Texas Holdem Ireland "Robbery" But by Who

The Gecko

Hi all,

I was at Dalymount for the €40 + €10 FO last night.

During the final table one of the players who was knocked out asked what would happen if the cash was stolen (Culchie raised this a few months ago)

The reason he asked was at a session in the Penny Inn Lucan. After he had finished First. Texas Holdem Ireland (THL) told the final the winner the prize money had been stolen and the cash box was gone. The player got secuirty to check the cameras and no one was seen leaving with a cash box and no one witnessed the theft.

Luckily for THL they had taken their cut before the theft and out of the goodness of their heart gave the winner €200 out of there back pocket!!!!!!!!!!

Another player then mentioned that at another tourney with THL the first prize was announced at €655 but they then only gave first €550 and said they had miss counted.

Finally another player mentioned he was at a THI night and for the whole evening there was a guy on a mic saying "Try Double up" Go all in with 2,7" If you lose just buy in"

All the above is second hand info and I have not played and will not play at a THI night. But Just thought it would be interesting to here your views on the above.

Finally, This is why a lobby group/Body is needed for poker in Ireland it needs to be regulated soon otherwise it will scare new players off and get a bad name very quickly......................

Lafortezza

Has "Texas Hold'em Ireland" ever been discussed on this forum? I don't remember it but search is down at the moment.
THI is different to this crowd http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=316637 yes?

I dunno if a regulatory body for poker in Ireland would be a good thing, it'd have to be run by the Govt if it was to have any clout and I don't think the Govt would see eye to eye with the majority of punters.

It's a case of buyer (or player in this case) beware.

Culchie

From what I can see (and I'm open to correction) these pub tourneys have just about peaked now, even on the downhill slide as regards numbers attending them (in Dublin anyway).

The 40-50 barrier is very rarely being broken now. The players with a bit of cop on are realising that the prize pool is being 'dipped into' heavily by up to 40-50%......the novices are finding out that a €25 rebuy tourney is not necessarily a cheap night out (especially when they come up against the likes of yerself Gecko;) )

It's recommended that when entering a MTT, that the 1st prize is approximately 40/1 of the entry ....e.g €25 entry = €1000 first prize to be considered good value, so with the pub tourney numbers dropping, this becomes -EV anyway, even before the shysters get their paws on the prize pool for their take.

There's too many of them at it now, and I do mean 'at it', and the punters are just beginning to wake up and smell the coffee.

The casinos are getting busier and busier, as the pub players are moving up to the next level, and you have the student societies coming through every year as well. The casinos are now putting on alot of €20-€50 tourneys and recognised the middle market is where the numbers are.

It's like anything else, the shysters have their short term gain, customers get burnt, they go in search for genuine value then, so somebody who runs a decent tournament offering fair value (a la Pokerevents and Shortstack) and the Casinos will be end game winners here.

Punters are not stupid, they may be niave starting out, but they learn quickly, they talk to each other, so word spreads.
They recognise the organisors need to make a few quid, and don't begrudge that, but once they work out they are being screwed, they are finished as a customer.

Washout

lafortezza wrote:

Has "Texas Hold'em Ireland" ever been discussed on this forum? I don't remember it but search is down at the moment.

does the google boards search not work?

NickyOD

Culchie wrote:

From what I can see (and I'm open to correction) these pub tourneys have just about peaked now, even on the downhill slide as regards numbers attending them (in Dublin anyway).

The 40-50 barrier is very rarely being broken now. The players with a bit of cop on are realising that the prize pool is being 'dipped into' heavily by up to 40-50%......the novices are finding out that a €25 rebuy tourney is not necessarily a cheap night out (especially when they come up against the likes of yerself Gecko;) )

It's recommended that when entering a MTT, that the 1st prize is approximately 40/1 of the entry ....e.g €25 entry = €1000 first prize to be considered good value, so with the pub tourney numbers dropping, this becomes -EV anyway, even before the shysters get their paws on the prize pool for their take.

There's too many of them at it now, and I do mean 'at it', and the punters are just beginning to wake up and smell the coffee.

The casinos are getting busier and busier, as the pub players are moving up to the next level, and you have the student societies coming through every year as well. The casinos are now putting on alot of €20-€50 tourneys and recognised the middle market is where the numbers are.

It's like anything else, the shysters have their short term gain, customers get burnt, they go in search for genuine value then, so somebody who runs a decent tournament offering fair value (a la Pokerevents and Shortstack) and the Casinos will be end game winners here.

Punters are not stupid, they may be niave starting out, but they learn quickly, they talk to each other, so word spreads.
They recognise the organisors need to make a few quid, and don't begrudge that, but once they work out they are being screwed, they are finished as a customer.

I'd like to believe this is true but I don't think so, at least not yet anyway. Celtic Poker tour had over 250 runners in Thurles a couple of weeks back and paid out 10K when the average take per player was €100.

The line of clueless players queuing up to play these events is never ending. The only reaosn the numbers are spread out now is because the market is flooding, but its likely to get worse before it gets better.

Things have gotten much better in Limerick thanks to better tournaments raising the bar and 2 organisers who were previously ripping people off are now going out of business, but from what I have seen around the country there are still plenty of places full of new players with deep pockets to exploit.

califano

A lot of uplifting talk going on at that final table then!.

Culchie

NickyOD wrote:

I'd like to believe this is true but I don't think so, at least not yet anyway. Celtic Poker tour had over 250 runners in Thurles a couple of weeks back and paid out 10K when the average take per player was €100.

The line of clueless players queuing up to play these events is never ending. The only reaosn the numbers are spread out now is because the market is flooding, but its likely to get worse before it gets better.

Things have gotten much better in Limerick thanks to better tournaments raising the bar and 2 organisers who were previously ripping people off are now going out of business, but from what I have seen around the country there are still plenty of places full of new players with deep pockets to exploit.

It's all in context, the 'boom' is on the go about a year now, and already Dublin scene is flattened out, you have said Limerick has sorted itself out, Fintan has Galway looked after, Mike has Drogeda/Monaghan areas, Cork and Kerry seem to have a genuine scene with rooms opened up lately.... another few months and most of the punters will know they shysters from the genuine operators.

The good guys will win this war.

padser

Culchie wrote:

The good guys will win this war.

hopefully anyway

ionapaul

Still lots and lots of 'small-time' pub tournies in dublin though, no doubt many are doing a good job lining the organiser's pockets. In Rathmines / Ranelagh / Terenure alone, there are probably a dozen different pub / poolhall poker tournament choices for the discerning beginner too scared to venture into the big bad city centre card rooms...

Dub13

ionapaul wrote:

for the discerning beginner too scared to venture into the big bad city centre card rooms...

Something tells me free gargle will have an affect on alot of these people,we are Irish after all.

charlesanto

I witnessed a pub tourney on Monday. €20 reg + €20 rebuys.
The crew playing were all newbies who had maybe played a few hands of draw with their mates. 80% of players were pissed and i guess the rebuy average was 3 to 4 times. There were 22 players - the organisers payed out €440.00 total, first got €170.

Culchie

Name and shame ....who were the organisors of this game?

padser

yeah please name

charlesanto

Can't Remember, but will find out.

The Troll

charlesanto wrote:

Can't Remember, but will find out.

Possibly the most ridiculous reply ever.

Fathead

The Troll wrote:

Possibly the most ridiculous reply ever.

Possibly the most ridiculous reply ever.:rolleyes:

padser

The name of the pub would even suffice

The Troll

Fathead wrote:

Possibly the most ridiculous reply ever.:rolleyes:

Possibly the most ridiculous reply to a ridiculous reply to a ridiculous reply ever. :rolleyes:

Fathead

touché

Marq

charlesanto wrote:

Can't Remember, but will find out.

Would someone mind explaining to me exactly what is ridiculous about this post? And then go on justify how it's more ridiculous than any other post ever posted on these boards? 'Cos I just see an answer to a question someone asked and the promise of more information in the future.

bonkey

The Gecko wrote:

one of the players who was knocked out asked what would happen if the cash was stolen (Culchie raised this a few months ago)

I sisn't catch this when ti came up last time round, but I would imagine that the organisers are still legally liable.

Prize money is calculated from how much money was paid in, not from how much remains in the tin when it comes to the payout. Either the pub, or the event organisers are liable for the money in the interim, and I'd be staggered if they weren't insured against loss.


I hope the "winner" had at least enough cop to ensure the police were called to investigate the "theft".

jc

okidoki987

I have to laugh at some of these tournaments being advertised.
Prime Example
Saw a poster in Amiens Street, Dublin for a game.
Poster went something like this

Texas Hold'Em Poker Tournament.
Buy in 40 Euro +rebuys
Prize fund Euro 1,000
No phone number, no details of organisers. nothing!
Date and location which I can't remember as I was still laughing
and wondering who would attend a tournament like this.

Ste05

Marq wrote:

Would someone mind explaining to me exactly what is ridiculous about this post? And then go on justify how it's more ridiculous than any other post ever posted on these boards? 'Cos I just see an answer to a question someone asked and the promise of more information in the future.

Well said, I was about to post exactly the same thing.

Obviously Troll would prefer silence rather than a promise to actually go and find out the required information and reply in the near future??

jtsuited

these tournaments are really preying on the naivety of new poker players. Although trying to explain to some people why it's not a good idea playing in these tournaments can make one sound like a bit of a dick.

super_furry

In fairness I think pub tournaments do serve a purpose. As a realively new player six months ago, I didn't have the confidence in my knowledge of the game and the unwritten rules of etiquette to go and play in a casino. The more informal and relaxed setting of a pub gives novices a chance to learn the game without fear of making a fool of themselves in front of semi-pro players. A casino can be a pretty intimidating place for newbies.

I've since moved onto playing in card clubs, but I still check out Vegas Night's games in the Cuckoo's Nest on occasion because it's handy. The fact that they're more honest with what cut they take (€5 from the €25 buy-in and the one top-up) makes it a decent night, if nowhere near as good as a casino.

Lafortezza

charlesanto wrote:

I witnessed a pub tourney on Monday. €20 reg + €20 rebuys.
The crew playing were all newbies who had maybe played a few hands of draw with their mates. 80% of players were pissed and i guess the rebuy average was 3 to 4 times. There were 22 players - the organisers payed out €440.00 total, first got €170.

So 22 players with no rebuys would fill that €440 prizepool, and if those 22 players rebought twice each, then the organisers are taking two thirds off all the money collected. That shít's bananas.

The Troll wrote:

Possibly the most ridiculous reply ever.

I don't see many constructive replys from you at all on this forum. Recent posts on the Feedback forum also indicate that you're living up to your username.
The guy said he'd find out who organised it, what sane reason was there for your moronic reply?