Raw Power
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
Nicky Power on a new tour and the best of the live action.
Winter Wonders
The Irish Winter Festival was a bit of a non-event for me – disappointing, as it's one of the best chances of a touch each year. The Burlington Hotel is always a dangerous spot to attend the night before a tournament. The temptation to go on the piss has got the better of many a more resilient punter than myself over the years, but this year the IWF eve atmosphere was very subdued.
This quiet opening night of the festival must have been a bit worrying for the promoters, especially with tournament numbers down across most events for 2013. At final count 341 players started. This was down from last year’s 385 starters, but given recent trends a very respectable turnout.
My tournament started with 600 big blinds which gradually dwindled over the day. It was just one of those tournaments where I never got going. I definitely didn’t help myself with an early needless bluff, dusting off around 25% of my stack. I also made a bad pre-flop read late in the day when I raise-folded A-Q from around 25 bigs.
I was eventually put out of my misery, pushing 3-3 over A-Q and losing the race. All in all, I’d say a very average-to-poor performance added to by an absence of good general tournament happenings.
The buzz in the bar Saturday night was much more in line with what you’d expect at a paddypower event and a hectic night ensued. A pool competition with the winner taking on former world snooker champion Ken Docherty for a 2014 Irish open seat provided much entertainment. Rob Taylor was the victor with a huge crowd cheering him home against the snooker legend.
As the tournament played out, the home contingent representation was rather meager. Pete Murphy put in another deep performance but would unfortunately finish just short of the final table.
This meant the hope of an Irish victory rested on the shoulders of Joe O’Donnaill and Ollie Boyce. Unfortunately both would clash six-handed when Joe’s A-A held verses Ollie’s A-K. Boyce collected €15,500 for his sixth place finish.
O’Donnaill had looked commanding for a spell but was to come unstuck in a massive pot when his A-K couldn’t hold verses K-J. It was an excellent performance from Joe who was rewarded with a fourth position finish and a cash prize of €27,500 for his troubles.
Rok Rotar was crowned the 2013 Irish Winter Festival Main Event Champion, earning €85,000 and the IWF trophy. Rotar, a professional sports bettor from Ljubljana, Slovenia, defeated England’s Samuel Welbourne heads up.
New IPO tour announcedThe
BoylePoker.com IPO (International Poker Open) is now expanding with a new tour across Ireland and the UK in 2014. Legs of the IPO Tour 2014 are scheduled for Galway, London, Killarney, Newcastle and of course its traditional home, Dublin.
Boylepoker.com has sponsored the IPO since 2008, and in that time the event has gone from strength to strength. It has been the largest poker tournament held outside the US, the largest European NLH freezeout poker tournament with a record breaking field of 1,440 players, and has been nominated for “Best European Event of the Year” by the European Poker Awards in 2011.
Head of Boylepoker Ciaran Corbett commented, “We feel the time is right to spread the IPO wings. The tournament has a track record second to none and with me at the helm success is assured.”
The tour kicks off with IPO Galway from the 6th to 10th February and will mirror the structure of the recent hugely successful IPO Dublin 2013. So, again, we will see a €230 entry fee with 30,000 starting chips. The tournament will have three day ones with the option of re-entry on subsequent day ones.
Boylepoker are also extending the popular 20% added money promotion, whereby you can add 20% to any money you win at the IPO Galway simply by playing a little on the site.
A full schedule of satellites are in place on Boylepoker client over the coming months, so there’s no excuse not to join me in Galway this February for what promises to be one of the highlights of the 2014 poker calendar.
Tourney PickThe first week of January has traditionally seen the year start with a major event for Irish poker aficionados. For a number of years the Irish Poker Championship (IPC) was held on this week.
With the decline of the IPC, the WPT stepped in and filled this spot on the calendar for the last two years. Unfortunately the WPT Dublin is now also history.
JP McCann of the Village Green Card Club Tallaght has taken up the baton of providing the opportunity of starting the year with a sizable buy-in tournament.
The offering is another of the cap-field events that we saw a lot of popping up in Ireland last year. This time it’s a €1,000+€60 buy-in with a cap of 72 players and a first prize of €25,000 “guaranteed”.
The tournament will be played out over ‘one day’ and takes place Saturday, January 4th at of the
Village Green Card Club Tallaght. Contact JP Mc Cann on 087 644 8132 to reserve your seat.