The Galway Poker Summer Festival has wasted no time producing big winners, huge final tables and plenty of talking points, with the action beginning on Thursday and building towards a spectacular weekend.

Thursday: O’Donnell takes the €8k in a Day

Thursday evening got the festival underway with the €8k in a Day, attracting 98 entries and creating a prize pool of €11,760.

It was James “Mad Dog” O’Donnell who emerged victorious after a nine-hour battle, taking home €3,010 and 500 league points. Shoutout to Mad dog for his memorable table talk.

Michael Ryan finished runner-up for €2,800, with Thomas Healy completing the podium in third for €1,500.

Karol Mucha, Matej Madurkay and Ronan Gilligan rounded out the top six, while Katie Harrington, Norbert Golebiowski, Kenneth Greaney and Matthew O’Brien also made the money.

There was also plenty of familiar Galway talent deep in the field, setting the tone for what was to come.

Thursday night: Keary conquers the PLO

The PLO players then took centre stage, with the €250 PLO 8-Max attracting 24 entries and generating a €5,070 prize pool.

It was Shane Keary again who came out on top, turning his 30,000 starting stack into a €2,535 payday and 200 league points. You didn’t think Mr Keary would come to Galway and not get a trophy? No chance.

Eglinton regular Jamie Harrington finished second for €1,520, while Tarka Roche took third for €1,015.

The final table also featured Ben Hibbins,  Donal MacAonghusa, Fergal Coyle, Vincent O’Toole and Emlyn Long.

Friday: The €10k in a Day begins

Friday brought the opening flights of the €10k in a Day, with players battling through two starting flights for their place in the big final.

Day 1A attracted 75 entries, with 12 players making it through to the final carrying chips.

Lars Peterson led the way with 288,000, followed by Matthew Blayney on 276,000 and Kevin Lynch on 257,000.

Barry O’Sullivan, Norbert Golebiowski, Juliano De Costa, Dave Kingston, Mark Skybinskyi, Digory Dixon, Christopher Gerard, Killian Farrell and Robert Gabriel also secured their seats in the final.

Then came Day 1B, with another 43 entries joining the hunt.

And it was (Surprise surprise) Robbie Bryant who finished the flight with the biggest stack of all  an enormous 314,000 chips. Karol Mucha followed with 304,000, while Alex Coughlan, Siobhan Blaney, Conor Keane, Samuel Atherton, Jude Ainsworth and William Doherty also progressed.

With 118 total entries, the final was set.

Friday night: Who can believe it? Robbie Bryant does it again!

And then came the first big one. Who would it be?

Who can believe it? Robbie Bryant has done it again!

Bryant navigated the 118-entry field and a stacked final to take down the €10k in a Day, collecting a brilliant €3,900 and 700 league points. Robbie has pulled even further clear of the leaderboard sitting on 7260 points which is more than last years winner Paul Carr tallied for his entire league campaign. The Tullamore native is simply in the form of his life.

Christopher Gerard finished runner-up for €2,410, while Kevin Lynch took third for €1,650.

Jude Ainsworth finished fourth for €1,300, with Matthew Blayney (€1,100), Alex Coughlan (€900), Lars Peterson (€750), Mark Skybinskyi (€600), Norbert Golebiowski (€500) and Dave Kingston (€400) completing the top ten.

With another major title and another 700 points in the bag, the obvious question is:

Do we just hand Robbie the league trophy now?

Galway poker royalty shines in PLO

Friday also produced an incredible PLO final table, with the PLO 7-Max 4/5 Cards event attracting 33 entries and creating a €5,386 prize pool. If you were looking for Galway Poker royalty, then the Omaha FT was the table to watch, and boy did it deliver!

The unusual format saw players alternate between four-card and five-card Omaha depending on the level, but it was Vincent O’Toole, better known as LongLad, who ultimately conquered the field.

O’Toole collected €2,000 and 300 league points, besting Derek Murray after a heads up deal, who took €1,555 for second.

The legend Frank Dunleavy finished third for €1,020, with Duane McDonnell taking fourth for €810.

And it really was an incredible final table, packed with Galway poker legends and familiar faces from the Irish poker scene. Donal MacAonghusa, Kenneth Greaney, Paul Carr, Ian Hamrock, Patrick McGinley and Michael Fitzgerald were among those battling deep into the event.

With Shane Keary already taking down the PLO 8-Max on Thursday, the Omaha specialists have certainly made their presence felt at this festival.

It really was a PLO final table to remember.

And we’re only getting started…

Two days in and the Galway Poker Summer Festival has already delivered multiple champions, huge scores and some outstanding final tables.

James O’Donnell got things rolling on Thursday.

Shane Keary conquered the PLO.

Vincent O’Toole claimed the 7-Max title.

And Robbie Bryant once again put his name on the biggest trophy on offer so far.

If this is only the beginning, there is plenty more to come.

See you on the floor for the Main Event Poker fans.

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