International Women’s Day – Saturday Wrap Up

International Women’s Day, therefore the Irish poker tour was privileged to pay homage to the ladies of the sport. With Tanya Masters spearheading the charge to create a place where women can go head-to-head against each other for high stakes, meet new people and most importantly have some fun.

The day kicked off with champagne and strawberries at 1pm and the ladies got straight down to business. Although the atmosphere was brilliant, there was some serious poker being played, with everyone wanting to take home the coveted Glasgow Women’s Championship. During one of the breaks Tanya organised a blind Omaha game giving prizes away and Mexican waves were enjoyed by the floor. But at the final table things got serious once again, although a deal was made to include more into the winnings. There had to be a winner in the end.

Katerine Wycherley, a full-time dealer who plays the odd time, won her first ever live event. She celebrated with her fiancé in a very touching moment. Moving to Australia soon her £1,390 will definitely pay for a few shrimps to throw on the BBQ. Yuri Ishida took £930 in 2nd place with Olga Orlova pocketing £750.

In the Main Event 1F, which saw regulars in the IPT such as our 2024 IPT Leaderboard Winner Hugh Smyth and Keith “The Doker” Touhey, even more signed up for their chance to secure a place in the Main Event, with 155 entries increasing the ever-growing prize pool. With the high number of entries, it meant David Smyth was able to bring through 760,000 as chip leader to the Main Event on Sunday. Gajantam Kamalanathan had 499,000 and William Henderson closely behind had 488,00.

The Glasgow 250 ended in a dog fight between two players, with the tournament attracting 78 entries and a prize pool of £16,474. It is safe to say there are some very talented players in Glasgow and most play in the same circle. We found this out as is usually the case in these events, when people get to know each other a bit more.

In the heads up Sharaz “Shazzy” Moad the winner of the of the 5k NLH on Wednesday was back for more. Good friends with one of our two-time trophy winners Mr McNally he was out to stake his claim for his second. They are hoping to lace their local club with Irish Poker Tour trophies by the end of the week.

In the end he was up against Mickey Merrigan dawned with a seal of approval in the form of a club badge from Rinty. In the heads up the flop came with a 6d 5h 2d and an all in was called. Shazzy’s 6s and 5s against Mickey’s Jd and 3d, Mickey hoping for a straight or flush draw. The turn brought a 9c, the river a 4h and the first Irish winner of the festival was crowned. Mickey won £5000, Shazzy £3,454 and in 3rd was Jamie Whyte with £2,310. Sunday will be interesting with McSwally and Shazzy back on the floor ready for more. Congrats Mickey winning his first IPT trophy and bringing one home for the Irish.

The Main Event 1G, had 97 entries and seen the arrival to the festival of the IPT’s crossbar champion Killian Farrell. Who has very often got close but just misses out on the trophy. He bagged his chips 2nd on the leaderboard with 367,500. In 1st place was David Gallacher with 384,000 and Graham Duncan with 248,000. Let’s see if Killian can get on through this festival.

To round off the day was the Omaha 7 max 4/5 card and the Poker Cup. The Omaha seen Paul Carr yet again making it to the final table in the festival but he is starting to look like the new crossbar champion at this stage, we have every faith he will do the business soon. But he could not get past the formidable Aberdeen man, Hugh Tom who walked away with the trophy, eager to get some rest and get back in tomorrow to add another one to his cabinet. Hugh won £3,700, Paul added another £2,452 to his festival takings and in 3rd was Luka Hodak with £1,720.

The Poker Cup started today and a character who kept the IPT very entertained was Raymond Paccitti his family running a Fish and Chip shop in East Clyde Bank for over 50 years. We look forward to seeing him in the conclusion of the cup.

Main Event Final Day here we, here we, here we ****** go!