Sam Dobbins raised to 20,000 from the hijack with Richard Ashby calling from the cutoff. Michel Molenaar shoved for 52,000 from the big blind, which Dobbins and Ashby both called.
With Molenaar all-in, Dobbins and Ashby checked the runout of 5♠8♥4♦8♦K♥ all the way down and the cards were revealed.
Michel Molenaar: A♦J♦
Richard Ashby: 10♠3♠
Sam Dobbins: A♠Q♠
Molenaar and Dobbins ended with ace-high but it was Dobbins' queen-kicker that would play, meaning Molenaar was out the bubble boy of the Irish Poker Festival Main Event.
Frankie McPartland raised to 35,000 on the button before Niall Farrell shoved from the big blind. The raise was for McPartland remaining 200,000. After a few moments, McPartland called.
Frankie McPartland: 10♥10♣
Niall Farrell: A♠Q♣
It was a classic race that McPartland had to win. The run out of K♦7♠9♣Q♦3♠ gave Farrell the winner with a pair of queens on the turn and McPartland was out of the tournament.
Leo Worthington-Leese opened to 25,000 from middle position before Raul Martinez three-bet to 77,000 from the next position. When it folded back to Worthington-Leese, he four-bet shoved for Martinez' remaining 300,000. Martinez called.
Raul Martinez: J♥J♠
Leo Worthington-Leese: 9♣9♠
Worthington-Leese needed to find a nine if he was to send Martinez to the rail. The dealer fanned out the perfect flop for Worthington-Leese, as it came 9♦6♠10♣ to give him a set. Martinez couldn't find a jack on the turn or river as the rest of the board ran out 5♥A♦, and he was headed for the cashier's deask.
After he lost a pot against Mark Buckley, Duane McDonnell shoved for 107,000 from early position. Leo Worthington-Leese in the cutoff called, and he made all the other players fold.
Duane McDonnell: 6♥6♠
Leo Worthington-Leese: A♠10♦
Worthington-Leese flopped the best pair on J♠K♥10♥5♥9♣, ending McDonnell's tournament life.
Belarmino De Souza raiesd to 25,000 from the hijack before Conor O'Rourke three-bet to 92,000 from the small blind. De Souza four-bet shoved four roughly 350,000 and O'Rourke snap-called.
Belarmino De Souza: A♥7♥
Conor O'Rourke: 10♦10♣
De Souza had run into the pocket tens of O'Rourke, but he did have hearts and an ace he could hit to win. The flop of 2♦3♥4♥ was wonderful for De Souza as he picked up straight and flush draws. However, the K♠ turn and 9♦ river didn't help him, and he was out in twentieth place.
Ignas Navickas raised to 32,000 from early position with Aleksander Januskevic defending out of the big blind.
Januskevic check-called a bet of 22,000 from Navickas on the 2♣K♦10♠ flop.
Both players checked the 6♥ turn for the Q♠ to fall on the river. Januskevic checked, and faced a bet of 78,000 from Navickas. Januskevic called and was shown J♠9♠ for a straight by Navickas.
Ignas Navickas raised to 32,000 on the button and Tomas Flanagan defended from the big blind.
Flanagan checked the A♦6♦10♠ flop and Navickas put out a continuation-bet of 18,000. Flanagan check-shoved for 118,000 and Navickas called to put him at risk.
Tomas Flanagan: J♥10♣
Ignas Navickas: A♣4♣
Flanagan's second pair was behind to the top pair of Navickas. The 10♦ on the turn propelled Flanagan into the lead with trip tens, as the 4♠ hit the river and Flanagan doubled up.
Rafael Golka raised to 32,000 from middle position and Patrice Brandt shoved for roughly 130,000 from the button. When it got back to him, Golka called.
Patrice Brandt: 3♠3♣
Rafael Golka: K♦10♦
Brandt couldn't hold with pocket threes as the board ran out 6♠A♦10♥5♠2♥ to give Golka the winner with a pair of tens.
Out of a total of 285 entrants, only 18 players remain in contention for the title after successfully qualifying for Day 3 of the Irish Poker Festival €3,000 Main Event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin, Ireland.
Tomorrow, Sunday, November 3, one of them will be crowned the winner and take home the first-place prize of €177,000. After Day 2, Finland’s Joni Rantamaki is closest to the trophy, finishing as the chip leader with 2,113,000 chips. He holds a substantial lead over Conor O’Rourke (1,520,000) and Mark Buckley (1,350,000), while only six players bagged over one million chips.
2024 Irish Poker Festival €3,000 Main Event Day 2 Top Ten
Rank
Player
Country
Chip count
Big blinds
1
Joni Rantamaki
Finland
2,113,000
106
2
Conor O'Rourke
Ireland
1,520,000
76
3
Mark Buckley
Ireland
1,350,000
68
4
Sean Hegarty
United States
1,232,000
62
5
Leo Worthington-Leese
United Kingdom
1,098,000
55
6
Jonathan Proudfoot
Ireland
1,000,000
50
7
Niall Farrell
United Kingdom
972,000
49
8
Vasilijus Piskunovas
Lithuania
810,000
41
9
Rafael Golka
Germany
663,000
33
10
Alec Torelli
United States
638,000
32
Day 2's Action
A total of 121 players bagged chips after all four Day 1s and gathered for Day 2 at 1:00 p.m. However, late registration remained open for two levels, allowing new players to join or previously eliminated players to reenter after losing their chips the first time today. This was the case for Kuljinder Sidhu and Maria Lampropulos, but both were eliminated definitively shortly after the payouts were announced.
Last year’s winner of this Irish Poker Festival Main Event, Michel Molenaar, looked poised for a back-to-back victory as he led the tournament's chip lead during the earlier dinner break. He maintained one of the top stacks through the following levels—until the money bubble approached. After several pot losses, he ran into Richard Ashby’s kings and was left with less than 10 big blinds. He then went all-in with ace-jack but faced ace-queen, becoming this year’s bubble-boy.
Liam Chevalier, Keith Cummins, and Dara O’Kearney were the first players to be eliminated in the money, each securing a minimum cash prize of €8,000. The goal was to reach the end of Level 21 or the final three tables. It seemed like an easy task for Joni Rantamaki, who became the first player to reach 2,000,000 chips. He lost a big pot to Mark Buckley during the last minutes of the day, but still managed to bag the chip lead.
Richard Ashby
The day went smoothly as well for Leo Worthington-Leese, who started as second in chips and ended with 1,098,000 chips. After the three-table redraw, he eliminated Raul Martinez (22nd - €9,000) and Duane McDonnell (21st - €9,000) within a few hands, before battling with Alec Torelli. Torelli managed to qualify with 638,000 chips. At the same table, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Richard Ashby bagged 450,000 chips.
At other tables, Niall Farrell reached 972,000 chips, followed by Vasilijus Piskunovas (810,000), Rafael Golka (663,000), and Florian Fuchs (570,000). Eoghan O’Dea (310,000) also secured his place in Day 3, while Sam Dobbinslost almost all his chips in a flip on the last hand of the day. He will return on Day 3 with 51,000, the starting stack.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€177,000
10
€17,500
2
€113,000
11
€15,000
3
€70,000
12
€13,000
4
€50,000
13
€11,580
5
€38,000
14
€10,750
6
€31,500
15 - 16
€10,000
7
€27,500
17-18
€9,500
8
€24,000
9
€20,500
Day 3 was originally scheduled to restart at noon, but the players voted to move it to 1 p.m.. They will be back at the tables later with blinds of 10,000/20,000 and a big blind ante of 60,000. The plan is to play down until a champion is crowned.
That concludes coverage of Day 2 of the Irish Poker Festival Main Event, be sure to tune back in to PokerNews tomorrow for all the action, directly from the tournament floor.
