We didn't catch the details, but we do know that Ireland's Patrick Smyth just earned the distinction of being the first person eliminated from the Full Tilt Poker UKIPT Galway Main Event.
While he's the first, he certainly won't be the last.
How does it feel to have all your chips in the middle with just over an hour played in the main event?
If you want to know you’ll have to ask Brian Cleary. He shoved the river on a board of and his opponent went into the tank. The river card had completed a lot of draws and it was a big bet.
The table fell silent in anticipation of the decision, but once the fold was made and Clary scooped the pot the tension broke and comments from the players came thick and fast.
“First big bluff of the day.”
“Bet you were glad that seven of clubs came down.”
No comment from Cleary though. Bluff or not he had survived to fight on.
While the Full Tilt Poker UKIPT Galway Festival Main Event has just kicked off, the 60-event stop has actually been going strong for well over a week. It all began with the Galway Cup, which was won by Diarmaid Kennedy of Cork, Ireland.
Kennedy took home €12,380 and a FTOPS Main Event ticket (value $635) for the victory, and did so in style as members of the Cork City Goldrush Casino & Card Club were there to support him. That included Liz Kelly, who was actually playing nearby in Event #6 €40 No-Limit Hold’em where she ultimately finished second. Needless to say, club owner Derek Baker was proud of both Kennedy and Kelly and sweated both from the rail.
Gareth Chantler of the Full Tilt Poker Blog conducted a brief interview with Kennedy after the win.
GC: Can you talk about your patience at the table today?
DK: I just got dealt the right hands when it counts. People shoved into me twice when I had aces. Except for a few slips up I was picking the right spots.
GC: Tell us about your rail.
DK: They’re all from Cork, the best Friday night poker game in Munster [Cork's province]. Myself and Ian O’Flynn have been playing together for years.
The Apprentice is a television hit in the United States — especially the Celebrity version — so it's no surprise that Ireland has it's own show, but instead of Donald Trump doing the hiring and firing, it's Bill Cullen. In the 2010 series, which was the third installment in Ireland, a man by the name of Cahal Heapes, then a 32-year-old Area Sales Manager, was among the 16 contestants.
Heapes, who is in today's field, was the first project manager for the men's team, which was named "Elev8." Unfortunately for him, a twist in the game saw the project managers of the women's team swap with Heapes at the beginning of the task. His male leadership on an all-woman team didn't prove a winning formula and he became the first person fired from the reality TV show.
Check out Heapes post-interview elimination from The Apprentice:
Here's hoping Heapes isn't the first one to be eliminated here today!
In a three-way pot, Ben Bauer checked across to John Duthie with the board reading who bet 200, Philip Butt made the call and Bauer folded. The came on the river and Duthie fired out another 225, Butt stuck in a small raise to 625 and Duthie took about a minute before opting to give up the hand.
Ireland’s David Masters had just paid off a bet on the river from Paul Allen and put him on notice that he was “Just trying to keep you honest.”
In the next hand we got to the river with Allen betting 1,300 into original raiser Luke Perrott on a board of
Perrott felt no need to keep him honest and folded, showing the
Masters piped up again. “What was that, a straight was it?” But Allen said nothing as he added another nice pot to his starting stack.