For many players, the Irish Open is one unforgettable week in Dublin – a must-play event that might well be their only live tournament of the year.
But it’s a very different story for most of the 280+ dealers who work at the festival. For them, the annual Dublin extravaganza is just one stop on a journey that takes them all over the world following poker’s biggest events.
The Irish Open dealing team have worked pretty much everywhere – from the Bahamas and Barcelona to Tallinn, Marrakech and the Caribbean. They’ve worked alongside world champions, dealt to sporting superstars and built friendships that stretch across continents.
Ask them what keeps them coming back, though, and the answer isn’t just the travel. Hungarian dealer Nikolett Kamarás said: “It’s a way of life. A feeling of life!”
Nikolett, now 31, only entered the profession in 2018 after a colleague suggested she try dealing in a Budapest poker room. At the time she never imagined where it would lead. She said: “If someone had told me six years ago that I would travel half the world within a couple of years, I would have just laughed.”
After four years working in Budapest, Nikolett felt ready to take the plunge and start dealing on the international circuit. First stop was Slovakia where she worked at tournaments in Bratislava and Kosice. She said: “After that, opportunities just came one after another – Malta, Cyprus, then Estonia, France, Spain and Morocco.”
Living out of a suitcase for most of the year can certainly be challenging and all the dealers we spoke to said that missing family was the worst bit. But for those who have embraced dealing as a way of life, the rewards more than outweigh the downsides.
Nikolett said: “I love to travel, I love to explore, I love to learn new things. So this whole profession is not just work and travel for me, but also a great adventure and an expedition of discovery.”
Fun in Marrakech
Nikolett’s favourite destination to date is Marrakech – very fortuitous given that the Irish Open will be holding its second ever international festival at Casino de Marrakech in November. Nikolett loves it there: “If anyone has been to the Medina in Marrakech, they know what I’m talking about! Lots of souvenirs, good quality clothes, textiles – it’s a real paradise for a shopaholic. And if it wasn’t for poker, I probably wouldn’t have ever been there!”
Polish dealer Zbigniew ‘Bishop’ Gawlik has been a professional poker dealer for more than 22 years after starting his career at the Macau Sporting Club in Cork. Now 47, he has become one of poker’s best-travelled dealers and has worked all over Europe as well as the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.
He said: “The best part of our work is travelling, visiting other countries and cities, and meeting a lot of people with different cultures and nationalities. We are freelancers, so we enjoy the freedom to choose when we work.”
Along the way, Bishop has found himself dealing cards for some huge stars. His favourite memories include meeting Michael Jordan in the Bahamas and dealing poker for footballer Sergio Agüero, tennis legend Boris Becker and Brazilian superstar Neymar. Plus poker legends such as Phil Hellmuth.
French dealer Liking Saiyasely has been part of the Irish Open family since first coming to Dublin in 2014. He said: “It quickly became one of my favourite events!” Like many other dealers, poker has enabled him to discover destinations he might otherwise never have visited. He said: “Estoril is one of many examples of cities that I discovered because of work.”
His favourite city is Tallinn, while his CV also includes PokerStars live events, the World Poker Tour, WSOC, Winamax, King’s Casino Rozvadov and, like Nikolett, Casino de Marrakech.
Close-knit community
Yet perhaps the biggest perk of being a dealer isn’t so much the travel as the close-knit community enjoyed by the dealer fraternity. When most of your working life is spent on the road, your “work” friendships are a huge part of the appeal.
Bishop said: “We are like a big poker dealer family. We spend more time with each other than with our families!” Bishop also met his wife Aneta through poker. She was waitressing at a casino where he was a dealer and the couple have since worked at numerous venues together. He said: “We have now been together for almost 20 years!”
Liking calls the dealer community “a big dysfunctional family” He added: “I have made priceless friendships out all my years of dealing and travelling. And you meet people that you might never have talked to in any other context. It’s one of the reasons I love my job – it’s made me a richer person.”
Loving the Irish Open
The Irish Open remains high on everyone’s list of favourite events. Nikolett made her Dublin debut this year and said: “It was an amazing experience to be part of this huge event. The constant buzz, the good atmosphere, everyone smiling – it all rubs off on you. I loved it.”
Bishop is equally enthusiastic. He said: “The Irish Open is an absolutely fantastic event with an amazing atmosphere in lively Dublin. I love it. I’m always so happy to be there again.”
For more info on our international events, please check out our news story.
