Day 1 of the 2017 Cash Game Festival Dublin at Village Green Card Club was an amazing success with lots of action and fun throughout the day and evening.
The day peaked with five tables running, which tied a record for the card room for the most cash game tables in motion at the same time. Four tables were still running well after midnight with some of the players expressing they plan to play through the night. As the weekend approaches, many more players are expected in action tomorrow.
The festival began in the late afternoon with a welcome drinks ceremony with many players enjoying Guinness, instead of the usual champagne. Around the same time, the first televised feature table kicked off with players battling it out in €1/€2 no-limit hold'em.
Ed Furniss was the winner at the early feature table, commentated by Cash Game Festival Co-Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk, after notching up €509 in profit or 254.5 big blinds. The number of big blinds won is important since the person that wins the most big blinds during any feature table during the festival will walk away with a commemorative trophy and two hospitality packages valued at €400 combined to the Cash Game Festival Tallinn on Nov. 15-19 at Olympic Park Casino.
Sascha Koal
The stakes moved up to £2/£5 for the late feature table. Germany's Sascha Koal, who came to Dublin after learning about the Cash Game Festival, was the biggest winner at the second feature table pocketing a win of €794 or 158.8 big blinds. He explained to PokerNews how keeping his big blind to Guinness ratio at a good level was important to his success.
Players with the hospitality package will be enjoying footie golf tomorrow in the early afternoon before heading back to the poker room for action at the tables.
Many other players will likely be enjoying the delights of Dublin or getting into the action early in the day. As will be the case every day during the festival, live streaming is scheduled at lower stakes at 6:00 p.m. and higher stakes at 9:00 p.m. local time. You can watch all the action on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.
Stay tuned at PokerNews for the next four days as we report some of the hottest action at the Cash Game Festival Dublin.
Sascha Koal was having fun drinking pints Guinness and talking to players before he hopped onto the €2/€5 no-limit hold'em feature table.
After booking a win of €794 or 158.8 big blinds, which was the most of any player at the table he shared how much fun he had on the table. He also said, "I had a good big blind to Guinness ratio."
Early estimates had him at a 30:1 big blind profit to Guinness ratio, however, after the tally was in it was closer to 25:1.
Koal was then joking that if he drank more Guinness at the same ratio he would have booked far more profit.
In a preflop raising battle, Dave Galloway was the first player all-in for more than €1,000 holding . JP McCann called for a little more than €600 with and Sascha Koal called behind with .
Players thought Koal he was joking he had only six high before he turned over one of his cards. The gave Koal a pair and didn't help either of his opponents.
The on the turn helped no-one and Koal was laughing about how he got two-pair on the river after the appeared. With no player holding any hearts, his two-pair proved good and he raked in a huge pot.
McCann didn't lose much since he won a side pot while Galloway's stack got chopped by more than half.
JP McCann shared with PokerNews before the festival began that the most cash game tables the Village Green Card Club has had running at one time is five tables.
The record has now been tied with five tables running after betsafe Ambassador Monika "HeyMonia" Zukowicz help to start a new table. In addition to the €2/€5 no-limit hold'em table, there are now also four €1/€2 no-limit hold'em tables.
The €2/€5 no-limit hold'em feature table has just begun headlined by none other than Village Green Card Club owner JP McCann.
Also on the table is Mark Buckley, who is always known to have a laugh on and off the tables, Cash Game Festival Twitch fan Sascha Koal and Cash Game Festival regular Karolis.
Once again, Cash Game Festival Co-Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk is commentating the action. Head to the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel to watch the action on a 20-minute delay. You can alternatively follow the action by clicking on the Live Stream tab that will be in our PokerNews coverage.
The first €1/€2 no-limit hold'em feature table is now in the books. Ed Furniss walked away from the big winner booking a healthy profit of €509 or 254.5 big blinds.
The stakes will be moving up to €2/€5 no-limit hold'em. JP McCann, who owns the Village Green Card Club, is expected to be among the players.
The first feature table has just begun with stakes at €1/€2 no-limit hold'em. Among the players at the table are Scott and Lisa Roberts, who are husband and wife.
The duo live in Atlanta, Georgia and was traveling around Europe before heading to Dublin. After learning about the Cash Game Festival, they decided to see what it was all about and will compete against each other and other players at the feature table.
Also on the table is Cash Game Festival regular Karolis from Lithuania. Karolis will also be competing on the later €2/€5 no-limit hold'em feature table.
As a special treat, Cash Game Festival Co-Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk will be commentating the stream. Yuu can check out all of the action on a 20-minute delay at the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel or by clicking on the Live Stream tab that will be in our PokerNews coverage once the action is live.
The Cash Game Festival Dublin is about to begin at the Village Green Card Club, for five days of nonstop cash game poker on Oct. 11-15.
To say the Cash Game Festival has been a huge success thus far is an understatement. Last year, the tour left its roots in Tallinn, Estonia before embarking on an international tour for the first time with five stops. This has increased to nine festivals this year with seven already in the books including previous stops at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City in February and September, Perla Casino in Slovenia in March, Olympic Park Casino in April, Sunborn Casino in Gibraltar in May, Casino Malta by Olympic Casino in June and Platinum Casino in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria in August.
Each day, the Cash Game Festival will host the two televised feature tables twice per day at 6 p.m. BST and 9 p.m BST. broadcasted on a 20-minute delay at the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel. You can alternatively follow the action by clicking on the Live Stream tab that will be in our PokerNews coverage once the action is live. Today's early table features €1/€2 no-limit hold'em before moving up the ladder to €2/€5 no-limit hold'em for the later feature table.
The action will also be hot away from the table with festival organizers arranging plenty of fun activities for those with the hospitality package. This afternoon, many of the regular players on the tour have messaged in that they have arrived in Dublin and are enjoying some of the pleasures the Irish capital has to offer before hitting the tables later in the day.
The Cash Game Festival Dublin officially kicks off at 5 p.m. BST with welcome drinks. Stayed tuned to PokerNews as we cover the festival from start to finish.
. JP McCann called for a little more than €600 with 
and Sascha Koal called behind with 
.
gave Koal a pair and didn't help either of his opponents.
on the turn helped no-one and Koal was laughing about how he got two-pair on the river after the 
appeared. With no player holding any hearts, his two-pair proved good and he raked in a huge pot.
