Picking up the action on a flop of K♥9♠7♦ and with 11,600 already in the middle, Conal Prendergast put out a bet of 3,100 in middle position and was called by Terence Ponsonby in the next seat.
Prendergast checked the J♦ turn to Ponsonby, who put out a bet of 6,700. Prendergast called.
The 10♠ river was checked through by both players.
Prendergast showed A♦K♦ for a pair of kings but Ponsonby had 10♥10♦ and had hit his set of tens on the river, allowing him to scoop a nice early pot.
Joe O'Neill limped from middle position and was met with a raise to 600 from Graham Fitton in the big blind. O'Neill called.
Fitton continued with a bet of 600 on the 8♠Q♥3♥ flop and O'Neill made the quick call.
On the J♦ turn Fitton fired out a bet of 1,100 and was called by his opponent.
The 5♠ river completed the board and Fitton continued with the aggression, quickly putting out a bet of 2,100. O'Neill reached for chips and put out a three-bet to 5,000. Fitton called.
O'Neill showed J♠3♠ for turned two pair, but the turn had also improved Fitton who showed J♣J♥ for a set of jacks, handing Fitton a nice early pot.
O'Neill was magnanimous in defeat, telling his opponent "What a turn, nice hand."
Day 4 of the Irish Poker Tour’s maiden event of 2024 is upon us, the Paddy Power Poker partnered Galway Poker Festival, featuring Day 1d of the €600 Galway Poker Cup Main Event, kicking off at noon local time at The Galmont Hotel & Spa.
The Main Event features a huge €300,000 guaranteed prize pool, with Day 1d players required to navigate fifteen 30-minute levels to return for Day 2 on 7 January.
Each player has a starting stack of 50,000 with blinds starting at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Late registration is open until the end of Level 9, with each player permitted a single reentry per flight.
The final two flights of the Main Event also take place today at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., featuring 25-minute and 15-minute blind levels respectively, but otherwise following the same structure as Day 1d.
Days 1b and 1c took place yesterday and attracted a total of 312 entries, with 67 players finding a bag for Day 2. A total of 82 players have progressed across all completed flights thus far.
Day 1a chip leader James O’Sullivan sits atop the overall chip counts having accrued an impressive stack of 734,000, with Day 1b chip leader Cathal Shine (604,000), Kevin Hayes (554,000) and Day 1c chip leader Stephen Henderson (520,000) in hot pursuit. The current overall top ten chip stacks are detailed below.
James O'Sullivan
Current Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 2 Big Blinds
1
James O'Sullivan
United Kingdom
797,000
100
2
Cathal Shine
Ireland
604,000
76
3
Kevin Hayes
Ireland
554,000
69
4
Stephen Henderson
Ireland
520,000
65
5
Tadgh Conway
Ireland
510,000
64
6
Yue Wang
China
496,000
62
7
Shean Lai
Ireland
480,000
60
8
Andrew Hedley
United Kingdom
414,000
52
9
Justin Boyle
Ireland
405,000
51
10
Noel Murphy
Ireland
401,000
50
A number of other notable players have also qualified for Day 2, including Simon Wilson (354,000), Marc MacDonnell (168,000), Lukas Robinson (166,000), Mick Graydon (88,000) and Gary Blackwood (76,000).
Notable names who have not yet found a bag include Tom Parsons, Dara O'Kearney and EPT Prague champion Padraig O'Neill, all of whom are expected to fire another bullet today.
Tom Parsons
PokerNews will be covering all the action so stay tuned for what is sure to be an exciting day of poker!
