FROM WWW.POKERSTARSBLOG.COM
Femi Fakinle has won the UKIPT Killarney for €63,400 keeping the second Irish tour date title on home soil beating a 253-strong field in the process. The Wexford man had led the final table from the front starting the day with 1m chips, some 400,000 more than Peter Barrable in second place, and he almost always had the look of a man that was going to win. He did, however, relinquish his grip on the top spot several times towards the back end of the tournament but that we'll come to shortly.
Fakinle set out his stall early and that stall was labelled with a big sign saying 'Fakinle's Shop - we're ready to help you play big pots.' He personally knocked out Mike Hill in 8th (€7,425), Philip Phu in 7th (€9,600), Peter Barrable in 4th (€17,700) and, of course, Aonghus Farrell in 2nd (€39,200). He got it in good against Hill with queens against tens, for a flip against Barrable and with a A♠T♠ suckout against Phu's shortstacked A♥Q♠. Farrell was not so easy to finish off and huge chip swings took place between the two Irishman when the action broke three-handed.
A mention should be made for the great performance from Jens Schmukal. Alongside Fakinle he was, somewhat predictably, the other final table axeman. The German seemed to be following in his national football side's strategy of appearing out of nowhere and smashing shots home. Schmukal scored two important goals with the knockouts of David Rowley in 6th (€12,100) and Brian Downey in 5th (€14,600). Two big flips were presented to him and he converted both. That's German efficiency for you. Unfortunately Schmukal couldn't quite cross that final hurdle and finished with third place honours . Quite frankly, it would have been horrific had he won here given how Germany had knocked out England in the World Cup. No-one is allowed to have that good of a day.*