Galway Winter Festival – Day 3 Wrap

PLO 8-Max Results – Galway Winter Festival
The €250 PLO 8-Max event wrapped up after drawing 23 entries, creating a €4,858 prize pool and delivering five hours of high-tempo Pot-Limit Omaha action.

While Shane Keary ultimately took the spoils, capturing the title for €2,300 and 300 Irish Poker Tour points, the leaderboard battle remains finely poised. Paul Carr – “The Cookie Jar” kept the pressure firmly on, securing an important second-place finish worth €1,300 and 250 points, keeping the leaderboard race finely balanced.

Christine Dunn completed the podium, collecting €900 and 200 points, while Jamie Harrington finished fourth for €360.

Final Results
🥇 Shane Keary – €2,300 (300 pts)
🥈 Paul Carr – €1,300 (250 pts)
🥉 Christine Dunn – €900 (200 pts)
4️⃣ Jamie Harrington – €360

 Main Event Day 1A 

Day 1A of the Galway Winter Festival €15k Main Event has wrapped up after a full day’s play, with 60 total entries recorded in the €200 Entry opener. After over eight hours at the tables, nine players successfully bagged chips and secured their seats for Sunday’s 3.30 showdown.

At the top of the counts is David Cleary, who closed the day with a commanding 250,000 chips,- (David had a deep run at the Dublin Winter Fest Main Event 2025 just a few weeks ago at the Greenisle) narrowly edging out Elizabeth Kelly (247,000) and Niall Mullan (238,000) in a tightly packed group of leaders. Sam Zheng (222,000) and Mark Leonard (198,000) also put themselves in strong positions, each building stacks well above average.

Also advancing were Jaunius Kavalciukas (192,000), Matthew Blayney (176,000), Wang Kwan Chan (138,000), and John Vogelaar, who survived the bubble stages to bag 15,000 chips.

The flight generated a €9,792 prize pool, with the usual blend of local regulars and travelling players taking their shot at qualification. Notable casualties included Wayne O’Byrne, Alex Gleeson, Kieran O’Riordan, Sean Murtagh, and Ryan Peake, all falling just short of a place in the final.
Five players still alive in the Last-Longer in 1A and attention now turns to the remaining last chance Hyper Flight at 13:00 today(Sunday)  as players look to join the field and position themselves for a deep run in Galway..

Main Event Day 1B 

Day 1B of the Galway Winter Festival €15k Main Event delivered another busy and competitive evening at the Eglinton Casino, with 64 entries recorded and a €20,237 prizepool which was never in any doubt.

After just under five hours of play, 24 players successfully navigated their way through to Day 2, with stacks spread nicely across the leaderboard and plenty of familiar IPT names advancing.

Ali Abdallah emerged as the Day 1B chip leader, bagging an impressive 135,000, followed by Tadgh Kelly (110,000) and Digory Dixon (100,000). Adriano Maschi also closed the night with a six-figure stack, rounding out a strong top tier.

Leaderboard contender Killian Farrell progressed with 80,000, keeping himself firmly in contention, while experienced campaigners Jonas Sabino Pimentel, Vincent Fahy, Shane P O’Neill, Kevin Brady, and James J O’Brien all secured their places in today’s Final.

The bubble proved unforgiving late on, with notable exits including Shane Keary, Paul Carr, Killian O’Sullivan, and Jamie Harrington, all falling just short of the bags.
With the hyper flights still to play, the Main Event continues to take shape as the centrepiece of the Galway Winter Festival, setting the stage for another banger.

Stay tuned to LivePokerUpdates for continued coverage, chip counts, and full results as the Galway Winter Festival rolls on.