Comedy poker night

[Pyso]

I was supposed to be playing the cash tables at 'Norwegian week' at DTD, but due to my backer having a change of heart at the last minute, I find myself not willing to play the crazy Scandies with scared money.

So in the ultimate act of defiance and 'sod you to the world', I decided to go to Loughborough Town Hall and play the £10 tournament there instead! A friend had recommended it as a laugh, and seeing as I don't think you can knock anything until you've tried it, I thought I'd give it a shot in an attempt to inject some madness and fun back into poker, as I have been suffering a brutal downswing at the tables lately. What could possibly go wrong?

The reason I relate this sorry tale is to warn you all. Don't do it!

Well, not at Loughborough Town Hall anyway. I have no idea which clown runs this tournament but he is certainly very creative when it comes to prize pools. Ok, we had around 25 entries, each paying £10, with no juice. So far, so good. But it was a re-buy tournament. No problems there, but no record was given of how many rebuys were being taken. I saw at least 8 on my table.

The prize breakdown was £120, £50, £30 and er... that's it. If I'm not much mistaken, 120 + 50 + 30 comes to 200 so where the **** did the rest of the money go?!!!

Not only that, it gets worse...

We had temporary table tops in use. I didn't mind this so much, and expect it to a certain extent in a £10 pub style knockabout, but the 'table' I was playing on had more hair on it than an East German weightlifter. Every time I picked up my cards at the corners (and I was the only player doing this, lol) I would also pick up clumps of green baize. I couldn't do a trendy, slidy-twirly fold either, I had to literally pick up and place the cards in the muck in the middle of the table.

The cards were nice and so were the chips, but really it was the football equivalent of playing Ebbsfleet Utd in a swamp. Not good.

Organisation left a little to be desired. No clock, a blank piece of A4 paper to scribble down your name, no blinds information or length of levels. At one point the 'organiser' says he thinks he might introduce an ante to speed things up a bit. I get the feeling they have to be out by midnight. We don't even have a proper seat draw, we just take a card for table number and sit where we like....

...and then for the final table it is the same nonsense - pick up your chips and sit any old place you fancy. Although it was hardly a disadvantage as every single player was absolutely terrible. I have never had a game like it - raise, they fold. C-bet, they fold. Show a bluff, do it all again, they still fold. Raise all-in with a set, some one insta calls. In a way it was funny, in a way it was sad, but it was fun.

But I shan't be doing it again. Yes it was comedy night as my friend had so accurately described, but sometimes you have to dine out on the cheap to realise just how great fine cuisine is.

I'll probably be at DTD on Friday night with a whole new perspective on just how brilliant (I already know) it is.

[Claw75]

good post!  But did you win?

[kinboshi]

good post!  But did you win?

This!!

[EvilPie]

tl;dr

Did you win?

[GreekStein]

Blatant 'I pwn everyone in Loughbrough' brag post

[Longy]

Blatant 'I pwn everyone in Loughbrough' brag post

Apart from the TD, who scooped more than the winner.

[david3103]

does Loughborough Town Hall have a gaming licence of some form?

I understood the limit was £10 x 25 players in a 'members club' (Rileys limit these days) or a max of £5 per man / £100 total pool in a pub.

25 x £10 plus rebuys looks very outside those limits.

Otherwise it sounds like PubPoker at it's finest.

[MC]

LOL, funny story

*plans trip to Loughborough*

[Grier78]

does Loughborough Town Hall have a gaming licence of some form?

I understood the limit was £10 x 25 players in a 'members club' (Rileys limit these days) or a max of £5 per man / £100 total pool in a pub.

25 x £10 plus rebuys looks very outside those limits.

Otherwise it sounds like PubPoker at it's finest.

I sometimes play at the South Yorkshire Police Social club in Sheffield, its always over £10 x 25, so it seems like its one of those laws that gets forgotten about, like having to have a man waving a red flag in front of every moving motor vehicle.

[Pyso]

LOL, no I didn't win, in fact I didn't even make the money. I came fifth because like a twat I forgot to tone down my aggression on the final table and remember that deeper stacks weren't going to fold as easily as the passives who had gotten me there..

I just thought the whole set up was dodgy and funny at the same time, and I just wanted to share it with you all and warn you not to bother in the future.