Glasgow Poker Festival – Thursday Wrap Up
Thursday morning was radiant, with blue skies and the sun shining, illuminating not only the city but also invigorating the players ready to try out their luck at the Alea Casino. Even those who secured an entry for the Main Event on Sunday, decided to call in to have another crack at it. Thursday’s action welcomed regulars of the Irish Poker Tour scene with the formidable Shane Keary, who sits atop the Paddy Power Poker Leaderboard joining the action. Also, there is never going to be a dull moment when Paul “Rinty” Monaghan shows up to an event, playing well and providing laughs, he checked out of the Glasgow 200 in 10th place. Still smiling and sure to be back for another crack at it tomorrow.
In the Glasgow Main Event Day 1B which started off at 1pm, the total number of entries reached a whopping 92, each player hoping for that chance to mount a charge for the final day. At the end of play, 16 players made it through with Richard Doonan with the highest chip count of 464,000, Andrew Hawksby not far behind with 460,000 chips and Robert Elkin being the next highest stack leaving with 407,500 chips.
The Glasgow 200 kicked off at 2pm with the top 11 players getting paid out. As has been the case all week the turnout was high with 106 entries signing up to share a slice of the guaranteed £10,000 prizepool which then rose to £17,300 obliterating expectations. Scotland’s very own Stuart McNally was the winner taking home £5,000, well done Stuart.
The Glasgow Main Event Day 1C which started off later in the day at 6pm, had 64 entries and also ended with 16 advancing to the final day on the Sunday. Fantastic work by Irish man Martin Hammond leading the 1C with 280,000 chips. Slightly further afield but still with great stacks were Moshen Piramoon and Roderick McNeill with 237,000 and 229,000 respectively.
The other event that was settled on the day was the Thursday £5k NLH which kicked off at 7pm, this ended up attracting 75 entries bumping up the guarantee to £9,000. The players fought hard for the trophy with many relishing the opportunity to compete in high stakes poker in Alea Casino. In the end the winner was Jan Eirik Olsen winning his first ever live tournament and travelling all the way from Norway to compete in the event, he also happens to be the CEO of pokertravels.no which is a dedicated travel agency with Poker at the heart of it, we could not be happier for him . “Gratulereron Jan”.
Some other familiar faces were also seen at the tables throughout the day, these guys need no introduction, Neill Farrell, Paul “Cookie Jar” Carr, Keith “The Doker” Touhey and Andrew Toole.
With another fantastic day of poker and wonderful service by the staff at the Alea Friday’s events are set to yet again surpass all expectations, the Irish Poker Tour is well and truly in town and with 3 days left this is definitely one that cannot and should not be missed.
So the question is, who will take home the highest number of victories, the Scots or the Irish?
To find out, make sure you keep following the action here at livepokerupdates.com