Saturday Night Poker

Star Poker Bray is on tonight and its the same tournament as a Friday Night "the double chance tournament. Be knocked out or go bust before the end of the break and you can rebuy again for €25 (20 plus 5 reg). Starts at 8.00pm and you can register up to 9.30pm. Blinds are 15 mins and a 10k starting stack. Refreshments served throughout and hot food served at the break.

Cash Tables available when enough players are around to start. blinds are 25/50c, 10% rake once a flop is seen and capped at €3 per pot. The minimum you can buy onto cash for is €25 and the Maximum has been increased to €500.

Newtown Friday Night Results

Fourteen players took part in the Friday game at MKI. The prize fund was €440. He winner was Greg Gallagher who got €180. Second was Dominic Leech on €140. Third was Joey O'Brien on €80, and fourth was Geraldine Nolan on €40. Joey's quad Aces was the best hand, so he gets a free buy in next week.

Friday Night Poker

Its Friday.....

Action as follows:

Doyles Rathnew, starts at 8.00pm. Seems to usually get 2 tables. €20 buy in and a starting stack of 2.5k and a 20 min clock. You can rebuy/topup 3 times and if your gone before the break you can buy a deadstack and the 3 topups for €50. All money taken in on the night goes back out in the prizefund.

The Kennedy inn, Newtown. Starts at 8.00pm, buy in is €20, with a €20 top up. early bird chip of 2k if your there before 8. Starting stack of 10k and a 20 min clock. The topup/rebuy is also for 10k. Consistently getting 2 tables now. Best hand of the night also gets free entry for the following week. Seems to consistently have 2 tables here.

Star Poker Bray, have their €25 (20 plus 5 reg) double chance tournie. Bust or be knocked out before the end of the first break at 9.30pm and you can rebuy for a further €25. Starts at 8.00pm and you can late reg up to 9.30pm. Starting stack of 10k, 15 min blinds and lately having been getting 50/60 runners. Refreshments available throughout and hot food served at the break.

Cash tables run until late and usually have 2 going. 25/50c blinds. 10% rake once a flop is seen, capped at €3 per pot, again the 2 cash tables usually fill up fairly fast.

Have a good weekend and good luck at the tables.

Whistlers Thursday Night Results

Congratultions to Niall Callery who won last nights game in Whistlers Wicklow. with 13 runners top spot paid €270.A deal was made 3 handed were niall took €250 with Ciaran Connolly and Trevor Conyard taking €125 Each.

Best hand before the break was quad 2s for Niall Higgins. Niall called an all in and the board ran out 2, jack, 2, 2, 2 with niall holding Ace Queen!

Star Poker Bray Wednesday Night Results and update league table

Wednesday 22/01/2014
€20 Winter League Freeze-Out Tournament (week 4)
Start: 8:00 pm
End: 1:45 am
Players: 74
Prize Pool: €1,036

1. Dave Walsh €375
2. Ray O'Brien €230
3. Jim Carr €150
4. Karl Verhoeven €95
5. Thomas Ward €70
6. Colm Martin €55
7. Damian Whyte €40
8. Frank Sutton €20

League table after week 4

1. Thomas Ward 72 pts
2. Mick O'Neill 60 pts
3. Stephen Armstrong 58 pts
4. Adrian Connick 54 pts
5. Derek Verhoeven 49 pts
6. Damian Whyte 48 pts
7. Evan Burke 47 pts
Simon Kearns 47 pts
9. Ray O'Brien 42 pts
10. Dean Fox 40 pts
Paddy Scanlon 40 pts
12. Philip McCormack 38 pts
13. Thomas Bacon 36 pts
14. Gerry O'Neill 35 pts
15. Ronan Kenny 31 pts
16. Frank Collier 30 pts
17. Joe Baker 28 pts
18. Colm Cahill 27 pts
Colm Martin 27 pts
Dave Walsh 27 pts
Liam Daly 27 pts

Thursday Night Poker

1st off, we start in the Coach House Roundwood.

Kicks off at 8.00pm, Buy in is €35 (20 buy in, 10 top up and 5 reg). If you dont take the top-up its €25. The starting stacks are 5k and the top is the same. Blinds are 15/20. Hot food served on the break. Always has 2 tables. Friendly Game, new players welcome, Ritchie Cullen runs the game here.

Star Poker Bray

€35 Scalp Tournament, Starting at 8.00 pm, Late reg up to 9.30 pm, Starting stack of 10,000 chips, 15 minute clock, Buy in €20 + €10 scalp + €5 reg fee

Refreshments available during the tournament, Complimentary food served at the break. Numbers coule between 30-40 tonight for this game.

Lynskeys Arklow,

THERE IS NO GAME HERE ANYMORE.

Finally Whistlers Wicklow Town

Starting at 8pm, all money taken in paid out on the night. €20 buy in with 2 €10 top ups/rebuys. 500 early bird chip if your in your seat by the start and 500 if you confirm by text. Best hand before the break also gets €20.

Whistlers have donated €500 to the final night to be played on the 13th March 2014. The Buy in for the final night will be €25 for 6k chips with 1 top up/rebuy for €15 and another 6k in chips. Any player that plays (Minimum of 4 weeks need to be played out of 8 to qualify) will receive 1500 chips per week to add to their stack for the league final night.

Star Poker Bray Monday Night Results

Monday 20/01/2014
€20 January League Freeze-Out Tournament (week 3)
Start: 8:00 pm
End: 00:50 am
Players: 28
Prize Pool: €392

1. Barry McGovern €180
2. Paul Doyle €110
3. Colm Martin €72
4. Keith Clucas €30

Updated League Table:

1. Colm Martin 30 pts
Ray O'Brien 30 pts
3. Keith Clucas 29 pts
4. Joe O'Brien 20 pts
Sergei Torgai 20 pts
6. Tom Maguire 19 pts
7. Barry McGovern 18 pts
Neil Cahill 18 pts
9. Greg Gallagher 17 pts
Paul Doyle 17 pts
11. Damian Whyte 16 pts
12. Gerry Finglas 15 pts
13. Darren Connick 14 pts
Paddy Scanlon 14 pts
Stephen O'Connor 14 pts
16. Janos Jeszek 13 pts
Ken Garten 13 pts
18. David Harris 12 pts
Martin Carroll 12 pts
Paddy Maher 12 pts
Paul Scanlon 12 pts
Stephen Martin 12 pts

Wednesday Night Poker

Only the 1 game tonight folks and its on in Star Poker Bray

Starting at 8.00 pm. Late reg up to 9.30 pm. Starting stack of 10,000 chips,15 minute clock
Buy in €15 + €5 reg fee

Tonight is week 3 of the Winter League

WEDNESDAY “WINTER” POKER

TOURNAMENT LEAGUE

For 9 weeks Star Leisure Poker Room will run a Wednesday Tournament League from 1st of January up to 26th of February. Over These 9 nights players will receive points according to what position they finish in. The 5 players with the most points will receive a cash prize on Wednesday 5th of March.

The league prize pool will be created by taking €1 from each player’s entry fee every tournament and Star Leisure Poker Room will donate another €1 per person each tournament to double the prize pool. Star Leisure Poker Room will guarantee a prize fund of €750.

Points system:

1st - 27 pts 6th - 22 pts 11th - 17 pts 16th - 12 pts 21st - 7 pts 26th - 2 pts
2nd - 26 pts 7th - 21 pts 12th - 16 pts 17th - 11 pts 22nd - 6 pts 27th - 1 pt
3rd - 25 pts 8th - 20 pts 13th - 15 pts 18th - 10 pts 23rd - 5 pts
4th - 24 pts 9th - 19 pts 14th - 14 pts 19th - 9 pts 24th - 4 pts
5th - 23 pts 10th - 18 pts 15th - 13 pts 20th - 8 pts 25th - 3 pts

Top 5 at the end of 9 weeks will get paid:

1st €300
2nd €200
3rd €125
4th €75
5th €50

* - if after 7 weeks people in the money on equal points the winning prize will be split equally

League table after week 3

1. Adrian Connick 54 pts
2. Stephen Armstrong 52 pts
3. Derek Verhoeven 49 pts
Thomas Ward 49 pts
5. Simon Kearns 47 pts
6. Mick O'Neill 42 pts
7. Philip McCormack 38 pts
8. Thomas Bacon 36 pts
9. Evan Burke 34 pts
10. Paddy Scanlon 31 pts
Ronan Kenny 31 pts
12. Frank Collier 29 pts
13. Colm Cahill 27 pts
Damian Whyte 27 pts
Liam Daly 27 pts

Ask A Pro Part 2

Dara O'Kearney aka Doke has come back and given answers to the questions put to him. See below!!

Question: do you use huds, if so, which is the best and how much do you rely on them?

Dara: Very heavily as I couldn't play more than 4 tables otherwise. I have always uesd PokerTracker so it's more a case of habit at this stage but I do think PT4 is amazing, especially the Note feature (it takes notes on opponent tendencies and leaks)

Question: Whats the most reliable tell you've found (online and live?)

Dara: Online bet sizing is the main one. A lot of people vary their sizing depending on hand strength. Some timing stuff too: the most common one I can think of is when a player timebanks then raises or shoves. That's generally strong if the player isn't a pro.

Live: you get sizing tells too but physical tells are more important. The most reliable ones are the hand tells. I know at least two Irish based pros who move the chips into the pot differently depending on whether they are bluffing or value betting. I also know one player who waves at their chips after betting if bluffing. That's definitely the funniest tell I've picked up: literally waving your chips goodbye.

Question: whats the worst TD ruling you've seen?

We are blessed with some of the best TDs in Ireland so can't recall any from here, but in Spain I was on the wrong end of an insane ruling where a player was allowed to retrieve his hand from the muck after the dealer had mucked them, call my all in, and knock me out. (I read about this at the time myself and couldn't believe it, I think Dara may have had Kings!!)

Question: Do u have a set %age of the buy-in you're prepared to spend on satellite qualifying?

Dara: No. I think of them as two entirely different things. A satellite is just another tourney for me: the fact that the prizes get converted into entries for another tourney makes no difference. I don't even track how much I spend.

Question: How Important is Position?

Dara: Depends on a number of things, like relative skill level, opponent tendencies, stack depth and specific hand. Highly skilled post flop players can get away with playing hands out of position against weaker players. If you are up against someone who folds a lot post flop, you can play a pretty wide range of hands profitably just by betting a lot of flops. If they never fold and bloat pots in bad spots, you can do the same if stacks are deep knowing they will pay you off if you flop big. A small pocket pair is easier to play oop than suited connectors because with the pair you can just give up if you don't hit a set, and against many players you can extract value even oop when you do. With suited conns you are more likely to flop a draw and it's a lot easier to keep control of the pot and get free cards in position. Same things for weaker aces or broadway hands: it's a lit easier to keep the pot small in position. A hand like KJs can be costly when stacks are deep if you decide to call down with top pair or chase a draw, but it's an ok hand to defend when stacks are 20 big blinds as you can get it in profitably whenever you flop a pair or a decent draw.

Question: When or how low do you wait before you go all in? (How short)

Dara: I generally shove my entire range once M (my stack divided by preflop pot of blinds and antes) drops below 5. That's 7.5 big blinds pre antes and generally around 12 with antes. Above that, I have some hands that are strong enough to raise and call a shove, and some I raise hoping to steal the blinds or see a cheap flop and go from there but will fold to a reraise (so my range is balanced between the strongest hands, and some that are too weak to shove).

Question: If you raise, should you all always c-bet whether you hit the flop or not?

Dara: No, that's too exploitable. If someone always does that you exploit them by either always raising or floating them (as they won't have it more than half the time). Online I cbet about 70% of the time, dependent on how often opponents fold to cbets, how many of them I'm betting into, board texture. They are factors live too, plus there's the whole physical side. Sometimes I would decline to cbet in a spot where I generally would if I got a strong sense my opponent had hit, or I might cbet a board where I knew he had hit but felt he wouldn't believe me and make a big bluff (you can sometimes see guys literally ready to blow). A few years ago you could profitably cbet all the time, but nowadays even novice players know what a cbet is and won't just fold to one every time they miss.

Question: is poker in ireland, still alive and kicking or is it slowly dyin a death? If so
is this because of higher buy ins or higher reg fees?

Dara: I think it depends whether you are talking about poker recreationally or professionally. Recreationally it's probably as healthy as it's ever been, with lots of events to choose from. Recreational players tend not to worry as much about reg fees as pros, even if they should (they are getting ripped off too). Professionally it's a disaster, with only a couple of events a year worth your time if you are thinking like a pro. My wife continually nags me about playing live and she has a point. Less than 10% of my income as a pro has come from live poker, and it has consumed way more than 10% of my time. Factor in expenses and the hassle of travel and the boredom of one tabling at a slow pace and there's a strong argument for going the entirely online pro route. The reasons I don't are it's good to get out of the house sometimes, and you meet some great people and have a lot more fun than just clicking buttons, so there's a a balance. So I guess even pros aren't thinking of live poker in pure financial terms. Stars have done an amazing job building a grassroots tour with the UKIPT. At UKIPTs it's great to see not just the pros I play against every night but even more so recreational or fun players, who are way more fun to spend time with. So maybe we all just need to stop thinking of live poker in financial terms and treat it more as a social outing. The downside of that is the live scene is no longer producing pro players (all the recent decent pros in Ireland have come from online, some of them never played live). It would be nice to have a more rounded scene with lots of lower buyin events for recreational players, but also more high buyin events that guys on the way up could take shots at. Also, if the low buyin events become the exclusive preserve of recreational players, then there's less chance someone can improve in those games. About a year ago I considered retiring completely from live poker in Ireland, and my friend Connie O'Sullivan (one of the best tourney organisers in the world) made a point I'd never even considered, that it would be sad if I did as recreational players liked having the opportunity to play against me (and presumably other pros). I guess I always assumed they wouldn't like to have a pro at their table, but Connie is clearly right judging from the way people talk to me at the table when I play live: most are happy to have the opportunity. So something will definitely be lost if the live scene in Ireland continues the way it's going and it's all hundred quid games with 30 quid reg that the pros just don't bother with.

I understand that organisers have to make a buck and it's a difficult climate with dwindling numbers, tough economy and rising costs, so I understand why reg fees are rising generally, but some really do take the piss. As long as players let rogue organisers away with it, they will obviously continue. So next time you are thinking of playing an event, don't just look at the guarantee or estimated prize pool and buyin....look at the reg fee and ask yourself is it good value, or is it egregious. If people start voting with their feet, organisers will realise they can't get away with robbery.

Question: Whats the one thing you will tell a poker player if you were to give them some advice?

Dara: Recreational players: stick to your budget. Decide how much you can spend on poker each month and each year, and pick the events that offer the most value based on that. If you get a score, spend it on something you want, don't feel the need to spend it all on poker. Don't get depressed if you "lose" money playing poker, think of it like any other recreation where you spend some money to have some fun.

Pros and aspiring pros: Bankroll management is key. If you go bust, you're now broke AND just lost your job (unless you are a sponsored player or can find a backer). So don't go bust. It's ok to take occasional shots, but the guys who build bankrolls and long careers of playing on their own dime are the ones disciplined enough to build them the right way.

Thanks to Dara for this. You will see between himself and Jason's answers yesterday both have different views and outlook on things. Hopefully someone can take something from the above!!

Tuesday Night Poker

Only the 1 game tonight folks,

Jacobs well Rathdrum have their usual game. Each week they alternate between 2 games. 1 game is a €50 freezeout. starting stack is 62k (you are reading this correctly), blinds are 15/20 mins. no money kept behind all is paid out in prizefunds. starts at 9.00 and can run for a while with a stack this big!!

Their 2nd game is €30, with a €10 rebuy only for the first 3 levels. starting stack is not as big, i believe its around the 20k mark, and blinds are as above 15/20 mins.

Pot Limit cash game also runs when enough players are knocked out of the game.

ASK A PRO?

I did say I was looking for questions to ask Irish Pro's Dara O'Kearney and Jason Tompkins. The response was unbelievable (not), thanks to the 1 (One) Player that decided to ask a few questions to see how the pro sees it. Must be great to know everything about poker!!!

Anyway...... here are some of the questions Jason has answered. Im waiting for Dara to come back to me, so have a look at what he has to say!


Question: do you use huds, if so, which is the best and how much do you rely on them?

Jason: I do, although I do not rely on them as heavily as others do. I still like to think to feel a player. Only when multi tabling would I use huds, I find it gets in the way when your focusing on one or two games that your left in and can overall lead you to make bad decisions based on your hud. So always be mindful of that.


Question: Whats the most reliable tell you've found (online and live?)

Jason: Online, well that would have to be bet sizing for the most part but also there are some timing tells. On a final table I mucked AJo 6 handed to an aggressive player on the button all because he instant opened the button. I had been 3betting him previous to this so his instant raise sent a message he was ready to rock, previously he had waited few seconds before opening.

Live, I guess it has so many. You can still look a top pro in the eye and know he doesn't have it. Body language is everything live, everything comes alive from your opponents minor expressions to your own sense and gut feeling leading you to the correct decision.


Question: whats the worst TD ruling you've seen?

Jason: It has to be in the Wsop 1k event last year. Deep in the tourney, a random TD made a whole host of mistakes in one hand and all the players knew he had not got a clue but he still persisted he was right. He was removed from the floor after making a player give chips back out of the pot which he calculated wrong, lol.

Also just a funny note, that same year I had incident with an older dealer. I helped move the button, he reached over to move it again even though I told him it was correct. He seemed a bit off but said ok and put the button in a weird spot to my left, I moved it so it was clearly in front of me. Now I mean, he went mental. He began shouting at me to leave the button where it was etc, I made my case and laughed. He then threatened to call the floor on me and have me removed from the tourney thinking I'd back off. Needless to say I didn't and I began to call the floor. He was replaced next hand but not after he gave me a couple of dirty looks you get from your girlfriend or wife when you tell them I'm going to play poker instead of hanging out with you tonight. It was a priceless interaction, the table was very amused. Even more so when the table next to us where the dealer had been moved too began another arguement, lol what a man!


Question: Do u have a set %age of the buy-in you're prepared to spend on satellite qualifying?

Jason: Yes, normally 30-40% but for the pp sole survivor you would have to double that because of the incentives.


Question: How Important is Position?

Jason: It's Everything! These days it's pointless playing oop, you will just lose too many pots, unless you are prepared to lead out on flops and turns instead if the old check to the raiser b/s. It's a tough art to perfect.


Question: When or how low do you wait before you go all in? (How short)

Jason: Hmmm, tourney dependent and situational, but I'd stop opening pots once I got to 13bb range, so I'd be looking to reshove on ppl with stacks in the form of 13-20bbs.


Question: If you raise, should you all always c-bet whether you hit the flop or not?

Jason: Again, flop dependent this but I will say you should cbet almost 85% of the time so 8 or 9 times out of 10 is a fine line to go off of.


Question: is poker in ireland, still alive and kicking or is it slowly dyin a death? If so is this because of higher buy ins or higher reg fees?

Jason: Poker in Ireland is dead imo, it's why I'm in Australia now. It's swamped with all these €500 and €300 buy ins with high reg fees that it's just not ever going to make you hugely profitable like it once was. Money is tight so now so are the players in general. The only thing going for Ireland is no tax and it's right next to Europe where there is a brilliant scene. And cash games are non existent for anything above 1-2 unless it's a 3 straddle game of PLO where whoever hits wins on the night. That's not skill it's degenerate. Not that PLO isn't a skillful game it is beyond doubt but just the live set up for it is degen.


Question: Whats the one thing you will tell a poker player if you were to give them some advice?

Jason: Do not look up to the ballers in Irish poker, all of them have there day but inevitably they all come n go. Look at the history and mindset of most of Irish poker history and you will see this endless line of ballers, who are now broke. Be smart, don't be a retard.

Thanks to Jason for this it was much appreciated and good to see the mindset & get opinions of a pro!

Pokerstars Home Game

as you will have seen over the last 3 weeks, ive been going on about a pokerstars home game. The first game is scheduled for Tuesday 4th February at 8pm. Ive chose the tuesday night as there is no live game on around the County. The buy in is only €11 (€10 plus €1 reg) with the top 15% being paid. So far there are 15 players in the homegame and there is no limit as to how many can join. Its our home game so we can oick and chose whatever games we want. If you want to join just follow the steps below and your in:

1. I have set up the clubname as Wicklowpkrscene (Capital W).
2. The club ID is 882428
3. Enter the invitation code Homegame (Capital H)

Finally the reg does not go to me, pokerstars charge the standard reg (basically for playing your games in their software)

There is unlimited things we can do here, we can even run satellites to some of the bigger games if theres interest!

ANYWAY HOPE TO SEE EVERYONE WHO JOINED ON THE 4TH FEBRUARY, IT WILL BE A GOOD LAUGH!

Star Poker Bray Super Sunday Results

Sunday 19/01/2014
€220 Super Star Sunday Tournament
Start: 1:00 pm
End: 1:00 am
Players: 53
Prize Pool: €10,600

1. Derek Verhoeven €3,250
2. Gary Clarke €3,050
3. Stephen Armstrong €2,070
4. Ivan Tononi €1,140
5. Reggie Corrigan €840
6. Ger Cleary €250


Sunday 19/01/2014
€20 Re-Entry Tournament
Start: 8:00 pm
End: 00:40 am
Players: 38
Prize Pool: €570

1. Colm Martin €250
2. Damian Whyte €150
3. Martin Young €100
4. Thomas Ward €50
5. Giulio Popplewell €20

Monday Night Poker

Only the 1 game tonight folks and its a new game in Star Poker Bray, details as below.

Freeze-Out Tournament
Starting at 8.00 pm.....Late reg up to 9.30 pm.....
Starting stack of 10,000 chips
15 minute clock
Buy in €15 + €5 reg fee

MONDAY “JANUARY” POKER TOURNAMENT LEAGUE

For 4 weeks Star Leisure Poker Room will run a Monday Tournament League from 6th of January up to 27th of January. Over These 4 nights players will receive points according to what position they finish in. The 3 players with the most points will receive a cash prize on Monday 4th of February. TONIGHT IS WEEK 2 OF THE LEAGUE

The league prize pool will be created by taking €1 from each player’s entry fee every tournament and Star Leisure Poker Room will donate another €1 per person each tournament to double the prize pool.

Points system:

1st - 18 pts 6th - 13 pts 11th - 8 pts 16th - 3 pts

2nd - 17 pts 7th - 12 pts 12th - 7 pts 17th - 2 pts

3rd - 16 pts 8th - 11 pts 13th - 6 pts 18th - 1 pt

4th - 15 pts 9th - 10 pts 14th - 5 pts

5th - 14 pts 10th - 9 pts 15th - 4 pts

* - if after 4 weeks people in the money on equal points the winning prize will be split equally

League Table after week 2:

1. Neil Cahill 18 pts
Tom Maguire 18 pts
3. Greg Gallagher 17 pts
Ray O'Brien 17 pts
5. Damian Whyte 16 pts
Joe O'Brien 16 pts
7. Gerry Finglas 15 pts
Sergei Torgai 15 pts
9. Colm Martin 14 pts
Keith Clucas 14 pts
11. Janos Jeszek 13 pts
Ken Garten 13 pts
13. David Harris 12 pts
Paddy Maher 12 pts
Paul Scanlon 12 pts

Sunday Poker

Deepstack Freezeout in Star Poker Bray

Starting at 1.00 pm. Late reg up to 4.15 pm.
Starting stack of 30,000 chips
30 minute clock throughout
Buy in €200 + €20 reg fee
Refreshments available during the tournament
Complimentary food served at the break
Last Super Star Sunday prize pool was €10,000!!!!

There could be 50 plus at this game, so i reckon it will be a good one.

Finally the usual €20 freezeout game will be on from 8pm in Star Poker Bray Also. Best of luck at the tables.

Newtown Friday Night Results

Twelve players took part in the Friday game at MKI, yielding a jackpot of €340, with the top three getting paid. Winner on the night was Greg Gallagher who got €200. Second was David Brewster on €100, and third was Lee Lofts on €40. Robert Nolans house of Jacks full 10's was the best hand so Robert gets a free buy in next week.

Whistlers Thursday Night Results

Congratulations to Johnny Dunne, Jason Cooper, Keith Doyle and Jeff Byrne who chooped Thursday Nights game in Whistlers Wicklow. With 17 Runners top spot paid €320. Best hand before the break was a house of Aces of over 2s for Stephen Tierney and he received €20. This was week 1 of 8, of the new league, so any player that played will receive 1500 chips for the league final.