Comeback King Conway takes down Summer Showdown
The KKPoker Summer Showdown hosted by Doyles Club Limerick took place on Sunday 18th August. The tournament attracted over 50 unique players with 89 total entries creating a prizepool of €15,575 – smashing the €10,000 guarantee.
The tournament attracted players from all over the country along with a strong contingent of Doyles regulars. With the Premier League on the big screen and the burgers on the grill, the players settled in for a long day of poker. Fortunate weather conditions allowed for our first club BBQ with the finest of Wagyu beef burgers being kindly supplied by Wild Atlantic Way Irish Produce.
As the tournament whittled down to two tables with the top 9 paid, all remaining players had their eyes on the final table bubble. The tournament clock read 15 players for an hour before losing Tomas Healy (15th) and Dylan Yip (14th) in quick succession. Jason Landers went out next in 13th followed by Joe O’Neill in 12th and former chip leader Ricky Cosgrove in 11th.
With ten left, a deal was proposed to burst the bubble and pay 10th place. After the formalities of red card/black card, the deal passed and all remaining players were in the money! Galway’s Pete Finnerty failed to add the Summer Showdown title to his collection of honours as he bust in 10th place to give us our final table.
Former Irish Open final tablist Eugeniu Barbaros led the final table, closely followed by the reigning Doyles Series of Poker Champion Kyle Slattery. Lagging way behind everyone with less than a starting stack was Tadhg Conway. The first hand of the final table saw Conway get it in with A8 against the AJ of Frankie McPartland. An 8 on the flop put Conway back in the game and he never looked back from there.
Conway went on to dominate the final table eliminating 7 players. After McPartland bust in 9th place, the pace of play slowed as the remaining players traded blows. Kyle Slattery lost a big flip to bust in 8th and Keith O’Connor followed in 7th. With 6 remaining, Ger O’Brien shoved over a Tadhg Conway open from the button. Conway called and had his opponent pipped as A-10 ran out a winner vs O’Brien’s A-9. Conway also knocked out Tommy O’Loughlin in 5th place when his A-J held up against O’Loughlin’s A-6. Finishing in 4th place for a 4-figure payday was Michael O’Dwyer.
3-handed saw Eddie Ryan on the receiving end of a brutal beat from Conway. After a pre-flop raising war, Conway called Ryan’s all-in. Conway turned up Q-10 suited but was way behind the pocket aces of Ryan. Miraculously, the flop came 10-10-6 and Ryan was out the door in 3rd place for €2100.
As we entered heads-up play, it was the chip leader at the outset of the final table, Eugeniu Barbaros, versus the former short stack, Tadhg Conway. Two local players of fine poker pedigree with some big results last year - Barbaros finished 6th in the Irish Open, while Conway finished 3rd in the Irish Poker Cup in Killarney. With no talk of deals at any stage, the heads-up battle commenced and against all odds, coming back from less than a starting stack, it was Tadhg Conway who emerged victorious to capture the Summer Showdown title and a payday of €5300!
Doyles next €10k guarantee tournament takes place on Sunday 6th October. Join us then for the Limerick Poker Masters!
1st Tadhg Conway €5300
2nd Eugeniu Barbaros €3200
3rd Eddie Ryan €2100
4th Michael O’Dwyer €1400
5th Tommy O’Loughlin €950
6th Ger O’Brien €750
7th Keith O’Connor €600
8th Kyle Slattery €500
9th Frankie McPartland €450
10th Pete Finnerty €325
