Getting to Know the Fitzwilliam Card Club

The Fitzwilliam is slightly smaller than the Merrion, having only 16 tables, but it is in some ways a better room. Tournaments operate seven days a week, often with more than one a day. On Sundays, for example, you could choose to enter either a 27-euro freezeout at 4:30 p.m., a 10-euro rebuy satellite at 6 p.m. or a 20-euro rebuy tournament at 8:30 p.m.

If you are bored with hold'em or are feeling nostalgic, on Tuesdays there is a five-card draw (jacks or better) 20-euro rebuy tournament at 8:30 p.m. To add spice there is a "round of each" 15-euro rebuy tournament (one round hold'em, one round Omaha) on Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. A popular game at the moment is Friday's no-limit "Scalps" tournament. It costs 55 euros to enter with one rebuy allowed. It runs like a standard tournament, except every time you bust a player out, you win a bounty for their "scalp." It's the perfect game for your inner sadist.

The rest of the tournaments are standard no-limit events, with rebuys ranging from 10 to 55 euros and freezeouts ranging from 27 to 100 euros. An interesting thing about the Fitzwilliam is that while it runs relatively cheap and affordable competitions, it also offers high-stakes cash games.

The games range from 50 to 250 euros, but higher amounts can be accommodated. This unusual or not so common mix of low buy-in tournaments and high-stakes cash games creates an unusual mix of students and professional players. Despite this, there isn't much friction, and the place has a friendly atmosphere. The only real downsides to the club is it can get a little cramped when full and does look a bit like a slightly gone to seed Atlantic City casino, but without the bad carpets.

The Fitz probably has the tightest and the most skillful players in Dublin, so you can hold back a little there more than you would in other card rooms, but admittedly that's not really saying much about the place.

Luke Ivory, poker manager of the Fitzwilliam, said: "The Fitzwilliam was started three to four years ago by a group of poker players who wanted to have a club they could run their own way and on their own style. There's a lot of banter as we are not strict on verbal because we think it makes things livelier, but we are firm on things like procedure and betting so we can keep the games running smoothly."