking points but could end up making no money at the end of the year because of tournament entries and travelling and accommodation expenses. I would say that there are very few players, if any, who make a living from tournament poker alone. While one major outright win a year would probably solve this problem, achieving this outcome in reality is an enormous task. Sometimes, even getting to play in a major event is an accomplishment for many, non sponsored pros.
I would suggest that poker players could do worse than look at the way things are done on the pro golf tours. At each tournament the top 40%-50% of the field qualify for the last two rounds and all qualifiers are paid. This should ensure that even those at the bottom of payout structure will cover their expenses for that particular event. I am not suggesting that the same percentages should be used in poker but I would suggest that, in two day events, anyone who has to return for the second day should be paid. After all, any player involved will have additional travel or accommodation expenses, at the very least. A structure like this would help to keep the more consistent players on the tournament trail active and help to ensure that there is always a nucleus of travelling players who can support the many festivals now scheduled every year.
Whether this model can ever be achieved, I don’t know. What I do know is that it would first need the formation of a union or association to represent the players in Europe and that would be the subject of a whole different debate.

World Cup and Irish Open

World Cup and Irish Open

By Mick McCloskey

I’ve just returned from sunny Barcelona where I had the honour of playing for Ireland in the Poker Stars World Cup of Poker. The World Cup is a team event which started as an online free roll to select team members. Around 60 teams of four then played a series of elimination rounds to get down to the final eight teams. At this stage, a guest player was invited to join the team for the live finals in The Grand Casino Barcelona. With the rest of the team having done all the hard work to get to this stage, I was lucky enough to get the invitation to round off the Irish team and headed off to Spain for a five night, all expenses paid, trip. I want to thank team captain, Daniel Bolton and my team mates, Noel Peare, Derek Murray and Joe Connelly for putting up with me. The atmosphere and camaraderie among all the teams was great and everybody seemed to have a really good time. There was, of course, the serious side of things, in the form of $250,000 in prize money up for grabs. After five qualifying heats and a final table of four, all recorded for television, the destination of the World Cup was decided. I will be doing a full report for next month’s edition of the magazine.
In the meantime, I must thank the people from Poker Stars involved in organising the whole event, for the invitation and for looking after everyone so well, throughout the tournament. I, for one, will treasure the memory of the whole experience.

Irish Open 2008

Paddy Power has announced some initial details of next year’s event. They are certainly thinking big by planning for two first days with a capacity of 1,000 players. Considering last years record numbers, who would bet against them achieving this milestone number. My only concern is the increase in the buy in to €4,500. The cost of playing in the Irish Open has trebled in the last five years. Although there are plenty of opportunities to qualify via live and online satellites, I wonder how many regular Irish players will feel priced out of next year’s event. I appreciate that the higher numbers and increased entry fee translate into ever bigger prize pools which is all good. However, I know a number of regular players who struggled to find the funds required for the 2007 Open. For 2008, is the Irish Open really “open” to all the Irish players who should be participating in Ireland’s premier poker event?

A little bit of history

A little bit of history

By Mick McCloskey

Did you know that Ireland was the first European country to introduce Texas Hold’em tournaments?
I got to talking with Mick Cook, the veteran English poker pro, at the 2005 Irish Open Tournament in Dublin. Mick is something of a historian when it comes to Irish poker and he tells me that he and fellow English pro Derek Webb played in the very first Irish Open and that he has never missed an Irish Open since. Apart from the quality of the tournament itself, he tells me that he very much appreciates the, always warm, Irish hospitality he receives on his visits here.
This first tournament was a 7 card stud event, run by bookmaker and poker pioneer Terry Rogers in his Irish Eccentric Club in Dublin. He thinks this was held on Good Friday 1981 or 1982 and the buy-in was £500. The following year the game was, for the first time, No Limit Texas Hold’em. From Dublin, Mick took the game to England and introduced it to the punters at The Rainbow Casino in Birmingham and, from Birmingham, to The Victoria Casino in London. He tells me that the first Hold’em games in England were played half pot limit. Mick first went to Las Vegas in 1982/83, where he started to hone his new found Hold’em skills. He also latched onto another new game, which he brought back to England, Pot Limit Omaha.

    The real kick start for the game in Ireland and the UK came in 1984, when a group of about 25 American players arrived in Ireland to play The Irish Open at Killiney Castle. This group included the reigning World Series of Poker champion, Tom McEvoy as well as two times World Champion Stu Ungar. Indeed, Stu Ungar proceeded to win the first two events that year. Tom McEvoy won the main event, after a two hour heads up battle with Mick Cook. The whole event attracted widespread TV and press coverage in Ireland and the UK. Mick recalls that the main event had about 45-50 runners and had an entry fee of £1,000.

    Among the Irish players in the early years Mick recalls such characters as Terry Rogers, ”Suitcase Johnny”, ”Famous Seamus”, David Jackson, Colette Doherty, Donnacha O’Dea, Sean and Don Fagan, Liam Flood and Jim Langham, an Irish international table tennis player.
Mick was full of praise for the contribution made by Terry Rogers to the development of Poker in Ireland and, eventually in Europe as a whole. He credits Terry for his pioneering efforts in this field. He tells me that Terry gave future WSOP Champion Noel Furlong his first poker lesson. His advice to Noel was to develop a strong right arm so that he could keep pushing the chips in! If there was ever to be an Irish Poker Hall of Fame, he would nominate Terry to be the first member. Indeed, he would put him on a par with Benny Binion, who was actually a friend of Terry Rogers in those early years. He considers both Benny and Terry to be the main founders and promoters of the great game we know as Texas Hold’em.

Lethal Weapon/Exit

Lethal Weapon/Exit

By Mick McCloskey

In these days of heightened airport security, it seems you have to be careful what you take on board for reading material. According to The Irish Daily Mirror, top Irish poker pro, Padraig Parkinson ended up being questioned at gunpoint on a recent trip through Beauvais Airport, near Paris, when airport staff mistook his poker book for a bomb manual. He was carrying a copy of Dan Harrington’s Hold’em book in his hand luggage when he was called aside for a security check. The routine check almost turned into an international incident when the security lady decided to flick through the pages of Harrington on Hold’em. The book contains lots of diagrams of a poker table that take the form of numbered circles all nicely connected up. “The security girl jumped about a foot in the air when she saw these diagrams and shouted some instructions in French.” says Padraig. “Within seconds a guy with a machine gun, who looked like he was just itching to use it, was at my side. After a while I gathered that they had decided that the diagrams were not a make-your-own-bomb recipe, and that he wasn’t allowed to shoot me just yet” He added, “I bumped into Dan Harrington at the WSOP and told him his book had got me into a lot of trouble, and should come with a warning that it should not be carried as hand luggage when travelling. Instead of sympathising and apologising for all the hassle, Dan just burst out laughing. I don’t know if he’d have laughed as much if I had told him I still hadn’t read his damn book!”

Lethal Exit

I was talking to Joe “The Show” O’Neill about his exit from the 2006 WSOP main event. Playing the second last hand of the day, just after getting into the money positions, everyone at the table virtually agreed that the only hand they would be playing now would be Aces. Despite this, Joe faced a 20K raise into his stack of just over 30K. Looking down at the pocket rockets, Joe moved the rest of his stack in, virtually telling his opponent what he had. The raiser, with a stack of over 100K, still felt obliged to call with his pocket 6’s. Joe’s heart sank when he say a 6 on top of the flop. Then the cards were spread and it was celebration time when another A appeared. This turned into total despair when the guy hit his one out and made four 6’s. To rub salt into the wound, Joe had to return to the table to shake hands and congratulate his opponent, for the assembled cameras.
For the maths experts among you, Joe reckons that the odds of this sequence of events happening, under these unique circumstances, were about 650,000 to 1. Talk to Joe about the math, as it is way beyond me.

If you have any news, views or events you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com

Irish Smiling

Irish Smiling

By Mick McCloskey

I recently (October 2006) had the honour of being invited to play for Ireland in a heads up team challenge match against Great Britain. The whole event was held to raise funds for the charities Poker4charity and The One Percent Pledge. The Irish team was sponsored by Green Joker Poker and the GB team was sponsored by VCPoker. The event was held in the luxurious Opera House Casino in Scarborough. This place has no less than three bars, open all hours. We got the feeling that the GB team were trying to knobble us with the ready availability of the alcoholic refreshments. Not shy about taking up the challenge, the Irish team made full use of the bar facilities on the first night. Even though the heads up matches were played the following afternoon, the GB tactic backfired, as the Irish team emerged victorious. Despite going 3-1 down in the early stages, the best of 11 matches effectively ended 6-4 to the Irish. Although the final match between the two team captains, Mike Lacey and James Dempsey was played out, the outcome was academic. For the record, the final score was 6-5 to Ireland. This result was sweet revenge for the Irish, who had to endure an 8-3 defeat in the first challenge match in Dublin, earlier this year.
Roy Houghton and his lovely wife, Denise, were on hand to present the magnificent crystal trophy, named in honour of Roy, for his 45 years of service to the poker industry in Britain. Roy was instrumental in running tournament poker in Britain over many years, introducing new ideas such as the double chance and the grand prix format, as well as being involved in setting up and running the first Poker Million tournament in The Isle of Man in 2000. Despite having endured ill health, Roy is still involved in the poker boom and is currently involved in setting up a new poker club in London, where players will pay an annual membership fee, rather than paying rake and tournament registration fees.
After accepting the trophy, Irish captain Mike Lacey said “Last time the result did not reflect the quality of the play. This time, the heart and passion of the Irish team reaped the rewards that were deserved.”
Thanks must go to the two sponsors and to the Opera House Casino for looking after both teams so well. A special mention for Gary and Julie, the card room supervisors, who worked so hard all weekend to make sure all the events ran smoothly. Indeed, I think Julie, with Dublin connections, was secretly rooting for the Irish team. Even GB team member, J.P. Kelly, was keeping his options open by claiming dual nationality!