Every so often, a festival comes along that blows the competition out of the water, and the Green Joker Poker Festival is that festival.
Still basking in the glory of its hugely successful first outing, the Green Joker Poker Festival reared its far from ugly head last Friday, boasting a three day €1,000 Main Event with a 90 minute clock, 15k starting stacks and every blind level under the sun, not to mention side events that would make other Festival Main Events look like crapshoots.
Naturally, some of the value hunters this side of the Irish Sea couldn’t withhold temptation, Matt Tyler, Ian Woodley and Kevin O’Leary all making the trip, alongside young blondeites Jen ‘Djinn’ Mason, Chris ‘NoflopsHomer’ Hall and Ben ‘RookieITB’ Turnstill. However, Irish shores were to be infested by the likes of Eoin Olin, Conor Smyth and recent Irish Open hero, Marty Smyth, all vying for that wallet thickening €36k first prize.
With the Drogheda Poker Club all hustle and bustle from the sea of poker fanatics, we were soon underway, Robert Bright emerging as the ‘man to beat’, taking an impressive 95,900 stack, and subsequently the chip lead, into Day 2. Not too far behind him were Frank McCartney and Ben Turnstill (right) in 2nd and 3rd respectively, whilst Jen and Floppy were clinging on to the lower levels of the 57-runged ladder.
However, with Day 2 sorting the men out from the boys (or, in this case, women from the boys), it was Dave O’Callaghan who would hold a final table chip lead, his 287,000 surely providing a nosebleed to the Irishman who was rock bottom with less than 10k at the start of the day.
Meanwhile, we’d lost Rookie (King v Jacks) and Floppy (A-Q v Tens) in the melee, not to mention last year’s victor, Lloyd ‘Lucky Lloyd’ O’Farrell, whose 19th place finish was all that could be mustered.
Moving into the third and final day, the line-up was as follows, with short-stack Kevin O’Leary and Jen Mason flying the red and white flag…
Dave O'Callaghan – 287,000
Robert Bright – 262,000
Jen Mason – 244,000
Jay O'Toole – 241,000
Brendan McKenna – 225,000
Thomas Nolan – 221,000
John Lavin – 215,000
Oscar Fred – 137,000
Kevin O'Leary – 69,000
Although we inevitably lost Kevin early doors, Jen Mason would ultimately find herself in the enviable heads-up position, battling it out with Jay O’Toole for the spondoolies and sparkling trophy.
A chop chop deal was agreed with Jay taking €29k and Jen snapping up €27k, but we still had €4k and the silverware up for grabs, not to mention the coveted title of ‘Champion’, and both players went at it hammer and tong, experiencing a see-saw battle which would eventually favour the Brit.
After garnering the chip lead with a flopped straight versus top pair, Jen finally took Gold when she found herself all-in with 6-7 on a 6-3-3 board, her opponent’s Pocket Fives in deep deep trouble. Two blanks on the Turn and River and we had our winner, a jubilant Jen Mason from Hampstead, London, €31,000 better off and enjoying her biggest win to date.
Highly respected within the poker community, Jen had the following to say about the event: “It was great to play with the people I remember from last year (and covering at the Irish Open etc.) including Lucky Lloyd, Dave O’Callaghan and Jim Reid, Matt and Ian too… in fact everyone cool, and the club staffed by good dealers, and tea is served in enormous mugs. I only buy in to one or two biggish buy-in comps a year - this one and/or Helsinki, and I can't recommend it highly enough for next time.”
Still basking in the glory of its hugely successful first outing, the Green Joker Poker Festival reared its far from ugly head last Friday, boasting a three day €1,000 Main Event with a 90 minute clock, 15k starting stacks and every blind level under the sun, not to mention side events that would make other Festival Main Events look like crapshoots.Naturally, some of the value hunters this side of the Irish Sea couldn’t withhold temptation, Matt Tyler, Ian Woodley and Kevin O’Leary all making the trip, alongside young blondeites Jen ‘Djinn’ Mason, Chris ‘NoflopsHomer’ Hall and Ben ‘RookieITB’ Turnstill. However, Irish shores were to be infested by the likes of Eoin Olin, Conor Smyth and recent Irish Open hero, Marty Smyth, all vying for that wallet thickening €36k first prize.
With the Drogheda Poker Club all hustle and bustle from the sea of poker fanatics, we were soon underway, Robert Bright emerging as the ‘man to beat’, taking an impressive 95,900 stack, and subsequently the chip lead, into Day 2. Not too far behind him were Frank McCartney and Ben Turnstill (right) in 2nd and 3rd respectively, whilst Jen and Floppy were clinging on to the lower levels of the 57-runged ladder.However, with Day 2 sorting the men out from the boys (or, in this case, women from the boys), it was Dave O’Callaghan who would hold a final table chip lead, his 287,000 surely providing a nosebleed to the Irishman who was rock bottom with less than 10k at the start of the day.
Meanwhile, we’d lost Rookie (King v Jacks) and Floppy (A-Q v Tens) in the melee, not to mention last year’s victor, Lloyd ‘Lucky Lloyd’ O’Farrell, whose 19th place finish was all that could be mustered.
Moving into the third and final day, the line-up was as follows, with short-stack Kevin O’Leary and Jen Mason flying the red and white flag…
Dave O'Callaghan – 287,000
Robert Bright – 262,000
Jen Mason – 244,000
Jay O'Toole – 241,000
Brendan McKenna – 225,000
Thomas Nolan – 221,000
John Lavin – 215,000
Oscar Fred – 137,000
Kevin O'Leary – 69,000
Although we inevitably lost Kevin early doors, Jen Mason would ultimately find herself in the enviable heads-up position, battling it out with Jay O’Toole for the spondoolies and sparkling trophy.
A chop chop deal was agreed with Jay taking €29k and Jen snapping up €27k, but we still had €4k and the silverware up for grabs, not to mention the coveted title of ‘Champion’, and both players went at it hammer and tong, experiencing a see-saw battle which would eventually favour the Brit.After garnering the chip lead with a flopped straight versus top pair, Jen finally took Gold when she found herself all-in with 6-7 on a 6-3-3 board, her opponent’s Pocket Fives in deep deep trouble. Two blanks on the Turn and River and we had our winner, a jubilant Jen Mason from Hampstead, London, €31,000 better off and enjoying her biggest win to date.
Highly respected within the poker community, Jen had the following to say about the event: “It was great to play with the people I remember from last year (and covering at the Irish Open etc.) including Lucky Lloyd, Dave O’Callaghan and Jim Reid, Matt and Ian too… in fact everyone cool, and the club staffed by good dealers, and tea is served in enormous mugs. I only buy in to one or two biggish buy-in comps a year - this one and/or Helsinki, and I can't recommend it highly enough for next time.”