€600 Main Event
Day 1ef Completed
2024 Galway Poker Festival
€600 Main Event
Day: 1ef
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1ef
2024 Galway Poker Festival
Buy-in
€600
Prize Pool
€434,075
Entries
833
Level
34
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
600,000
Entries
262
Players Left
72
IPT's Dara O'Kearney Secures Small Bag on Biggest Flight of Galway Poker Festival Main Event
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
There was a €300,000 guaranteed prize pool for the €600 Galway Poker Festival Main Event, and on Day 1e, the penultimate flight, it got smashed. A big turnout of 190 entries was recorded, narrowly beating Day 1d for the honor of being the biggest starting flight.
At the time of writing, the turbo flight Day 1f has also closed its registration with 72 entries on the clock, resulting in a total of 833 entries across all starting days. This huge field created a prize pool of €434,075, almost one and a half times more than the guarantee.
At the end of Day 1e, 49 players still had chips in front of them to put in their bags for Day 2. Among them was Irish Poker Tour Ambassador Dara O'Kearney. O'Kearney's stack climbed steadily throughout the day, but took a hit at the final few levels, resulting in him bringing 64,000 chips into the second and final day, good for just 8 big blinds.
O'Kearney found himself near the bottom of the leaderboard when Day 1e concluded, but the same could not be said for Brennan Hulbert. The Irishman ended up with 482,000 chips, ending the day as chipleader. Audrius Daugvilavicius from Lithuania was the only other player to cross the 400,000-chip mark with a bag of 432,000, while Andrew Toole completes the top three with a stack of 378,000.
Also in the top ten is the international trio of Gunnar Wedde from Norway (330,000), Juan Diaz-Caneja (320,000) from Spain, and Konrak Milkiewicz (281,000) from Poland.
End of Day 1e Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brennan Hulbert | Ireland | 482,000 | 60 |
| 2 | Audrius Daugvilavicius | Lithuania | 432,000 | 54 |
| 3 | Andrew Toole | Ireland | 378,000 | 47 |
| 4 | Kyle Rafferty | Ireland | 358,000 | 45 |
| 5 | Shane Crosby | Ireland | 354,000 | 44 |
| 6 | Gunnar Wedde | Norway | 330,000 | 41 |
| 7 | Juan Diaz-Caneja | Spain | 320,000 | 40 |
| 8 | Dylan Sweeney | Ireland | 313,000 | 39 |
| 9 | Thomas Trotman-Dickenson | United Kingdom | 289,000 | 36 |
| 10 | Konrak Milkiewicz | Poland | 281,000 | 35 |
Other notables to make it through the day include Tomas "Lucky Mo" Geleziunas (260,000), Alan Kelleher (186,000), who made three Irish Poker Tour final tables last year, and Paul Leckey (180,000), who has seven-figure lifetime earnings on The Hendon Mob.
Less lucky were the likes of reigning EPT Prague champion Padraig O'Neill, Irish Poker Tour Ambassador Darren Harbinson, and Irish regulars Chris Dowling and Nicholas Newport. They all jumped into the turbo flight of Day 1f after their eliminations from Day 1e, taking one last shot at making Day 2.
At the time of writing, Day 1f is still wrapping up. As soon as the counts of that day are in, they will be posted below this recap. Day 2 starts tomorrow, Sunday, January 7 at noon local time, seeing an increased level duration of 40 minutes. Play will start at Level 16: 4,000/8,000 with an 8,000 big blind ante, and at the end of the day, a Galway Poker Festival champion will have been crowned.
Tune back in to PokerNews at that time to witness the thrilling conclusion of what has been an amazingly successful Irish Poker Tour event here in at The Galmont Hotel & Spa in Galway, Ireland.
End of Day 1f Chip Counts
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
392,000
392,000
|
392,000 |
|
||
|
309,000
309,000
|
309,000 |
|
287,000
287,000
|
287,000 |
|
|
241,000
241,000
|
241,000 |
|
|
217,000
217,000
|
217,000 |
|
214,000
214,000
|
214,000 |
|
208,000
208,000
|
208,000 |
|
|
206,000
206,000
|
206,000 |
|
174,000
174,000
|
174,000 |
|
|
164,000
164,000
|
164,000 |
|
158,000
158,000
|
158,000 |
|
|
149,000
149,000
|
149,000 |
|
|
144,000
144,000
|
144,000 |
|
108,000
108,000
|
108,000 |
|
105,000
105,000
|
105,000 |
|
100,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
90,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
|
77,000
77,000
|
77,000 |
|
70,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
|
|
66,000
66,000
|
66,000 |
|
|
58,000 | |
|
|
54,000
54,000
|
54,000 |
|
|
4,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
End of Day 1e Chip Counts (full)
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
482,000
482,000
|
482,000 |
|
||
|
432,000
52,000
|
52,000 |
|
|
378,000
328,000
|
328,000 |
|
|
358,000
358,000
|
358,000 |
|
|
354,000
239,000
|
239,000 |
|
330,000
260,000
|
260,000 |
|
320,000
271,000
|
271,000 |
|
313,000
224,000
|
224,000 |
|
|
289,000
88,000
|
88,000 |
|
281,000
231,000
|
231,000 |
|
|
261,000
261,000
|
261,000 |
|
260,000 | |
|
|
258,000
258,000
|
258,000 |
|
253,000
253,000
|
253,000 |
|
|
243,000
243,000
|
243,000 |
|
236,000
236,000
|
236,000 |
|
|
229,000
229,000
|
229,000 |
|
|
194,000 | |
|
193,000
-52,000
|
-52,000 |
|
186,000
105,000
|
105,000 |
|
|
182,000
64,000
|
64,000 |
|
180,000
-170,000
|
-170,000 |
|
|
176,000
176,000
|
176,000 |
|
162,000
-33,000
|
-33,000 |
|
|
162,000
119,000
|
119,000 |
Play Concludes
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
With that, all tables are bagging and tagging as Day 1e has reached its end.
Forty-nine players found a bag for Day 2, which will happen January 7 at noon local time.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of the action.
Geleziunas Gets Value in Finale
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
On the last hand of the night, Tomas Geleziunas raised to 12,000 from the hijack and Moya Murphy called from the cutoff.
The pair then checked the 8♣3♦K♠ flop before Geleziunas bet 12,000 on the 6♥ turn. Murphy made the call and did so too when Geleziunas sized up to 36,000 on the K♦ river.
Geleziunas tabled K♣Q♦ and Murphy mucked her cards, leading to some extra chips going into Geleziunas' bag at the end of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
260,000
133,000
|
133,000 |
|
|
144,000
144,000
|
144,000 |
Three More Hands
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
The floor announced that three more hands will be played before Day 1e concludes.
Finn Finds Late-Night Double-Up
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Kieran Finn was all in for 78,000 chips from early position and was looked up by Sam Dobbins in the small blind, who played roughly double that stack.
Kieran Finn: Q♥Q♣
Sam Dobbins: 2♠2♦
No miracle came about for Dobbins' ducks, as the 4♠A♥7♦10♠3♦ left him second-best. Finn, on the other hand, doubled to nearly 30 big blinds and retained hope for making Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
171,000
121,000
|
121,000 |
|
70,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
Ward Walks Out
Level 15
: Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Jason Ward open-shoved for 75,000 and got called by Joseph Mullen, who had slightly more chips.
Jason Ward: A♣10♠
Joseph Mullen: A♥Q♣
Ward needed help, but it did not arrive on the 8♦3♠5♥J♦6♦ runout and he booked a late exit on Day 1e.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
195,000 | |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 15
Blinds: 3,000/6,000
Ante: 6,000