Bluffing it out in Dublin

Two deaf poker players, Bassim Baz and Nick Gregory put their cards on the table for Cathy Reay

Off the back of an invitation via the popular social networking site Facebook, deaf Londoners Bassim Baz (known as Baz) and Nick Gregory travelled to Dublin last October to attend the annual Deepstack poker tournament, held by the Irish deaf club.

The club has always been a strong link to deaf history in Ireland and a key hub for deaf people to socialise.

“I’ve been before and had a really good time. I thought it would be fun for us to go as a large group,” explains Baz.

“We have friends we play poker with regularly so we got them all together and went over; we wanted to test how good we all really were!

“For us it was refreshing to go to an event where there were other deaf people, but it wasn’t all about that, it was just about getting together and having a good time.”

Once they arrived in Dublin, Baz and Nick took the opportunity to play a few practise hands to suss out the competition before the big tournament the next day.

“It was our first time meeting a lot of the people there over the weekend, and it enabled us to judge everyone’s skills before the big competition. I wanted to know what I was up against!” says Nick.

As they were making friends, Baz and Nick realised that a number of European visitors had registered to play. Baz says: “Lots of deaf people play poker regularly in Scandinavia and there were quite a few Swedes there. It was really interesting to learn about their culture. Apparently deaf poker tournaments are a bit of a thing in Sweden!”

Sweden, like any other non-English speaking country, has its own sign language in the same way that it has its own speaking language, but Baz says that wasn’t a problem. “Most deaf people know some international sign language and through gestures or miming, it’s easy to understand and communication really wasn’t a problem. It’s funny because a lot of the people we met knew English speaking language as a second language!”

After a pizza or two and some well-earned rest, the gambling duo was up bright and early the next morning to start the real fun – the tournament.

“There were a lot of people around and a great buzzing atmosphere,” says Baz. “A few of my friends had to play against each other but I ended up playing with a table of strangers, which was actually really cool.”

“It all felt really professional, we got free food and there was a dealer on each table. About 15-20 minutes in everyone started clapping because the first person had lost his game already.”

The 70-odd deaf and hard of hearing poker players continued playing for around 12 hours, with people dropping off slowly until the final two players battled it out for the cash prize of 1,300 euros. Though Nick and Baz were out of the game long before, they entertained themselves by playing free-for-all games downstairs with the public.

Baz says: “I joined a cash poker game where there were both deaf and hearing people playing. A little into the game a man told me not to sign to the other deaf people because hearing people might think we were cheating. I said I could think the same thing when you’re chatting to your friends!”

Despite Baz’s altercation, he says that he and Nick befriended many of the people they met through the deaf club.

“It was a really unique opportunity,” says Nick.

“Hearing people chatter away and you miss out on things, but when deaf people are playing you have to take time out to have a conversation as you’re concentrating on your cards. It meant that I could understand what everyone was saying so it was much more enjoyable.”

“We’ll definitely go again next year,” adds Baz. “I just need to brush up on my skills a bit before then!”

• For more information on the Irish Deepstack poker tournament visit www.irishdeafpoker.com