Clonmel: Another Tour Stop, Another Blinding Success
Reporting By: Jerry Fitzgerald
Are we in the midst of a poker boom? The evidence seems to suggest so. Standing on the tournament floor of the Talbot Hotel in Clonmel this past weekend, I thought back to my first event at the Galmont Hotel last January and pondered that I had never known anything other than a poker boom as far as the Irish Poker Tour is concerned.
So what did I learn this weekend?
Well, when we kicked off on Friday night with the NLH opener I saw and played with faces old and new. Tour regular Drew Dwyer was to my right for a time before “The Gaffer” Fintan Gavin sat in between us. It was Tour Stop business as usual. The numbers were building nicely for a Friday night in Clonmel! But that’s just what the Irish Poker Tour is doing. Bringing the game to pockets of Ireland and bringing poker back to the people.
The NLH 5K was eventually won by Patrick Carroll in a tough final table that included; Paul Carr (Team Pro) Brendan Coone , Sam Zheng and Gerard McNeill.
The @paddypower Mystery Bounty again fielded strong numbers. With a solid field of 68 entries and a €15,000 prize pool, the title was eventually taken down by Mark Long for €4,800 (Inc Bounties).
Then our attention turned to Saturday and the Omaha 7 Max. It is important to note here that a few months ago I commented on social media that Darren Harbinson was possibly the best player in the country this year. Paul Carr then symbolically said “Hold my Locozade” (Paul doesn’t drink alcohol) and went out and won the Omaha 7-Max for €1500 and pulled ahead in the league rankings adding valuable points to his tally.
Keith Touhey took down the Cotton Club Classic for €1,500 and got his hands on his first-ever Irish Poker Tour Trophy. A student of Irish Poker Tour Ambassador and coach Dara O’Kearney, Keith was feeling confident as he went onto the final table short-stacked. I spoke to him on a short break and asked him how he rated his chances. He said “ If I get a stack I win this. Simple.“ And that’s exactly what he did.
Main Event
All eyes were now on the Premier Poker Championship Main Event kicking off at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Tanya Masters went in with over 360k in chips so Team Pro had a horse firmly in the race for the title. Paul Carr also sat into the Main after winning his seat via the All In Or Fold flight a short time earlier. The man simply cannot miss!
As the field closed in on a Final Table Tanya Masters was still fighting heroically and got her stack from 360k to over a million. She eventually busted in 6th for a score of over 2k and no doubt her confidence will be sky-high going into the Dublin Ladies Championship at the Intercontinental Hotel at the beginning of November.
Gastao Silva eventually took home the Premier Poker Cup and an incredible €12,000 after a 3-way deal. He outlasted 349 other entrants in the Clonmel showpiece which had a 60k Prizepool.
Other notable results this weekend
Stuart Zheng took down the Monsterstack for €2,175. He bested 48 entrants to take it down. The prize pool for his was a very respectable €5,910.
The Clonmel 300 (€10,940 prize pool) was won by Ian O’Flynn for €4,375. His A-10 was plenty to get him over the line besting 41 other entrants.
Omaha 4/5 7 Max – Ross Coveney took this title for a score of €1,450. With the prize pool at over €3k, Ross blasted through a 27-runner field to bring home the title.
Honorable mentions
This has to go to our other 2 twin pros in action this weekend. Robbie and Ray Bryant. Both extremely focused and composed throughout the weekends play and without a doubt, these 2 are staring at results in the not-too-distant future! These boys live for poker.
