Spring Poker Festival Vienna

With the poker calendar in March promising a European Poker Tour, Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, and Irish Open, I was on my way once again to the Spring Poker Festival in Vienna, which is now better known as the PartyPoker.com European Challenge. For the second year, the day before the main event played host to the East Versus West Team Cup, a freeroll for online qualifiers and invited professionals with a €60,000 prize pool. With such a full poker calendar across Europe, I was excited to see such a strong lineup in Vienna, and in particular a chance to meet up with Irishman Ciaran O'Leary again.

Ciaran had travelled over to play for Team West, and also spent some time in the commentary booth with me. It's hardly what I would call work. We had a great time. Obviously, I tried to remain unbiased while commentating on the Team Cup final table, but with Team West not having one professional at the final table, it was left to the five online qualifiers to retain the cup for the West. With the likes of Roland De Wolfe, Tony G, Devil Fish, and Ian Frazer in the room, you can imagine that the side-action bets on the freeroll nearly outdid the prize pool.

The main event lasted four days, during which time I commented on the feature tables and a very aggressive final. Devil Fish made the final table and was as exciting as ever to watch, though he unfortunately made only eighth place. The action-packed final continued, and eventually, the champion was Hungarian Peter Gelencser. Peter finished third in last year's event, and I remember being impressed by him then. He stated that his previous final-table experience helped him to go farther this year, but he's still only 20 years old.

These new, young, ultra-aggressive players are really making me feel old, but their enthusiasm is infectious. At the Aussie Millions in January, I met Annette Obrestad, and was sitting with her 10 minutes before the main event. I apologised for being a little distant, and explained that I always get like that just before a big game, and expected that she was the same. With the optimism of youth, Annette simply smiled and said, "No, I just can't wait to get ahold of some cards and chips!"

Having spent a week talking about poker, I was more than ready for a game and had been looking forward to the Irish Open. The tournament and city are favourites of mine, and with a €3 million prize pool guaranteed, it was more than a little disappointing to have to pull out at the last minute. Following the action online only emphasised what I was missing out on.

Padraig Parkinson went deep in the main event, and our friend Veronique Gourdon made the final table of the ladies event, finishing a fantastic fourth. Congratulations also to Neil Channing for taking the title and huge first prize. I have been fortunate to watch most of Neil's televised poker firsthand this year, and his win comes as no surprise.

I will have to look to the World Series of Poker for my next shot at a game. Wanting to give myself every opportunity, I am heading over in the first week of June and plan on staying until the end. Once again, I will be hosting the Ladbrokes Players Lounge, but I plan on getting a full three weeks of play in before the lounge opens on July 2.

Recently, I was driving in my Escort van with a co-worker, and we had to go over a bridge. It was a one-lane, low-level bridge, and your vehicle had to be less than 6 feet 6 inches high, so my co-worker got out to check if the van would make the clearance, and it would. We got to the other side, where cars were queuing, and my co-worker got out and did it again. This upset the queue, no end. How these things amuse me.

I recently got a phone call from my friends at The Welsh Harp in Waltham Abbey. I had helped to start some poker games there and left them with two poker tables and a box of chips. Their tournaments are becoming so popular that they need more chips! They've asked me to be the tournament director for their first-ever festival. It's so nice when your friends remember you. Remember to kiss your girlfriend, and I'll see you all in Las Vegas.

Mad Marty Wilson is a professional gambler and poker consultant for Matchroom Sport.