Athlone €30K In A Day Wrap

Poker was the real winner here and Athlone needs more than 1 day!
The Main Event came to a thrilling conclusion late Saturday night after a marathon 14-hour session that saw 235 entries create a prize pool of €38,350. When the dust settled, it was Yue Wang who emerged victorious, claiming the top prize of €10,000 and 800 leaderboard points after a commanding final table performance. The trophy goes back to Galway!
Familiar names like Andy Black, David Flynn, Shane Fitzsimons, and Emmett Scott all made deep runs but fell short of the final table.
As the FT wore on Junior Costa surged into the lead with 2.1 million, closely followed by Vilius Kadelskas on 1.56M and Cormac McGinty with 845K. Also at the final table were Yue Wang, Callum Houston, Stephen Dwyer, and Mindaugas Arlickas, each eyeing the trophy and the top payout.
Vilius Kadelskas from Lithuania finished runner-up for €6,000, adding another strong result to his growing Irish Poker Tour résumé. Stephen Dwyer took third for €4,000, while Cormac McGinty completed the final four with a solid €2,800 cash.

Omaha 7- Max
The action in Athlone’s side events kept everyone on their toes. In the Omaha 7-Max, Shane Keary ran short early, leaving the battle to just two players – Killian Farrell holding 320,000 chips and Jamie Harrington on 280,000. After five hours of tense play, Jamie Harrington took first for €1,100, followed closely by Killian Farrell with €1,000. Shane Keary battled back to claim third (€300).
Meanwhile, across the room in the Saturday €5k NLH, Paul Carr took the lead with 455,000 chips, while the rest of the field scrambled to catch up. This had a €9,480 prize pool but beyond that leaderboard implications were very Live yet again as both Keary and Carr played their respective tournaments. This certainly added an extra layer of intrigue to the later stages.
The Saturday €5K NLH event proved to be another crowd-pleaser, packing the room with 79 total entries (56 unique) and building a €9,480 prize pool. It was a single-day sprint to the finish, with eight places paid and €2,900 set aside for the eventual winner.
The pace was quick from the first shuffle, with players firing multiple bullets in pursuit of the title. Familiar names such as Paul Gannon, John J. Ward, and Damien Moran made deep runs before bowing out short of the final table.
When the dust settled, the final table was set, featuring Paul Carr, Philip Jacub, Alex Gleeson, Nigel Cleary, Gavin O’Rourke, John Fannon, Tadgh Kelly, and Veaceslav Jumir. Carr held the advantage with 455,000, but the stacks were close and the blinds relentless at 10,000 / 20,000 / 20,000. After a tense seven-and-a-half-hour battle, John Fannon claimed the title and €2,330 for first place. Paul Carr and Gavin O’Rourke finished strong, each taking home €2,000 after a deal was done 3 way.
It was another thrilling one-day contest filled with swings, showdowns and a  perfect Saturday night finish on the Irish Poker Tour. Well done John, a regular of the IPT.
Next stop for us is the now infamous Siege of Clonmel (IV) on Oct 17th-Oct 19th 2025 at the Talbot Hotel in Clonmel.