VEGAS BOUND

VEGAS BOUND

By Mick McCloskey

First things first. I just can’t wait to share my good news. I am as happy as a footballer, lacking a sick parrot and with access to a space vehicle travelling to the moon. I have just won an online package to this year’s WSOP. I will be heading to Vegas towards the end of June along with thousands of other hopeful punters. Unlike many of the others, I will have access to the Ladbrokes Lounge in The Rio, a big plus for any player taking part in the main event. The Lounge is close to the playing area and has lots of useful facilities for Ladbrokes qualifiers and their guests. It’s almost like a home from home, a friendly haven for the duration. I’m looking forward to meeting up with old, and new, acquaintances in Las Vegas. To all the Irish players going to the WSOP, I wish you all the very best. Enjoy.

SPAINISH DEBT

At the recent JP Poker Irish Masters tournament in Dublin I met an Irish couple who run regular poker tournaments in their pub in Gran Canaria. Derek Watson and his partner, Deborah, own The Irish Fiddler in Arguinigan and had organised satellite games to bring some of their customers to Dublin for the weekend. In all, ten of them made the trip to Ireland. One of them though almost didn’t make it and arrived a full day after the rest of the party. The group had flown from Gran Canaria to Madrid to get a connecting flight to Dublin. As they were going through the police control point one of them was pulled to the side for further enquiries. It turned out that he had a four year old unpaid parking or traffic fine amounting to €150. Despite offers to pay the fine and any other penalties in cash there and then, the guilty party was marched off to the prison cells, where he spent the night. He was released the next day, after settling his outstanding fine, and travelled on to join up with the rest of the group. So, if you are planning to travel to and from Spain, don’t forget to pay off any debts to the state before you leave the country. For anyone going for a break in Gran Canaria, if you fancy a little poker in the surrounds of an Irish bar, you can contact The Irish Fiddler by email to derekwatson1@eircom.net

BATTLE OF THE CHAMPIONS

I have just heard that the televised final of the Party Poker World Open has come to an interesting conclusion. The six seater final table ended in a heads up match between current Irish Open Champion, Neil Channing and his predecessor, 2007 Irish Open Champion, Marty Smyth. In the interests of those who want to watch the television programme when it comes to our screens, I will not reveal which Champion came out on top. Congratulations to both of them for getting to that position.

NEWS

In what is reported as an amicable parting of the ways, Blonde Poker will no longer be involved with Big Slick Events in running Irish based tournaments. The event planned for The Majestic Hotel, Tramore, Co. Waterford will go ahead as planned from 12th to 15th June with a new sponsor in the form of internet poker site, Bodog. The €550 three day main event has a guarantee of €50,000 which I am sure will be well surpassed. For full details, check out the Big Slick Events website.

The Gold Club in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal are to run their first ever Summer Festival from 3rd to 6th July. This will be a European ranking event with a €540 buy-in, a 15,000 starting stack and 60 minute levels. The festival will kick off with a €50 super satellite with re-buys, on Thursday evening. The main event will start on Friday evening with smaller support events being held on Saturday and Sunday. Satellites for seats to this event are available on Green Joker Poker. For further information, log onto www.goldclubcasino.ie or call 00353 7491 28707 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 00353 7491 28707 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

The Irish Classic Poker Festival is scheduled to run in The Macau Club, Cork from 11th to 17th August. The €1,500 + 100 three day main event has a guaranteed prize pool of €150,000. Check with your local club for live satellites. Watch out for online satellites on Betfair Poker and on Green Joker Poker. For further details, check out the Macau Club website.

Big Slick Events, in association with Cue Club Events and Ladbrokes Poker, have announced details of the €250,000 guaranteed Killarney Poker Festival to be held from 2nd to 5th October at the INEC, Killarney. The Festival will kick off with a €50 +10 super satellite on Thursday 2nd October with 20 main event tickets guaranteed. The €550 three day main event will have a 15,000 starting stack and 60 minute levels. €300 and €170 support events will also be held. For full details, log onto www.bigslickevents.net.

If you have any news, views or events you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com

IRISH OPEN 2008

IRISH OPEN 2008

By Mick McCloskey

Congratulations to Neil Channing, 2008 Irish Open Champion.
The Open was as good as ever this year and maybe even better than before. However I did notice the absence of a number of regular players from past events and I have to put this down to the increased cost of the buy-in. The numbers were down on last year and Paddy Power had to stump up an extra €200,000 to cover the guarantee, and fair play to them for doing so.
It takes a good man, or organisation, to admit to a mistake but I think that Paddy Power have learned something from this year and are big enough to do something about it. I hear that they are considering a reduction in the buy-in next year, back to something in the region of 3,000 to 3,500 euro but, and this is the best part, maintaining the guarantee at €3 million!! This would be an excellent deal if it comes to pass and, I believe, would attract a bigger field in 2009.
I will give credit to Paddy Power where credit is due but I still have a major problem with their payout structure for the main event. I have aired my views before about the lower end prizes and will keep on doing so until things change. At present, the Irish Open is the only major tournament I can think of in which players can make the money and not make any profit on their investment. 72 players were paid this year and those who placed 72nd to 64th got exactly their entry money back. I think this is unacceptable as players in these positions will have played their hearts out for a full two days to reach this stage and will probably have run up substantial bills for travel, accommodation and food and drinks. To make the money in the Irish Open is quite an achievement and certainly deserves more reward than the mere return of the player’s entry fee. There is nothing I would love more than to give the Paddy Power Irish Open a totally excellent review but the payout structure is a major sticking point for me. Please Paddy Power, have a look at it, think about it, discuss it and see if you can come up with something better in the future. I think it is only fair.

NEW SPONSOR

It has been announced that last years Irish Open Champion, Marty Smyth, has secured a sponsorship deal with Boylesportspoker.com for the rest of this year. Congratulations to Marty. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

NEWS

The Irish poker tournament calendar is rapidly filling up with the announcement of more major events.
It looks like the end of the road for the European Poker Tour in Ireland. Paddy Power Poker, in conjunction with The Jackpot Club in Dublin, have announced details of the Irish Winter Festival over the Halloween bank holiday weekend from 25th to 27th October, the traditional time for the EPT event. The venue is the City West Hotel and the main event is a €1,500 + 150 three day NLH tournament, with two smaller support events. Online satellites for a main event package are already underway on paddypowerpoker.com
I spoke to EPT founder, John Duthie, who confirmed that Ireland will not figure in next season’s EPT schedule. John said that this did not preclude a return to Ireland for the EPT in the future. Finding his own silver lining in the situation, John told me “At least now I can have a lot more fun when I come to Ireland as I can come to play rather than to work”

Details have been announced of the May Festival at The Sporting Emporium in Dublin, a week of tournaments and satellites culminating in a €1,000 + 100 three day main event. The structure looks good with a 15,000 starting stack and 60 minute levels on day one, increasing to 90 minute levels for days two and three. The Emporium has also announced a WSOP satellite for Saturday 14th June with a buy-in of 150 +15 and one re-buy or top up. One package will be awarded for each €10,000 in the prize pool. A cash alternative to the WSOP package will be available. For further details, check out the Sporting Emporium website.

Then comes the Blonde Poker Summer Festival, in association with Big Slick Events, being held in the Majestic Hotel, Tramore, Co. Waterford from 12th to 15th June. The main event has a buy-in of €550 and a guaranteed prize pool of €50,000. At the time of writing, 180 seats have already been reserved so it looks like this three day tournament will pay out nearly double the guarantee. For full details or to reserve a seat, check out the Blonde Poker or Big Slick Events websites.

The ever popular Macau Club in Cork has announced dates for the week long Irish Classic Poker Festival. It will run from 11th to 17th August. The three day main event, with a buy-in of €1,500 + 100, has a guaranteed payout of €150,000. The festival will also include a ladies event and a team event. Details of online and live satellites will be announced later.

Big Slick Events, in association with Cue Club Events, has announced details of another well structured three day tournament at the Gleneagles Hotel, Killarney from 2nd to 5th October. The festival will be sponsored by Ladbrokes. For full details, log onto www.bigslickevents.net

If you have any news, views or events you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com

VEGAS 2008

VEGAS 2008

By Mick McCloskey

I recently returned from a trip to Las Vegas and bring news of what visiting poker players can expect during this year’s WSOP. The tournament is, as usual, being held in the Rio Casino but this year organisers will do away with the hot and heavy temporary pavilion and will open up more of the interior convention space for extra playing areas. Also at the Rio, regulars may be alarmed to hear that the “Tilted Kilt” bar is no more. It has been replaced by an Irish themed bar called “McFadden’s”
The huge new city centre development beside the Bellagio is gradually taking shape and will probably be completed before the end of the year. This comprises a mix of commercial, retail and residential property. Other building nearing completion are new hotel towers at the Wynn and the Venetian. When completed, this will make the Venetian the biggest hotel in the World. Onwards and upwards.

Interesting developments are taking place Downtown and many of the smaller “rollers” may want to make their base there to take advantage of the more realistic prices for food, drinks and accommodation. There will certainly be plenty of poker action as both the Golden Nugget and Binions have announced details of a series of poker tournaments to be held during the WSOP. Indeed, Binions could be regarded as having a mini WSOP as their events are based on the WSOP programme. The main difference being that Binions tournaments run the day before the WSOP events and are 10% of the WSOP buy-in. The Golden Nugget tournaments range from $200 to £1,000 and include HORSE and Omaha events being held in a convention room containing 50 tables. The action will be 24 hour, spread over a month from 6th June. Also new at the Nugget is a bar and night club called “Gold Diggers” which has an outdoor balcony area overlooking Fremont Street. Fremont itself seems to be buzzing with activity and is pulling in the crowds with outdoor shows and music every night, in addition to the usual light shows of the Fremont Street Experience.

Other news is that Binions has been taken over by the owners of the neighbouring 4 Queens Casino. The word is that they intend to either renovate the whole place or raze it to the ground and start from scratch. Either way, big changes are in the pipeline.

A SMALL WORLD

I went to the Wynn one day to play one of their tournaments. I’m only in the place about five minutes when I run into Keith “The Camel” Hawkins, who tells me that he is thinking of giving up poker to take on a new challenge. But not just yet as he had signed up for the tournament as well! I have just settled into my seat in the tournament when another well known face sits down at my table. It is none other than “Big Al” Kelleher, all the way from Cork, who is in town for a few weeks with his buddy, Jim Kelleher. There are over 300 runners in this tournament and he lands on my table? Our American table mates must have wondered what language we were using to speak to each other after our unexpected meeting. Down at Binions I ran into a couple from Edinburgh, who I had first met in the same place a couple of years ago. Also in Binions, slumming it for a night away from his suite at the Wynn, I ran into Dave O’Neill and his wife. Dave was formerly a partner in the Jackpot and Merrion Clubs in Dublin and is currently tournament director for the Irish Open. A small world indeed.

NEWS

JP Poker has announced details of The Irish Masters tournament to be held in the Red Cow Hotel, Dublin from 2nd to 5th May. The main event has a buy-in of €750. Full details can be found at www.jppoker.ie

The Waterford Open takes place in the Majestic Hotel, Tramore, Co. Waterford from 12th to 15th June. The tournament is being run by Big Slick Events and Blonde Poker. If there is enough demand for the main €500 event, the tournament nay be extended to include an extra starting day. For up to date details, check out either the Big Slick or Blonde Poker website.

The Macau Club has announce the dates for this year’s Irish Poker Classic in Cork. The festival will run from 11th to 17th August. The main event will have a two day start, a buy-in of €1,500 and a guaranteed prize pool of €150,000. Further details will be published in future issues.

If you have any news, views or events, you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com

KEEP IT REAL

KEEP IT REAL

By Mick McCloskey

I’ve been playing tournament poker in Ireland, the UK, Europe and the USA for quite a few years now. During my travels I have met and got to know many of the regular players on tour. With the huge growth of poker in the last two or three years, fuelled by the internet and televised events, it has become harder and harder to keep track of the new players coming onto the scene. This is no bad thing and I am certainly not complaining. The new younger players have brought a fresh attitude to the game of No Limit Hold’em which, to my mind, has changed the whole approach to modern tournament poker. To me, one of the driving forces behind these changes has been the success of John Duthie’s brain child, The European Poker Tour, supported from it’s inception by Poker Stars.com. I have been following the live updates from the latest EPT in Dortmund, Germany. I believe that Germany is a major growth area for live and online poker right now and this was reflected in the large number of local players who took part. Looking through the player list for Irish, British and European names that I recognised, I was not having much success. When the tournament got down to the final table, any of the few names that I did recognise had been eliminated. The new order had taken over. The only finalist who had any previous form, in the way of recorded live results more than a couple of months old, was Claudio Rinaldi from Switzerland. Indeed, I believe that some of the finalists were playing in their first live tournament! The winner of almost a million Euros, Canadian Mike McDonald, has barely finished celebrating his 18th birthday.
With the increased buy-in to EPT events, I suppose that this was bound to happen. Most of the regulars I know have been priced out of these tournaments and the field has been left open for the handful of sponsored players, the internet whizz kids and the well heeled recreational players. Even trying to qualify online for these events has become an expensive and time consuming business. I know many players who played in Seasons 1 and 2 of the EPT, who have now basically lost interest in the whole thing. The fact that it is now cheaper to play in the main event of the WSOP in Las Vegas is perhaps a telling factor.

With the Irish Open coming up this month, expected to set new records, I hope that the organisers have done with increasing the entry fee, for the time being. One of the attractions of the Irish Open has always been the social side of things. Over the years it has become an annual meeting place for all serious, and some not so serious, Irish players. The amount of the buy-in has always been within reach for the majority of the regulars. However, the buy-in has increased three fold since 2004 and is beginning to squeeze some of the long time participants. The growth of the Irish Open under the sponsorship of Paddy Power.com has been amazing. I feel that there is a fine balance between growing the Irish Open into a major international event and keeping the original feel of the tournament as Ireland’s favourite national poker event. Perhaps that point has been reached. I, for one, would not like to see the Open going the way of the EPT, where I struggle to find anyone I actually know playing in some of the heats. I think that the numbers playing in the Dublin heat of the EPT last October, where only one Irish player made the money and none made the final table, and the numbers expected to play this month in the Open, will tell their own story. Please Paddy Power.com, don’t let the Irish Open go the way of the EPT in Ireland. Keep it real.

NEWS

The Munster Poker Tour, in association with Irish Eyes Poker, organised the Lakes of Killarney Festival in January. The €500 main event attracted 163 runners and paid out €81,500. Noel Magnier from Cork took €19,000 with Adam Fallon from Dublin getting €17,000. Third spot and€10,000 went to Eoin Dixon from Cork. Congratulations to all who cashed in this event.

For anyone out there who has been living in a cave, The Irish Open takes place in the City West Hotel, Dublin, from 19th to 24th March.

If you have any news, views or events, you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com

THE STATE OF CORK

THE STATE OF CORK

Cork is an interesting city. It’s partly built on the side of a hill overlooking the River Lee and must have some of the steepest streets in Ireland, outside of Derry City. I just love my visits to the city for the poker festivals at the Macau Club. However, it is not like other Irish cities I have been to. For a start, it has its own dialect which is pretty much like a foreign language to most visitors. I find myself nodding and smiling a lot when some of the locals are talking to me. For visitors from the UK or Europe it must be even more difficult to communicate with the locals. The city centre has its fair share of shops and pubs, much the same as most Irish cities. Walking around however, I noticed a marked difference in the type of some of the premises. There seem to be more traditional barber shops in the city, offering a full cut throat razor shaving service, than any where else I have ever been to. I was also amazed at the number of music shops I came across in the city centre area. When I say music shops I don’t mean record or CD shops. I mean shops selling a full variety of musical instruments. They are everywhere. Cork must have some of the most well groomed and best equipped musicians in Ireland!
The last time I visited, I booked one of those cheap flight deals and flew in from Dublin. The parking charge at Dublin airport cost more than the flight. Flying into Cork, you land at one of the most modern and attractive airport terminals in Ireland. The people at Dublin airport must be green with envy. I’m not sure of the relationship between the people of Dublin and Cork and how they view each other these days. All I can tell you is that when the flight from Cork arrived back in Dublin, all the passengers had to proceed through passport control and Customs. What does that tell you? And there was me thinking that Cork and Dublin were part of the same country. Didn’t I tell you that Cork was different!

HORSE

So, who is it gonna be? Where is it gonna be? Who will be first to organise a reasonably priced HORSE tournament in Europe? I know that there was one in London this year as part of the WSOPE but that was hardly in the reasonable price range. Are you, like me, getting a little jaded with all the No Limit Hold’em tournaments on offer around Europe? Would you like a bit of a challenge in trying to master the mixed games contained in HORSE? The games are all played with limit betting and consist of rounds or levels of Hold’em, Omaha high low eight or better, Razz (Seven Stud lowball), Seven Card Stud and Stud high low eight or better. Whoever decides to take the plunge and try something different during their 2008 festival, please reserve a seat for me.

NEWS

Big Slick Events and Blonde Poker continue their collaboration in promoting poker in Ireland with two events in February. The first is the four day Coursing Festival running from 3rd to 6th at the Minella Hotel in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Following that, they are organising a team event in the Woodlands Hotel, Waterford from 22nd to 24th February. Each team consists of four players and the buy-in is €210 per player. The players start the tournament with a 10,000 chip stack each. Support events will run on the Saturday, €150 + 20, and on the Sunday with a €100 + 20 freeze-out. More details can be found on the Big Slick or the Blonde Poker websites.

DEEP STACKS

The much anticipated Green Joker Poker European Deep Stack Championships takes place in the Drogheda Poker Club from 2nd to 10th February. Drogheda Co. Louth is about a 20 minute drive north from Dublin Airport. Following six handed NLH and Pot Limit Omaha support events, the main event has a two day start on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th and continues on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For their €1,400 + 100 entry fee, each player starts with a massive 50,000 chip stack and 60 minute levels, starting at 25-50. Full details can be found on the Green Joker Poker and on the Antes Up websites.

IRISH OPEN

The build up to Ireland’s premier poker event, the Paddy Power Irish Open, continues. Live and online satellites can be found at various venues and sites. The main event is guaranteed to pay out at least €3 million and anything up to 1,000 players, and possibly more, from all over the world, are expected to take part. The action kicks off at the City West Hotel, Dublin, with a €300 super satellite (re-buy) on Wednesday 19th March. Day 1a of the €4,500 main event starts on Thursday 20th with day 1b starting on Friday 21st. Friday also sees the €300 + 30 Ladies Irish Open Tournament. The first support event is a €1,500 + 150 two day freeze-out starting on Saturday 22nd. A €400 + 40 Pot Limit Omaha re-buy starts on Sunday 23rd and the final event is a €300 + 30 Double Chance Scalps (€30) tournament on Monday 24th March. You can register and pay now for the 2008 Irish Open and find full details at http://www.irishpokeropen.com/

If you have any news, views or events you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com

Rules R Rules

Rules R Rules

By Mick McCloskey

As I travel around different venues for poker tournaments, I come across all sorts of local rules which vary from place to place. Even the most experienced and attentive players can be caught out. A situation came to my attention recently in a card room, which shall remain anonymous. A player, who for the purpose of this story I will call John, was involved in a No Limit Hold’em cash game. He got into a pot with two other players, holding a pocket pair. The other two players were all in and John had money back. When all the cards on board had been dealt out John waited for the other two players to declare their hands. They both had big cards and both missed the board. John then picked up his cards and turned over his winning pocket pair. One player piped up and declared that John’s hand was dead as it was placed face down “over the line” A ruling was called for and the Floor man ruled the hand dead. Now I know that the ruling should be final but, whatever rules are in force the rule of fairness to the player should always take precedence. To my mind there was a major flaw in this ruling. Because the card room was running a major festival, they had borrowed some card tables to cope with the extra numbers. Their own tables were all of the same design and had a clear action line around the table which was at least 12 inches in front of the players. The borrowed table, on which this incident took place, had a line which had at most a 6 inch space and in some places was only around 4-5 inches in front of the player. With chips placed in front, it was difficult for any player to keep all of their cards behind this line. The visiting player may have had his cards placed face down in front of this line but they were never in the muck or touching any mucked cards. Common sense and fairness should have ensured that John should have won the pot. Until all card rooms adopt a common set of rules, travelling players should, within reason, be aware of local rules. Even the most astute are liable to be caught out some times so be very, very careful.

While on the subject of rules, conformity and common sense, a couple of dealing incidents took place which didn’t make a lot of sense. I was playing in a couple of fast structured satellites when some situations came up. Incident no. 1 came up on a board of 10, J, Q, K. Two players got involved and all the chips ended up in the middle. The cards were turned up and of course each player held an Ace for the top straight. Neither player had a re-draw to a flush or better on the river so the only possible outcome could be a split pot. Despite this, the dealer insisted in counting out and matching up the chips and then pushing them all together into the pot. Then the dealer had to separate and split all the chips between the two players involved. What a waste of time. I saw the same situation occur at another table where two players were all in with A, K each. Surely dealers can be trained to leave the chips separate in these situations. If by chance one player happens to hit a flush the pot can be sorted out afterwards. In most cases, there will be a split pot and it is usually a waste of time to match up and push all the chips into the centre. Maybe the card room managers could do us all a favour and make a New Years resolution to eliminate this time wasting nonsense.

NEWS

Neill Kelly’s Big Slick Events Company seems to be upping the ante in running reasonably priced poker events outside of the Dublin area in 2008. The first of these takes place, in association with Irish Eyes Poker, from 10th to 13th January. Entitled The Lakes of Killarney Hold’em Festival, the action takes place in the Killarney Avenue Hotel, Co. Kerry and kicks off with a €50 super satellite with one re-buy and one add-on. The three day main event starts on Friday 11th and features a 15,000 starting stack and 60 minute levels. The buy in is €500 + 50. There are two support events costing €200 + 20 and €150 + 20 with the €200 event being played over two days on a 40 minute clock with 10,000 starting chips.
The following month Big Slick moves to Clonmel, Co. Tipperary for the four day Coursing Festival running from 3rd to 6th February. The venue is The Minella Hotel and entry fees range from €100 to €250.
They then move to Waterford for a team event, in association with Blonde Poker. The venue is the Woodlands Hotel and the dates are from 22nd to 24th February. Each team consists of four players and the buy-in is €210 per player.
Further events are planned, including The Irish Series of Poker, featuring a €1,000 main event.
For further details, log onto the Big Slick Events website or Blonde Poker’s website.

DEEP STACKS

Another major event coming up in February is The Green Joker Poker European Deep stack Championship running from 2nd to 10th in the Drogheda Poker Club, about 20miles North of Dublin Airport. Players will start with a massive 50,000 chips with 60 minute levels played over 4 days. The entry fee is €1,400 + 100 and qualifying satellites are running on Green Joker Poker and Bluesqpoker.
There is a full schedule of support events including Short Handed Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha events. The main event is restricted to 300 players and the support events are less than half that number so early booking is recommended. For full details of the schedule and local hotels etc. check out the Green Joker Poker site or the Antes up website.

If you have any news, views or events, you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com.

PRIZE MONEY AND AUCTIONS

PRIZE MONEY AND AUCTIONS

By Mick McCloskey

I was talking to Liam Flood, Irish Open tournament director, and to Noel Hayes, from Paddy Power Poker, at the recent EPT in Dublin. I wanted to air one of my pet gripes to both of them regarding next Easter’s Irish Open. Paddy Power, to their credit, are guaranteeing a €3 million prize pot for the main event. To cover themselves for this guarantee, they would need 715 players, excluding registration fees. This year they managed to attract 708 players to the Open and I would imagine that, due to the popularity of the tournament, they should be able to achieve similar numbers, even though it will cost an extra €1,000 to play in next years event. According to the official website, the top 72 players will be paid, with a juicy, headline grabbing, €800,000 for first spot. My problem with the payout lies at the bottom end of the scale. As presently published, places 64 to 72 will get €4,500 each for their efforts, exactly their money back. And when I say efforts that is exactly what it will take to get to this stage. Next years event will have two first starting days. So, lets say a visitor from the UK, or further afield, plays on day 1 and just makes the money, he will have incurred travel expenses and at least 4 nights hotel expenses. He will have played his heart out for at least three days just to get into the money, and for what? Just to be handed his entry fee back for a net loss on the event. I don’t think this is good enough and other players I have spoken to think the same. Even the people who run the WSOP seem to have realised that making the money in a big event deserves some reward/profit. This year, any one who made the money in the $10,000 main event got a minimum of $20,300 for their endeavours. No other major or minor tournament that I know off pays back the entry fee only. So come on Paddy Power, it’s not too late to change the payout schedule. Give a little bit of profit to the guys at the lower end of the prize list. I’m pretty sure that next years winner will be quite happy with ¾ of a million euro in his pocket and it’s still a hell of a good headline grabbing figure for the sponsors. It presently translates into more than 1 million dollars. It doesn’t seem that long ago that this was the top prize in the WSOP main event!
The Irish Open takes place in The Citywest Hotel, Dublin in March 2008. It kicks off with a €300 re-buy super satellite on the 19th with the main event (day 1) starting on the 20th. There will be a full programme of support events, including an Irish Open Ladies freeze-out.

AUCTIONS – IRISH STYLE

At the recent Simon Community charity event, organised by Padraig Parkinson and hosted at the Dublin leg of the Poker Stars European Poker Tour, “Mad” Marty Wilson added to the proceedings, and to the money raised, by organising tombola drawings and an auction for autographed sports memorabilia. The first item to come under the hammer was a snooker cue and case signed by former World Champions Steve Davis and Ken Doherty, who were both actually playing in the poker event. Marty got the bidding started at €100 and was raising the price of bids by increments of €50 at a time. He managed to get the bids up to €450 and was trying to encourage some one to make the next step to €500. An enthusiastic Rory Liffey shouts “550 euro” and is now the proud owner of a signed cue! I’m not sure if any alcohol had been taken at this stage as it was still early afternoon in Dublin. Well done Rory.

NEWS

No sooner do we get over the New Year festivities before battle commences again for the first major European tournament of 2008. The tournament is the Irish Poker Championship, sponsored by Party Poker, in conjunction with Poker Events.ie. The venue is the Radisson SAS Hotel in Galway and the event kicks off with a €200 + 20super satellite on Thursday 3rd January. The €2,000 main event will start on Friday 4th and will run over three days. The event will be recorded for television and will be broadcast by the national TV company, RTE, over six episodes. On Saturday there will be a €800 + 80 freeze-out and on Sunday a €400 + 40 freeze-out.

Green Joker Poker has announced details of an exciting event next February, namely The European Deepstack Poker Championships. The main event will be a €1,400 + 100 freeze-out with a 50,000 starting stack, played on a 60 minute clock and with every conceivable level, played over four days. Mike Lacey from Green Joker Poker says “This will be the best structure to be found in any European Poker tournament.” The tournament will have a two day start, with a maximum number of 150 players each day, starting on Wednesday 6th February at The Drogheda Poker Club, Drogheda, about 20 miles north of Dublin Airport. Support events will include a €500 short handed event with a 20,000 starting stack and 60 minute levels and a €500 Pot Limit Omaha event with the same structure. As numbers are limited, early booking would be advised. You can register and pay online on the Green Joker Poker site which is also running online satellites for a package to the main event. These satellites are also available on Bluesquarepoker. This event sounds like the business.

Finally, I just want to take this opportunity to wish all Poker Europa readers best wishes for the Christmas holiday season and a peaceful and profitable poker new year.

If you have any news, views or events, you can contact me by email to mickymccloskey@hotmail.com.