Our love letter to Loughrea. Great venue. Great appetite for poker.

Our love letter to Loughrea.
Great venue . Great appetite for poker.

The anticipation around this one was all about the leaderboard and if there would be a shake up at the top of it! If that’s what we were all waiting for , we got it and then some!

The Main Event Guarantee was over the line in level 5, eventually settling on €27,910 with €7,350 for the winner revealed.

Out of 171 entries we were always going to see leaderboard drama. We also witness an influx of new faces from Loughrea and further afield.

Killian Farrell loaded and emptied his Main Event clip early. Mr Keary soon followed and it was over to Paul Carr. Once the Cookie Jar built the stack he was always going to be hard to shake.But this is poker and  as the great Dara O’Kearney once stated “ Poker has a way of smacking you in the face.” The Cookie Jar got it in ahead 4 times in a row and lost all 4. On a final table where the margin for top tier points is so slim. Poker can be so brutal.

The €20,000 Guaranteed Loughrea Main Event drew a massive 171 entries, each starting with 30,000 chips in this €200 NLH event. After an impressive 13 hours and 22 minutes of play, the prize pool climbed to €27,910, paying out deep and delivering another thrilling finish for the LPU faithful.

The final table delivered plenty of drama, with Anthony Crampton (4th), Killian Farrell (5th), and Caroline McMahon (6th) all locking up paydays after deep, well-earned runs.The final table was stacked with big names including Paul Carr (4th), Michael G. Reilly (5th), and Padraig Parkinson (6th), all adding to the quality and drama of the closing stages. After the drama of Paul Carrs exit a deal was done and on we went with Mathew Blayney , Liam Lavelle and Kwan Wang Chan .
Final result for Main Event Final Table:
1    Blayney, Matthew |  Last Longer Winner    €5,500
800 Points
2    Lavelle, Liam    €5,000
640 Points
3    Chan, Wang Kwan    €4,500
520 Points
4    Carr, Paul    €2,250
440 Points
5    Reilly, Michael G    €1,750
400 Points
6    Parkinson, Padraig    €1,450
360 Points
7    McNamara, Niall    €1,200
320 Points
8    Campbell, Niall K    €950
280 Points
9    Porter, Charlie |  LL    €800
240 Points
A strong spread of familiar Irish Poker Tour faces cashed, while the Last-Longer competition added extra spice, with Charlie Porter, Jaunius Kavalciukas, Tommy O’Rourke, Michael Fitzgerald, Andrey Cruz, and others all making deep runs.
Another superb turnout in Loughrea, another fantastic atmosphere, and another Main Event champion added to the history books. Matthew Blayney take a bow.

Saturday NLH – Round-Up
The Saturday night €150 NLH brought in a strong 55 entries, each starting with 25,000 chips, building a tidy €6,600 prize pool. After 6 hours and 31 minutes of action, it was Yaroslav Tsymbaliuk who rose to the top, capturing the win for €2,050 and 500 points.
The final table delivered plenty of drama, with Anthony Crampton (4th), Killian Farrell (5th), and Caroline McMahon (6th) all locking up paydays after deep, well-earned runs.
PLO
The €150 Pot Limit Omaha kicked off at 10:00pm on Saturday night, drawing 16 entries and building a prize pool of €1,920. After 4 hours and 31 minutes of action, we had our champion.
🇮🇪 George Stoddart came out on top, taking the trophy, €1,280, and 300 ranking points after navigating a tough field and closing it out in style.
🇱🇹 Jaunius Kavalciukas secured the runner-up spot for €640 and 250 points, while Shane Cawley rounded out the podium in 3rd place.
Full Results:
1️⃣ George Stoddart – €1,280 (300 pts)
2️⃣ Jaunius Kavalciukas – €640 (250 pts)
3️⃣ Shane Cawley
4️⃣ Michael Fitzgerald
5️⃣ Eunan Doherty
6️⃣ Frank Dunleavy

Another great event in Loughrea – congrats

to all who played and made the stop a memorable one.