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Several eyebrows were raised when I was asked to captain and select an Irish team to take part in this year's Poker Nation's Cup. I think the reason I was chosen as captain was so that the captain wouldn't have to worry about me! Several more eyebrows were raised when I named my team.
To me, it looked pretty easy. I had to pick four guys: I automatically phoned Donnacha and told him we needed him. He didn't take a lot of persuading. Liam Flood was next. He has a great TV record at this kind of event and many considered his fourth place finish in last year's Poker Million a lot less than his aggressive play deserved. It took him about a second to join the team. I didn't even bother to phone Ciaran O'Leary because I knew he'd swim the Atlantic to play for Ireland and his bracelet win in 2007 earned him a chance. I was running a few names through my head for the last spot on the team when Véronique piped up "What about Marty Smyth? Or is he from the North?"
When I thought about it, of course she was right. After all, an Irish Open and two final tables in the Poker Million was good enough for me, so I phoned Marty straight away before UK captain Roland De Wolfe worked out where Belfast was. I probably didn't need to act too quickly, but I was afraid somebody might tell him.
When it came to the tournament, I was delighted with the team because the first thing they all did was to make Darren, our internet qualifier, feel very much a part of it. Don and Liam gave him some sound advice and Marty and Ciaran kept him up drinking for half the night. No surprises there, though after that things started to go downhill. Don, Liam and Marty got less points in their heats then they would have got if they didn't show up, but Ciaran and the Darren kept us in it and in the final Donnacha came within a river of winning it for us.
I was delighted when three of the team and Donnacha's son incredibly made it to the Poker Million final and headed over to the party. I got to sit beside Liffey, which made concentrating on what was going on a little tricky, but from what I could see all our lads did themselves proud and were a credit to Irish poker.
Time and time again, when a guy goes down very low in chips, I've heard people talk about Jack Strauss coming back from one chip to win the World Series and time and time again, the low stack gets knocked out before the story is finished. Fair play to Jack Strauss, but he didn't do it live on TV. Our Marty did and it's an achievement that will be talked about for a long time because it was virtually impossible. While it was going on, I was introduced to Marty's parents. It's not too difficult to work out where he learnt what class was all about. His dad told me that he once had Marty up against the wall with a hand on his throat while he explained the folly of spending too much time in bookmaker's shops, though he admitted that as usual Marty never listened to a word he said.
I spoke to Liam at length after his exit and to Eoghan and Ciaran in the bar afterwards. They were all magnanimous in defeat, but if you've been there and have had your heart broken, the eyes never lie. I gather the party ran well into yesterday but I left at 4.00 am because Liffey was looking a bit wobbly. When he told the cab driver that taking a minicab was "taking your hands in your life", it looked like a good decision.
Comments (1)
brilliant night's viewing, congrats to Marty