Joe O’Donaill, who came third to Firaldo in the €1k here back in 2012 and is now sharing a table with Max Silver and Ali Ayub, among others, has seemingly been blessed by the poker gods. A while back I witnessed him doubling up with aces against Michael Weissmann’s AK (Weissmann busted a couple of hands later). Sounds of astonishment drew me back towards his table a round or two later – O’Donaill was raking in another pot, and Ali Ayub was standing up and saying “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before – aces then kings then aces.”
“I live a good Catholic life,” O’Donaill explained as he raked in the chips, his stack now up to a slightly above-average 190k. “I’m going home.”