Poker players are only happy when they’ve got something to whinge about. Only in Ireland will a guy gleefully tell you about how and why he put a horrible beat on a guy. Everywhere else guys are much happier moaning about how someone, commonly known as The Geezer, played like a complete muppet and won the pot. These days these stories are often followed by a request for money to refloat their business so it’s considered a good idea to interrupt just before the river with a heartfelt OH FFS and walk away. This is considered both cowardly and sound business practise. If you really want a piece of the action talk to The Geezer. He’s the man in form.

Most of the moaning these days is about the trend to make tournaments reentry affairs. Players argue that allowing reentrys in major events makes it an uneven playing field, that deep pockets give certain players an unfair advantage over a player who has qualified online or for whom a big buyin event is a major investment. These guys think it unfair that they can knock a big name player out of a major tournament only to face him (or her) a few days later. They even have the cheek to suggest that having a reentry option makes playing against a star a lot more difficult. This kind of thinking is just ridiculous and downright selfish. The unimportant player should just suck it up and appreciate what a privilege it was for them to play against these sponsored players who are obviously better human beings than the rest of us and deserve any advantage they may be given to make their results look better. It’s good for the game when one of these demigods wins and we should be cheering them on, not questioning whether the game is fair.
There was no reentry option at the WPT Dublin. The main reason was that its a minor miracle when an Irish player manages to get a buyin together in these tough times. The thought of having to pony up twice is enough to make a grown man cry. Nevertheless I managed to play three tournaments there and got knocked out four times! It wasn’t easy. The trick is to trip on the way in to play, landing on your head, not realise you’ve been kod and proceed to play the event concussed. Anything to get into the record books!
Two days later I bought a coffee in Dublin airport. The guy who served me took one look at me and said “I dont know if you won the tournament, but it looks like you lost the fight!” Thanks. Thats all I needed.

THE GENERATION GAP

In a ring game recently Player A said to Player B “I played with your father last night. He plays a lot tighter than you”. Player B laughed and responded “Thats no surprise. My Dad worked for his money. I inherited mine.”