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3-Bet: Mitchell Hynam, Carson Richards & Carl Carodenuto Win Live Titles

PokerGuru-3Bet Cover 9-1-25
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  • Indrakshi Mukherjee January 9, 2025

  • 6 minutes Read

The new year is here, and the live poker action is already heating up! From the Irish Poker Tour to the Mid-States Poker Tour and a record-breaking event at Canterbury Park, players are wasting no time in making their mark. Let’s dive into three standout victories in this 3-Bet report!

The 2025 Irish Poker Tour kicked off with a bang at the Galway Poker Festival, held at the luxurious Galmont Hotel from January 1 to 6. The series attracted over 3,000 players and crowned 18 champions, with every tournament smashing its guarantee. The highlight was the €700 NLHE Main Event, which drew a competitive field of 694 entries. Mitchell Hynam (cover image – left) came out on top, taking home a career-best €83,600. Daryl McAleenan finished as the runner-up, also earning a personal best €60,000.

The 2025 Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) also kicked off its 16th season in style at the Venetian Poker Room in Las Vegas. The $1,100 Main Event attracted 431 entries across three starting flights, with 48 players returning for Day 2 to compete for the title. Carson Richards (cover image – center) came out on top, claiming his first MSPT title and a $76,045 payday. In the final showdown, Richards outlasted three-time bracelet winner Ryan Leng, who finished as the runner-up, earning $56,008.

Canterbury Park in Minnesota recently made history with its largest-ever standalone poker tournament, the $400 NLHE Monster Stack, held from January 1 to 5. The event drew a colossal 1,116 entrants across four starting flights, creating a record-breaking $368,280 prize pool. Initially, the tournament promised $61,000 to the winner, but in a rare turn of events, the final 11 players struck a deal, ensuring each walked away with at least $15,540. Leading the pack and claiming the trophy along with a $44,000 cash prize was Minnesota grinder Carl Carodenuto (cover image – right). Uri Foox finished as the official runner-up with $22,000, and Indo-American Ashish Gandhi earned $18,700 for third place.

 

Mitchell Hynam Takes Down the Irish Poker Tour Galway Poker Festival Main Event! (€83,600)

The Irish Poker Tour roared into 2025 with the Galway Poker Festival! From January 1 to 6, the luxurious Galmont Hotel hosted this exciting series, drawing over 3,000 passionate players and crowning 18 champions. Every guarantee set by the tour was shattered, including the highly anticipated €700 NLHE Main Event – the festival’s crown jewel.

Emerging as the champion was Mitchell Hynam, who conquered a field of 694 entries to achieve a career-defining win. His performance earned him a sweet €83,600, the largest payday of his career. Hynam faced Daryl McAleenan heads-up, with McAleenan also pocketing a career-high €60,000 for his second-place finish.

While Hynam might usually be found grinding the lower stakes, this victory has thrust him into the poker limelight. With over $600,000 in lifetime earnings since his first recorded cash in 2019, it’s a big step forward for this upcoming player.

The €700 buy-in Main Event generated a prize pool of €418,570, and only the top 70 from the 694-entry field got paid, each pocketing at least €1,500.

Some names like Cathal Shine (54th for €1,500), Sean Prendiville (37th for €1,600), Ian Gascoigne (29th for €1,700), Jason Tompkins (20th for €2,250), Padraig O’Neill (18th for €2,800), and Conor Mcguire (11th for €9,000) all made deep runs but fell short of the final table.

The final table lineup was confirmed with Michael Prendergast`s tenth-place elimination (€10,200).

The final table was a dynamic mix of seasoned veterans and up-and-coming players. The action was fast and furious, with eliminations coming quickly. Michael Dwyer was the first to exit, finishing in ninth place.

Paddy Power Poker’s Conor O’Rourke continued his strong performance in Irish tournaments, finishing eighth. O’Rourke, who had a breakout performance last October with a third-place finish in the Irish Poker Festival Main Event, is a player to keep an eye on.

Globetrotting poker pro Jacque Ramsden, a regular on the Asian and Australian circuits, finished in seventh place, pushing his lifetime live earnings past the $450,000 mark.

Niall McAree, a familiar face on the Irish Poker Tour, known for his runner-up finish in the 2023 Irish Poker Tour Killarney Main Event, was eliminated in sixth place.

Mary Galvin made a remarkable run, finishing fifth and more than doubling her lifetime earnings. Her performance was one of the most successful by a female player in the Galway Poker Festival’s history.

As the stakes escalated, the final four contenders chose to forgo a deal, putting their fate in the hands of the cards.

Mark Buckley, the 2024 Irish Poker Festival Main Event champion, narrowly missed another title, finishing fourth. Buckley is now closing in on the $1 Million mark in tracked live tournament earnings.

Mark Buckley
Mark Buckley

Last year’s Main Event champion, Derek Baker, almost pulled off back-to-back victories. While his quest for a repeat win ended in third place, his strong performance suggests he’ll be a contender for a hat-trick in 2026.

The final showdown between Daryl McAleenan and Mitchell Hynam was a fitting end to an exciting event. In a pivotal hand, Hynam landed the nut straight against McAleenan’s second-best hand, sealing his win.

Mitchell Hynam
Mitchell Hynam

Final Table Results (EURO)

  1. Mitchell Hynam – €83,600
  2. Daryl McAleenan – €60,000
  3. Derek Baker – €35,000
  4. Mark Buckley – €25,000
  5. Mary Galvin – €19,000
  6. Niall McAree – €16,500
  7. Jacque Ramsden – €14,500
  8. Conor O’Rourke – €13,000
  9. Michael Dwyer – €11,570

 

Carson Richards, the Math Teacher Who Schooled the MSPT Main Event! ($76,045)

The 2025 Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) kicked off its 16th season with a bang at the Venetian Poker Room in Las Vegas. The $1,100 Main Event, boasting a $300,000 guarantee, ran from January 2 to 5 and brought in a guarantee-crushing field of 431 entries. After three starting flights, 48 hopefuls returned for Day 2, all eyeing as big a pie of the kitty as possible.

Coming out on top in the end was local Las Vegas resident and Bonanza High School math teacher, Carson Richards! This was Richards’ first-ever title after a string of near-misses, and he walked away with a cool $76,045. While a significant win, this payday is dwarfed by his career-best score of $536,080, earned for his runner-up finish in the 2024 WSOP Mystery Millions Bounty in Las Vegas this past summer.

This win brings Richards’ total career tournament earnings to just under $670,000 – a pretty impressive side hustle for a math teacher!

“It feels really good,” Richards shared after his win. “I used to play mostly as a hobby, but I got more serious after finishing second in a bracelet event last summer. I’ve been playing a lot more since then.”

He also acknowledged the tough competition, saying, “Pro after pro after pro, it was a very tough final table. Winning this one and taking home a trophy feels amazing.”

Richards faced a formidable opponent in the final heads-up duel: three-time bracelet winner Ryan Leng. Leng ultimately finished as the runner-up, adding $56,008 to his poker résumé.

The $1,100 buy-in Main Event generated a $415,591 prize pool, crushing the $300,000 guarantee. The top 48 finishers all earned at least $2,356 for their efforts.

The event attracted a star-studded field, with players like Anthony Rocco (45th), Jeff Platt (37th) each for $2,356, Jeff Madsen (22nd for $3,458), Rodger Johnson (18th for $4,174), and Aaron Massey (11th for $7,334) all making deep runs.

The final table was set with the elimination of Darren Rabinowitz in tenth place for $7,334. By this point, Richards had already built a commanding chip lead.

Richards wasted no time asserting his dominance, quickly eliminating John Lewis and Jeff Yarchever in ninth and eighth places, respectively.

He continued his relentless pace, sending Louis Haeick to the rail in seventh place, followed by Johnson Nguyen in sixth.

The Scottsdale, Arizona native then took out Bojan Gledovic in fifth place before fan favourite Jamie Kerstetter exited in fourth.

Richards then added another impressive scalp to his collection by eliminating two-time bracelet winner Joshua Remitio in third place, leaving only Ryan Leng standing between him and the title.

The heads-up match pitted two accomplished players against each other, with both starting nearly even in chips. However, the final battle was surprisingly swift, decided in a single, decisive hand. With the board open , Leng moved all-in with for two pair, only to receive the devastating news that Richards had flopped a straight with . The river brought the , confirming Richards’ victory. Leng, while undoubtedly disappointed, still managed a strong runner-up finish, bringing his live tournament winnings close to $3.90 Million.

Carson Richards
Carson Richards

Final Table Results (USD)

  1. Carson Richards – $76,045
  2. Ryan Leng – $56,008
  3. Joshua Remitio – $41,714
  4. Jamie Kerstetter – $31,422
  5. Bojan Gledovic – $23,941
  6. Johnson Nguyen – $18,454
  7. Louis Haeick – $14,392
  8. Jeff Yarchever – $11,358
  9. John Lewis – $9,072

 

Carl Carodenuto Wins Canterbury Park’s $400 Monster Stack After an 11-Way Deal! ($44,000)

Canterbury Park in Minnesota just hosted its biggest-ever standalone poker tournament, and it was a sight to behold! The $400 NLH Monster Stack drew a colossal 1,116 entrants across four starting flights, smashing all expectations.

The tournament initially promised $61,000 to the winner and $41,280 to the runner-up, with $5,155 set aside for 11th place. But in a rare turn of events, the final 11 players decided to strike a deal, each locking in at least $15,540. Carl Carodenuto, a well-known Minnesota grinder and the chip leader at the time of the deal, claimed the trophy and a respectable $44,000 payday – his eighth-largest career score.

Uri Foox was the official runner-up, taking home $22,000, while Indo-American Ashish Gandhi took third place for $18,700.

The deal also benefited Ricky Landais (4th), Lucas Campbell (5th), Eric Eelkema (6th), Nghia Le (7th), Alan Hilger (8th), and another Indo-American, Jay Chaudhary (9th)—each receiving $17,700; A.T. (10th for $17,200); and R.F. (11th for $15,450).

For Carodenuto, this victory is just another feather in his cap. He’s the first player to win three Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) titles and boasts over $1.30 Million in total lifetime earnings. His poker highlights include a sweet $313,078 payday for winning the Arizona State Poker Championship last year.

This latest win at Canterbury Park isn’t Carodenuto’s first rodeo at the venue either. In 2014, he took down the $300 Cheap & Deep, which, with its 916 runners, remains the third-largest event ever held at this cardroom.

The $400 buy-in Main Event generated a cool $368,280 prize pool, setting a new record for one of the Midwest’s longest-running cardrooms. The top 124 finishers all got at least $700.

The field included many notable players, including DJ Buckley (70th), Max Havlish (66th) each for $970, Todd Fisher (47th for $1,100), Rich Alsup (39th), Kanat Ozturk (38th) each for $1,215, and Steve Wazwaz (19th for $2,980).

Indo-Americans Srikanth Narala (118th for $700) and Santoshima Narayan (34th for $1,600) also made their presence known in the Main Event by snagging small cash finishes.

While the decision to make an 11-way deal might raise eyebrows among some poker purists, it’s worth remembering a similar situation at the Wynn Las Vegas last June when the final 15 players in a $600 Ladies Event made a similar chop. These kinds of arrangements often spark debate in the poker community, but ultimately, it’s up to the players to decide how they want to finish the tournament.

Carl Carodenuto
Carl Carodenuto

Final Table Results (USD)

  1. Carl Carodenuto – $44,000*
  2. Uri Foox – $22,000*
  3. Ashish Gandhi – $18,700*
  4. Ricky Landais – $17,700*
  5. Lucas Campbell – $17,700*
  6. Eric Eelkema – $17,700*
  7. Nghia “3-Putts” Le – $17,200*
  8. Alan Hilger – $17,200*
  9. Jay Chaudhary – $17,200*
  10. A.T. – $17,200*
  11. R.F. – $15,450*

*denotes an eleven-way deal

 

Content and Images Courtesy: Irish Poker Tour, MSPT Poker, CardPlayer & Canterbury Park

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