Galway Summer Festival Day 3 Recap
From the opening flight, the energy was infectious and it never let up. The kind of atmosphere we have come to expect from the Irish Poker Tour, with the Eglinton buzzing from the first hand to the final bag.
Day 1A of the €15,000 Guaranteed Galway Summer Festival Main Event saw 78 entries take to the tables, with 11 players making it through after more than eight hours of play.
It was another full house at the Eglinton, with plenty of familiar faces, big stacks and plenty of noise around the room as the field battled for their place in the final.
Leading the way was Ray Bryant, who put together a monster stack of 348,000, followed by Sean Walsh on 321,000 and Rodrigo Ferraro on 288,000.
Top 5 Day 1A Qualifiers
- Ray Bryant – 348,000
- Sean Walsh – 321,000
- Rodrigo Ferraro – 288,000
- Alex Coughlan – 264,000
- Tommy O’Loughlin – 208,000
It was another memorable couple of days for the Bryant family, with Ray progressing through the Main Event after his brother Robbie Bryant took down the €10k in a Day the previous night.
And while Robbie didn’t quite manage to join Ray in the Main Event final, the family name was certainly doing plenty of work around the Eglinton.
Ben Hibbins Takes Down PLO 7-Max
There was no shortage of action away from the Main Event either, with the PLO 7-Max providing another full day of four-card poker.
The event attracted 25 entries, creating a €5,280 prize pool, and after almost nine hours of play it was Ben Hibbins who emerged victorious, taking home €2,490 and the PLO 7-Max title.
Hibbins faced a strong final table before finding himself heads-up against Shane Keary, who had put together an excellent run throughout the event.
The heads-up battle was a proper back-and-forth affair, with momentum swinging between the two players. Neither was willing to give an inch, and the battle had a little bit of everything — big pots, big swings and plenty of tension.
Eventually, Hibbins found the breakthrough he needed to close it out.
Keary took €1,430 for second, while Brian O’Sullivan completed the podium in third for €1,060. Patrick McGinley rounded out the paid places in fourth for €300.
PLO 7-Max Final Results
- Ben Hibbins – €2,490
- Shane Keary – €1,430
- Brian O’Sullivan – €1,060
- Patrick McGinley – €300
A hard-fought victory for Hibbins, with Keary pushing him all the way in an entertaining heads-up battle.
Summer Festival Main Event 1B: Cyril Doherty Leads the Way
The second flight of the Summer Festival Main Event brought another 95 entries to the tables, pushing the prize pool beyond the €15,000 guarantee to €15,504.
Leading the way was Cyril Doherty, who finished the flight with an impressive 619,000 chips. Doherty built one of the biggest stacks of the day and heads into the final with a commanding position.
Also enjoying a huge day was Pat O’Callaghan, who bagged 515,000 to finish second in the counts. The Eggy’s own was in flying form throughout the flight and now takes a huge stack into the final.
Robert Gabriel finished third with 358,000, followed by David Grealis on 316,000. Louis Martin (197,000) and Brendan Reaney (194,000) also finished the flight with sizeable stacks.
Further qualifiers included Lars Peterson (165,000), Vincent McNeela (115,000), Emmett Scott (114,000), Samuel Atherton (104,000), Jude Ainsworth (95,000) and Ronan Gilligan (77,000).
There were plenty of familiar names among those who fell short of qualification, including Robbie Bryant, who finished 43rd.
Shane Keary also came up short in 50th, but there was little time for disappointment after his deep run in the PLO earlier in the day. After battling all the way to heads-up there, Keary was straight back into the Main Event looking for another deep run.
After six hours and 48 minutes of play, the bags were finally packed, with Doherty emerging as the clear chip leader and 11 other players joining him through to the final.
And now, after two packed flights, plenty of big names and more than a few twists and turns, we are all set for a blockbuster Galway Summer Festival Main Event final today at 3:30pm.
The surviving players return with the title, the trophy and the biggest share of the prize pool all up for grabs.
The Eglinton is ready. The players are ready. Let the final begin.