Report on The Galway Open - Long

Fatboydim

Played this over the weekend and it was a reasonable turn out of 85 players. With a prizepool of €34k. The TD was Pete Holden [Skippy to his friends] And all in all it was run very well, with the usual Pokerevents Super Sat set up. However it is noticeable that players are not travelling as far as they used to for these events. I'm not sure why... Maybe it's advertising. Maybe there’s just too many events these days. Certainly Fintan doesn’t seem to post on boards at the moment evidence of that is that I only just found out that Damo Kavanagh won the Leinster event. [Congrats Damo – I believe Ollie has forgiven you ] But there were a smattering of players from as far afield as Sligo, Donegal, Limerick, Cork, Navan and of course Mayo. The standard varied as a number of players feeding into these events now are via the pub poker circuit. Having said that Derek Long qualified for the event via a €25 pub game and I was very impressed by his play. More of him later. Another very impressive player was Vinnie Gavin [no relation as far as I know]. He made a great move when the blinds were 1k / 2k. An early position player Trevor McGoona had limped in. Followed by a mid position player who may prefer to remain nameless. [Ok it was Conor] Vinnie was on the button and flat called too. Clearly wanting to see a flop. The BB then made the fatal error of making a weak raise to 6k. Trevor flat called quickly. Conor thought about it. Conor does tend to think. He then flat called. This was enough for Vinnie, who pushed with his monster stack of around 150K. BB folds. Trevor folds. Conor goes into the tank and eventually folds showing snowmen. He’s not happy about it as he knows Vinnie has made a positional play. Vinnie turns over one card to show. A three of spades. Play on the first day lasted until around 5.00am. The final nine would come back on Saturday at 2.00pm and battle it out. With 680K in play the final nine looked like this:

seat 1 : David Cosgrove 47k
seat 2 : Vinnie Gavin 158k chipleader
seat 3 : Colin Larkin 25k
seat 4 : Bernard Brady 89k
seat 5 : Derek Long 82k
seat 6 : Mike Healy 44k
seat 7 : Trevor McGoona 41k
seat 8 : John Hanon 63k
seat 9 : Len Collin 137k

Yep that’s me in seat nine. Usually I have no luck in Galway… But there I am. I thought it was going to be same old story when early on I raised with pocket tens and Pocket jacks only to be re-raised all in or face overcards on the flop. So before I knew it I was down to around 85k. It was time to stop the rot so I limped under the gun for a change with the blinds at 2k / 4k.. Vinnie raised to 17.5k so now there’s 32k in the pot including the antes. SB – Which is Trevor from Navan… Thinks about it long and hard and folds. John Honan folds. I push all in. Pressure on Vinnie who thinks about it… and eventually throws over Ace Queen of hearts. I throw over ten nine of hearts… showing the bluff. From that moment on I didn’t really look back. I lucked out after pushing with A8s UTG against Colin Larkins AQ when I hit the 8. But that’s the only suck out I can remember. The prize for best suck out went to Vinnie. On a xAKA board Vinnie and Derek got it all in. As I said earlier both these players were very impressive. And when I busted Colin with my A8 Derek had the discipline to fold his AQ despite being short stacked. I don’t think he made a single bad play. Vinnie threw over A6 for top set. Derek threw over pocket kings for a full house. Vinnie had outs of course but when the case Ace arrived it seemed a very cruel beat. Eventually Vinnie finished fourth. By that stage I was on exactly half the chips 340K and decided that it might be wise to talk a deal with the remaining players Mike Healy and Trevor McGoona. The sat paid out 12 x €1500 tickets to the ME in January. So top three had a cash prizepool of 10.6K. I took 4.2 and Mike and Trevor took 3.2. What we should have done is left the 600 to play for as well as the trophy. As it was we just played for the trophy and title but it quickly became a farce. It got to heads up and I had around 370k and Trevor around 310k when he pushed all in from the button. I look down at two red Aces. Happy days. Call. Trevor laughs and turns over 45diamonds. I don’t need to tell you the rest. I’m left with 70k but despite pushing it up to 160k again I lose the trophy and title to Trevor. I still feel it’s a moral victory though.
In conclusion the event was very well run and the final day in particular was very enjoyable because the players were all in good form. Congratulations to Trevor.

careca

congrats, nice result.

and thats not a long report for a monday

carrigeen

nice 1 len

well deserved have a feeling this could be the start of a run

califano

Good one Len. Sounded like a tough FT. I'd say Mrs Dim was more forthcomiing than usual later on!.

bohsman

I hear the pirate did his bit for poker in Ireland. wp Mr Rafter.

ianmc38

I would have instantly called the push with the snowmen.

cardshark202

ianmc38 wrote:

I would have instantly called the push with the snowmen.

ez call

Fatboydim

bohsman wrote:

I hear the pirate did his bit for poker in Ireland. wp Mr Rafter.

Ahem! I was trying not to mention that.

Ian... I don't think you can call the push with the Snowmen. The mistake was not to do the pushing. If Conor had pushed all in he would have taken down the pot. He can't call for his tournament life with the possibility of the CL holding two over cards or a higher pair. The instinct was right and even if the other card was an Ace, three or rag the best odds were 60 / 40. And it was very close to the bubble.

sendic

bohsman wrote:

I hear the pirate did his bit for poker in Ireland. wp Mr Rafter.

?

cardshark202

Fatboydim wrote:

Ahem! I was trying not to mention that.

Ian... I don't think you can call the push with the Snowmen. The mistake was not to do the pushing. If Conor had pushed all in he would have taken down the pot. He can't call for his tournament life with the possibility of the CL holding two over cards or a higher pair. The instinct was right and even if the other card was an Ace, three or rag the best odds were 60 / 40. And it was very close to the bubble.

With the way the action has gone his move is the most transparent squeeze ever. I think its a clear call.

ianmc38

In all fairness who limps 99+ on the button after 2 limpers with the blinds left to act. I'm sure we can agree the answer is noone, so we're getting at worst an edge of 10% to double up. I think this is a very standard call.

There was a similarish scenario in the SE monthly game on Saturday between Gholi and another boardsie, where the button limp raised after a few limpers and Gholi had raised from the blinds. Gholi correctly 3-bet knowing that the guy couldnt be limp raising from the butotn after a few limpers with any premium holding. gholi tabled a sweetly played A4o.

Ollieboy

Wp mate, nice to see you winning.

Coillte_Bhoy

I hear the pirate did his bit for poker in Ireland. wp Mr Rafter.

Pleeeassse tell me more. I heard a couple of rumours at a tourney last night but all very sketchy. A lot of lads in Kiltimagh have a particular interest in this man's 'career':rolleyes:

bohsman

http://pokerevents.ie/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=301

Solksjaer

bohsman wrote:

http://pokerevents.ie/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=301

That Sarah one was always a sht stirrer.:D Well if you going around calling yerself a pirate you are bound to find wenches and scurvy tourny directors as land lubbing lily livers....Arrrggggggg!

Seriously though .....JAYSUS!

ianmc38

Tony Rafter has always been an absolute cúnt on the few occasions i've sat at his table. The guy is a scumbag.

Solksjaer

MUTINY !!

Not exactly a Jolly Roger? Perhaps he be one of those ghastly fog dwelling pirates? They be pure evil me lad, pure EVIL. I'm only glad that Fintan Jack Sparrow was able to fend him off. This is what happens when a sea dog sees his treasure slipping away. Perhaps we should build a gallows or else hang em from the rafters, now that would be an ironic death for the schwarb.

bohsman

Who mentioned Vegas?

Solksjaer

There be more?

pirat1

hi ,well i guess i should give my sìde of events on friday night,
first of all things happened which should not have happened ,but when u pay 440 euro into an event u dont expect to be treated the way i was on friday.the verbal abuse i took was uncalled for thats for sure.
A rulling was made at the table . and i accepted the rulling as final , but i still said it was wrong which i stand by!
then the name calling and abuse started .i was shouted at and called names for about 5 minutes until things got out of hand. sorry cant say to more on the subject.
but what i can say is its not the first time i have been treated badly by this individual. as u all know a p---r events tournament never passes without this guy asking someone outside for a fight so eventually this was going to happen.....:cool:

shayk

pirat1 wrote:

hi ,well i guess i should give my sìde of events on friday night,
first of all things happened which should not have happened ,but when u pay 440 euro into an event u dont expect to be treated the way i was on friday.the verbal abuse i took was uncalled for thats for sure.
A rulling was made at the table . and i accepted the rulling as final , but i still said it was wrong which i stand by!
then the name calling and abuse started .i was shouted at and called names for about 5 minutes until things got out of hand. sorry cant say to more on the subject.
but what i can say is its not the first time i have been treated badly by this individual. as u all know a p---r events tournament never passes without this guy asking someone outside for a fight so eventually this was going to happen.....:cool:

you have some nerve to talk about verbal abuse,
the remark you made to that dealer would have gotten you disqualified instantly from any tournament
true fintan may have said something to you but who headbutted who?
you had obviously had far too much to drink and a greater man would come on here and apologise full stop but you have to try and blame someone else

grow up

and please learn to handle your drink

yopnailbrush

pirat1 wrote:

hi ,well i guess i should give my sìde of events on friday night,
first of all things happened which should not have happened ,but when u pay 440 euro into an event u dont expect to be treated the way i was on friday.the verbal abuse i took was uncalled for thats for sure.
A rulling was made at the table . and i accepted the rulling as final , but i still said it was wrong which i stand by!
then the name calling and abuse started .i was shouted at and called names for about 5 minutes until things got out of hand. sorry cant say to more on the subject.
but what i can say is its not the first time i have been treated badly by this individual. as u all know a p---r events tournament never passes without this guy asking someone outside for a fight so eventually this was going to happen.....:cool:

is this you seriously trying to defend yourself??? Makes you out to be a bigger prat then you were coming across....

El Stuntman

pirat1 wrote:

hi ,well i guess i should give my sìde of events on friday night,
first of all things happened which should not have happened ,but when u pay 440 euro into an event u dont expect to be treated the way i was on friday.the verbal abuse i took was uncalled for thats for sure.
A rulling was made at the table . and i accepted the rulling as final , but i still said it was wrong which i stand by!
then the name calling and abuse started .i was shouted at and called names for about 5 minutes until things got out of hand. sorry cant say to more on the subject.
but what i can say is its not the first time i have been treated badly by this individual. as u all know a p---r events tournament never passes without this guy asking someone outside for a fight so eventually this was going to happen.....:cool:

wow, if I'm on the jury I will no doubt find you not guilty after this compelling argument....

idiot

ianmc38

pirat1 wrote:

hi ,well i guess i should give my sìde of events on friday night,
first of all things happened which should not have happened ,but when u pay 440 euro into an event u dont expect to be treated the way i was on friday.the verbal abuse i took was uncalled for thats for sure.
A rulling was made at the table . and i accepted the rulling as final , but i still said it was wrong which i stand by!
then the name calling and abuse started .i was shouted at and called names for about 5 minutes until things got out of hand. sorry cant say to more on the subject.
but what i can say is its not the first time i have been treated badly by this individual. as u all know a p---r events tournament never passes without this guy asking someone outside for a fight so eventually this was going to happen.....:cool:

Sorry for all the confusion Tony. We didn't realise.

BigDragon

Is this a soap opera? It has all the elements.

TheDuck32

pirat1 wrote:

p---r events tournament never passes without this guy asking someone outside for a fight

You were asked out were you, umm. Was this before or after the cheap shot? and did you go?

Border Fox

i attended the pokerevents game in galway friday night and in my opinion it was wvery badly run. for starters the dealers are terrible and have no idea of the rules.but how woud the know the rules as the pokerevents rules are totally different to the rules of any other poker tournament. there are many examples of this but i will tell u about one ....
this happened at my table friday night..player 1 makes a bet and steals a blind,, then shows an ace ..player 2 asks to see the other card.a rulling is called for ( in any other event u can show one card and muck the other no problem) fintan says to player 2 that he can ask to see the other card and it must b shown face up..but says fintan this is a very unsporting thing to do.
ok... if this is unsporting and is not a rule in any other event why is it one of the rules in pokerevents games,,,it makes no sense at all...this is just one example of the many crazy pokerevents rules
also....
i would not condone what rafter did but i would have to agree that pokerevents is a total disaster and i for one will never attend one of their events again. for starters rafter was the second guy that fintan had started on that night.. there was a guy who was trying to pull his own pint from the bar.. fair enough he shouldnt have done this ... but next thing fintan was asking him outside for a fight ... is this any way for a tournament director to be acting ?
and this is a regular accurance at pokerevents games all around the country.
there was mahem in sligo one night last year when fintan was trying to get some guy outside for a fight while the final table was running.
and as recently as last week he was trying to start on a norwegan guy in the bar in the regency hotel dublin at the irish ept. this guy fintan has no respect for the players that put him where he is today, he is a loose cannon and its about time someone stood up to him.

NickyOD

I've always thought Tony was a very personable guy. I've been at final tables where he had been boozing and he can be very mouthy but I've never seen him cross the line with anyone. I remember a final table where we played eachother in Sligo. He didn't know me at the time but I was needling him constantly. At the time I never put him down as a violent person. Any time I've met him he's gone out of his way to be very sociable.

I wasn't there. I'm glad I wasn't and I'm totally disgusted by what he did, but I would like to hear more about what lead up to the butting incidident. While I have heard a lot about Tony's reputation I've never witnessed it and I think you would have to push him very far for him to do something like this.

I'm not taking sides but I would like to hear what was said. Also I think this woulnd not have happened with a more experienced TD like Donal who has a more calming and diplomatic influence in situaitons like this.

careca

I don't know either or the guys (I know Fintan to see and dealt once at a pokerevents tournie) but head butting is the lowest form of attack. By all means if you are antagonised, ask the man out and stand toe to toe but don't throw a sly head butt.

And personally, it wouldn't matter to me what else I hear about the night, the head butt would still sway things for me.

ianmc38

NickyOD wrote:

I'm not taking sides but I would like to hear what was said. Also I think this woulnd not have happened with a more experienced TD like Donal who has a more calming and diplomatic influence in situaitons like this.

In all fairness who gives a toss what was said. What he did was something you expect from a total scumbag.

El Stuntman

Border Fox wrote:

i attended the pokerevents game in galway friday night and in my opinion it was wvery badly run. for starters the dealers are terrible and have no idea of the rules.but how woud the know the rules as the pokerevents rules are totally different to the rules of any other poker tournament. there are many examples of this but i will tell u about one ....
this happened at my table friday night..player 1 makes a bet and steals a blind,, then shows an ace ..player 2 asks to see the other card.a rulling is called for ( in any other event u can show one card and muck the other no problem) fintan says to player 2 that he can ask to see the other card and it must b shown face up..but says fintan this is a very unsporting thing to do.
ok... if this is unsporting and is not a rule in any other event why is it one of the rules in pokerevents games,,,it makes no sense at all...this is just one example of the many crazy pokerevents rules
also....
i would not condone what rafter did but i would have to agree that pokerevents is a total disaster and i for one will never attend one of their events again. for starters rafter was the second guy that fintan had started on that night.. there was a guy who was trying to pull his own pint from the bar.. fair enough he shouldnt have done this ... but next thing fintan was asking him outside for a fight ... is this any way for a tournament director to be acting ?
and this is a regular accurance at pokerevents games all around the country.
there was mahem in sligo one night last year when fintan was trying to get some guy outside for a fight while the final table was running.
and as recently as last week he was trying to start on a norwegan guy in the bar in the regency hotel dublin at the irish ept. this guy fintan has no respect for the players that put him where he is today, he is a loose cannon and its about time someone stood up to him.

nice first post, very balanced

TheDuck32

Border Fox wrote:

player 1 makes a bet and steals a blind,, then shows an ace ..player 2 asks to see the other card.a rulling is called for ( in any other event u can show one card and muck the other no problem) fintan says to player 2 that he can ask to see the other card and it must b shown face up.

If you want to show your cards show them. This rule is to stop people needling by showing 1 useless card to an opponent.

This rule was brought into pokerevents tournaments by Donal before he left, and i agree with the rule.

But I do agree with you that the events do not run as well without Donal as director and that the current crop of dealers are simple not being trained well enough.
This may be due to a lack of people in the organisation with the ability to train a dealer properly or perhaps there is not enough time being dedicated to training them.

bohsman

Why did Donal leave? Thought he was doing a very good.

TheDuck32

he was sick of listening to bad beat stories

NickyOD

ianmc38 wrote:

In all fairness who gives a toss what was said. What he did was something you expect from a total scumbag.

I agree. I'm in no way defending Tony's actions, but I think you are wrong to say that what was said is not important. What is said to people IS VERY important.

iBorder fox wrote:

as recently as last week he was trying to start on a norwegan guy in the bar in the regency hotel dublin at the irish ept. this guy fintan has no respect for the players that put him where he is today, he is a loose cannon and its about time someone stood up to him.

I was at the regency that night. I don't know if this is the same incident because the guy I saw Fintan start on was definitely not Norwegian.

This was outside the press area. I was talking to a good friend of mine who is a dealer at the EPT and has dealt for PE. William Thorssen had bought a huge table full of drinks and they were pretty much for everyone and anyone to take. Press, Dealers, Players whoever, it didn't matter.

Another chap that I have never met before was there and made a perfectly innocent comment something along the lines of "wow free drink this is great"

Fintan heard this comment and came straight over to the guy and started being about as in-your-face abusive as you can get without touching someone. "My friend bought this drink. Who the **** are you to think it's free, Nicky do you know this guy?" Fintan called the poor man "a ****ing cretin"

Now it takes a lot for me to raise a fist to anyone but if I had to take that sort of abuse I think it would take a lot of will power to hold myself back. I was stone cold sober and had a knot in my stomach watching Fintan abuse this man because I was afraid punches would be thrown and I'd have to jump in to seperate them. They only reason that didn't happen was because Fintan picked on the most passive guy in the room who was afraid for his life.
If Fintan was to give the same sort of abuse to Tony, or 100 other PE regulars I don't see how anyone would be able to restrain themselves. Can you imagine if you have some guy right in you face shouting "you ****ing cretin you". How would you react? Would you be able to smile and walk away. I don't think I could.

pirat1

NickyOD wrote:

I've always thought Tony was a very personable guy. I've been at final tables where he had been boozing and he can be very mouthy but I've never seen him cross the line with anyone. I remember a final table where we played eachother in Sligo. He didn't know me at the time but I was needling him constantly. At the time I never put him down as a violent person. Any time I've met him he's gone out of his way to be very sociable.

I wasn't there. I'm glad I wasn't and I'm totally disgusted by what he did, but I would like to hear more about what lead up to the butting incidident. While I have heard a lot about Tony's reputation I've never witnessed it and I think you would have to push him very far for him to do something like this.

I'm not taking sides but I would like to hear what was said. Also I think this woulnd not have happened with a more experienced TD like Donal who has a more calming and diplomatic influence in situaitons like this.

i am not trying to condone what happened nor am i trying to defend my actions...i am only explaining what happened..there had been an incident earlier where i made a joke to one of the dealers ..she got upset by my joke and left the table ... i apoligised to her .. she accepted my apoligy and i thought that was the end of it
later i had need to call for a ruling at my table
fi,,an gave a rulling...in my opinion the rulling was wrong,,,but i DID accept the rulling as final....i said to him i accept it as final but the rulling is wrong. he told me to shut up that i was making a fool of myself. he went on to call me an idiot fool and a asshole while getting so close to my face that his spits were hitting my face as he verbally abused me.the last straw was when he pushed me and called me a ballina knacker.then i lost the head and did what any good ballina knacker would have done !

careca

Hard to get away from that alright. I reckon if you had given him a box they're wouldnt have been half the furore.

smurph

I have deleted my comments, because I feel that I was not at the event so no need to put fuel in the fire.

Small note, being drunk and playing cards always ends in stupidity!!!!

TheDuck32

Its funny how you can be in a room and witness something and still get it so completely wrong. There I was the whole time thinking it was you i saw and heard shouting and being verbally abusive to both Fintan and Skippy.

WOW, my bad.

TheDuck32

Peter Holden was directing the event on Friday and he was not drinking while running the event, and never does.

truth be told I can't clearly remember any PE TD's drinking during an event before

yopnailbrush

Border Fox wrote:

but how woud the know the rules as the pokerevents rules are totally different to the rules of any other poker tournament. there are many examples of this but i will tell u about one ....
this happened at my table friday night..player 1 makes a bet and steals a blind,, then shows an ace ..player 2 asks to see the other card.a rulling is called for ( in any other event u can show one card and muck the other no problem) fintan says to player 2 that he can ask to see the other card and it must b shown face up..but says fintan this is a very unsporting thing to do.
ok... if this is unsporting and is not a rule in any other event why is it one of the rules in pokerevents games,,,it makes no sense at all...this is just one example of the many crazy pokerevents rules
also....
QUOTE]

Are the rules not available... They are clearly posted on the pokerevents website, if you do not wish to obey them do not play...

rules are there in the interest of all players, fairness and to make the events enjoyable for all... if you dont like them dont play... its your responsibility to ensure you know the rules before entering any tournament

Slating an card clubs / organisations rules is patethic, If there are holes point them out.

I have enjoyed many a night with pokerevents.

fintan, skippy you are doing a great job! keep up the good work. And remember to duck next time

5starpool

IMO Fintan should not be giving rulings at these events as he is not the TD.

yopnailbrush

5starpool wrote:

IMO Fintan should not be giving rulings at these events as he is not the TD.

true

NickyOD

TheDuck32 wrote:

truth be told I can't clearly remember any PE TD's drinking during an event before

Donal often had an occasional drink while running tournaments and not just the weekly events. Festivals too, but he always remained sober and 100% professional.

I would love to hear from and impartial observer their account of what happened.

Also was it Fintan who gave the ruling. Does it not say in the PE rules that the TD has the final say. Mind you, if you check out the event structure on the PE website it still says that Donal is the Director!

jacQues

Tony The Pirat is a sound guy. Yes he may be onorthodox and have a sharp tongue, but he rarely crosses the line. He may have a weird sense of humour but is honoust and would walk through fire for friends.

Peter is a sound guy and will be a very good TD also. Peter is less experienced than Fintan. Given time, he'll be a better TD than Fintan (if that's possible).

I wasn't there and don't know what happened. There is too much I don't know about it to rule anything for myself (and this should apply to anyone who wasn't there), except for the following:

What I would like to say here / publicly is that Tony's (physical) actions are very wrong. Poker is supposed to be a gentleman's game. Next time, Tony (though let's hope that there won't be a next time), don't settle it during the event itself. It doesn't solve anything and gives poker itself (not PokerEvents) a bad name. Sleep a night and if you still feel 'unsettled' vent here or something. By resorting to physical actions you lose by default.

As for PokerEvents. If you think they sux, give your reasons here and simply don't play there anymore.

As for other people. Don't judge Tony because of one bad descision he made. I know well enough to say that it wasn't the alcohol that triggered his actions. I'm sure he'll see his error and not repeat it.

jacQues

yopnailbrush

NickyOD wrote:

Also was it Fintan who gave the ruling. Does it not say in the PE rules that the TD has the final say. Mind you, if you check out the event structure on the PE website it still says that Donal is the Director!

Website clearly states that Peter Holden is the TD for the Galway Open.. Check your facts before posting

Not sure who made the ruling but have I understand it was Pete

TheDuck32

Peter made the ruling in question NOT Fintan

pirat1

peter made thew ruling..then fi..an came to the table and made the same ruling ! again i accepted but dissagreed with it.

NickyOD

yopnailbrush wrote:

Website clearly states that Peter Holden is the TD for the Galway Open.. Check your facts before posting

Not sure who made the ruling but have I understand it was Pete

If you look at the info for any incoming event on the Pokerevents which lists the buy in, structure etc. It clearly states that Donal will be the TD.

yopnailbrush

I still think your wrong mate, i see peter holdens name there.. send on the link

TheDuck32

NickyOD wrote:

If you look at the info for any incoming event on the Pokerevents which lists the buy in, structure etc. It clears states that Donal will be the TD.

Don't know what your looking at Nicky but the structure for the super sats do not have Donal as the director.

He is down as the director for the IPC in January but thats because he will actually be directing it