Athlone Delivers a Summer Spectacle
This was summer’s finest day of poker, and from the very start it was clear this one was going to be a banger. The Athlone Main Event lived up to all the hype.
A massive 264 entries took their seats, with plenty of familiar faces eager to make their mark. Among them was Summer in Dublin Main Event Champion Tomas Flanagan, who set the tone early: “I’ve taken the Summer, now to take the Springs.”
As the field thinned and the bubble loomed, Mary Galvin made her stand but fell short when her KJ ran into AK. The unlucky bubble boy was Zydrunas Bendorius, eliminated by Ian Downling.
When the dust settled at the final nine, it was Thomas Glynn on top with 1.6M chips. The eliminations came quickly: Downling in 9th (€1,150), Gerard Keenan in 8th (€1,435), and then a masterclass survival run from Dave Kingston, who spun a short stack (440k) all the way to heads-up. He eventually bowed out in 2nd for €6,600 after a brave fight.
But the night belonged to Marius Kukis, who lifted the trophy and pocketed €10,200. Kukis came into the final table with 1.6M, stayed composed throughout, and crushed heads-up with a towering chip lead. A champion’s performance.
The side action didn’t disappoint either. The €5K NLH attracted plenty of regulars and Main Event bust-outs, building an €9,000 prize pool. Sam Zheng led the way into the final nine with 479,000, but it was Junior Costa who took it down after a spirited heads-up battle with Rachael Tarmey.
Shane Keary has done it again, taking down yet another Omaha 7-Max title and walking away with €1,520 and honestly, the rest of us are starting to feel the fatigue. That lack of smiling , the perfectly timed bluffs, the uncanny ability to always hit his outs… it’s all getting a bit much. While we can (begrudgingly) respect the consistency, the table talk has shifted from strategy to group therapy. Congrats, Shane seriously, give someone else a turn.
From the opening shuffle to the final river, Athlone once again delivered an atmosphere like no other. Packed tables, electric energy, and a room buzzing until the early hours.
Next up, we move to the biggest stage of them all: The Killarney Poker Festival 2025. Don’t miss a beat, check out all promos and updates now at livepokerupdates.com.