RIGHT TIME, WRONG PLACE

RIGHT TIME, WRONG PLACE

By Mick McCloskey

I heard a funny story at the recent European Deepstack Championship in Dublin. I spoke to the man involved so I’m sure he is happy enough to have his name in print after his escapades. His name is Fergal Cawley. He lives in Co. Sligo and would not be a regular in Irish ranking events but he decided to come to Dublin to play in this one as a friend of his was playing. Unfortunately, when he arrived in Dublin he headed to the Burlington Hotel even though the tournament was actually taking place in the Ballsbridge Inn. After looking around the hotel foyer for any signs of a poker event, he asked the people at reception about the poker tournament and, naturally enough, no one knew anything about a poker event in the hotel. So, he called his friend and told him he was in the hotel but could not find the tournament room. The tournament was already well underway by this stage so his friend gave him directions about how to get from the hotel reception area to the tournament room. Fergal hung up and went off to search for the poker area, as directed, again without much success. He called his by now exasperated friend again to tell him that he still could not find the poker room. The two now decided that the next logical step would be for Fergal’s friend to get up from his own poker table and for the two to meet up in the hotel reception area. Naturally enough, as they were still in separate hotels, this plan was no more successful than the previous ones as the two lads stood waiting for each other in different parts of Dublin. So, it was onto the phone again and, eventually the penny dropped. Fergal finally made his way to the right hotel, found his table and seat and sat down to play poker, some four hours late.

The story has quite a happy ending though. Fergal managed to double up after playing only two or three hands and then went on to make the final table and finished in 6th place for a €14,200 payday. I’m not quite sure how Fergal’s friend reacted when the two met at the first break (the first break they happened to be in the same hotel that is) to be told that Fergal had by then twice as many chips as he had, despite only playing for about an hour or so compared to his friends 6 hour session. Perhaps his 10% share of Fergal’s winnings helped to dull the pain and the possible sense of injustice. After all, how can a man play proper poker with all these distractions going on!

NEWS

IRISH OMAHA MASTERS

After what seems like a deluge of poker tournaments coming thick and fast in Ireland, the month of March and the early part of April, before The Irish Open, is pretty much free of major events right now, especially for Texas Hold’em fans. There is a little something for Pot Limit Omaha fans in the form of the Irish Omaha Masters, scheduled for the 25th and 26th March at the Eglinton Casino Galway. The €500 + 50 main event is a triple chance affair with a 10,000 starting stack and two more chunks of 10,000, for a total of 30,000 chips, with 60 minute levels and is set to run for two days. The tournament starts at 7pm on the Friday night, with a cap of 108 players, playing 6 levels on the first night meaning, with breaks, a 2am finish to day 1.The main event action continues on Saturday at 3pm.

Saturday at 5pm sees the start of, what I believe, is Irelands first ranking Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better tournament. This is also a triple chance tournament with 10,000 chip stacks and add ons for a total of 30,000 chips. The levels are pretty short at 20 minutes so the action should heat up pretty quickly. The buy in is €90 + 10.

For the Hold’em fans there is a €135 + 15 freezeout of Saturday night at 8pm with a guarantee of €5,000.

Sounds like a different and interesting weekend, if you like that sort of thing. Full details can be found on Irish Poker Boards or on www.irishomahatour.com. For details of local accommodation email info@theeglinton.com or call 00353 (0)91 569222 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 00353 (0)91 569222 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

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

MAKING IT LEGAL?

MAKING IT LEGAL?

By Mick McCloskey

After nearly two years of public consultations, the Irish Governments Department of Justice and Law Reform has now published a discussion paper entitled “Options for Regulating Gambling.” From my understanding of the document, it seems that the department is generally in favour of reform of the current laws and of setting up a system to control and licence local and online operators. Their general opinion is that trying to outlaw gaming, especially online gaming is, based on the evidence from the USA, a non starter. The department would look to set up a body to control and to licence casino operators and casino employees in Ireland. It would also look at the possibility of regulating online gaming sites with a view to making Ireland a base for remote gambling operations. It makes a case for the employment and taxation opportunities that would arise from investments by such online gaming sites.

In addition, the report looks favourably at the possibility of allowing one or more Resort Casinos to be licensed in Ireland. The definition of a Resort Casino is along the lines that it should probably include a hotel with facilities such a golf course, a Spa and an entertainment centre, as well as a casino, all on the one site.

While all of this looks like good news for supporters of legalised and available gaming it will all be up for debate in the Irish Parliament at some stage and will be the subject of a vote by the politicians in power at the time, probably after a general election in the country. I’m not sure that the legalisation of gaming would be top of the agenda for a lot of the politicians but, the possibility of additional taxes for the cash strapped Irish economy may be enough to sway the vote in favour of reform.

NEWS

WESTERN OPEN

This festival, scheduled to be held in Castlebar, Co. Mayo from 24th to 27th February is a new addition to the Irish tournament circuit and features a 3 day main event with a buy in of €300 + 40. The venue is the Breaffy House Resort and the main event starts at 4pm on Friday 25th February with a guaranteed prize pool of €40,000 and a 15,000 starting stack with 60 minute levels. A full programme of side events has been included. Boylepoker.com are sponsoring the event and full details can be found on their website. Boylepoker.com are also running online satellites and have facilities for buying into the tournament online.

What the website does not tell you is that Sunday night at the venue is pretty much party night. The main activity, apart from the poker, is a charity boxing tournament to raise money for the local boxing club and the Mayo/ Roscommon Hospice. This is not your usual boxing tournament as it will feature a total of 6 bouts between some well known Irish poker players, casino owners and tour operators. There could be a few grudge matches here! Names on the card I have so far include the Eglinton Casino’s Fintan Gavin, fighting in the heavyweight division obviously, Neill Kelly of Big Slick Poker and Liam Delaney of Celtic Poker Tour. Experienced referees and corner men will be provide by Castlebar Boxing Club and fully trained ambulance crews will be on standby.

After the blood has been mopped up off the canvas, the boxing ring will be used for the final heads up battle for the first Western Open title and, after that there will be live music and, more than likely a little drinking to be done to while away the night. This sounds like a fun way to round off the weekend so you may want to think about booking your room for Sunday night and giving work a miss on the Monday.

GUKPT

Last month I included an item in my column indicating that The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour intended to hold a leg of the tour in Ireland in September. I have now been told that this leg has had to be postponed due to quite a bit of tournament congestion in Ireland that particular month. The Unibet Open, the Poker Stars UKIPT and the Shorthanded Championship are all scheduled for around the same time. The GUKPT organisers really only had the one available spot in September so they have decided to look at another date in 2012 instead. I will let you have details of any revised dates as soon as I get them.

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

STOP THE RIP OFF

STOP THE RIP OFF

By Mick McCloskey

It’s a new year and many people use this time to make resolutions to change old habits and try to adopt new, healthier ones. My wish for the New Year, and for the future, is that tournament sponsors should stop using hidden charges to boost their income from the players. My idea of a good sponsor is that of a company willing to spend a bit of money in order to boost their public profile and to attract new customers, not to piss off their existing ones.

Examples of what I’m talking about include the inclusion of hotel deals in online satellite packages at prices which are patently higher than those which could reasonably be obtained by any savvy travellers by themselves. Then the sponsor refuses to refund the hotel costs to anyone not needing accommodation or wanting to make their own arrangements. This also includes sponsors negotiating so called “special deals” with hotels which can quite often be bettered by people walking in off the street. And also, what happens when players leave the hotel early, for whatever reason? I don’t imagine the online sites are tripping over themselves to make sure that the player gets a refund for any unused hotel nights.
Another example is to invite online qualifiers to a welcome party and then deduct an excessive amount from the online package to cover their costs. For some of the figure involved I could manage a good night out and dinner for two. Again, there are no refunds for anyone not attending the welcome party.

Another wheeze is for the sponsor to arrange other quite unnecessary extras for their qualifiers and then to charge them for the privilege, whether they avail of the extras or not.

It’s not as though the sponsor has to add anything to the package. After all it is entirely the players’ money which produces the online qualifiers, and produces profits for the online site running the satellites in the process.
I’m not saying that all sponsors are the same and there are some out there who are more than generous to their qualifiers. I am not going to name names but, if the cap fits.........

NEWS

The new year kicks off with two ranking events in January and another at the start of February.

IRISH PREMIER POKER FESTIVAL

This is a new addition to the tournament calendar and is a joint promotion between Waterford Poker Club and The Loft Card Club, Naas. The festival takes place from 20th to 23rd January at the Westgrove Hotel, Clane, Naas, Co. Kildare. The main event has a buy in of €220 + 30 and has a guaranteed prize pool of €50,000. Details are posted on Irish Poker Boards.

CLONMEL COURSING FESTIVAL

This established event is scheduled to run from 28th January to 1st February in the Park Hotel, Clonmel. The main event has a buy in of €220 + 30 and carries a guarantee of €40,000. This is another joint venture, this time between Big Slick Events and Celtic Poker Tour. Details can be found on their websites and also on Irish Poker Boards.

EUROPEAN DEEPSTACK POKER CHAMPIONSHIP

The first major event of the year takes place in the Ballsbridge Inn Dublin from 1st to 6th February. The buy in is €500 + 50 for a 50,000 starting stack to play in this four day event. There are two starting days, each with a capacity of 500 players. This is a very popular event among European players and it sold out a month in advance last year, leaving many Irish players locked out. Although the capacity has been increased this year, it may be a good idea to register early to make sure of your seat and your preferred starting day. Online satellites for seats are running on various sites. Full details and online registration is available at www.d4events.com

GUKPT

The well established Grosvenor UK Poker Tour has announced their intention to bring a leg of the tour to Ireland. The event is provisionally pencilled in for September 2011 with the venue most likely being in Dublin. This tour has been running in various Grosvenor Casinos around the UK since 2007 and usually involves a full week of tournaments culminating in a £1,000 three day main event, with two starting days. There is £200,000 of added value for the 2011 season including prizes for leader board winners and a massive freeroll for the winners of all main and side events over the season. Watch this space for further details.

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

IRISH POKER AWARDS

IRISH POKER AWARDS

By Mick McCloskey

Having recently initiated the British Poker Awards, Bluff Europe Magazine obviously thought it would be a good idea to have an Irish version. So it came to be at a ceremony held during the Boylepoker International Poker Open in Dublin in October. Proceedings were kicked of by warm up act, “Mad” Marty Wilson who then handed over to magazine chief, Michael Caselli and guest presenter Neil Channing. Three Englishmen presenting the Irish Poker Awards? Happily the rest of the proceedings were dominated by the home grown talent, although I’m not quite sure that Paul Marrow, nominated for Poker personality of the year, could, strictly speaking, be regarded as Irish. But, what the hell, if Tony Cascarino can play football for Ireland......

The nominees were chosen by a committee comprising representatives from Bluff Europe, Boylepoker.com, Poker News.com, pokerireland.ie, and d4events.com. The process then went to a public online vote to determine the winners of each category.
On the night there were four double winners. Padraig Parkinson picked up the award for Poker Personality of the year as well as the award for Best Poker Blogger. John O’Shea won the award for Best Tournament Player and the award for the Best All Round Player. Owen Robinson won the award for Break Out Year as well as the award for Player of the Year. The other double winner was J.P. McCann who picked up the Best Tournament Director award as well as the award for running the Best Poker League.

Other winners were:-

Best Cash Player – Andy Black

Best Online Player – Jude Duffy

Best Irish Card Room - The Fitzwilliam Casino

Best Irish Poker Forum – Irish Poker Boards

Best Poker Festival – Boylepoker IPO

Congratulations to all the winners.

This may not be the end of the awards for Ireland this year as Irishpokerrankings.com held their own version of the Irish Poker Awards for 2009 and will probably do the same for 2010. There are also, of course, the 2010 Poker Europa European Poker Awards, scheduled to be held in Paris in February. It would not be the first time that a few Irish players found their way into the nominations for these awards. Full details of the European awards can, I believe, be found in another page of this edition of Poker Europa.

DUBLIN WIT

Many Dubliners are known for their quick wit and off the cuff remarks. Among the older poker players in this category would be Padraig Parkinson and Alan Betson. A mutual friend of ours turned up at the Regency Hotel for the Boylepoker IPO. The man in question was American John “Schof” Sheffield. Schof has lived and worked in Las Vegas since the late sixties and was for many years involved in running the WSOP at Binion’s Horseshoe. He always worked the day shift and was well known to most of the Irish and European players who would stop off for a drink at the poker bar at night. Schof would generally join the players after work and was in a position to look after the drinks tab for the players. He also had a rich supply of jokes and stories to help keep the company entertained. The craic was so good most of the time that the session carried on well into the small hours, there being no closing time for the bars in Las Vegas. This wasn’t too bad for the players who could get some sleep afterwards. For Schof it was quite often a very short sleep, a change of clothes and back to work in the morning. This sort of schedule went on for days on end for Schof and he never seemed to show any signs of slowing down. We were sitting in the bar in The Regency Hotel one night and Schof was talking about how many hours he had been drinking since arriving in Ireland. Quick as a flash, Alan Betson came out with the comment “So you’re drinking in hours now when it used to be in days.”

NEWS

IRISH CHRISTMAS POKER FESTIVAL

Due to local demand, The Macau Club in Cork has decided to run another Christmas festival this year. It will kick off on Thursday 9th December with a €50, one rebuy, one add on, super satellite for seats in the main event. The €500 + 50 main event starts on Friday 10th at 8pm and runs for three days. Players will start with 20,000 chips. Saturday has a €180 + 20 + 20 scalp side event. Sunday sees an unusual event where you can choose your own buy in level. For €50 you will start with 7,000 chips. For €100 you will start with 10,000 chips and, if you want to start with 15,000 chips, it will cost you €150 + 15 to enter.

FINALLY

By the time the print version of this magazine hits the card rooms the first tournament of Season 2 of the Poker Stars UKIPT should be done and dusted and a new Irish Poker Champion crowned in Galway. Let’s hope we have another Irish Champion this year, following Padraig Parkinson’s win last time round. There are no other major events planned for Ireland in December so players can have a little rest from the hectic tournament schedule we witnessed in Ireland in 2010.

It only remains for me to offer all Poker Europa readers best wishes for the Christmas holiday season and hope that you all have 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.

TAXED TO DEATH?

TAXED TO DEATH?

By Mick McCloskey

It has recently come to light that the Irish Tax authorities have decided to impose VAT at a rate of 21% on the activities of private members clubs. The country is in dire financial straits and is obviously looking for revenue streams to boost its finances. Under legislation passed in 1956, certain gaming activities such as those carried out in casinos were classified as unlawful gaming. Casinos have been able to sidestep this legislation by operating as private members clubs. The taxman has now formed the view that these private members clubs are liable for VAT payments and, from what I understand, will be looking to backdate these liabilities. The Revenue Commissioners contend that VAT is payable on membership fees, entry fees, fees to take part in a game and the net receipts of gaming. As I understand it, this tax would apply to poker tournament entry fees as well as to the tournament registration fees. It would also apply to bets made on other casino games and to cash game rake or time charges.

If you are a regular reader, you will know that I am always banging on about how good Irish run poker tournaments generally are. A major industry has grown up out of all these Irish events regularly attracting visitors to Ireland from all over the world. The industry directly employs hundreds of people and provides a huge boost to the Irish tourism industry. All this could be ended if this tax is fully implemented. The VAT charge does not apply to other forms of gambling such as bookmaking, bingo or to the government run Tote and National Lottery so would not seem to be a fair tax. Any demands made so far are under appeal so it could be a while before this is all sorted out. An industry group, The Gaming and Leisure Association of Ireland, (GLAI), is actively lobbying the Irish government for an exemption from VAT. If the tax is eventually collected, it could decimate the Irish casino industry and it would make poker tournaments in Ireland totally unfeasible, in my view, as all the major tournaments are held under the auspices of various private members clubs. The timing of all this is a little baffling as the Irish government is currently carrying out a review of the gaming industry with a view to setting up a Gaming Commission, perhaps based on the UK model, which would oversee the legalisation of casino gaming in Ireland. Perhaps the best hope for tournament poker in this country is that this tax is not implemented before the gaming review is complete. Otherwise the whole industry could be killed off before a decision on its future is made and that won’t put much money into the Irish Exchequer. It would actually cost the state and the tourist industry money in the long term.

It might be a good idea for all casino operators and poker promoters in Ireland to support the efforts of the GLAI and be guided by their current experiences in this field. You can find out more about them by visiting their website at www.glai.ie

GRASSROOTS

Poker in the Pub has launched Season 3 of this small amateur series. When I say small, I mean the buy in, as over 800 players qualified for the Grand Final in 2009. Next February the league final will take place in the INEC in Killarney with an estimated prize pool of €100,000. For full details of where you can qualify check out www.pokerinthepub.ie

NEWS

POKER STARS UKIPT

Poker Stars have now announced the schedule for Season 2 of this highly successful poker tour. As previewed in my last column, Cork will be the location for a new stop on the tour. This tournament, with a main event buy in of €500 + 60 and a guarantee of €100,000 will be held at the Rochestown Park hotel from the 19th to 22nd May and replaces the Season 1 venue of Killarney. Cork’s Macau Casino will be involved in the running of this event and will be holding a number of live satellites.

The tour returns to Dublin’s Burlinton Hotel for season 2 from the 8th to 11th September and carries a guarantee of €250,000 for a buy in of €500 + 60

First up though will be the return of the Irish Poker Championship to Galway’s Radisson Hotel. The big change this season is the reduction of the buy in for this major Irish event from €2,000 (reg. included) to €1,000 + 100. A prize pool of €250,000 is guaranteed and the tournament will run from the 2nd to 5th of December. As usual, satellites for all events will be available on PokerStars.com. Full details of the Season 2 schedule can be found at www.ukipt.com

WEXFORD

The Quay Casino in Wexford has announced details of a poker festival scheduled to run from 3rd to 5th of December. The main event will have a buy in of €500 + 50 with a guaranteed €25,000 prize pool. I’m not sure that clashing with the UKIPT event in Galway is a real good idea but, no doubt, the Quay Casino came up with these dates before Poker Stars had announced theirs. It would not surprise me if the Wexford event were to be rescheduled. I would advise anyone interested in the Wexford tournament to check with the Quay Casino before they make concrete plans.

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

LOOSE END

LOOSE END

By Mick McCloskey

I must start with an apology. As the title indicates, I am at a bit of a loose end this month. It’s a mixture of writers block and disappointment that some much anticipated news failed to materialise, at the very last minute, as my deadline approaches. I had been hoping to announce details of the Irish dates of Season 2 of Poker Stars very successful UK and Ireland poker tour. However, the people at Poker Stars decided not to let me have advance notice of the dates even though the full details should be widely available by the time you read my sad excuses for lack of content this month. I did however manage to pick up a couple of snippets of news regarding the UKIPT which I will share with you. First snippet is that the Irish Poker Championship will return to Galway at the start of December and second, that a leg of the tour will be held in a Cork hotel, probably in May next year. By the very nature of instant communications these days, you will probably know more than me about these things by the time this article is available in print. Ce la vie.

NEWS

Boylepoker IPO

The Boylepoker International Poker Open takes place in the Regency Hotel, Dublin, from 15th to 17th October. There are two starting days and anyone wanting to play must register online at Boylepoker.com. For a modest €200 you will get to take part in a professionally run major event and test your skills against lots of high profile pros and celebrities from Ireland and the UK. This event had a massive 1,440 entries last year with a top prize of $62,250 going to Germany’s Markus Sippe. Boylepoker.com are adding €20,000 to the prize pool. Not too shabby for a €200 event.

Irish Winter Festival

The Irish Winter Festival moves to Dublin’s Burlington Hotel this year and takes place from 22nd to 25th October. The weekend kicks off with a €150 + 15 super satellite on Friday the 22nd for seats in the main event. The main event is a three day affair running from Saturday to Monday, a Bank Holiday in Ireland. The buy in for the main event is €1,500 + 150. Also scheduled for Saturday is a €200 + 20 NLH side event. On Sunday there is a €500 + 50 two day side event as well as something completely different, a €100 + 10 Blind Mans Bluff Championship. Card holding hats will be supplied, I believe. Getting back to semi normality, Monday’s events include a €300 + 30 round of each freezeout as well as the Irish Mythical Championship for a buy in of €100 + 10. For full details check out paddypowerpoker.com

MINI WSOP FESTIVAL

If you have never been to Vegas for the WSOP, or even if you have, here is a chance to play WSOP type events for a fraction of the cost of the real thing. All the events use the same structure as the corresponding WSOP tournaments but with shorter levels. This is the second year of this festival, organised by J.P. McCann and his team, and is scheduled to run from 4th to 7th November at the Maldron Hotel, Tallaght, Dublin. The hotel has a reduced room rate of €79 per night using the promo code “poker 2010”. Last year’s festival had 325 runners for the €350 main event, generating a prize pool of over €100,000. The action starts on Thursday night with a €150 short handed event and this is followed by a €80 super satellite for seats in the main event. You will have another chance to win a main event seat in a €80 turbo satellite on Friday afternoon. The €350 three day main event kicks off at 8pm with players starting with 30,000 chips, playing 45 minute levels. On Saturday there is a €250 side event, also with a 30,000 starting stack and 30 minute levels. There is also a €80 turbo side event with 4,500 chips and 20 minute levels on Saturday night. Sunday is going to be all action with four events planned on top of the conclusion of the main event itself. In short, there is a €250 HORSE event at 3pm, a €150 triple shootout at 5pm, a €250 heads up event at 7pm and another €80 turbo event at 9pm. Phew, my head’s spinning already but I’m sure J.P. and his team can handle it all with ease.
J.P.’s events are among the best structured tournaments to be found anywhere. To ensure that this continues he has stated that “If the average stack, in the main event and the 250 event, drops below 25 big blinds, we will rerun levels to a maximum of three times to help ensure the game doesn’t become a crap-shoot.”
J.P. does have his own website at www.jppoker.ie but, unfortunately, the site is not updated as often as it should be. However, he is fairly good at getting his events onto other websites. Full details of the festival can be found on the Hendon Mob poker forum and on irishpokerboards.com, among others.

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

VEGAS PART 2

VEGAS PART 2

By Mick McCloskey

While in Las Vegas during the WSOP I played a media only free roll event at the Rio Casino. I happened to be drawn at the same table as the head of casino security at the Rio. On the very first hand of the tournament all hell broke loose on our table with four people going all in. The hands were pocket AA, pocket KK, for the head of security, pocket 10, 10 and pocket 3, 3. The flop was A, K, 10, giving three people a set. The turn was a 3, giving a fourth set and, wait for it, the river was also a 3 giving one player four of a kind and the other three full houses! Bad beat city! With press cameras rolling and flashing all around the table, it was announced that it had all been a set up and that everyone was to start again with their original chip stacks. The one thing I don’t understand was how they knew that I was going to pass my pocket JJ in this hand. Go figure that one out!

On my way home I was booked on the Virgin direct flight from Vegas to London. On the same flight I spotted recent WSOP bracelet winners Mike Ellis and Steve Jelinek. I sort of assumed that the pair would be travelling in upper class or even first after their success. I was surprised therefore to see both guys seated a couple of rows behind me in economy class. Joint winnings at the 2010 WSOP, $827,722. Good to see the lads watching the pennies and being careful not to squander their winnings! After all, everyone on the flight gets from Vegas to London no matter where they sit, right!

Another Vegas wedding to report. Julian Gardner, runner up in the WSOP main event in 2002 for $1.1 million, tied the knot with his long time partner Kerry. My reaction, like many others, on hearing the news was, “Damn, I thought they got married years ago!”
Best wishes for the future to Julian and Kerry and the family from myself and all here at Poker Europa.

Finally, to round off my Vegas report, congratulations to Dublin’s James Fennell, top Irish finisher in this years main event. James picked up $168,556 for his 48th place finish along with his first ever entry in The Hendon Mob database. Nice start sir.

NEWS

POKERSTARS UKIPT
September sees the start of a busy period for poker tournaments in Ireland. First up is the Dublin leg of the Poker Stars UK and Ireland poker tour, running from 9th to 12th September at the Burlington Hotel. Following a player survey, the buy in has been reduced from €1,000 to €500 + 60 but the €250,000 guarantee remains in place, meaning that the organisers are expecting a 500+ field. Following the success of the UKIPT in other venues, I doubt they will have any problem meeting the guarantee. The event will be recorded for broadcast on Channel 4 early in the new year. For further details log onto www.ukipt.com

WINAMAX EUROPEAN SHORT HANDED POKER CHAMPIONSHIP

This event takes place in the Ballsbridge Inn, Dublin from 15th to 19th September. The buy in is €500 + 50 for the six handed three day event, which will have two starting days. The capacity is set at 600 but, if the demand is there, this may be increased. Side events will be played as normal 9 or 10 handed tournaments in the initial stages before becoming 6 handed. For full details see www.d4events.com

LADBROKES POKER FESTIVAL

This event kicks off with a super satellite on 30th September with the €500 + 50 three day main event starting on 1st October in the INEC complex at the Gleneagles Hotel in Killarney. The tournament has a €250,000 guarantee and has proved to very popular with players over the last two years since its first running. Part of the attraction is the Ladbrokes player lounge where people can chill out or have a meal or a drink as well as having a little pool or darts action on the side. Satellites and direct buy ins are currently available on Ladbrokes poker site.

BOYLEPOKER IPO

One of the year’s most fun events is the record breaking International Poker Open, scheduled to run from 15th to 17th October at the Regency Hotel in Dublin. For a buy in of €200, players of all abilities can experience a professionally run major event and rub shoulders with celebrities and well known poker pros from the UK and Ireland. As if that wasn’t enough, Boyles are adding a juicy €20,000 to the prize pool. The only way to register for this tournament is to win a seat on Boylepoker.com or to buy in direct through the poker site. You can get extra starting chips for the tournament by registering early and earning player points on Boylepoker.com. Check out the online poker site for full details.

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