Dublin Poker

Had my staff Christmas party last night. Started off in Samsara for a few pints and then downstairs to the Thai restaurant for a bit of grub. All paid for of course! Anyway, as we were nearing the end of our meal the manager announced we were off to the Merrion Casino for a 'fun casino night'. "Oh no.... They weren't meant to know I'm a compulsive gambler... Just play it cool... They'll never know!"

So off we went to the Merrion where I was greeted at the door with a "hello Rory" from the doorman. Damn! My cover has been ruined! Anyway, as I was already a member I helped everyone sign up and herded them upstairs to the room we had booked. Say what you want about the Merrion's poker scene, they really know how to throw a good Christmas party! Two blackjack tables and a roulette wheel awaited us as we entered the room, not to mention a plentiful supply of alcohol.

There was a fun casino competition on, and my plan was to play it cool... until I heard what the prizes were!

3rd - A magnum of Moet et Chandon champaigne
2nd - An ipod
1st - A Video Ipod

As soon as they announced this my gamblers instinct took over and I immediately had my eyes set on that 1st prize! Although winning at house games is usually mostly luck there is SOME strategy involved (although I'm no card counter!). We started off on 2000 in chips and I realised that I was going to have to bet big from the start in order to build a big stack. So, while everybody was betting 25's I was throwing down 500's. I started off on roulette as it's what I'm used to. I soon had a big stack, thanks mostly betting big but winning small. By this I mean I would throw 500 down on five of the six streets, so unless the sixth street or zero came up, I would win 3000 for an investment of 2500. I kept doing this and luckily kept on winning and upping my bet, until I got up to about 7000. The next biggest was only about 4, as they were only now starting to bet bigger.

I then moved over to the blackjack. Not exactly my favourite game, but I said I'd plan anyway. I recently read a book on card counting, and would know the basic strategy (it's not cheating!). I observed a few hands and noticed that a LOT of low cards were coming out, so I moved in with some big bets. They were only using two decks so i figured there were more high than low cards in the deck, which apparently favours the player over the dealer. It worked and a few 20,s and 19's later, I up to about 12K. I then went back to the roulette and worked this up to 20K.


Then I realised that I was WAY out in front, and reduced myself to betting only 1 or 2 hundred each spin. No point risking when I didn't need to! At this stage there was only about 8 of us left out of about 35, and the staff told us it was finishing at midnight. It was 11:55 so I figured its in the bag, unless the others got clever and realised there were going to have to take a big risk and throw EVERYTHING on roulette in order to overtake me. A few people realised this and threw everthing on one or two numbers. Thankfully it didn't pay off and I am now the proud new owner of a video Ipod, worth over E500, acording to a friend!

I don't know whether there actually was any skill involved, or whether I just got lucky, but it can't be a coincidence that the ONLY person there that had been in a casino before ended up winning, can it? At the end of the day, I won most of the money on roulette, and thats just a ball spinning on a wheel, so I can't see where you can outplay the others!

Anyway, it was at this stage that I realised that everyone else was a LOT more drunk than me! I had been so caught up in the whole casino side of things that I forgot it was my Christmas party! I hadn't even been drinking since I got there! I soon caught up with the others though, thanks to a LOT of vodka and my friend Mr Jagermeister... So I stumbled downstairs for a bit of fresh air (into the smoking area!), and soon got talking to this lad who had been playing a cash game. We were sitting chatting about poker for about ten minutes when he laughed and asked "mate, do you know who you're talking to!" I hadn't really looked at him too closely, as i was pretty drunk... I took a proper look at this face, and realised I was talking to Brian McFadden. D'oh!

As I was pissed, I proceeded to give him a bit of stick about the whole boy band thing. "whole things a bit gay really isin't it?" I announced, in all my wisdom. His reply was short and sweet "I'm fucking loaded mate, you think I care? Also have you seen my girlfriend?" Emmm... check-mate. I raised, he went over the top... I folded. We chatted for a few more minutes, and it turns out he's pretty sound, which is (very) surprising considering the whole boy-band thing. I suppose I would probably sing and prance around if I was getting millions...and lovely women...and a fucking Ferrari... jammy bastard!

Anyway, he manages a South African band which I've heard a few times in college and my local pub. They're called Franklyn and they are quality! I haven't heard from them in over a year, and I presumed they had gone home, but apparently they are working on their album. They really are a great band, pretty much guarantted to do well. So if you haven't heard of them before, remember where you heard it first!

So I went back upstairs and proceeded to get even more drunk and this is where things get a bit blurry.... A good night all the less! I managed to mix drinking and gambling (two of my favourite hobbies!), I won a video Ipod, and had a good laugh with a 'celebrity' that I had previously thought was a tosser. And I managed to get through it all without making a show of myself in front of all my new workmates. Although they may realise that I'm a bit of a gambler! I should do this every year...