Louise: From The Irish Open to The KO Series

The Irish Poker Open

The Irish Open is my favourite poker festival. Last month I got to attend the partypoker LIVE sponsored festival for the second time and had an amazing week!

This festival is special to me for a few reasons. It has pretty much everything a poker player could want- a great social scene, an awesome choice of events and a super friendly crowd. Also, every Irish player dreams of winning this one :)

Daiva Byrne, Katie Swift, Louise Butler and Charlie Godwin

When I first attended it last year I was on a serious heater online, had a decent run in the main and came second in the Ladies event which was streamed. It was one of the best weeks of my poker career. I met a lot of Irish players who were super sweet and supportive of me. It felt lovely and I really appreciated it. I was also really impressed by the main event structure- arguably the best you can find for a 1k.

When I started playing poker I really looked up to a lot of the Irish guys I’d see on Pocketfives Ireland and I’d lurk-rail them to try to work out how they were so good. I still get a buzz getting to play against these guys and they all attend the Irish Open. Poker is a funny world because even though I admire a lot of players I get to meet and/or play against, I’m not someone who tells anyone this or introduces myself- I think lots of players are the same. It’s pretty funny playing with someone you’ve admired for years but they don’t have any idea that you even know their online screen name.

Making Memories with Good Friends

The poker side of things didn’t go great this time around. I had a huge stack in the Hendon Mob Championship with 30 players left but ran bad and bust in 21st. I made day two of the main on one bullet. Sadly, I bust in an unavoidable spot pretty early in the day.

The week was still fun-filled which is the main thing I look for when I go to live events. I stayed in a really nice apartment with Charlie Godwin, Katie Swift and Daiva Byrne which was so chilled and fun. I got to catch up with lots of other friends and meet some lovely new people. Making memories with friends and having a laugh is more important than running well anyway :)

The Online Grind

The last few weeks have gone well online. I had a good Powerfest and have been learning and playing a lot of Short Deck. It’s such a fun action game :) I binked the $55 Gladiator last night which felt like a good way to get ready for the KO Series which starts today!

Yummy Bounties

The KO Series

The KO events running during the KO Series have some huge guarantees especially the Championship Events which include 2 x $320 buy-in tournaments with $1 million GTEs. There’s sure to be some good value for players. partypoker changed bounty tournaments for the better by improving the payout structures and removing rake on the bounty element. I loved these changes and I think this series will be really popular and fun! Hope to see you at the tables :)