Friday, 29th March 2024 14:09
Home / Uncategorized / 2015 ACOP Day 1A: Darts ’til dawn

What better way to celebrate ACOP Main Event Eve than with a different type of tournament?

That seemed to be the sentiment last night as poker players packed the Music World Karaoke Bar for some competitive games of darts and dice.

The drinks were flowing and the tensions high as everyone was chasing the elusive trophies on offer.

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APPT President Danny McDonagh was doing the rounds and signing up anyone willing to join the competition. Play was split into a number of heads up matches with the loser of each frozen out of the running. The winners would play on until ultimately only one remained.

While the darts action kicked off in the front room, the lounge at the back was opened up for the dice contest. Players were sharing drinks and laughs but it was serious business with egos and of course the trophy on the line.

The APPT Media Coordinator and legendary Australian poker writer Heath Chick was in fine form. He dispatched three adversaries at the dart board before drawing McDonagh in the semi-finals. It was a heated match and PokerNews reporter Nicki Pickering gave the play-by-play over the microphone. Chick had a couple of chances to seal the win but after some near misses the window opened for McDonagh to sneak through and steal a victory.

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By the early hours of the morning two darts competitions had played out. It was Gary Tan who emerged as the champion in the first. He made a finals appearance after subbing in for McDonagh and proved himself too good for Tim English. The second contest went the way of Jonathan Karamalikis who overcame Kunal Patni in the final match of the night. Both Tan and Karamalikis earned themselves official darts champion trophies for their efforts.

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Jonathan Karamalikis and Kunal Patni
The dice competition raged on in the back room but the poker reporting contingent headed back to the hotel to rest for a long day ahead this afternoon. And that day is winding down now as we approach the later stages of Day 1A of the ACOP Main Event.

We’ll get back to the action. Be sure to keep your browser locked to the PokerStars Blog for a full recap of everything from the felt today. In the meantime you can check out PokerNews for all your live reporting needs.

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