We had been covering another guarantee smashing yet seasonally festive event held by non-other than Ireland’s Number 1 Live Poker Experience – The Irish Poker Tour.

The setting was the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin, the LPU who has been working in partnership with the IPT to bring a new, exciting and fun element to the coverage of live poker, had begun discussing different ways in which to do so. Being handed the task I began my search.

As there was an influx of players from the North, and being from their myself, where better place to start. By chance Joel Baxter had bagged up the top stack (802,000) in the Main Event Day 1B at the €150k for €200 Dublin Winter Festival.

I grabbed him for a quick chat away from the hustlers and busters and spent a bit of time getting to know a bit more about the man behind the golden glasses.

Born and bred in North Belfast, the youngest of his siblings, he picked up the guitar at the age of 7 eventually playing in both rock and trad bands. In his younger years he also boxed for some time representing Antrim at Junior level. Currently he is studying Economics at Ulster University.

Only starting to play poker in 2022 he went along to a local game at the Cliftonville Social Club at Solitude run by Tony Holland. Where he played in a friendly £5 game, the atmosphere and competitive nature had him hooked. Although only playing small stakes at first, he still remembers playing in his first £40 tournament and thinking he was mad for staking so much.

Talking about his biggest achievements in poker, he mentioned on his first journey to the Green Isle he managed to come 3rd in the Main Event. Although looking back he does attribute this to a bit of luck being on his side. In this event he was actually staked by his friend for 25% of the buy-in, meaning his friend was very happy to get 25% of Joel’s 3rd place prize money.

Even though he cashed for more money in the Green Isle, winning his 1st live tournament at Rinty’s Antrim Sports Club recently, meant a lot more. He had tried and failed many times to secure his first live win and was very happy to get one in the bag.

We asked if he had any tips or advice for those starting out and wanting to progress in poker. In the last 6-7 months he has begun studying the game a lot more and has noticed his game improving. Although he himself jumped straight into a live event. “For someone starting out, online is the key, start with micro-stakes and if you are able to see these tournaments through to the end, it will put your best foot forward when playing live”.

Another element that has helped his game is being part of the Red Line Collective, which is a group of Irish players that trade advice and insights into the game. WPT Global’s Tomo Murphy is also part of the collective, something like this helps not only to better your game, but the social aspect with all the lads, helps on those days it doesn’t go so well at the tables.

After a late night on Friday, Joel is resting up on Saturday, ready to make a charge for the Main Event trophy on Sunday.

We wish him all the best of luck and we will be keeping a keen eye on his progress.