True Irishballer
Monday, 23 December 2013
Meet “True Irishballer”, a man who has been causing quite a stink on Twitter recently. Angry, opinionated and burning with righteous conviction, it’s time to give Baller his own column. His opinions are his own…
Firstly, as this will hopefully be my first column of many, let me introduce myself. I’m @trueirishballer on Twitter and my actual identity is hidden which allows me basically to offer my opinions much more liberally. I try to tell people to take most of my comments with a pinch of salt and if there is something they strongly disagree with then hit me up and call me out.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate numerous Irish players on success during the recent WCOOP – WP, GG, etc, etc. However, I saw numerous people tweet about so-called #TeamIreland. Now, this gave me quite a good laugh at first because of the current actual state of the Irish poker “community”. There is no “team” element to it, literally zero. Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand poker is an individualistic game, but the lack of community in Ireland generally tilts me beyond belief. Then, for people to be tweeting this #TeamIreland – frankly it was a pile of bullshit.
The Irish community is made of a few tight-knit groups, most of which are looking out for themselves. They share very little information with others but when they’re selling shares for packages they expect people like me, an “outsider”, to rush in and want to buy instantly. These guys then get offended when their mark-up for their packages is questioned and critiqued. It’s as if we are automatically supposed to agree with their evaluations of themselves and what their friends agreed with to feed their egos.
Now, to be fair to a lot of these guys, there is no actual platform for poker discussion within the Irish poker community. The only Irish poker forum of note is Irish Poker Boards and, when you scroll through the site on any given day, 90% of the threads on show are either advertising tournaments or talking about basically everything but poker. Its comedy gold! Who the hell signs up to a poker forum and then only enters the actual poker thread just to be a complete and utter tool and clueless on all matters poker-related? That’s the clientele Irish Poker Boards attracts, though. Maybe I need to set up my own site and see if we can actually get a #TeamIreland together…
Jealousy and bitterness is rife within Irish poker, as is pompous arrogance and an almost divine right felt by some that they should be brownnosed because they are in with the so called “crew”. You only need to travel to any €1k within Ireland to notice this. Sure, we are all competitors, but, as many festivals as I have travelled to, I don’t reckon there is one top Irish pro who has offered anything resembling advice, and then we are supposed to all be aboard #TeamIreland. Yeah, right!
There are so few breakout talented players in Ireland these days. The people at the top now were there a few years back because it’s so hard for young Irish players to get help from top Irish players and, outside a few obvious exceptions, there is very little genuine talent. All you have to do is look at the UK to notice the difference. Population is not really an excuse, to be honest; UK players are far more willing to help up-and-comers out and that’s clear for all to see.
I put it to you guys who are up there with the best in Ireland: if you genuinely would like a #TeamIreland feel about the place, why not give something back? Something that isn’t for personal gain? Why not look over a hand for a guy? Maybe even a hand history? Pick out an interesting spot and maybe write an article. Help some young kid with potential who is struggling. Something, anything, everything helps. But until then, #TeamIreland is nothing but another joke and you’re just looking for railers.