Darren Harbinson Takes Summer in Dublin Crown
Donal’s Corner
Blows Open the Leaderboard Race
The Irish Poker Tour’s favourite Glentoran supporter Darren Harbinson added the Summer in Dublin’s Main Event winner’s trophy to his growing collection late last Sunday night when the last five players remaining bashed out an ICM deal.
Darren, as chip leader, pocketed €36,125 to go with the glory. Conal Prendergast rolled all the way up from Kilkenny to claim second prize of just under €32k. Mahmood Rasheed (€26,749), Thang Van Nguyen (€23k), and Neeraj Chhantyal (€20.5k) completed a truly international group of undefeateds.
Mr. Harbinson, as he prefers to be referred to, has jumped into second place on the annual Leaderboard race after only playing six tournaments; including victories in Friday’s Omaha 300 and the IPT Final ME in January. Robbie Bryant’s almost unbelievable run of successes at IPT events had seen him race into a huge lead but Darren has vowed to give him a run for his money; possibly starting in Galway next month.
Now That’s a HORSE of a Different Colour
My personal highlight of the Festival was playing in my first ever HORSE tournament. Like most of the players taking part, it took me a while to get used to the different games and the Limit betting structure but I enjoyed the game immensely. All the other players seemed to love the experience so we will look to introduce more Mixed Games into our tournament schedule starting in Killarney in October.
Galway up Next
This week is Raceweek in Galway which is always a gentle and relaxing interlude for the poker players of the West but they will need to recover quickly as the Galway Summer Poker Festival follows just days later running from the 13th to the 16th of August in the legendary Eglinton Casino. Loose action and fast talking is guaranteed and I’m not only talking about Paul Carr.