Daniel Afrasinei Enjoys Macasino with slotsiden Victory in IPT Athlone €40K in a Day Main Event

Table Of Contents

• IPT Athlone €40K in a Day Main Event Final Table Results
• The Monster Is Up Next; Over €350,000 Guaranteed

The Irish Poker Tour (IPT) was in Athlone over the weekend, the home of Sean's Bar, Ireland's oldest bar, for the €40K in a Day mini-festival. All eyes were on the €200 buy-in, €40,000 guaranteed one-day Main Event that shuffled up and dealt at 1:00 p.m. BST on April 5. Almost exactly 14 hours later, Romania's Daniel Afrasinei emerged victoriously, having left a trail of 254 opponents in his wake.

This was Afrasinei's maiden live poker victory, and it earned him €10,300. You'll have to ask the Romanian how much of that prize money ended up at Sean's Bar!

IPT Athlone €40K in a Day Main Event Final Table Results

The top 26 finishers share the guarantee-busting €41,615 prize pool. A min-cash weighed in at €400, with a final table appearance locking in at least €1,170. That second sum is how much Dave Kingston collected when he bowed out in ninth place. Kingston has previous in IPT one-day events, having finished third in the €12K in a Day during the Galway Winter Festival in December 2024.

Marius Kukis added another four-figure prize to his Hendon Mob profile, €1,345, for his eighth-place finish. Sean Godley secured €1,610 after falling in seventh; that prize was his third-largest live poker tournament haul.

Sixth place and €1,970 went to Paddy Kelly, who, in March, finished fifth in the IPT €100K For €100 in Dublin for a career-best €3,800.

A player known simply as Vlad was eliminated in fifth for €2,440 before Anthony Crampton ran out of steam and found himself heading for the cashier's desk with a slip for the €3,160 fourth-place prize money. Crampton has become a regular on the IPT and enjoyed his first victory in March in a €150 MonsterStack event for €2,428.

The Athlone €40K in a Day became an all-male affair after the untimely demise of Louise Kavanagh in third. Kavangh's sixth recorded live score, and her first of 2025, weighed in at €4,300, almost four times larger than her previous best.

Afrasinei and John Fannon fought it out heads-up for the title. Fannon fell at the final hurdle, as he did in the €300 Killarney 300 last September. Fannon received €6,500 for his bridesmaid finish, leaving Afrasinei to scoop his first live cash, one tipping the scales at €10,300.

The Monster Is Up Next; Over €350,000 Guaranteed

The next Irish Poker Tour stop is only a few weeks away with the 2025 edition of The Monster scheduled for April 30 through May 5. The Green Isle Hotel in Dublin hosts The Monster, which has combined guarantees in excess of €350,000. A cool €250,000 of that sum is reserved for the €150 buy-in Main Event.

Twelve months ago, the Monster drew in 1,858 entrants, who created a €223,560 prize pool. Because it smashed its €200,000 guarantee, the Irish Poker Tour has increased this year's Monster guarantee by €50,000!

Peter Burnett is the reigning champion, having come out on top in 2024. Burnett banked €25,125 after a three-handed deal involving runner-up Massimo Pacini (€27,365), and third-place finisher Carl Cullen (€26,500).

Satellites for the Monster are running online at Paddy Power Poker, PartyPoker, and Unibet Poker. Get involved and see if you can tame the Irish Poker Tour's Monster!