Merrion Square and The Jackpot Club in Dublin
Merrion Square Club
The Merrion is the oldest, biggest and smartest poker club in Dublin. It has a 1950s poker-room type of décor with lots of wood paneling and expensively upholstered chairs. Despite this, there's no need to go looking for your tuxedo, because like every poker club in Ireland, there is no dress code.
The club hosts two floors of poker and has 20 tables. Tournaments are held six nights a week (no tournament Saturday) and are pretty big for the Dublin scene. On Tuesday they have a 150-euro buy-in tournament with unlimited 100-euro rebuys allowed for 90 minutes. Every tournament during the week is a rebuy affair with buy-ins ranging from 10 to 55 euros, expect for a 150-euro freezeout held on Thursday. Registration is from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Cash games run seven nights a week, with the most popular variation being a mixed game (one round hold'em, one round Omaha), which is always 50 euros to buy in, or four-card Omaha ranging with a 100 to 250-euro buy-in, except Saturday. Saturdays are for high rollers only with the games between 250-500 euros. Like most clubs in Dublin, kicking out time is 8 a.m. the following morning.
The standard of play is quite high and pretty aggressive. The club attracts a diverse clientele. Many players are students, but it is not unusual to see familiar faces from the EPT and WPT circuits.
The Jackpot Club
The Jackpot is oddly enough both the oldest and newest poker club in Dublin. It was founded 20 years ago, but was shut down after some years after the owners opened up a nearby casino called the Colossus Club and moved their operations there. However, with the sudden growth of poker, they felt it was time to have a place completely dedicated to the game.
Duke Houghton, Jackpot poker manager said: "Poker has exploded in Ireland over the past few years and was very popular at the Colossus. So we decided it would be a good idea to reopen the Jackpot so our poker players would have a place purely for them.
The Jackpot was reopened this summer and is among the smallest of the clubs, boasting only six tables. It does hold tournaments each evening, with rebuys ranging from 20 to 50 euros and freezeouts from 20 to 100 euros. Cash games are also on offer, usually from 50 to 100 euros, with the most popular game being either Omaha or a round of each.
Though on the surface it doesn't look like it has much to offer compared to other clubs, the club does have a certain energy to it that only new places have. Also, it's the latest-shutting card club in Dublin. Whilst at most places you're heading out for breakfast at 8 a.m., at the Jackpot you'll be getting a pub lunch at noon.
It has the potential to gain a cult following in the months ahead, especially with the city's poker insomniacs.
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