The 2010 renewal of the oldest No Limit Hold’em tournament in Europe got underway on Good Friday, as 708 poker players descended upon Dublin, for the Paddy Power sponsored Irish Open. The tournament remains a popular one in the European poker calendar, illustrated by the fact that this year’s number of entrants equalled the record for the largest ever Irish Open field.
Notable names that bought into the event included Dan Harrington, Brian Townsend, Neil Channing and Roland de Wolfe, with a decent showing from other sporting arenas too, including professional snooker player Ken Doherty and ex international footballers Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino.
An all-action day’s play commenced at 15.30, with a player busting inside the first thirty minutes and by the end of the day there were 258 left, led by Keith “The Camel” Hawkins, who owned a stack 116,000 chips deep. A particularly interesting hand saw The Camel four-bet English internet player Marc Wright, who promptly showed a three after folding, to which Hawkins responded by revealing a two!
Wright also ended the day with a big chip stack, along with the likes of Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman and Jeff Kimber, but only Hawkins would finish day two anywhere near the chip lead, a title firmly attached to Liam Flood’s mountainous 400,000 stack. “The Gentleman” went on a fantastic run in the last hour or so of the day, busting several players to amass an impressive stack, which will see him start the third day around 140,000 clear of his nearest rival Janne Nevalainen, with The Camel back in sixth place (170,000).
Big names to bust on the second day included Sorel Mizzi, Donnacha O’Dea and Andrew Feldman, as the field was thinned to just 61 remaining participants, all playing to win the first prize of €600,000. Three women remain at this stage, all hoping to emulate Colette Doherty, the lady who won the first ever Irish Open poker tournament back in 1980.
One unlucky player who won’t be leaving Dublin with a penny is Michael Jens Odderskjer, who bubbled in rather unfortunate circumstances. With 71 players left in the Irish Open, a three way all in ensued, with the largest of the three stacks prevailing. Odderskjer was eliminated on the bubble, as the shortest stacked of the two players to be removed, whilst Kaj Emmanuel crept into the first money position (€4,000) by the narrowest of margins.
Day three will resume with the objective of playing down to a final table of ten. Will anyone be able to reel in Liam Flood at the Burlington Hotel? Watch this space.
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