ANZPT Melbourne recap- Pat Dillon runs deep!

[Glyn Parsons]

Known to many as the Lucky Irishman, Patrick Dillon is well regarded within the 888PL community, boasting a string of results that have seen him clinch a Victorian Semi Final, Final Table the most recent 888PL Grand Final, and many other solid cashes on the Australian Poker scene to soften the blow of his travel expenses since moving here some time ago.

Over the weekend, the Australian New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) Main Event was held, where 310 players put up the $2200 entry fee all prepared for a long weekend of grinding. It was a rollercoaster day for Patty who was knocked down to less than half his stack within only a few hours, but for the many who know him envy his ability to wield a short stack and for this he was able to quickly recover to an above average stack and nurse this for most of the day. After some incredible laydowns, it was late into the night when Pat made his final stand on the last hand, where he shoved the 9 10, and bricked when an opponent’s pocket eights held. It was around 10.30pm when the chips were bagged, and unfortunately for Pat it was just a mere 3700 in chips- roughly 3 Big Blinds heading into Day Two. For the Irishman though, he still had achieved one of his goals and the famous chip and a chair saying couldn’t ring truer.

After a long nights rest, play resumed and within just two hands he managed to pick up pocket Aces and double. From here there was no stopping him, and after a flurry of double ups Pat found himself in the cash. The top 36 paid, and he was guaranteed a $3,410 payday but that wasn’t good enough and one by one he found himself closer to that elusive Final Table and his first five figure score of his well decorated career.

Showing those on the rail just how much of a short stack specialist he really is, Pat managed to pick up vital chips in crucial spots and quickly the field was whittled down to 15. It was here though when things heated up and we were all on the edge of our feet, as Patty open shipped Queens only to be snapped by the Kings of an opponent who had him well covered. On a flop of (5 5 J) it revealed little hope, and a meaningless J on the turn had Pat praying for a miracle 2 outer on the river. As the dealer peeled the last card, the crowd roared and amazingly it was the Queen of Hearts! After the dust had settled and our voices no longer echoed throughout the poker room, Pat was back in it.

After a few more exits, and another pay jump just twelve remained and the last four hands of the night was called. It was here where Pat made his final stand with AQ, and shoved his short stack into Chipleader Tom Wing’s pocket Sevens but his luck had run out and the board bricked.

Collecting his largest score to date Pat takes home $8,860 and our heartiest congratulations, as this was definitely a story to be told. For the many that know him personally, this funny, kind hearted, all round good guy is well deserving of this achievement and the many more to come in the future!

I should also note that late into play we discovered that the recent APL Victoria Champion Scott Davey still remained and finished in a valiant 14th place for a $7,750 payday. Tom Wing the Chipleader going into the final day of play tomorrow also is well known within the 888PL community and we wish him the best of luck as he looks to claim the $156,000 first prize.

It just goes to show that the Pub Poker Industry breeds fantastic players who are all well on the way to stamping their mark on the Australian scene.

[trishan]

#PatDillion trending on Twitter.

[gmatical]

Gogoogogogogogogogoggogogoogo Tom Wing! Nice fella, 888pl player, TID!

Well done Pat.

[Patrick_Dillon]

Tom Wing playyed awesome awesome poker for 30 hours and just got unlucky that the most aggressive player on the table woke up with a hand on the button.

Great weekend.