AFTER A tough Budget and a difficult year for the Irish economy, you couldn’t blame the organisers of the €3,500 entry Irish Open poker championships for feeling tetchy in the run-up to the event.
Since last year’s tournament, which 667 people entered, consumer spending has dropped, the dole queues have extended and the tide of disposable income which brought about the worldwide poker boom has slowed to a trickle.
However, despite the prevailing economic wind, 701 players turned up at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin yesterday afternoon to take their seat in the event, more eager than ever to compete for a prize pool of more than €2.2 million. The eventual winner of the Texas Hold’em event, which runs until Monday, will take home some €600,000.
“We had to work much harder to get the numbers this year,” said Paul Burke of tournament host Paddy Power. “A lot of poker players don’t have the same disposable income they had this time last year. If we had got 600 players we would have been very happy.”
Poker tournaments attract a curious and diverse crowd. Among the collection of rank amateurs and seasoned professionals attending the event were American actress Jennifer Tilly, former international football and rugby stars Tony Cascarino and Reggie Corrigan, and former world snooker champion Ken Doherty.
“I don’t get a whole lot of time to play poker, but I really love it,” Doherty said. “It’s a great buzz. When you get good cards your heart races like when you’re playing snooker and buzzing after knocking in a big break.”
About 50 per cent of this year’s field came from overseas. Lyall Trenholm, a retired car dealer from Ontario in Canada, relished the atmosphere despite being eliminated earlier. “The Irish are a little more boisterous than the Canadians, but that’s all in the game.”
What is the appeal to poker? “Winning,” he laughed.
