Christmas Comes but Once a Year

According to the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.org ‘Christmas Comes but Once a Year’ is an animated 1936 short film set in an orphanage whose inhabitants receive stockings full only with broken toys on December 25.

Thankfully the kind-hearted Professor Grampy, who just happened to be passing by on his motorised sleigh, became aware of their plight and used his skills to make new toys for the children – out of household appliances of all things – giving all the orphanage’s residents a Christmas to remember.

Like all classic films I believe a remake could well be on the cards – in every sense of the word. The new version could feature the 2010 Ladbrokes Killarney Festival, a betting market and a good Samaritan called Mr. Odds Compiler!

The plot involves Christmas day being moved to October 3 and Mr. Odds Compiler delivering an early present to everyone by offering 7/2 about the winner of the €550 entry feature tournament being older than 31 years-of-age.

Not content with all the boys and girls being offered free money ⎯ after all nine of the ten final table finishers were beyond three-score-and-one (that’s a pensionable age in modern day poker), the red-faced Mr. Odds Compiler also offered 6/1 about a woman making the final table. That feat promptly delivered by Valerie McGrath.

A red face became crimson coloured when, adding to his woes, the winner, Lars Tornson, produced a Swedish passport. A non-Irish winner was offered at odds of 11/4!

Was it purely a coincidence that Ladbrokes share price dipped when the London Stock Market opened the following morning? Like punters everywhere, one can only speculate… and hope!

So that was the third rendition of the Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival done and dusted. One must obviously offer hearty congratulations to those who departed Killarney with more money than they arrived with. Baring an unforeseen catastrophe that will have included all of the final table finishers listed below.

Apart from Mr. Odds Compiler’s generosity, which hopefully cost the biggest chain of high street bookmaker’s dearly, the weekend certainly appeared to run as smoothly as cream on glass. But there is little point on dwelling on it further as poker moves on apace and now all thoughts turn to the forthcoming Ladbrokes Poker Cruise.

Remarkably this will be the fourth rendition of “high jinx on the high seas”. Utopia to those obsessed with this wonderful game called poker, Shangri-La to pretty much all other walks of life.

Admittedly, Ladbrokes were not the first to offer their players poker in a palatial floating setting but they were a close second and, more importantly, they have continued to offer this now exclusive experience to all and sundry.

The big question: Will the “alls”, including the men-only group of players under the age of 31 from England, prevail or will the “sundry”, incorporating the veterans, women, and non-English contestants, once again come good?

Ladbrokes Killarney Festival Results:

1. Lars Torngren (Sweden) €75,000
2. Paul Lucey (Ireland) €50,000
3. Barry McGleenon (Ireland) €35,000
4. John Kalmar (England) €20,000
5. Richard Connolly (Isle of Man) €15,000
6. Paul Vermiglio (Ireland) €12,500
7. Mark Coyne (Ireland) €10,000
8. Brian Murphy (Ireland) €8,000
9. Allan McLean (Ireland) €6,000
10. Valerie McGrath (Ireland) €4,250