Raw Power
Monday, 18 November 2013
Nicky Power surveys the Irish scene.
D4 Shorthanded Championships
The Regency Hotel Dublin became a colony of France for the recent European short-handed championships. A staggering 1,086 players turned out for the €550 event, creating a prize pool in excess of €530,000.
D4 Events deserve huge plaudits for producing this fantastic event. How they managed to assemble such a huge field is impressive and shows real innovation on the organiser’s behalf. I particularly liked the new six-handed tables which allowed more space both on and between tables.
This tournament, along D4’s “European Deep Stack” event, produces massive fields every year with relatively limited home support. I haven’t seen a breakdown of the nationality demographic for the event but can confidently say that no more than 50 of the entrants were Irish.
My own tournament ended abruptly early on day two when I couldn’t fade a flush draw having started the day with a very healthy stack. The most memorable hand of the tournament, for me, was when a gentleman checked back quads on the river. It had to be a simple case of him misreading his hand, although if that were the case he called my flop and turn bet thinking he held king-high. I don’t know – it made for some startled-looking poker players around the table anyway.
With 126 players paid, the home team participation was at least well represented at the pay-out desk with ten Irish players making the money. Dave Masters made a memorable run for glory but was to come up short in eighth place, receiving €14,000 when he lost a race to the only other remaining Irish player, Marc McDonnell.
Marc has been having an exceptional year both live and online and for long periods looked unstoppable in his quest for a first major title. Having ended both day one and two with the chip lead, Marc’s march to victory would be cut short on a final table where everything went against him. He eventually finished fourth for a €30,000 consolation prize.
The concept of a six-handed live tournament must seem daunting to tournament operators but this event proves that it is a viable alternative that players enjoy. I said in a recent column that operators need to be innovative, and this festival certainly proves that thinking outside the box can succeed. Who’s up for the Irish Shootout Championships?
WCOOP Round Up There were some outstanding Irish performances in the recent
World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). It was certainly a case of the cream rising to the top, with some of the most recognisable and talented Irish players making their presence felt in the flagship series of online tournaments.
The first week was relatively quiet with just a few notable performances, including deep runs from
John O’Shea, Rory Brown and most notably
Jason Tompkins, who made the official final table of the six-max event. Jason pocketed $11,000 for his fifth-place finish, which was the start of an unprecedented run of big Irish results.
Thomas “luckymo32” Geleziunas has been having a fantastic year online, placing second on the PocketFives Irish Ranking List. Tommy recorded his biggest score to date in the $1,050 buy-in NLH WCOOP-30, scooping $230,000 for his second place after some business was done heads up.
The man ahead of Tommy in the Pocket Fives rankings is
Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth. Jude is a regular feature on final tables at these major online series, and the 2013 WCOOP was to prove a fruitful one for the Claregalway native. After a deal was struck three-handed, Jude secured $90,000 for his third-place finish in WCOOP-37 the $215+R NLH event.
The $215 NL Hold’em WCOOP-43 saw another six-figure Irish score, with
TheKhopMan pocketing $122,000. In the $1,000 buy-in NLH WCOOP-51,
Paul “Uwannaloan” Delaney banked $75,000 with a fifth-place finish.
In the $2,100 PLO event WCOOP-54,
Dave “Ledicus” Callaghan bagged $121,000 for his third-place finish. Former Irish Open winner
Niall Smyth finished second in WCOOP-59 the $215 NL Omaha H/L tournament, receiving $29,000.
All in all, a fantastic series for Irish players, but without doubt the most memorable event was the $320 3x Chance NLH WCOOP-51. Three of the country’s most respected online grinders,
Gavin “gavonater” O'Rourke, Mick “BIGMICKG” Graydon and
Marc “14alonso14” McDonnell made the final table.
With a huge virtual rail watching, the three lads put in top-class performances, Marc eventually exited fifth for $38,000. Mick and Gavin would fight out a brief but memorable heads-up battle after a deal was struck three-handed. In the final hand, BIGMICKG’s aces were out-flopped by gavonater’s Q-4. “Tall” Michael’s second place paid $105,000, with Gavin notching up an $118,000 payday with added bracelet.
JP’s Mini WSOP To anyone who knows their Irish geography, Castleblayney, County Monaghan, might not seem an obvious choice for a round of golf for a Waterford native; however, this was where I found myself on a recent Friday afternoon.
When
Marty Smyth gets in touch for a round of golf I only ask two questions: where and tee time? Actually, it was convenient for me as I needed to be in Dublin that night for JP’s Mini WSOP game, and Concra Wood is a gem of a course, well worth the 150-minute drive.
The Mini WSOP has been running four years now and the premise is to give players the chance to experience a WSOP Main Event structure at a working man’s buy in.
Day one went really well. It was one of those poker days when it just falls right. I had it when they called and they folded when I didn’t. There was also some good banter at the table which I’m always a big fan of.
One hundred and sixteen players started, with 66 returning for day two, where I was second in chips with 126k, and 14 paid. After an early setback, where I made a suspect call with top/top, I got a huge double-up, flopping top set and holding versus a flush draw. This put me in great shape with 250k and around 50 players left.
I had around 300k starting the bubble and around 120k when it broke. It wasn’t through folding that I lost my stack; it just went against me. I was now one of the shorter stacks and when we reached the final nine it was decided play would finish for the day once the current level ended.
With 10 big blinds and 35 minutes left on the clock, it was spin or bust time as a three-hour plus drive the following day to play a micro stack wasn’t very appealing.
I won a race early on the final table after a few shoves, which would have put me on 75% of average chips, but then lost a messy pot to
Liam O’Donoghue, leaving me back on 10 bigs. These went when I shoved second pair on a flop where Chris Cooke had flopped a set.
The reward for my endeavours was a cash prize of €1,200. In truth, I feel this one went on the bubble. It’s a pity as I would have enjoyed going back on Sunday with a stack. There was a great line up left and it had the makings of a good, fun final. Well done to
John Stokes, Simon O’Hara and
Mark Spellman who chopped it three-handed for €7.5k each, with Mark taking the trophy.