Black Is Back on Top but Molenaar Strikes for the Dutch
Andy Black has confirmed himself as Ireland’s best poker player with a final table finish in the inaugural Irish Poker Festival MILLIONS main event. The Belfast-born Dublin-based player took fifth position in the Irish Open in April and complimented that result with a third-placed effort in a World Series of Poker bracelet in the summer.
Black’s latest final table added another €28,000 to his 2023 earnings. He returned to the top of the Ireland All-Time Money List during the year. His $5,147,047 puts him over $100,000 ahead of Max Silver and $1.3 million ahead of third-placed Marty Smyth. Neither player is currently on the ‘active list’.
The ‘in-form’ Michel Molenaar shows off his Irish Poker Festival MILLIONS main event winner’s trophy. ©BrianÓhÉideáin/PartyPoker
The Irish Poker Festival MILLIONS main event fell to Dutch player Michel Molenaar. Securing second place in the Hydra High Roller and third spot in the Mystery Bounty event at the recent Party Poker MILLIONS Malta Festival, the winner has been in sensational form in recent months.
In outlasting a quality field of 286 players, Molenaar landed a career-best cash of €210,000 in the Dublin event. In total, 2023 has provided the 24-year-old with 21 in-the-money finishes. He now sits in 45th position in the Dutch All-Time Money List.
Peters, the Dutch Master in Rozvadov
Amongst the top-ten players on the Dutch list is Tobias Peters. He, too, has had a month to remember. In an amazing seven-day spell, starting on October 31, the veteran cashed four times at the ongoing World Series of Poker Europe event in Rozvadov, in the Czech Republic.
Appearing at three final tables – most notably taking fifth position in the € 500 No Limit Hold ’em WSOPE Colossus that featured 2,453 entries and 983 re-entries – he landed the biggest payday of his career 72 hours later when netting €153,450 and a winner’s bracelet in the €1,500 6-Max No Limit Hold ’em competition.
The World Series of Poker Europe’s €10,000 entry main event will conclude this week. The festival, comprising of 15 bracelet events, has so far been a genuinely cosmopolitan affair. The first ten tournaments have provided winners from eight different countries. Slovakia’s Lukas Pazma set the ball rolling with success in the €315 entry €1 million guaranteed curtain-raising event.
Since then, Sweden’s Omar Eljach and Tobias Garp, Greek player Sokratis Linaras, Hong Kong’s Hok Lee and Wing Po Liu, Italy’s Ermanno Di Nicola, Canadian Daniel Dvoress, Lithuania’s Dainius Antanaitis and the aforementioned Dutchman, Tobias Peters, have all collected a winner’s bracelet.
The Poker Show Is Never Over
Despite the year drawing to an end, the poker calendar remains congested. Amongst the European highlights in the coming weeks is Amsterdam’s Master Classics of Poker. One of the oldest poker events in the world, it will run until November 18. A festival supporting the Grand Final of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour at the famous Grosvenor Victoria London starts five days later.
Belgium may not be renowned as a poker hotbed. Still, between November 20 and December 3, Circus Casino Resort in the Belgian city of Namur promises €2 million in guarantees across a series of 44 tournaments with entries ranging between €95 and €2,200.
