Post by muscles on Apr 4, 2008 5:32:58 GMT
"Western People" April 25,2007
Danny holds all the aces after he trumps champs
Cróna Esler caught up with poker ace and Claremorris man Danny McHugh on his way home from Europe’s biggest poker festival to date.
IT HAD BEEN one of those weeks for Claremorris-man Danny McHugh. After posting off a €3,500 Bank Draft for entry in the Irish Poker Open, the 32-year-old was all set for Poker glory, but when the shop went on fire, the Bank Draft got misplaced in the post, the organisers threatened not to hold his seat, and then finally, when he made it within a few miles of the Burlington, all sense of direction left him and he found himself lost in the Capital, many would have seen it as a sign to throw in the towel. However, the charming businessman knew better. He knew that nothing could stand in his way and, having overcome so many obstacles in the four-day lead-up, Danny was sure that fate had led him to the prestigious poker event. As it happens, he was right!
As a student in Sligo in the early 90s, Danny McHugh first tried his hand at poker. At the time, Danny and his College mates weren’t playing for big money but took a stab at every kind of game and every version of poker. When he finished college, Danny left his poker days behind and it wasn’t until November 2005 that he began to get involved once again.
The Garrymore footballer, who oversees the running of Supermacs in Claremorris and Ballinrobe, as well as running his own business at McHugh’s Costcutters and Supermacs in Ballindine, struck up a friend-ship in 2005 with the new proprietor of Hanley’s Bar in Clare-morris, Eamonn Walsh. When Eamonn decided to run a few poker nights in the popular Claremorris venue, Danny was easily roped in and before long, Texas Holdem had taken Clare-morris by storm, with Danny, by now, hooked on the weekly game.
“I’d never played in a proper tournament before but when Eamonn asked me if I’d like to play, I said I’d have a go for the crack. I’d nearly forgotten the rules at that stage and I remember the first night I joined the game, I nearly went home as soon as I arrived. When the Hanley’s League started in January ‘06, I was back in the swing of things and in the inaugural league, I qualified for final, finishing 7th,” Danny recalled.
As the months passed, Danny began to play a bit online and by the time the next tournament began, the crowds had increased. In the second tournament, Danny was ready to take on the big boys and ended up winning out the tournament overall. Danny credits his ongoing improvement to Hanley’s Poker League.
“Playing with good players makes you better. It’s like football, if you’re playing with and against good players, you have to up your own game and that’s how you progress. Poker is taken very seriously in Hanley’s but it’s more pride that you’re playing for, rather than money. When Eamonn won the third league, he turned around and put the money back into the next game that was being played. It’s about the pride and the bragging rights!” smiled Danny.
Earlier this year, Danny and Eamonn set their sights on the Irish Poker Open and when two local players (Niall Higgins and Brendan McHugh) won tickets for the big game, the lads were even more enthused. The week before the event, Eamonn scooped a ticket of his own in a poker game and this spurred Danny on a little more. “I had my mind made up three months ago. And even though Easter would be one of our busiest times of the year at work, I had my heart set on the Irish Open. I hadn’t missed an Easter at work in 12years but I knew I couldn’t let the opportunity slide so on the Tuesday before the game, I got a 3,500 Bank Draft and Eamonn sent it off by Swift Post. The entry had to be received by Wednesday morning, so I was still in time,” Danny explained.
However, the process didn’t exactly run smoothly for the genial Danny. “I was rushing to Castlebar on Tuesday afternoon to do some business when my phone rang. Supermacs in Ballinrobe had gone on fire. By the time I got to Ballinrobe, the Fire Brigade had taken care of it, but the shop was destroyed with foam and smoke and it didn’t look too promising. Together with a group of the staff, we worked non-stop to get a new fryer and get the place re-opened the next day. On Wednesday, I was just beginning to relax again when we got a call from Dublin to say the Bank Draft hadn’t arrived and the organisers were pulling my entry,” Danny told the Western People.
Immediately, Eamonn took charge of the situation and pushed it with the organisers. Eventually, they agreed to hold Danny’s seat. “There were more than 100 people on the waiting list but because Eamonn was courteous and handled it in a professional manner, they believed us and held my place. The only catch was that I’d have to show up with another 3,500 on Friday, so we rustled it together and set out for Dublin,” Danny remarked.
By this stage, the two friends had overcome quite a few hurdles to get to the Poker Open, not least assuring Danny’s wife Emily and Eamonn’s fiancée Caroline that they wouldn’t let them down on their previouslyarranged trip to London. The four were due to fly out on Sunday morning, but that lads were certain that they’d make it home in time.
After getting lost in Dublin and getting Niall Higgins to find them, they made their way to the Burlington to register and, once again, there was a hiccup awaiting! “My name wasn’t on the list for the competition so we had to go through the whole saga again. Then, just as we were queuing to pay, Dave Cole-clough, Dave ‘the Devilfish’ Ulliot and Roland de Wolfe walked past and it was surreal. That’s when it really hit us. We had come this far and nothing would stop us giving the game our best shot,” stated Danny.
In total, 708 players registered to play in the event and with 71 tables dotted across the hall, the pressure was mounting for all involved. Play commenced at
3.30pm and Eamonn found himself at Roland de Wolfe’s table. “It was out of this world to be sitting at the same table as de Wolfe and at that stage, I thought it would be the highlight of the trip. Little did we know that three days later Danny would be sitting alongside him at the final table,” Eamonn commented.
Meanwhile, across the hall, Danny was beside a guy from Sligo and, after 20mins, the Sligo man turned to Danny and said ‘do you realise we’re sitting here with six professionals’. “I hadn’t a clue who they were but I wasn’t phased. We had been thinking up our strategies all week and I was content to play my normal game,” Danny confided.
Halfway through Friday, the Mayo contingent met to discuss what was happening. Eamonn and Niall were up to 16,000 chips, Brendan McHugh was at 13,000 and Danny had about 7,000. “I was a bit tilting at that stage, as they call it, and I was worried that I was down a bit. The lads assured me that anything could happen and it did. I made a good comeback after the break and built up to about 17,000,” Danny said.
But, the Claremorris-man was about to suffer a hit. “Padraig Parkinson came into my table and sat to left of me so I was going into his big blind. We were playing for a while and was everything going ok. He was a bit low-stacked and I wasn’t attacking him too much, respecting him because of who he was. When it came to the last hand before the last break of the day, I had an Ace and Ten suited on the button, Parkinson was on the small blind and I thought I’d have a crack at the professionals. I put in a good raise and Parkinson re-raised me. He was low on chips and I wondered was he just making a move to try and get a pot. I re-raised him all-in, he had 9,000chips and he called instantly. He had a pair of aces and took all the chips,” Danny noted.
But, Danny was impressed by the attitudes of the professionals. “Straight away, Parkinson could see I was devastated, he came up to me and said ‘look, don’t worry, you still have chips, you’re playing well, don’t be put off by it’. I couldn’t believe it, none of the professionals were looking down their noses at the amateur players and there isn’t another sport in the world like that. Even guys who make the Mayo Senior Football team, all of a sudden become super stars and barely acknowledge you in the street. These guys are multi-millionaires and they’ll invite you for a pint afterwards. All they love is poker, they’re looking for the bragging rights too!” Danny pointed out.
By the end of Friday, the rest of the ‘Mayo Mob’, as they had become known, had been knocked out. But Danny was as cool as ice. Making real progress on Saturday, he was in the top 15% of players. However, he suffered another blow towards the end and headed into Sunday in 36th position out of 41players.
On Sunday morning, Danny was drawn at the Feature Table. On his first hand, Danny drew a King Queen suited and was delighted after being re-raised all-in to find a King. Now, Danny was really back on track.
Towards the end of the day, the game was down to two tables and players were slowing slipping away. “I was up to about
25,000 prizemoney and I spoke to Eamonn. He kept saying ‘you can win this’ and I know I was in with a great chance,” he remarked.
Throughout the weekend, Eamonn was Danny’s right-hand man and watched closely for tips and pointers to help his mate along. “At one stage, Eamonn called me and mentioned that sometimes when I looked at my cards, I was acting a bit casual if I hadn’t a good hand. He told me de Wolfe was watching me and raising into me when he saw this. I had to turn it around. A couple of hands later, I was on the big blind and I had Ace King. I sat back, looked up at lights, at the camera, anywhere but at him. Thinking I was bluffing, he put the big raise into me and immediately I came back with all-in. He was confused, didn’t know what was happening. He thought about it and folded away. A few hands later, I was on big blind again and got King Nine, which wasn’t great. But, I sat up immediately and looked confident. De Wolfe raised and I reraised him all-in. He was convinced that I had a ‘monster hand’ and he folded. I had outplayed one of the top professionals and had certainly gained his respect,” Danny beamed.
By Monday morning, Danny was in dreamland but, even with a guaranteed 75,000 in his pocket, he wasn’t going to decrease the pressure. “It was down to seven of us and we were playing for a lot of money. I was playing solid poker and I think most of them couldn’t really figure me out. If you looked like the novice, you were straight away going to be bullied. Every hour or so, I’d talk to Eamonn and get his view. I had made more money than I had ever dreamed of making, but I was aiming for the title, not the cash and to be honest, I was fairly confident,” Danny grinned.
Three hours into the game, one player fell and within an hour, two more were gone. It was down to four players and that’s when they decided to do a deal. By now, Danny was guaranteed
175,000 and when his chips were taken into an account, he was allocated 291,000.
“That was nearly second place money and 291,000 was a great bundle. I was actually given
291,000 plus 25,000, but we were each putting 25,000 back in towards the 1st place and the dealer tips,” he explained.
With the deal done, Danny was now guaranteed 291,000 and the most he could make on top of this was the additional 100,000 for first place. It was make or break for the Claremorris man and lying in fourth place with the leader way out in front, Danny took his chance.
“De Wolfe had been raising all the time, raising under the gun and playing aggressive poker. I was dealt an Ace Nine and when he raised me, I re-raised him allin. It was my one big chance, if I had taken all his chips, I’d have been up at joint first and would have been in contention for the extra 100,000. De Wolfe thought for about 10minutes, then called me with pocket fives. It was a bit of a loose call on his part but I didn’t hit and it was all over for me. I don’t regret it though. I knew that would be my only chance, I had to try to take all his chips to be in with a shout,” Danny noted.
Looking back on the game now, Danny can only think of one wrong move he made throughout the whole game and, after playing up to 1,500 hands, that’s not bad!
But, just because Danny’s game was over, the Mayo crew didn’t just hit for the bar. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, they returned to watch the remainder of the game. “It was all about the poker. That’s what we were there for after all,” Danny reasoned.
From London, Caroline had booked the pair on a Tuesday-morning flight and when Eamonn and Danny jumped into a taxi at Luton Airport, the driver didn’t know what to make of them.
“It was the first time we got a chance to talk about the money and the taxi driver was looking at us thinking ‘are these guys for real’. There he was, with two young fellas with Mayo accents talking about winning major money and major poker tournaments. I’d say he thought he was about to get a huge tip!” laughed Danny.
For the remained of their stay in London, the lads nearly drove the girls wild talking about poker and what they had achieved. “The first pact we made was that every Easter, from now until the rest of our lives, we’re going to play in the Irish Poker Open. We’re never working an Easter again,” pledged Danny.
After getting over the initial shock, Danny set his sights on the World Series of Poker in Los Vegas. “That was a definite until I realised that it’s happening at the end of June and that’s around the time that Emily is due to have our first baby. As well as that, Eamonn’s Stag Night is at the beginning of July, so there’s too much happening. I’ll have to forget that one for this year at least,” Danny conceded.
For now, Danny is concentrating on winning the current Hanley’s Poker League. “I have a 1st, 2nd and 7th from the first three tournaments so I’m hoping to make a mark on this one. It’s all about local pride too,” he grinned.
As a duo, Danny and Eamonn are looking into taking part in a few European Poker Tournaments and will certainly be travelling the local circuit in the coming months. Moreover, Danny is adamant that he’s not going to sit on what he has achieved and has a few deals in the pipeline.
“We’re currently looking at setting up an Online Local Poker Website for the Mayo Mob and we’ve a few more plans up our sleeves,” he admitted.
Needless to say, Danny was inundated with messages of support from family, friends and well-wishers during his time in Dublin.
And even now, the messages are continuing to flow in. The Garrymore footballer is enjoying his new-found fame and revelling in the attention. However, what the future holds for Danny McHugh is anybody’s guess and of course, as with every good poker player, Danny is keeping his cards very close to his chest!
Danny holds all the aces after he trumps champs
Cróna Esler caught up with poker ace and Claremorris man Danny McHugh on his way home from Europe’s biggest poker festival to date.
IT HAD BEEN one of those weeks for Claremorris-man Danny McHugh. After posting off a €3,500 Bank Draft for entry in the Irish Poker Open, the 32-year-old was all set for Poker glory, but when the shop went on fire, the Bank Draft got misplaced in the post, the organisers threatened not to hold his seat, and then finally, when he made it within a few miles of the Burlington, all sense of direction left him and he found himself lost in the Capital, many would have seen it as a sign to throw in the towel. However, the charming businessman knew better. He knew that nothing could stand in his way and, having overcome so many obstacles in the four-day lead-up, Danny was sure that fate had led him to the prestigious poker event. As it happens, he was right!
As a student in Sligo in the early 90s, Danny McHugh first tried his hand at poker. At the time, Danny and his College mates weren’t playing for big money but took a stab at every kind of game and every version of poker. When he finished college, Danny left his poker days behind and it wasn’t until November 2005 that he began to get involved once again.
The Garrymore footballer, who oversees the running of Supermacs in Claremorris and Ballinrobe, as well as running his own business at McHugh’s Costcutters and Supermacs in Ballindine, struck up a friend-ship in 2005 with the new proprietor of Hanley’s Bar in Clare-morris, Eamonn Walsh. When Eamonn decided to run a few poker nights in the popular Claremorris venue, Danny was easily roped in and before long, Texas Holdem had taken Clare-morris by storm, with Danny, by now, hooked on the weekly game.
“I’d never played in a proper tournament before but when Eamonn asked me if I’d like to play, I said I’d have a go for the crack. I’d nearly forgotten the rules at that stage and I remember the first night I joined the game, I nearly went home as soon as I arrived. When the Hanley’s League started in January ‘06, I was back in the swing of things and in the inaugural league, I qualified for final, finishing 7th,” Danny recalled.
As the months passed, Danny began to play a bit online and by the time the next tournament began, the crowds had increased. In the second tournament, Danny was ready to take on the big boys and ended up winning out the tournament overall. Danny credits his ongoing improvement to Hanley’s Poker League.
“Playing with good players makes you better. It’s like football, if you’re playing with and against good players, you have to up your own game and that’s how you progress. Poker is taken very seriously in Hanley’s but it’s more pride that you’re playing for, rather than money. When Eamonn won the third league, he turned around and put the money back into the next game that was being played. It’s about the pride and the bragging rights!” smiled Danny.
Earlier this year, Danny and Eamonn set their sights on the Irish Poker Open and when two local players (Niall Higgins and Brendan McHugh) won tickets for the big game, the lads were even more enthused. The week before the event, Eamonn scooped a ticket of his own in a poker game and this spurred Danny on a little more. “I had my mind made up three months ago. And even though Easter would be one of our busiest times of the year at work, I had my heart set on the Irish Open. I hadn’t missed an Easter at work in 12years but I knew I couldn’t let the opportunity slide so on the Tuesday before the game, I got a 3,500 Bank Draft and Eamonn sent it off by Swift Post. The entry had to be received by Wednesday morning, so I was still in time,” Danny explained.
However, the process didn’t exactly run smoothly for the genial Danny. “I was rushing to Castlebar on Tuesday afternoon to do some business when my phone rang. Supermacs in Ballinrobe had gone on fire. By the time I got to Ballinrobe, the Fire Brigade had taken care of it, but the shop was destroyed with foam and smoke and it didn’t look too promising. Together with a group of the staff, we worked non-stop to get a new fryer and get the place re-opened the next day. On Wednesday, I was just beginning to relax again when we got a call from Dublin to say the Bank Draft hadn’t arrived and the organisers were pulling my entry,” Danny told the Western People.
Immediately, Eamonn took charge of the situation and pushed it with the organisers. Eventually, they agreed to hold Danny’s seat. “There were more than 100 people on the waiting list but because Eamonn was courteous and handled it in a professional manner, they believed us and held my place. The only catch was that I’d have to show up with another 3,500 on Friday, so we rustled it together and set out for Dublin,” Danny remarked.
By this stage, the two friends had overcome quite a few hurdles to get to the Poker Open, not least assuring Danny’s wife Emily and Eamonn’s fiancée Caroline that they wouldn’t let them down on their previouslyarranged trip to London. The four were due to fly out on Sunday morning, but that lads were certain that they’d make it home in time.
After getting lost in Dublin and getting Niall Higgins to find them, they made their way to the Burlington to register and, once again, there was a hiccup awaiting! “My name wasn’t on the list for the competition so we had to go through the whole saga again. Then, just as we were queuing to pay, Dave Cole-clough, Dave ‘the Devilfish’ Ulliot and Roland de Wolfe walked past and it was surreal. That’s when it really hit us. We had come this far and nothing would stop us giving the game our best shot,” stated Danny.
In total, 708 players registered to play in the event and with 71 tables dotted across the hall, the pressure was mounting for all involved. Play commenced at
3.30pm and Eamonn found himself at Roland de Wolfe’s table. “It was out of this world to be sitting at the same table as de Wolfe and at that stage, I thought it would be the highlight of the trip. Little did we know that three days later Danny would be sitting alongside him at the final table,” Eamonn commented.
Meanwhile, across the hall, Danny was beside a guy from Sligo and, after 20mins, the Sligo man turned to Danny and said ‘do you realise we’re sitting here with six professionals’. “I hadn’t a clue who they were but I wasn’t phased. We had been thinking up our strategies all week and I was content to play my normal game,” Danny confided.
Halfway through Friday, the Mayo contingent met to discuss what was happening. Eamonn and Niall were up to 16,000 chips, Brendan McHugh was at 13,000 and Danny had about 7,000. “I was a bit tilting at that stage, as they call it, and I was worried that I was down a bit. The lads assured me that anything could happen and it did. I made a good comeback after the break and built up to about 17,000,” Danny said.
But, the Claremorris-man was about to suffer a hit. “Padraig Parkinson came into my table and sat to left of me so I was going into his big blind. We were playing for a while and was everything going ok. He was a bit low-stacked and I wasn’t attacking him too much, respecting him because of who he was. When it came to the last hand before the last break of the day, I had an Ace and Ten suited on the button, Parkinson was on the small blind and I thought I’d have a crack at the professionals. I put in a good raise and Parkinson re-raised me. He was low on chips and I wondered was he just making a move to try and get a pot. I re-raised him all-in, he had 9,000chips and he called instantly. He had a pair of aces and took all the chips,” Danny noted.
But, Danny was impressed by the attitudes of the professionals. “Straight away, Parkinson could see I was devastated, he came up to me and said ‘look, don’t worry, you still have chips, you’re playing well, don’t be put off by it’. I couldn’t believe it, none of the professionals were looking down their noses at the amateur players and there isn’t another sport in the world like that. Even guys who make the Mayo Senior Football team, all of a sudden become super stars and barely acknowledge you in the street. These guys are multi-millionaires and they’ll invite you for a pint afterwards. All they love is poker, they’re looking for the bragging rights too!” Danny pointed out.
By the end of Friday, the rest of the ‘Mayo Mob’, as they had become known, had been knocked out. But Danny was as cool as ice. Making real progress on Saturday, he was in the top 15% of players. However, he suffered another blow towards the end and headed into Sunday in 36th position out of 41players.
On Sunday morning, Danny was drawn at the Feature Table. On his first hand, Danny drew a King Queen suited and was delighted after being re-raised all-in to find a King. Now, Danny was really back on track.
Towards the end of the day, the game was down to two tables and players were slowing slipping away. “I was up to about
25,000 prizemoney and I spoke to Eamonn. He kept saying ‘you can win this’ and I know I was in with a great chance,” he remarked.
Throughout the weekend, Eamonn was Danny’s right-hand man and watched closely for tips and pointers to help his mate along. “At one stage, Eamonn called me and mentioned that sometimes when I looked at my cards, I was acting a bit casual if I hadn’t a good hand. He told me de Wolfe was watching me and raising into me when he saw this. I had to turn it around. A couple of hands later, I was on the big blind and I had Ace King. I sat back, looked up at lights, at the camera, anywhere but at him. Thinking I was bluffing, he put the big raise into me and immediately I came back with all-in. He was confused, didn’t know what was happening. He thought about it and folded away. A few hands later, I was on big blind again and got King Nine, which wasn’t great. But, I sat up immediately and looked confident. De Wolfe raised and I reraised him all-in. He was convinced that I had a ‘monster hand’ and he folded. I had outplayed one of the top professionals and had certainly gained his respect,” Danny beamed.
By Monday morning, Danny was in dreamland but, even with a guaranteed 75,000 in his pocket, he wasn’t going to decrease the pressure. “It was down to seven of us and we were playing for a lot of money. I was playing solid poker and I think most of them couldn’t really figure me out. If you looked like the novice, you were straight away going to be bullied. Every hour or so, I’d talk to Eamonn and get his view. I had made more money than I had ever dreamed of making, but I was aiming for the title, not the cash and to be honest, I was fairly confident,” Danny grinned.
Three hours into the game, one player fell and within an hour, two more were gone. It was down to four players and that’s when they decided to do a deal. By now, Danny was guaranteed
175,000 and when his chips were taken into an account, he was allocated 291,000.
“That was nearly second place money and 291,000 was a great bundle. I was actually given
291,000 plus 25,000, but we were each putting 25,000 back in towards the 1st place and the dealer tips,” he explained.
With the deal done, Danny was now guaranteed 291,000 and the most he could make on top of this was the additional 100,000 for first place. It was make or break for the Claremorris man and lying in fourth place with the leader way out in front, Danny took his chance.
“De Wolfe had been raising all the time, raising under the gun and playing aggressive poker. I was dealt an Ace Nine and when he raised me, I re-raised him allin. It was my one big chance, if I had taken all his chips, I’d have been up at joint first and would have been in contention for the extra 100,000. De Wolfe thought for about 10minutes, then called me with pocket fives. It was a bit of a loose call on his part but I didn’t hit and it was all over for me. I don’t regret it though. I knew that would be my only chance, I had to try to take all his chips to be in with a shout,” Danny noted.
Looking back on the game now, Danny can only think of one wrong move he made throughout the whole game and, after playing up to 1,500 hands, that’s not bad!
But, just because Danny’s game was over, the Mayo crew didn’t just hit for the bar. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, they returned to watch the remainder of the game. “It was all about the poker. That’s what we were there for after all,” Danny reasoned.
From London, Caroline had booked the pair on a Tuesday-morning flight and when Eamonn and Danny jumped into a taxi at Luton Airport, the driver didn’t know what to make of them.
“It was the first time we got a chance to talk about the money and the taxi driver was looking at us thinking ‘are these guys for real’. There he was, with two young fellas with Mayo accents talking about winning major money and major poker tournaments. I’d say he thought he was about to get a huge tip!” laughed Danny.
For the remained of their stay in London, the lads nearly drove the girls wild talking about poker and what they had achieved. “The first pact we made was that every Easter, from now until the rest of our lives, we’re going to play in the Irish Poker Open. We’re never working an Easter again,” pledged Danny.
After getting over the initial shock, Danny set his sights on the World Series of Poker in Los Vegas. “That was a definite until I realised that it’s happening at the end of June and that’s around the time that Emily is due to have our first baby. As well as that, Eamonn’s Stag Night is at the beginning of July, so there’s too much happening. I’ll have to forget that one for this year at least,” Danny conceded.
For now, Danny is concentrating on winning the current Hanley’s Poker League. “I have a 1st, 2nd and 7th from the first three tournaments so I’m hoping to make a mark on this one. It’s all about local pride too,” he grinned.
As a duo, Danny and Eamonn are looking into taking part in a few European Poker Tournaments and will certainly be travelling the local circuit in the coming months. Moreover, Danny is adamant that he’s not going to sit on what he has achieved and has a few deals in the pipeline.
“We’re currently looking at setting up an Online Local Poker Website for the Mayo Mob and we’ve a few more plans up our sleeves,” he admitted.
Needless to say, Danny was inundated with messages of support from family, friends and well-wishers during his time in Dublin.
And even now, the messages are continuing to flow in. The Garrymore footballer is enjoying his new-found fame and revelling in the attention. However, what the future holds for Danny McHugh is anybody’s guess and of course, as with every good poker player, Danny is keeping his cards very close to his chest!