Thursday 26th October, 2006 - EPT Dublin – Irish Masters Day 1a

The 4th pit stop in the third season of the Pokerstars.com EPT is underway at the Regency Hotel in Dublin. Given the name, one would be forgiven for thinking that this is a top city centre location. In fact it is a rather run down airport hotel in the middle of nowhere, but with excellent facilities for the running of a poker tournament.

Both of Blue Square’s sponsored players – Mickey Wernick and JP Kelly – are here giving it another shot at a six-figure payday. Mickey finished 9th in the EPT in Deauville back in February and last month JP finished 24th in the EPT in Barcelona, so both have the track record and the ability to go deep in major tournaments like these. While neither faired well in recent events in London and Baden, they were both quietly optimistic for a good showing this time round. Ex World Champs Noel Furlong, Greg Raymer and Chris Moneymaker (looking worse for wear) are also in attendance.

Mickey played today but JP does not take his seat until tomorrow. The total number of players contesting the €5,000 buy-in event is still unclear. There was a lengthy delay at the start while the draw was being made and by the time they had shuffled up and dealt the board was saying there were a total of 404 runners. This may however have been an error as the number of players starting on Day 1a was initially listed as 196 on the info screens, only to be reduced to 186 shortly thereafter. Either way, its still a big event with a lot of players and with a prize pool approaching €2,000,000 it is well worth winning.

On his first table Mickey was faced with familiar faces from the UK circuit in the shape of Alli Mallu and Reyaaz Mulla, two of Lancashire’s finest pokerists. By the time this table had been closed and the players redistributed to other tables, the European Number one was reduced to half of his original 10,000 starting chips. On his new table he made amends for this deficit and by the dinner break he had climbed back up to over 13,000. His new table was no easier however as he was in the company of internet hotshot Johnny Lodden from Norway and Dario Minieri, the diminutive Italian who made the final recently in Baden, knocking Mickey out in the process.

While JP had tangled with Lodden in Barcelona, it was now Mickey’s turn to spar with one of the biggest cash game players in the world. The two had mutual respect for each other but it was Lodden who eventually came out the better. The final hand for Wernick was pocket queens versus Lodden’s pocket kings. Having been short stacked for a while and facing no opposition to his well-timed all in moves, there was no other option but to take a gamble with the ladies. In recent tournaments, pocket queens have dealt Mickey several knockout blows, most notably in the Barcelona EPT where his stack was crippled when the same two hands collided. There was no miracle third queen to save Mickey this time and that, sadly, was that.

Play is continuing for a couple more hours, by which time the field will be more than halved. JP, who missed his plane yesterday (but managed to catch a later one instead), is raring to go and has had an early night to ensure he is well prepared. I will be there to cheer him on.

Jonathan ‘AlrightJack’ Raab