Poker in Dublin.... Really that Bad?

Theresalwaysone

I'm a relative newbie to Boards but I have been reading quite a bit of other people threads lately and trying to contribute where I thought it would mean something and asked for advice on hands where I was genuinely annoyed with the way I played them whether it ended me in winning or losing.

BUT

One thing i have noticed common to nearly every thread on boards is that inevitably someone always comments on the "juicyness" "poor standard" "exceptionally poor standard" "donkeys" on Dublins Cash and Tourney tables.

I honestly think some people ( not all ) are over rating themselves. I understand there are some pro's and very very good amateurs on this site and can't for the life of me understand why they or any normal recreational player looking to make money would be complaining about this. Surely in the long term it is -Ev and taking away there skill edge if they are hammering on about people falling in love with TPTK, these people will eventually end all romance with the afforementioned hand and bang goes the value.

Isn't it just typically Irish to complain about what is essentially a good thing?

Now I do not consider myself an average player, I am definately below average.

I believe maybe 80% of the people on this forum have at one stage commented on the poor standard and terrible play on Dublins Poker tables. But If everyone is better than these games then why are they all not attending them and therefore upping the standard of the games? I understand work committments, Families, Friends, Drink (typically irish), Not all playing in the same place etc etc all these excuses....I understand but there are a lot of players out there who feel they are better than these games and yet if they all played them then the standard would be higher and I suppose there complaints would have got them what they wanted a higher standard of play.

I suppose all this rant is trying to say is lets stop all the complaining about the poor standard and work on ways to profit from this "poor standard".

This is gonna get me in trouble.

Ollieboy

Somebody called you a fish last night? didnt they and your upset this morning...lol

What people generally moan about is poor players calling raises with marginal hands or out of position and getting lucky, this is what makes poker so hard to take, similiar to golf, that the best player doesn't always win.

So the reason players moan about it here, is that this forum lets people vent there anger and let some steam off, ie avoid tilt. Nothing wrong with it and if you dont like it????....

Theresalwaysone

No No No, before people go jumpin at me Im sayin all this in the lightest way possible. Im not dissing anyones right to vent or complain Im jus asking why if they know it is a money losing decision in the long run.

And No not last night, three nights ago, and he stacked me.....grrrr lol

phantom_lord

nobody here is complaining about the bad standard, everyone knows thats's a good thing.

5starpool

Most poker players in Dublin have not heard of Boards and do not read this forum. Those that do read here either intend to improve, or are decent enough anyways. Commenting about the standard here is not going to affect the stations and rag merchants that like to play that way as they don't read here. A couple of good nights when they hit every now and then is enough to keep them coming back.

Most of the comments are not complaints though, they are usually to justify why a poster should play a hand in a certain way against a random Dublin punter.

mdwexford

of course we are happy when donks get their money in bad against us but it is still hard to take at times when they're hitting lucky cards all over the place.

Marq

5starpool wrote:

Most of the comments are not complaints though, they are usually to justify why a poster should play a hand in a certain way against a random Dublin punter.

The game in dublin has its own style and class of player and you have to adjust your own game to take advantage of it/
I often state that I think the standard of player in dublin is piss-poor but I never complain about it. It's great.

Ste05

Theresalwaysone wrote:

I believe maybe 80% of the people on this forum have at one stage commented on the poor standard and terrible play on Dublins Poker tables. But If everyone is better than these games then why are they all not attending them and therefore upping the standard of the games? I understand work committments, Families, Friends, Drink (typically irish), Not all playing in the same place etc etc all these excuses....I understand but there are a lot of players out there who feel they are better than these games and yet if they all played them then the standard would be higher and I suppose there complaints would have got them what they wanted a higher standard of play.

As Phantom_Lord and others have said I don't think people are complaining about the bad standard, most people who complain about that kind of thing, usually don't fully understand Poker.

The reason some people (like me) don't play so much is because I find it quite boring and I can play more hands and make more money playing on-line. Even though the standard is better than the equivalent Live game. I also don't like to wear trousers when I play Poker and I think that's frowned upon in most Dublin Casino's LOL :rolleyes:

Also, it's not just Dublin card rooms, most Live casino's have a very bad standard and that's because alot of people who play in Casino's aren't reading websites like this and trying to improve their game, they view Poker in a different way to the majority of posters on this forum. These people are just gamblers and some choose Poker as their form of gambling. Similarly to how I occasionally like to bet on a big horse race. I don't know anything about Horse racing but sometimes it can be enjoyable to sit in a pub with some mates and have a few pints and watch the racing, it's just a way to spend some of my disposable income, I don't want to learn all the nuances of Horse betting to find +EV bets, and many people who play in Casino's just view Poker the same way I view Horse racing, they enjoy the chance of winning some money but can afford to lose the money.

Then there's also the degenerate gamblers that just can't help themselves. It's people like these that make the games so juicy and keep the standard low.

Theresalwaysone wrote:

I suppose all this rant is trying to say is lets stop all the complaining about the poor standard and work on ways to profit from this "poor standard".

That's one of the main reason's for this whole forum's existence.

Mr.Plough

5starpool wrote:

Most poker players in Dublin have not heard of Boards and do not read this forum. Those that do read here either intend to improve, or are decent enough anyways. Commenting about the standard here is not going to affect the stations and rag merchants that like to play that way as they don't read here. A couple of good nights when they hit every now and then is enough to keep them coming back.

Most of the comments are not complaints though, they are usually to justify why a poster should play a hand in a certain way against a random Dublin punter.

dot.

Anyone who complains about a poor standard cash game obviously doesnt like money.

I do think some more experienced players on boards don't complain about the standard per-sé, but do look down upon it.

And from the few times I've played against you the op, you can afford to give yourself a little more credit, provided you can fold 9 high after having 3 bullets fired at you :cool:

Macspower

I had forgotten how lucrative the Dublin cash scene is as I hadn't played there in a few months. They certainly don't go there to fold...

Except for my recent bad run online... I now find live play an inefficient use of my time. 4 tabling online give me a better hourly rate than sitting at a cash table in Dublin although the standard is higher... thats why I'm not there every night.

Mac

Theresalwaysone

I guess reading all your replies that I may have misunderstood why exactly the level of play was being berated. I think I understand it to be in the context of reassuring the hero that his play was ok and that this happens in "poor standards" and as marq always so bluntly puts it.

"move up levels"

I still believe tho that there are many more of the fish and gamblers reading this than anyone thinks. Metagame....maybe we'll become the fish......

Secondly not just on this site but particularly in the Casinos every time I do play I hear some lout mouth off about how bad the loaded donkey in the corner is playing? or I hear someone berate the level of play in a particular casino... I have been known to do this... I realised my huge error of judgement and am now out to make everything right in the world:cool:

Maybe these are ego boosts? Complaints? Pointing out the obvious? but whichever they clearly arent conducive to keeping said games "juicy". There is no better motivator than being burned and seeing some smug donkey smirk at you. and failing that....losing money.

Anyway just my thoughts on it...... thought Id complain about all the complaining.

And Mr.Plough..... 9 high.....MONSTER

Slash/ED

You're normally the first to point it out

I think the standard is generally mixed, with a very blatant gap. You have the decent players, pro or not, who study the game. Understand the dynamics and know what they're going. Now their skill level varys, but they're one form of player. The other is the gambler, who don't really know what they're at, the horse racing analogy got it perfectly. These are the value.

Obviously you wont get a table with just the latter category, I've sat at some relatively tough cash tables, but for the most part there's enough of the latter types to make them very juicy. And also, as people say, you have to expect certain things and do certain things differently when surrounded by these players.

Like, imagine being at a table populated exclusively by a certain UCD cash game regular...

You're right though, people who make comments to these players faces are morons. You just smile, say "Well played, you had to call, sure king 4 is a monster, what if a king comes up on the flop?" reload and get them the next four times. As Sammy Farha says, this isn't a poker school, you're not at the table to teach them any better. This is generally done as a complete ego boost by poor players who try to show how great they are at poker and how unlucky they got.

dK1NG

Ollieboy wrote:

What people generally moan about is poor players calling raises with marginal hands or out of position and getting lucky, this is what makes poker so hard to take, similiar to golf, that the best player doesn't always win.

mdwexford wrote:

of course we are happy when donks get their money in bad against us but it is still hard to take at times when they're hitting lucky cards all over the place.

thats poker, we just gotta take the good with the bad, and (hopefully) in the long run it should all work out +EV:)

ianmc38

As much as live poker in DUblin can be lucrative, it can also be highly depressing. It' slow, you get absolute cnuts at the table, there is no game selection, stack sizes are often too shallow to make it worth playing, same old faces every night, same old bad beat stories.

There's something about live poker that eventually brings out the worst in me as a result of tilt and boredom and I end up becoming a spewtard.

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

ianmc38

ianmc38 wrote:

As much as live poker in DUblin can be lucrative, it can also be highly depressing. It' slow, you get absolute cnuts at the table, there is no game selection, stack sizes are often too shallow to make it worth playing, same old faces every night, same old bad beat stories.
.

Agreed, especially on the stack sizes. The only exciting game to play is the big omaha game in the fitz