Viva Les Bleus as Kerrian Wins in Ireland!

The Fitzwilliam Card Club, Dublin, Ireland hosted the APAT 2013 Irish National Poker Championship, where almost 100 runners gathered to play the 2-day deepstack spectacular in the latest event of the APAT Season 7 Calendar.

APAT National Championships always attracts players from far and wide and this event was no exception, as players from the UK travelled to the Emerald Isle to take on the Irish contingent – mainland Europe was also well represented, as players from France, Germany, Poland and even Latvia were in attendance, truly emphasizing APAT’s ever-growing reputation across Europe.

It seemed from the get-go that the French players were determined to stamp their authority on the tournament – Elie Bonnamour taking an early chip lead that would see him well through Day 1 and into Day 2 – indeed of the 27 players who returned for Day 2, France had the biggest number of players remaining – although Dublin native Rachel Samuels held the chip lead overnight on 114,300.

Rachel couldn’t maintain her Day 1 dominance though and fell in 11th place – and when Patrick Piednoel shortly went in 10th just after, we had our Final Table.

Latvian player Sindijs Anspoks and Frenchman Seb Kerrien were the two biggest stacks when play resumed on the Final Table – and though both suffered some highs and lows, both eventually made it to the Heads Up battle to determine the Champion. By this stage, Seb Kerrien had established a 2:1 chip lead over Sindijs, and was relentless in his pursuit of the remaining chips in play – Sindijs seemingly having little answer to Seb’s inexorable pressure. When Sindijs finally did make a stand, Seb still managed to river a straight with K9 spades to best the A3 of Sindijs and here no count was necessary – Seb Kerrien, from Normandy, France was declared the Champion!

The APAT Tour next moves on to the Alea Casino, Glasgow over the weekend of November 2-4th 2013 for the Scottish Amateur Poker Championship. For full details of this event, and to reserve your seat, visit www.apat.com

2013 IRISH AMATEUR POKER CHAMPIONSHIP – RESULT

1 : Seb Kerrien (FRA) €2,020 + APAT Gold Medal + WCOAP Seat
2 : Sindijs Anspoks (LAT) €1,225 + APAT Silver Medal
3 : Don Roberts (ENG) €815 + APAT Bronze Medal
4 : Andrew Duncan (ENG) €525
5 : Frank Piednoel (FRA) €405
6 : Jason Kemp (ENG) €290
7 : David Smith (IRE) €230
8 : Hugh Cairnie (SCOT) €175
9 : Brian Kiely (IRE) €115
10 : Patrick Piednoel (FRA) €50