Revisiting Places I’ve Never Been

A few years ago, a guy called Paddy Higgins put a band together to entertain the punters at the Irish Poker Championship in Galway. All the musicians had played pubs and clubs in New York in the nineties in various lineups, but strangely enough had never played together.

Paddy called it a reunion of a band that had never been. If you’ve ever played poker in Galway you’d know just how well that fitted in.

I’ve spent my quota of time propping up the bar at Irish poker events over the years. Lots of guys have told me how much I’d enjoy the game in their hometown. They were freerolling but I’ve eventually called their bluff.

Scott Gray, a man who nearly won the World Series of Poker main event, and I are heading off on a tour of clubs and pubs all over Ireland to give away free stuff for 888 and to punish people who invite you to places thinking you won’t come.

I’m taking Scott along because: 


A. He has a driving licence
B. I can’t remember B
C. I have no fucking idea where Clonakilty is and he does.

Rules of the Road
We feel a bit like Paddy’s band because in going back to our roots we found they weren’t there any more. Poker used to be a Dublin thing because the muck savages down the country couldn’t figure it out but now with the new stuff like electricity and the interweb its all changed and there’s poker everywhere. The old rules still apply.

1. If you win a pot with a cheque in it be sure to get rid of it by calling the first small bet in the next pot and taking your change in cash. Then fold the first chance you get. DON’T BE A HERO.

2. If the driver is drunk sit in the back if you’ve won. Sit wherever you like if you’ve lost.

3. In a self dealt 7-stud game, if there’s a fight at the pool table which attracts the attention of your colleagues, don’t play the next pot unless you have rolled up trips AND your window card is higher than the dealer’s.