Mark Bennett Aiming for Another Deep Irish Poker Tour Run
The €600 Galway Poker Festival Main Event's second starting flight attracted a total of 147 entries, with 30 players managing to find a bag for Day 2. Among them is Mark Bennett (242,000), aiming for his third deep run in Irish Poker Tour Main Events.
However Cathal Shine led the way, amassing an impressive stack of 604,000. Shine is still some way behind Day 1a chip leader James O'Sullivan (734,000), but will no doubt be looking to add to his impressive live resume of $679,181 earnings.
Shine was closely followed by his fellow countrymen, Kevin Hayes (554,000) and Tadgh Conway (510,000).
End of Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cathal Shine | Ireland | 604,000 | 76 |
| 2 | Kevin Hayes | Ireland | 554,000 | 69 |
| 3 | Tadgh Conway | Ireland | 510,000 | 64 |
| 4 | Justin Boyle | Ireland | 405,000 | 51 |
| 5 | Noel Murphy | Ireland | 401,000 | 50 |
| 6 | Liam Chevalier | France | 383,000 | 47 |
| 7 | Jonathan Geraghty | Ireland | 343,000 | 43 |
| 8 | Philip Brown | Ireland | 315,000 | 39 |
| 9 | Gerard Wynne | Ireland | 280,000 | 35 |
| 10 | Fergal Coyle | Ireland | 275,000 | 34 |
Other notable names who qualified for Day 2 include Marc MacDonnell (168,000) and Conor O'Driscoll (162,000).
Irish Poker Tour pros Darren Harbinson and Dara O'Kearney were not so fortunate and will have to fire another bullet if they wish to advance to Day 2.
The final three opening flights of the Main Event will take place on January 6 at noon, 5 p.m., and 8 p.m. (featuring 30-minute, 25-minute and 15-minute blind levels respectively) with players having to navigate fifteen levels to progress to Day 2. Each player will have a 50,000 starting stack with blinds starting at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante.
Late registration in Day 1c has just closed. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your Main Event coverage.