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Poker in Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is well known as the birthplace of Oscar Wilde, the spiritual home of whiskey and the best place on Earth to get a Guinness. What it isn't well known for is being the country that brought Texas hold'em to Europe.

In 1979, Irish bookmaker Terry Rogers was on a "working" holiday in Vegas where he befriended Horseshoe Casino owner Benny Binion. The following year he went back with a friend and fellow bookie Liam Flood to run a book on the World Series.

They were doing well at their venture, offering American punters more attractive prices than they'd ever seen. That was until they wound up in jail, for gambling in Vegas!

Coming back to the Emerald Isle the pair came up with another way to make money, the first-ever European Texas hold'em tournament. They named it the Irish Open and it launched in 1983 at the Eccentric Club in Dublin.

Padraig Parkinson, WSOP finalist, remembers: "It was a fairly modest tournament with only one reporter turning up from a local paper to take a picture and then leave shortly afterward. It has come a long way since then." The second year it attracted some of the big names, like Stu Ungar and Tom McEvoy, and after that there was no looking back.

Poker is the fastest growing sport in Europe and at the tip of the bullet is Ireland. Dublin is full of pubs, bingo halls and mini-cardrooms offering small-stakes tournaments and cash games. However, if you're looking for something above nickel and dime, you're going to have to head to one of the three main card rooms in the city.

And before you do that you have to remember that even though English is the official language, poker in Ireland is different. Here are three things you will do well to remember before boarding that plane.

1. Irish play, as a rule, is loose and aggressive. If you're a rock they'll chip away at you until they've ground you into nothing. Irish players are instinctive rather than mathematical, and for them bluffing is an art form. If you want to compete you are going to have to grow some balls and become proficient at reading those tells. 2. The amounts played for might be smaller than what you are used to. Apart from special events, the most you are going to pay to enter a tournament is 100 euros, and that will definitely be a freezeout, 30 or 50-euro events are more popular. 3. Perhaps because of No. 2, but perhaps more because of the Irish temperament, the atmosphere is more relaxed. No poker scene is friendlier than the Irish one. People from all over Europe travel here for the "crack" and not the type Whitney Houston is so fond of.

Crack in Ireland is a rollicking good time.

Scott "The Iceman" Gray, WSOP finalist, said: "The Irish poker scene is fantastic. When I first became a professional poker player 14 years ago. I could have lived anywhere, but I chose Dublin because the scene is the friendliest in the world, and each year it gets better. There are places that offer higher-value games, but nowhere offers a better crack."

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Poker in Dublin, Ireland Dublin is well known as the birthplace of Oscar Wilde, the spiritual home of whiskey and the best place on Earth to get a Guinness. What it isn't well known for is being the country that brought Texas hold'em to Europe. In 1979, Irish bookmaker Terry Rogers was on a "working" holiday in Vegas where he befriended Horseshoe Casino owner Benny Binion. The following year he went back with a friend and fellow bookie Liam Flood to run a book on the World Series. They were doing well at their venture, offering American punters more attractive prices than they'd ever seen. That was until they wound up in jail, for gambling in Vegas! Coming back to the Emerald Isle the pair came up with another way to make money, the first-ever European Texas hold'em tournament. They named it the Irish Open and it launched in 1983 at the Eccentric Club in Dublin. Padraig Parkinson, WSOP finalist, remembers: "It was a fairly modest tournament with only one reporter turning up from a local paper to take a picture and then leave shortly afterward. It has come a long way since then." The second year it attracted some of the big names, like Stu Ungar and Tom McEvoy, and after that there was no looking back. Poker is the fastest growing sport in Europe and at the tip of the bullet is Ireland. Dublin is full of pubs, bingo halls and mini-cardrooms offering small-stakes tournaments and cash games. However, if you're looking for something above nickel and dime, you're going to have to head to one of the three main card rooms in the city. And before you do that you have to remember that even though English is the official language, poker in Ireland is different. Here are three things you will do well to remember before boarding that plane. 1. Irish play, as a rule, is loose and aggressive. If you're a rock they'll chip away at you until they've ground you into nothing. Irish players are instinctive rather than mathematical, and for them bluffing is an art form. If you want to compete you are going to have to grow some balls and become proficient at reading those tells. 2. The amounts played for might be smaller than what you are used to. Apart from special events, the most you are going to pay to enter a tournament is 100 euros, and that will definitely be a freezeout, 30 or 50-euro events are more popular. 3. Perhaps because of No. 2, but perhaps more because of the Irish temperament, the atmosphere is more relaxed. No poker scene is friendlier than the Irish one. People from all over Europe travel here for the "crack" and not the type Whitney Houston is so fond of. Crack in Ireland is a rollicking good time. Scott "The Iceman" Gray, WSOP finalist, said: "The Irish poker scene is fantastic. When I first became a professional poker player 14 years ago. I could have lived anywhere, but I chose Dublin because the scene is the friendliest in the world, and each year it gets better. There are places that offer higher-value games, but nowhere offers a better crack."