Bar Tourneys

[ReidDeCardes]

In my neighborhood some of the bars have small tournaments. From what I heard there usually 10 to 20 people showing up. I think the buy in is $100. I'm sure people here have seen similar things. Are these worth playing for a NL beginner?

[otter]

It might be a good start, but generally since the proceeds go to charity they take a LOT of money off the prize pool so you might not make much

[kassdog]

Or it might not be for charity and in that case you need to watch out for cops. When I was in a bar tourny that got raided none of the players were arrested just the owner of the bar. But then came back with some money to add to the prize pool and we kept playing for that.

[BigBuffet]

In Minnesota there are bar tourneys that are free to play and you get gift certificates from the bar or poker chips etc if you cash.

I've played a few (and stopped last year) and felt they are a waste of time, and I certainly wouldn't pay to play them even if they paid cash to the top 3.

The players are all very bad. You will see worse suckouts than on the internet.

[nowags]

In Colorado the bar tourneys can't involve money. Even if it's for charity. Charity money has to go in voluntarily on the side. They play for gift certificates and stuff like that. Unbelievably bad poker is played at these things. if you play in one, don't let the suck wear off on you.

[deadbody]

[ QUOTE ]
In Minnesota there are bar tourneys that are free to play and you get gift certificates from the bar or poker chips etc if you cash.

I've played a few (and stopped last year) and felt they are a waste of time, and I certainly wouldn't pay to play them even if they paid cash to the top 3.

The players are all very bad. You will see worse suckouts than on the internet.

[/ QUOTE ]

I play in these about once every couple of weeks, do pretty well (almost always make the Final Table in 60+ player tourneys). Absurdly bad play (Top pair good kicker is enough to shove on, you will get called by worse hands very frequently). Super tight pre-flop is the way to go because your opponents won't fold to your raises when you have hands, at least never pre-flop. Don't try to steal until you are very deep in the tourney.

Fun free thing to do while drinking a beer and spending some time out of the house, don't look at it as a way to learn more about poker.

[bav]

A friend of mine claimed to have a roommate who became a professional bar tourney player. The college bars all have these silly tourneys that are free to enter and give $10 to $50-size prizes for 1st/2nd/3rd. Gift certificates, cheapo electronic toys, whatever. Apparently this guy played EVERY possible bar tourney every night starting at 6pm, run to the next one at 7pm if he busted, run to the 8pm if he busted from that one, back to the first bar for the 9pm start, etc. The claim was this is how he kept himself fed for about three months whilst between jobs.

When I hear people ask if you can win enough to be a professional NL1/2 player, I sometimes giggle and think about this guy.

[UATrewqaz]

There are lots of places here in Atlanta that do it, or at least used to. I followed them like religiously for about 6 months befoer I began playing alot online.

It became silly to play for hours to win basically nothing when I could play online whenever i wanted for actual money.

Plus the blinds always go up super fast and becomes a crapshoot. There are also alot of WSOP fantasy boys at these places. If you can't stomach retards talking about poker then its not for you.

Anybody in Atlanta interested should check out

www.atlantabargames.com
www.georgiapokernights.com
www.tagteampoker.com/

The Jocks N Jills sports bars are typically the best setups.

[ReidDeCardes]

These aren't charity tourneys. The bartender that told me about these made it sound like they play bad. So I would guess that there are a lot of suck outs. I think he is also a bad player based on how he talks.

I'm just looking for a way to play more poker, but I don't want to have to drive to AC from NYC every time.

[DeuceSeven]

[ QUOTE ]
A friend of mine claimed to have a roommate who became a professional bar tourney player. The college bars all have these silly tourneys that are free to enter and give $10 to $50-size prizes for 1st/2nd/3rd. Gift certificates, cheapo electronic toys, whatever. Apparently this guy played EVERY possible bar tourney every night starting at 6pm, run to the next one at 7pm if he busted, run to the 8pm if he busted from that one, back to the first bar for the 9pm start, etc. The claim was this is how he kept himself fed for about three months whilst between jobs.

When I hear people ask if you can win enough to be a professional NL1/2 player, I sometimes giggle and think about this guy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think I'd rather shoot myself then do this. ugh.

I guess bar tourneys might not be too bad occasionally as long as you have the attitude that you're just out to have a good time and drink some beer. Unfortunately I'm a competitive sob and I'd get steaming mad when some moron calls my preflop raise with Ax suited and calls my flopped 2 pair with no pair no draw and hits runnner runner flush.