Irish News

Corking!
Just what does Cork's Macau Casino and Card Club have to do in order to get the recognition it deserves? It is, without doubt, one of the finest cardrooms in Europe.

Cork itself is a charming city. The shops are always open and the pubs don't seem to close. It's serviced by all the right airlines, that's the easy ones and the cheap ones. Already it sounds more attractive than a number of places on the recognised European poker trail, huh?

But for those who eat and drink at a poker table, it's the luxury marble reception area that greets you and spacious décor accommodating super-sized tables that impresses. You actually don't need to eat at the table, as the venue boasts its own restaurant, Mint, which rivals any top-class eatery found anywhere.

From humble beginnings - the first Macau casino was situated down a back alleyway where even a sewer rat would feel uneasy - the St. Patrick's Quay venue has taken on the mantle as the finest poker venue without a major tournament or televised event to its name, and that surely has to change.

Nevertheless, Cork still gets respectable numbers for the festival tournaments, the recent Christmas Festival being no exception. Here, following a little deal making, Alan Kelleher claimed the main-event title and €35,000 ahead of Barry O'Sullivan (€20,500), William McKilroy, and David O'Sullivan (€17,500).

Emporium Delights
The plush Sporting Emporium in the heart of Dublin City hosted a €1,000 festival main event at the end of November, attracting 72 runners.

The final table read like a who's who of Irish poker, with Card Player's own Roy Brindley and Noel Hayes, man-about-town (and country) Henry McGrath, "Norwich Fan" Rob Taylor, and Lloyd O'Farrell all vying for a slice of the €72,000 in prize money.

McGrath was first to exit when his A-K ran into Q-Q that made a set on the flop. Hayes finished fifth after raising preflop with 7-7 and getting one caller. Unfortunately, that caller had 4-4 and another on the flop sealed his fate.

Brindley was crippled on the next hand, reluctantly calling an all-in re-reraise with 4-4. His opponent, Taylor, had K-K. His remaining chips went in the middle on the next hand with A-9, but he missed a straight draw, and no ace or 9 meant that he was out against 2-2.

The three remaining players immediately discussed a deal, and a short time later each settled on €16,000, with €1,780 going to the dealers. One hand was played for the Tipperary Crystal Trophy, and Taylor's straight was sufficient to take it down.

Sporting Emporium November Festival €1,000 main-event results were as follows:

New Dublin Cardroom
JP Poker and Vegas Nights teamed up to open a new poker room in the Star Bingo Hall in Crumlin on Dec. 14.

Both are highly respected tournament organizers in the city, and this writer is especially pleased, as the venue is only a few hundred meters from his local pub!

Vesty Vanquished in World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit Event
Mullingar man Sylvester Geoghegan continued his good run of form with a fourth-place finish in the World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit event at Harveys Lake Tahoe in November. He picked up $56,955 for his final-table finish, but is likely to be disappointed at being knocked out ahead of the big money.

Geoghegan has been knocking on the door of a big win in recent times, finishing 122nd in the WSOP main event, 13th in the WSOP pot-limit Omaha championship event, and 21st in the European Poker Tour Barcelona Open.

The casino owner's tournament winnings for 2007 exceed $200,000, and he was the only European player to make the money at the Circuit event that was won by Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.

IPC on TV
The Irish Poker Championship, held in Galway, will be broadcast on Ireland's national broadcaster, RTÉ Network Two, starting Sunday, Feb. 10, at 11:30 p.m. There are six one-hour shows, and with talent like Mike Sexton, Noel Furlong, Scott Gray, Padraig Parkinson, Robert Williamson, Jan Sorensen, Bruno Fitoussi, Steve Wong, Ciaran O'Leary, Michael Keiner, Julian Gardner, and Roy Brindley, there's likely to be some explosive poker action in between the gripping table banter.

Brendan Murray is the Card Player Europe bureau chief.