You Lose Some, You Win Some
Ireland’s Liam Flood recently pulled off two of the greatest coups of his long career, within the space of a few short weeks. For a man who thought he was dying, Liam’s come back with a bang. His first great accomplishment was the introduction of the €2 cup of coffee at the recent Irish Open. The Irish Open is steeped in history. It’s the oldest tournament in Europe and was founded by Terry Rogers, who introduced Texas hold’em this side of the water. It used to be held in the old Eccentrics Club in Dublin and was famous for the great spirit in which the game was played and the lavish hospitality provided by Mr. Rogers. Even if you were financially embarrassed, you could always turn up to the old Eccentrics Club and get a free meal, as much tea or coffee as you could drink, and listen to war stories from Terry himself.
At the recent Irish Open I decided to have a cup of coffee. The craic in the bar was great as ever, but as that avenue of entertainment isn’t open to me at the moment, I decided to join the English and have a cup of coffee. I went up to the girl at the refreshment counter and ordered a cup. Five or six English guys immediately got in line behind me, because if there’s anything that the English like better than a cup of tea, it’s a queue. The young lady handed me my coffee and said, “That will be €2, please.” I nearly collapsed in astonishment, but not wanting to let myself down in front of the English, I gave her a fiver and told her to keep the change. Just as she took my money, there was an incredibly loud noise. This was like mothers’ milk to the English, who could now indulge in their other favorite pastime, discussing the weather. “Was that thunder I’ve just heard?” asked one of them. “No,” I replied, “it was just Terry Rogers turning in his grave.”
Spurred on by this success and completely undaunted by the fact that he was first man out of the Irish Open and a major event the following week, Liam, to everybody’s surprise, stumped up $14,000 to play in a PartyPoker televised event. Though there’s still great speculation as to what happened to the rest of the coffee money, Liam produced an inspired performance. The stamina-sapping two-day tournament may no longer be the forte of the former European champion, but he’s still a formidable force in the four- or five-hour one-table version of poker. He beat Phillippa Flanders and Lawrence Gosney in his heat, only to be rewarded with a very dodgy draw in the semifinals, stuck in a tough spot between Tony Bloom and Tony G. Liam came through with flying colors and went to the final table with a healthy stack. He finished a magnificent second and was denied a great shot at victory only by a cruel runner-runner.
I watched this from the commentary box, and luckily it wasn’t live, so they were able to edit out my comments when the river arrived. Nevertheless, it was a great achievement by Liam and was the biggest win of his career. When I arrived in the hotel bar later, Liam was celebrating in true Irish style. He mightn’t be any good at drinking, but he was certainly no slouch when it came to buying them. The poker terpercaya party was in full swing and Liam asked me what I’d have. I was about to order a Coca-Cola, when my mind went back to the Irish Open. “Thank you, Liam,” I replied. “I’ll have a cup of coffee, please.”
Best-Kept Secrets
It was at the Irish Open that I discovered two of the best-kept secrets around. One is that poker, the fastest growing sport in the world, is one of the very few sports at which the Irish can compete at the highest level. This is a secret only in Ireland. The other is that highly respected poker player Dave Colclough is the unluckiest player around.
You’re never going to see World Poker Champion Noel Furlong or Donnacha O’Dea being brought to Lansdowne Road by sponsors of Irish rugby to spice up the event for the media — and rightly so.
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