• Poker Playing Establishments (Casinos)
• Tournament Games
• Tournament Play
• Cash Games
• Joining a UK casino
(where you see the (1) a further description appears in Appendix 1)
• Poker Playing Establishments (Casinos)
Unlike America or other parts of Europe where ‘Card Clubs’ are the norm, poker throughout the UK is primarily restricted to casinos.
Casinos in the UK are governed by the rules laid out by the Gaming Board. While full deregulation is a while off there has been noticeable change in the attitude to casinos in the past few years mainly brought about by the introduction of the National Lottery in 1994. This has enabled casinos to loosen its rules and regulations to such a degree that it is far easier to become a member and more attractions are on offer within casinos than has been the case for many years.
One of the fastest growing activities within British casinos over the past decade has been poker. This has corresponded with an explosion of the game both throughout Europe and the world and it is only a matter of time before poker becomes ‘television friendly’ and tournaments on tv take place on a regular basis.
In order to play poker in a casino you must first become a member of the casino. Membership is NOT mandatory as you may be ‘signed-in’ by an existing club member at the time of entering the club however it is advisable if only for the benefits the casino may provide to you as a member. Minimum age for casino entry in the UK is 18 years of age.
Membership is usually FREE. (Sometimes the more ‘posh casinos charge a joining fee!) There is a 24-hour gap between ‘joining’ the club and being allowed access to its facilities. Please bear this in mind if you are from foreign shores. Joining a UK casino now requires the presentation of ID, usually bearing a photo. A passport is the best form although a driving license with your picture on should suffice. (Check first with chosen casino!) Recent legislation allows the joining of UK Casinos via a written application form or fax. Please contact the Casino of your choice to find out EXACTLY what information they require.,
Once a member you are free to use the facilities FOREVER.
There has been a move recently for casinos to issue a membership card which covers ‘a group of casinos’ i.e Grosvenor. It is not yet the case, however, that being a member of the Grosvenor Club in say Reading will allow you access to the Grosvenor Club in Luton. You must be a member of EVERY casino you wish to play in. (Sign-In from an existing club member is always an option in an emergency)
Opening hours of casinos in England, Scotland & Wales are from 2pm – 6am. There are exceptions, dependent on location. An example being at Great Yarmouth where the license for the casino is only until midnight.
Once a member you can now ….PLAY POKER!!
• Tournament Games
Poker tournaments in UK casinos usually lend themselves to 4 games only. These are:
• Texas Hold’Em (Pot Limit / No Limit)
• Omaha (4 Card – Pot Limit)
• 7 Card Stud (Pot Limit)
There are clubs that will play ‘3 card brag’ or ‘Omaha Hi-Lo’ but these are not the norm.
It is not my intention to produce instructions on ‘How To Play…’ any of the aforementioned games only to say that they are played most commonly in tournaments and are usually available at your chosen club of play. (See CLUB LISTINGS)
Tournaments playing one of the above four games will usually figure in ALL regular schedules of a casino offering poker tournaments.
• Tournament Play
Ninety percent of poker played in the UK is POT LIMIT. At the time of writing this there are NO KNOWN LIMIT tournaments played in the UK.
The other ten percent of tournaments are of NO LIMIT variety. We’ll discuss both now.
POT LIMIT – Pot limit games are games whereby the ‘betting’ may be of ANY value between the value of the BIG-BLIND(1) and the TOTAL pot size.
NO LIMIT – No limit games are games where the ‘betting’ may be of ANY value between the value of the BIG-BLIND(1) and whatever the value of the chips in front of you.
Tournaments usually begin with players being given an equal number of chips. These chips are paid for by the initial BUY-IN(1) A rebuy period is the norm where if a player loses his initial chips he may REBUY(1) more chips for the REBUY stake, as advertised. The REBUY PERIOD(1) may last from between 1 and 2 hours and assures that the greatest possible ‘prize fund’ is accumulated for the tournament. The rebuy period also serves as a ‘safety zone’ for the casino if a GUARANTEE(1) has been advertised for the tournament allowing for the casino to provide little if NO additional prize money.
FREEZEOUT(1) tournaments are common where the initial BUY-IN is in excess of £99. This ensures that the participant of the tournament knows from the outset what his liability is likely to be in order to play in the tournament. REBUY tournaments are open ended in that you may rebuy AS MANY TIMES as you like within the designated rebuy period. (Provided of course you’ve lost all your chips each time!!
Note: It is the rule throughout casinos in England, Wales & Scotland that ALL BUY-IN’s be returned as prize money and that the casino may NOT charge an additional ‘entry-fee’. Casinos outside these 3 areas will usually charge an ‘entry-fee’ of approx 10% of the ORIGINAL BUY-IN. i.e Republic of Ireland, Isle Of Man, Rest of Europe
i.e If you see a tournament advertised as : £50 Buy-In + 2hr Rebuys Guarantee £5000
You can be sure that:
• The Initial Buy In will be £50
• There will be 2 hrs of rebuys available (also at £50)
• The club is guaranteeing a £5000 prize fund.
Note that the GUARANTEE provided is the MINIMUM prize fund available for that competition and will usually be MORE. (because of all the re-buys!)
This kind of tournament is common for both POT-LIMIT & NO-LIMIT poker although if advertised as a NO-LIMIT tournament then be prepared to loose all your chips VERY quickly.
Tournaments are usually played in the evenings from around 9pm and will usually continue, especially if you’re a success, until the early hours of the morning.
Prize money is usually distributed to ALL players who reach the FINAL table. This table may comprise of between 6 & 11 players, dependant on tournament entries, with the prizes being allocated as a percentage of the total prize money available.
The winner will get between 40-50% of the ‘fund’ with maybe the 10th player (in a final table of 10) receiving between 3-5%. Every club has its own rules dictating ‘prize fund’ allocation so please check. (The final table is always a nice place to be!!)
Tournament BLINDS(1) usually increase slowly throughout the first phase of ANY tournament. This ‘first phase’ is better known as the REBUY PERIOD. Upon cessation of the REBUY PERIOD the BLINDS will start to increase at a faster rate with increases maybe every 20 minutes in order that the FIELD(1) may be dispersed.
The speed at which the blinds increase is usually determined by 2 things..
• No of players left in tournament
• Time remaining
Most clubs like to have tournaments completed at least half an hour prior to closing so if there are a number of players left at say 2am prepare for an increase of blinds every 10 minutes or so. BLINDS are an essential part of a tournament. They ensure that EVERY POT has something in it to win for EVERY HAND and ensure that when players are low on chips with the BLINDS coming around then a gamble is likely to come from said players in order to try and stay in the game.
• Cash Games
It goes without saying that the main reason that people play poker is for the MONEY. Cash games provide the early losers of tournaments or those that came to the club to play CASH POKER a change to flex their financial muscles and play for cash only. After all that’s why they came in the first place.
Cash games can take all ‘limits’ and ‘games’. Games most popular in this arena are NOT Texas Hold’Em and 7 card stud but pure gambling games where every one has a chance of winning until the last card is turned and there is £1000+ in the POT.
Games such as ‘6 Card Omaha Hi-Lo’ springs to mind as being the most dodgy. Two chances to win, a thousand chances to lose. Do you care? NO! You came to gamble after all!
Casinos make money at this point. They make what is known as a ‘table charge’ with each player having to ‘pay to play’ every hour. This charge can vary from £5 per hour for a game who’s SIT-DOWN-MONEY(1) is £50 to £25 per hour for a £1000 SIT-DOWN.
These charges are prevalent where the casino has a ‘dealer’ dealing the cards at the table you are playing at. Where NO dealer exists you MAY be able to play for free however you’re never then sure of the games integrity if you deal amongst yourselves!
Cash games are where you have fun.
• Joining a UK Casino
Joining a casino has never been easier. You can now join ANY GROSVENOR casino by calling +44 (0) 8080 212121, tell them the name of the casino you wish to join and, after asking you a few basic questions (name, address DOB etc) they'll send you a pre-printed for that is VALID for your chosen casino. Simply sign the form and EITHER FAX IT or POST IT to your chosen casino! 24 Hrs after receipt you're a member!!!!. No more long drives...no more visiting Aunty Joan just to call in at the casino whilst passing etc etc. Its obviously better to FAX it cos the moment the fax completes the send, the clock starts (or so they tell me!!) Especially useful for joining casinos with major card tournies that are MILES away!!
For Ladbrokes you must phone each individual casino for an application form, which they'll send you through the post. Upon completion simply fax or post the form back to the respective casino for your membership to commence
Grosvenor casinos use ONE membership card for ALL casinos (you must become a member though for it to be valid in ANY of their clubs) whereas Ladbrokes still operate on the basis that you need a separate membership card for each club you visit.
Appendix 1
E-mail this to a
friend
