The Galway Summer Festival Main Event delivered a final table worthy of the occasion, and when the dust finally settled, it was Ray Bryant who stood tallest.

With 225 entries creating a €36,720 prize pool, the final table brought together a strong mix of Irish poker talent and international players. But the story of the day belonged to Bryant, who showed exactly why patience, experience and knowing when to pick your moment can be so valuable when the cards refuse to cooperate.

For much of the final table, Bryant was card dead.

Really dead.

Rather than forcing the action, he waited. He picked his spots, protected his stack and trusted that the opportunities would eventually come. There was no panic, no wild swings. Just Bryant doing what Bryant does and waiting for his moment.

One man making life particularly difficult was Fergal Coyle, seated directly to Ray’s left and proving to be a constant thorn in his side through the early stages of the final table.

But poker has a way of testing even the most patient player. Sometimes you sit there, hand after hand, watching the deck give everyone else something to work with.

You wait.

And then, eventually, it is your turn.

When the cards finally came for Ray, he made them count.

Bryant moved through the field with the quiet confidence we have become accustomed to, taking out Coyle in fourth place in a pivotal blind-on-blind confrontation.

Coyle shoved with pocket sixes and Ray was faced with a decision holding A7 offsuit. He made the call.

The board ran out J-J-T-Q-7 and Coyle was sent to the rail in fourth place for €2,400.

A very game Dermot Quinn was next to fall in third for €3,250. Quinn had already done the hard work in Day 1C, qualifying with an impressive 486,000-chip stack, and he carried that momentum all the way to the final three.

That left Bryant heads-up with Samuel Atherton, with the Galway Summer Festival Main Event title within touching distance.

Before the final battle could begin in earnest, a heads-up ICM deal was discussed and agreed.

Atherton locked up €5,570, while Bryant secured €5,900, with €1,200 left on the table to play for alongside the trophy.

And Ray wanted the trophy.

The Bryant Brothers Do It Again

There was a little extra motivation behind the victory.

Brother Robbie Bryant had already done the business earlier in the festival, winning the €10K In A Day. Ray admitted afterwards that he felt he needed to produce a big result of his own.

“I felt like I needed to come out and get a big result after Robbie had done the business again in the €10K In A Day.”

And boy did he do it.

Ray followed Robbie’s victory with one of his own, adding another Galway Summer Festival title to what became a very memorable festival for the Bryant family.

Two brothers. Two titles.

Not a bad way to spend a weekend.

A Deep and Talented Final Table

Behind the champion, it was a final table packed with quality.

Fergal Coyle finished fourth for €2,400, Robert Gabriel took fifth for €2,000, while Ben Hibbins continued an excellent festival with sixth place for €1,770.

Rodrigo Ferraro finished seventh for €1,550, while young up-and-coming prospect Alex Coughlan from Midlands Card Club in Tullamore took eighth for €1,400.

Cyril Doherty finished ninth for €1,250, with Shella McSweeney rounding out the top ten for €1,100.

There were also plenty of strong performances from the Day 1C qualifiers. Alongside Quinn, Hibbins and Farrell, Shane Keary, Christopher Mitten, Morgan Doody, Kenneth Greaney, Aiden Cullinane, Dylan Yip and Siobhan Blaney all converted their opening-flight runs into Main Event cashes.

And for Keary, the day became even more memorable.

Keary Takes Down the First-Ever IPT PLO 5 Card Courchevel

After finishing 21st in the Main Event for €600, Shane returned to the PLO 5 Card Courchevel and went all the way.

It was also a little bit of history for the Irish Poker Tour, with PLO 5 Card Courchevel making its debut on the IPT schedule. And if the new variant brought something fresh to the festival, the players certainly brought the atmosphere.

The craic, banter and constant noise around the tables made it arguably the liveliest and most entertaining corner of the room throughout the evening. There was a different kind of energy around those tables. Arguably less solemn concentration, more laughter between the hands, more stories, more slagging and plenty of volume.

The new variant attracted 29 entries and created a €3,480 prize pool, with Keary ultimately taking the inaugural IPT title for €1,630.

Kate Zed finished runner-up for €950, with Ian Hamrock taking third for €650.

For Keary, it meant another piece of Galway Summer Festival silverware after an already impressive Main Event run.

At this stage, we could almost use a stock image of Shano at the PLO tables. He keeps finding his way to the sharp end of these events and, more often than not, walking away with the trophy.

Is he the best tournament Omaha player in the country?

He just might be.

A Final Flourish for the Festival

The festival’s final tournament also delivered another winner, with Eglinton regular Siobhan Blaney taking down the €150 IPT Monsterstack for €2,570 after overcoming a 71-entry field.

Charlie Porter finished runner-up for €1,650, with Martin Cassidy completing the top three.

It was a fitting way to bring the Galway Summer Festival to a close.

And what a festival it was.

From the opening cards to the final trophy, there was something about this one. When you hit your first Guarantee within 4 levels of play, you feel that this one was going to be special. The room had been busy, the tables were full, the vibe was lively and the usual mixture of characters, competition and craic made the Eglinton feel like home for a few days.

But the headline had already been written.

Ray Bryant was the man leaving with the Main Event trophy.

He sat there while the cards refused to cooperate. He absorbed the pressure, waited for the tide to turn and, when it finally did, he was ready.

That’s tournament poker.

You don’t always get to choose the hand you’re dealt. Sometimes all you can do is sit there, take the blows, keep your stack intact and wait for the storm to pass.

Ray Bryant did exactly that.

Then, when his moment came, he stepped forward and took it.

The Galway Summer Festival Main Event title was his.

And after Robbie had already put the Bryant name on the trophy earlier in the festival, Ray made absolutely sure it stayed there.

Two brothers. Two trophies.

And a Galway weekend they won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

Next Stop: Athlone

And just like that, Galway is in the books.

But there isn’t much time to sit around admiring the trophies.

Our next outing is next weekend, with the €30K In A Day coming to the Athlone Springs Hotel on Saturday, August 22.

So rest up, players.

The tables will be waiting.

We’ll see you all there.

Keep calm and play poker.