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Poker Festival 2011 ReviewA month before Christmas and a fortnight before the budget, the timing of the annual Poker Festival at the Fitz had many wondering if it could attract the same fields it had done in previous years. The sceptics needn't have worried, as the queue stretched out the door to register for Wednesday's Main Event satellite and a familiar sense of excitement filled the room. With 9 tickets guaranteed, there was always a lot to play for in the €50 rebuy tournament. As the rebuys were counted, the number of tickets totalled 14. Things were tense as the tournament went hand for hand with 15 players left, but when the bubble finally burst, there were some familiar faces clutching the tickets: former Fitzwilliam dealer turned professional punter Albert Kenny, Anthony "Chief" McConnell, and the ladies well represented by the ever popular Chris Green and Vera Duffy. Next up was the Festival End of Month Freezeout. Always a popular tournament anyway, the €250 + €20 freezeout saw its biggest turnout in a while, with 141 players and a prizepool of over €35,000. James Waldron battled through the field for 11 hours to emerge victorious and claim the €10,500 first prize. Friday's €95 + €5 Scalp tournament attracted 66 runners, with many electing to save themselves for the Main Event the following day. That didn't bother Kevin Walshe, who just bested fellow regulars Peter Crotty and Joe Giblin for the €3260 first prize.
Monday's Team Event was a novel new addition to the festival. 11 teams of 4 tried their luck, with each individual finish adding points to the team's overall tally, and the lowest tally winning. The aptly titled Old Nits team of Rob Taylor, David Lappin, Dara O'Kearney and Padraig O'Neill benefited from Taylor and Lappin's final table finishes to pip the Micros to the team event title, and €2650 in prize money. Taylor rounded out a great showing at this year's festival by taking the individual title too. Tuesday's €100 + €10 Double Chance finished off a busy week, with a room-filling 117 players chasing the €4020 first prize. At 6:30 in the morning, sleep may have seemed more appealing to the tournament's two remaining contenders, Yeong Yep Sin and Rohan Perera, and they chopped the remaining money taking over €3000 each. Mark O’Neill Festival 2010To read a review of the Fitzwilliam Festival 2010, click here. |
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The Main Event had a new twist this year, with a €60 scalp making calling that short stack's all-in all the more tempting. The big buy-in also attracted some of Ireland's best tournament players, and the Fitz added an extra €1000 for 10 x €100 bounties on the heads of the likes of Andy Black, Conor Fennell and Nic Newport. With a prizepool of €56,000, it was almost inevitable that business would be done at the final table. Congratulations to Declan O'Connell, who followed his top three finish in the End of Month with a place in the six way chop. With the most chips, Jude McCarthy and Rob Taylor claimed the trophies for first and second place respectively. 
