Farewell old friend

I arrived in Barcelona to the sad new that Liam Flood had passed away. Liam had been there done that warned the t-shirt when it came to poker and gambling. I used to meet him probably every 4/6 months for lunch in Howards Way and I’d fill him in on the latest gossip in the Irish poker community and in return he give me a bit of poker life coaching, not that I ever took it on board but it was nice to know how I was going to fuck up and his prophecies came through more often than not. I was in there last Thursday and text him to say I was off on a 3 week trip but lets have lunch when I got back……
Liam did a lot for poker in Ireland namely keeping the Irish Open alive and helping it grow but he was also very kind to the community. He didn’t broadcast it but he went out of his way to help plenty of financially distressed players where he was on little more than a hiding to nothing. He could also play and the older he got the faster he played. He certainly wasn’t your stereotypical old guy, he could rival any Scandinavian kid with his 3/4/5 betting stats. Irish poker has lost its Grandad.
Played 2 events in Barcelona so far where the numbers have been absolutely insane. The opening event got 2700 runners and each event is selling out. I bust 20 minutes before the end of day 1 in the 1k after losing a series of flips. I got up early today and played an 11.30 satellite to the EPT Main Event. I was looking good for a ticket before losing JJ v KJ in a pot for a guaranteed ticket, lost another flip to put the final nail in the coffin and exit in 25th place with 21 tickets. Here for 8 more days and there loads of good tournaments every day so hopefully I can get a good run in something. Loads of Irish about so hopefully there will be a score or 2 to report.