Irish Poker Open
Encyclopedia
The paddypowerpoker.com Irish Poker Open is the longest running No Limit Texas hold 'em
poker
tournament in Europe and second longest in the world after the World Series of Poker
.
First organized in 1980 by Terry Rogers
, a well known Irish
bookmaker
, the tournament is Europe's largest and a fixture on the international poker calendar. It is traditionally held over Easter
weekend each year.
Since Terry Rogers
death in 1999 the tournament, originally held in Dublin’s Eccentric Club
, has been hosted by tournament director and poker player Liam Flood
and the Merrion Casino.
paddypowerpoker.com began sponsorship of the event in 2005 and has overseen the huge growth in the tournament in the last number of years. By 2006 the event, with 339 players, had outgrown the Merrion Casino and was held in Jury's Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. In 2007 the venue was changed to the Burlington Hotel, Dublin to accommodate the bigger field, while in 2008 and 2009 the Irish Open venue was Citywest Hotel, Dublin. In 2010 the tournament returned to the Burlington Hotel.
The 2007 Irish Open Main Event was won by Belfast
man, Marty Smyth
who captured the title and the €650,000 first prize following a two hour heads up battle against World Poker Tour
and European Poker Tour
winner Roland De Wolfe
.
The 2008 Irish Open Main Event was won by English poker pro Neil Channing
, who won €801,400 after defeating local favourite Donal Norton of Tipperary
heads up. Channing added £50,000 to his winnings by putting a £500 bet on himself at 100/1 with Paddy Power at the mid-point of the four day tournament.
The 2009 Irish Open Main Event was won by Swedish professional Christer Johansson, who won a €600,000 first prize. He beat British-Canadian Kara Scott
after an entertaining heads up struggle.
The 2010 Irish Open Main Event was won by Englishman James Mitchell
, who won a €600,000 first prize. He beat Irishman Paul Carr
in a heads up battle where the chip lead was exchanged a number of times; Carr received €312,600 for his second place finish.
One of his most enduring legacies was founding the Irish Open. In the late 1970s Terry started to hold poker tournaments for charity under the auspices of the Eccentric Club
. According to Liam Flood, a fellow bookmaker
and friend of Terry's the games would get "anywhere between 100 and 300 players playing five-card draw
for £100 to £200 per game. That was a lot of people for that kind of money at the time. Every year Terry would go to America
on business. In May 1979 he had a few days off and went to Las Vegas
. He saw this high stakes poker game going on and met Benny Binion
and the rest is history.”
Always one to spot an opportunity Rogers cemented his relationship with Binion and his band of high-rolling players by taking bets from them on the outcome of the games, offering the type of long odds the Americans had never seen before.
“Guys like Benny Binion
, Doyle Brunson
and Chip Reese
really held Terry in high esteem,” states World Series of Poker
bracelet winner and former Irish Olympic
swimmer Donnacha O'Dea
. “He’d give them great odds, better than any American bookie would give, but he still made sure he had a 20% edge.”
After the 1979 World Series Terry returned to Ireland enthusing about what he’d seen. Stud and draw were the poker variants of choice in Ireland but the new variation he’d seen in Vegas, no-limit hold’em, beat them all for excitement and skill.
In the following years he returned to Vegas for the World Series with Liam Flood
but his bookmaking activities brought the attention of the Las Vegas Police Department
and on one occasion Terry and Liam ended up being arrested and imprisoned. The irony of being jailed for gambling in Vegas was not lost on them according to Flood.
Notable English players who came over for the game included Derek Webb, Nick Cook
, Derek Baxter.
Donnacha O'Dea remembers the stunts Rogers pulled to generate interest in the Irish Open. “He’d publicise betting on the tournament in the Racing Post along with an event such as the Super Bowl so he could get around the law on advertising such events. He’d install an outsider such as ‘Suitcase’ Johnny as favourite. Poker players would then see these odds and think to themselves, ‘Well I’m much better than this guy who’s favourite’ and immediately want to take part in the tournament.”
The Irish Open fell into abayance in the early 1990s as Terry concentrated on nursing his mother through ill-health. It was resurrected again in the mid-1990s.
Donnacha and Liam remember the American invasions with glee. “One year Terry got them a yellow Rolls Royce for when they arrived at the airport. Another year he arrived with a white horse which Amarillo Slim, who was a real horseman, rode out of the airport.
“Those years he had Tom McEvoy
, Jack Keller, Stu Ungar
, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, and Perry Green from Alaska
. It was funny to see them try to pay for goods in Killiney
village with chips from Terry’s poker tournament, something they were used to doing in Vegas.”
The final table of six was made up of four Irishmen, an Englishman and a Canadian. The winner, Marty Smyth
took home the €650,000 first prize after a two hour heads up battle against World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour winner Roland De Wolfe
. Successful online player Sorel Mizzi
from Toronto
finished third ahead of Irishmen Danny McHugh (4th), Brian O'Keeffe (5th) and Nicky Power (6th).
, Sorel Mizzi, Roland De Wolfe
, Padraig Parkinson
, World Series of Poker bracelet-winner Ciaran O'Leary
, Dario Minieri
and dozens of other poker professionals. Paddy Power Poker added €200,000 to the prize pool, which took it past the €3 million mark.
English poker pro Neil Channing
won €801,400 and the Irish Open title after defeating local favourite Donal Norton of Tipperary
heads up. Norton took home €420,000 for his 2nd place finish. Thomas Dunwoodie finished in 3rd place ahead of Tim Blake
(4th), Kai Danilo Paulsen (5th) and Edwin Tournier (6th).
, Jennifer Tilly
, Neil Channing
, Marty Smyth
, Andy Black, Jamie Gold
, Dan Harrington
, Juha Helppi
, Roland De Wolfe
and Ciaran O'Leary
.
Swedish poker professional Christer Johansson won the title and €600,000, with Kara Scott
finishing in second place for €312,600.
, former Manchester United star Teddy Sheringham
, rugby legend Reggie Corrigan
and former snooker world champion Ken Doherty
. Many well-known poker players took part, including Padraig Parkinson
, Liam Flood
, Sandra Naujoks, Dario Minieri
, Neil Channing
, Marty Smyth
and former World Series of Poker champions Noel Furlong
and Dan Harrington
.
20-year old Englishman James Mitchell
won the title and €600,000 first prize, with Paul Carr
finishing in second place for €312,600. Rob Sherwood become the €100,000 Sole Survivor by outlasting all other paddypowerpoker.com qualifiers; he won an additional €163,300 for finishing in fourth position.
Texas hold 'em
Texas Hold 'em is a variation of the standard card game of poker. The game consists of two cards being dealt face down to each player and then five community cards being placed face-up by the dealer—a series of three then two additional single cards , with...
poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
tournament in Europe and second longest in the world after the World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
.
First organized in 1980 by Terry Rogers
Terry Rogers
Terry "Red Menace" Rogers was an Irish bookmaker, credited with introducing hold'em poker to Europe, alongside "Gentleman" Liam Flood. He earned his nickname from his bright red hair....
, a well known Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
, the tournament is Europe's largest and a fixture on the international poker calendar. It is traditionally held over Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
weekend each year.
Since Terry Rogers
Terry Rogers
Terry "Red Menace" Rogers was an Irish bookmaker, credited with introducing hold'em poker to Europe, alongside "Gentleman" Liam Flood. He earned his nickname from his bright red hair....
death in 1999 the tournament, originally held in Dublin’s Eccentric Club
Eccentric Club
The Eccentric Club was the name of several London gentlemen's clubs, the best-known of which existed between 1890 and 1986. For much of its history it was based at 9–11 Ryder Street, St James's.-First Eccentric Club:...
, has been hosted by tournament director and poker player Liam Flood
Liam Flood
Liam Flood is an Irish bookmaker and professional poker player who is a former European poker champion.-Poker career:Flood began playing poker tournaments in the 1980s in Ireland. He won the Irish Poker Open in 1990 and 1996, becoming one of only four players to have won that tournament multiple...
and the Merrion Casino.
paddypowerpoker.com began sponsorship of the event in 2005 and has overseen the huge growth in the tournament in the last number of years. By 2006 the event, with 339 players, had outgrown the Merrion Casino and was held in Jury's Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. In 2007 the venue was changed to the Burlington Hotel, Dublin to accommodate the bigger field, while in 2008 and 2009 the Irish Open venue was Citywest Hotel, Dublin. In 2010 the tournament returned to the Burlington Hotel.
The 2007 Irish Open Main Event was won by Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
man, Marty Smyth
Marty Smyth
Marty Smyth is a professional poker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland with a track record including wins in the 2007 Irish Poker Open Championship and the 2008 Poker Million. He won his first WSOP bracelet in the 2008 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship.-Poker career:Marty Smyth has...
who captured the title and the €650,000 first prize following a two hour heads up battle against World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
and European Poker Tour
European Poker Tour
The Pokerstars European Poker Tour is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour , created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas Hold 'em popularity...
winner Roland De Wolfe
Roland De Wolfe
Roland De Wolfe is an English professional poker player and a former writer for the poker magazine Inside Edge.After winning first prize in an event at the 2004 Gutshot Poker Festival, he went on to make a money finish in the $1,000 No Limit event of the 2005 World Series of Poker.In July 2005, he...
.
The 2008 Irish Open Main Event was won by English poker pro Neil Channing
Neil Channing
Neil Andrew Channing is an English professional poker player and author based in Maida Vale, London. He is the 2008 Irish Poker Open champion....
, who won €801,400 after defeating local favourite Donal Norton of Tipperary
Tipperary
Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....
heads up. Channing added £50,000 to his winnings by putting a £500 bet on himself at 100/1 with Paddy Power at the mid-point of the four day tournament.
The 2009 Irish Open Main Event was won by Swedish professional Christer Johansson, who won a €600,000 first prize. He beat British-Canadian Kara Scott
Kara Scott
Kara Scott is a Canadian TV personality, journalist and poker player.Born in northern Alberta, Canada, Scott moved to the United Kingdom in 1999 and worked in the UK media until 2009 when she moved to California...
after an entertaining heads up struggle.
The 2010 Irish Open Main Event was won by Englishman James Mitchell
James Mitchell
-Arts, entertainment, and sports :*James Mitchell , American actor who played Palmer Cortlandt on All My Children*James Mitchell , American athlete who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics...
, who won a €600,000 first prize. He beat Irishman Paul Carr
Paul Carr
Paul Carr is a British writer, journalist and commentator, based in San Francisco. He has also - as Carr writes on his official website - "edited various publications and founded numerous businesses with varying degrees of abysmal failure."-Memoirs:Carr's first autobiographical book Bringing...
in a heads up battle where the chip lead was exchanged a number of times; Carr received €312,600 for his second place finish.
Origins
Terry Rogers once declared “I have been the greatest single factor in the worldwide spread of competitive poker.”One of his most enduring legacies was founding the Irish Open. In the late 1970s Terry started to hold poker tournaments for charity under the auspices of the Eccentric Club
Eccentric Club
The Eccentric Club was the name of several London gentlemen's clubs, the best-known of which existed between 1890 and 1986. For much of its history it was based at 9–11 Ryder Street, St James's.-First Eccentric Club:...
. According to Liam Flood, a fellow bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
and friend of Terry's the games would get "anywhere between 100 and 300 players playing five-card draw
Five-card draw
Five-card draw is a poker variant that is the simplest and often the first variant learned by most players. It is common in home games but rare in casino and tournament play...
for £100 to £200 per game. That was a lot of people for that kind of money at the time. Every year Terry would go to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on business. In May 1979 he had a few days off and went to Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. He saw this high stakes poker game going on and met Benny Binion
Benny Binion
Lester Ben "Benny" Binion was a well-known American casino owner, mobster, poker enthusiast, and convicted felon.-Early history:...
and the rest is history.”
Always one to spot an opportunity Rogers cemented his relationship with Binion and his band of high-rolling players by taking bets from them on the outcome of the games, offering the type of long odds the Americans had never seen before.
“Guys like Benny Binion
Benny Binion
Lester Ben "Benny" Binion was a well-known American casino owner, mobster, poker enthusiast, and convicted felon.-Early history:...
, Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...
and Chip Reese
Chip Reese
David Edward Reese , more commonly known as Chip Reese, was an American professional poker player and gambler from Centerville, Ohio...
really held Terry in high esteem,” states World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...
bracelet winner and former Irish Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
swimmer Donnacha O'Dea
Donnacha O'Dea
Donnacha "The Don" O'Dea is an Irish professional poker player. In his youth he was a swimmer, and represented Ireland in the 1968 Olympics. He was also the first Irish swimmer to swim 100m in less than one minute...
. “He’d give them great odds, better than any American bookie would give, but he still made sure he had a 20% edge.”
After the 1979 World Series Terry returned to Ireland enthusing about what he’d seen. Stud and draw were the poker variants of choice in Ireland but the new variation he’d seen in Vegas, no-limit hold’em, beat them all for excitement and skill.
In the following years he returned to Vegas for the World Series with Liam Flood
Liam Flood
Liam Flood is an Irish bookmaker and professional poker player who is a former European poker champion.-Poker career:Flood began playing poker tournaments in the 1980s in Ireland. He won the Irish Poker Open in 1990 and 1996, becoming one of only four players to have won that tournament multiple...
but his bookmaking activities brought the attention of the Las Vegas Police Department
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is a joint city-county police force for the City of Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada. It is run by the Sheriff of Clark County, elected every four years. The current Sheriff of Clark County is Douglas C...
and on one occasion Terry and Liam ended up being arrested and imprisoned. The irony of being jailed for gambling in Vegas was not lost on them according to Flood.
Development
The Irish Open was organized under the auspices of the charity fundraising organization started by Terry called the Eccentric Club. It attracted mainly local players but Rogers already had is eye on expanding the event.Notable English players who came over for the game included Derek Webb, Nick Cook
Nick Cook
Nick Cook is a British aviation journalist and author of fiction and non-fiction works and has won four Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards from the Royal Aeronautical Society.-Journalism:...
, Derek Baxter.
Donnacha O'Dea remembers the stunts Rogers pulled to generate interest in the Irish Open. “He’d publicise betting on the tournament in the Racing Post along with an event such as the Super Bowl so he could get around the law on advertising such events. He’d install an outsider such as ‘Suitcase’ Johnny as favourite. Poker players would then see these odds and think to themselves, ‘Well I’m much better than this guy who’s favourite’ and immediately want to take part in the tournament.”
The Irish Open fell into abayance in the early 1990s as Terry concentrated on nursing his mother through ill-health. It was resurrected again in the mid-1990s.
Relationship with the World Series of Poker
Terry’s annual trips to Las Vegas and the success of the first Irish Open led to the US players he had befriended at the World Series of Poker repaying their debt of gratitude for his generous bookmaking services by making a rare excursion from their home soil to play in Ireland in 1982 and 1983.Donnacha and Liam remember the American invasions with glee. “One year Terry got them a yellow Rolls Royce for when they arrived at the airport. Another year he arrived with a white horse which Amarillo Slim, who was a real horseman, rode out of the airport.
“Those years he had Tom McEvoy
Tom McEvoy
Thomas K. McEvoy is a professional poker player and author. He is best known for his win in the 1983 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:...
, Jack Keller, Stu Ungar
Stu Ungar
Stuart Errol "Stu" Ungar was a professional poker and gin rummy player, widely regarded to have been the greatest Texas hold 'em and gin rummy player of all time....
, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, and Perry Green from Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. It was funny to see them try to pay for goods in Killiney
Killiney
Killiney is a suburb of Dublin in south County Dublin, Ireland. It is within the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County. The area is by the coast, south of neighbouring Dalkey, and north to Shankill area in the most southern outskirt of Dublin....
village with chips from Terry’s poker tournament, something they were used to doing in Vegas.”
Irish Open 2007
The Irish Poker Open 2007 Main Event had a guaranteed prize pool of €2 million – twice the €1 million guarantee of 2006 but with a then-European record 708 players the prize pool swelled to more than €2.3 million.The final table of six was made up of four Irishmen, an Englishman and a Canadian. The winner, Marty Smyth
Marty Smyth
Marty Smyth is a professional poker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland with a track record including wins in the 2007 Irish Poker Open Championship and the 2008 Poker Million. He won his first WSOP bracelet in the 2008 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship.-Poker career:Marty Smyth has...
took home the €650,000 first prize after a two hour heads up battle against World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour winner Roland De Wolfe
Roland De Wolfe
Roland De Wolfe is an English professional poker player and a former writer for the poker magazine Inside Edge.After winning first prize in an event at the 2004 Gutshot Poker Festival, he went on to make a money finish in the $1,000 No Limit event of the 2005 World Series of Poker.In July 2005, he...
. Successful online player Sorel Mizzi
Sorel Mizzi
Sorel Mizzi is a professional poker player. Mizzi plays online poker under the names of "Imper1um" and "Zangbezan24"...
from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
finished third ahead of Irishmen Danny McHugh (4th), Brian O'Keeffe (5th) and Nicky Power (6th).
Irish Open 2008
The Irish Poker Open 2008 was held at Citywest Hotel, Dublin and a field of 667 took part in the main event. Notable players included poker legend Doyle Brunson, his son Todd BrunsonTodd Brunson
Todd Alan Brunson is an American professional poker player and the son of poker legend Doyle Brunson.Although Brunson's father Doyle is a poker player, Brunson did not learn the game when he was young. It was not until he was studying law at Texas Tech University that he learned on his own how to...
, Sorel Mizzi, Roland De Wolfe
Roland De Wolfe
Roland De Wolfe is an English professional poker player and a former writer for the poker magazine Inside Edge.After winning first prize in an event at the 2004 Gutshot Poker Festival, he went on to make a money finish in the $1,000 No Limit event of the 2005 World Series of Poker.In July 2005, he...
, Padraig Parkinson
Padraig Parkinson
Padraig Parkinson is an Irish professional poker player. He is chiefly recognised as the grand final winner of Late Night Poker series 5 and as the third-place finisher of the 1999 World Series of Poker, where he lost to fellow countryman Noel Furlong.Originally, Padraig refused to play in Late...
, World Series of Poker bracelet-winner Ciaran O'Leary
Ciaran O'Leary
Ciarán O'Leary is an Irish professional poker player who resides in Seattle, Washington, USA.-Early life:O'Leary grew up in modest conditions in the single street village of Carrigaline, County Cork, Ireland. Son of greyhound trainer Terry O'Leary and mother Sheila, Ciarán was one of three children...
, Dario Minieri
Dario Minieri
Dario Minieri is an Italian professional poker player from Rome, Italy who won a bracelet at the 2008 World Series of Poker at the age of 23, is a member of team PokerStars, is an online poker player who was the first person to collect enough Frequent Player Points to buy an automobile with them,...
and dozens of other poker professionals. Paddy Power Poker added €200,000 to the prize pool, which took it past the €3 million mark.
English poker pro Neil Channing
Neil Channing
Neil Andrew Channing is an English professional poker player and author based in Maida Vale, London. He is the 2008 Irish Poker Open champion....
won €801,400 and the Irish Open title after defeating local favourite Donal Norton of Tipperary
Tipperary
Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....
heads up. Norton took home €420,000 for his 2nd place finish. Thomas Dunwoodie finished in 3rd place ahead of Tim Blake
Tim Blake
Timothy 'Tim' Blake , keyboards, vocalist instrumentalist and composer with both Gong, and Hawkwind. Blake is best known for his Synthesizer and Light performances as Crystal Machine, with the French Light Artist Patrice Warrener...
(4th), Kai Danilo Paulsen (5th) and Edwin Tournier (6th).
Irish Open 2009
The Irish Open 2009 returned to Citywest Hotel, Dublin, the venue for the 2008 Irish Open. A larger-than-expected field of 700 played in the main event, including famous faces such as Phil LaakPhil Laak
Philip "Phil" C. Laak is a professional poker player, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour title, a World Series of Poker bracelet and has appeared on numerous nationally-aired television shows.-Early life:...
, Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
, Neil Channing
Neil Channing
Neil Andrew Channing is an English professional poker player and author based in Maida Vale, London. He is the 2008 Irish Poker Open champion....
, Marty Smyth
Marty Smyth
Marty Smyth is a professional poker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland with a track record including wins in the 2007 Irish Poker Open Championship and the 2008 Poker Million. He won his first WSOP bracelet in the 2008 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship.-Poker career:Marty Smyth has...
, Andy Black, Jamie Gold
Jamie Gold
Jamie M. Gold is an American television producer, a talent agent, and poker player, based in Malibu, California. He is known for winning the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event and currently divides his time between his activities as president of production for the entertainment company,...
, Dan Harrington
Dan Harrington
Dan Harrington is a professional poker player, best known for winning the main event world championship at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tournament cashes in his poker career...
, Juha Helppi
Juha Helppi
Juha Helppi is a Finnish professional poker player from Helsinki.-Career:Juha was originally a poker dealer, but made a name for himself in the first World Poker Tour event in Aruba, where he eliminated Kathy Liebert on the way to defeating professional player Phil Gordon in a heads-up challenge...
, Roland De Wolfe
Roland De Wolfe
Roland De Wolfe is an English professional poker player and a former writer for the poker magazine Inside Edge.After winning first prize in an event at the 2004 Gutshot Poker Festival, he went on to make a money finish in the $1,000 No Limit event of the 2005 World Series of Poker.In July 2005, he...
and Ciaran O'Leary
Ciaran O'Leary
Ciarán O'Leary is an Irish professional poker player who resides in Seattle, Washington, USA.-Early life:O'Leary grew up in modest conditions in the single street village of Carrigaline, County Cork, Ireland. Son of greyhound trainer Terry O'Leary and mother Sheila, Ciarán was one of three children...
.
Swedish poker professional Christer Johansson won the title and €600,000, with Kara Scott
Kara Scott
Kara Scott is a Canadian TV personality, journalist and poker player.Born in northern Alberta, Canada, Scott moved to the United Kingdom in 1999 and worked in the UK media until 2009 when she moved to California...
finishing in second place for €312,600.
Irish Open 2010
The Irish Open 2010 returned to Burlington Hotel, Dublin, where the Irish Open had been hosted three years previously. A field of 708 played in the main event, including such celebrities as Irish soccer hero Tony CascarinoTony Cascarino
Anthony Guy 'Tony' Cascarino is an former association football player who played as a forward for various British and French clubs and internationally for the Republic of Ireland national team, with whom he competed in the 1988 European Football Championship and two World Cups in 1990 and...
, former Manchester United star Teddy Sheringham
Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester...
, rugby legend Reggie Corrigan
Reggie Corrigan
Reggie Corrigan is a former Irish rugby union footballer, playing at loose-head prop-forward. He attended school in Presentation College, Bray....
and former snooker world champion Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty
Ken Doherty is an Irish professional snooker player. He is the only player ever to have been world amateur and world professional champion...
. Many well-known poker players took part, including Padraig Parkinson
Padraig Parkinson
Padraig Parkinson is an Irish professional poker player. He is chiefly recognised as the grand final winner of Late Night Poker series 5 and as the third-place finisher of the 1999 World Series of Poker, where he lost to fellow countryman Noel Furlong.Originally, Padraig refused to play in Late...
, Liam Flood
Liam Flood
Liam Flood is an Irish bookmaker and professional poker player who is a former European poker champion.-Poker career:Flood began playing poker tournaments in the 1980s in Ireland. He won the Irish Poker Open in 1990 and 1996, becoming one of only four players to have won that tournament multiple...
, Sandra Naujoks, Dario Minieri
Dario Minieri
Dario Minieri is an Italian professional poker player from Rome, Italy who won a bracelet at the 2008 World Series of Poker at the age of 23, is a member of team PokerStars, is an online poker player who was the first person to collect enough Frequent Player Points to buy an automobile with them,...
, Neil Channing
Neil Channing
Neil Andrew Channing is an English professional poker player and author based in Maida Vale, London. He is the 2008 Irish Poker Open champion....
, Marty Smyth
Marty Smyth
Marty Smyth is a professional poker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland with a track record including wins in the 2007 Irish Poker Open Championship and the 2008 Poker Million. He won his first WSOP bracelet in the 2008 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship.-Poker career:Marty Smyth has...
and former World Series of Poker champions Noel Furlong
Noel Furlong
J. J. Furlong is an Irish businessman and recreational poker player who won the 1999 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:Furlong was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland...
and Dan Harrington
Dan Harrington
Dan Harrington is a professional poker player, best known for winning the main event world championship at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tournament cashes in his poker career...
.
20-year old Englishman James Mitchell
James Mitchell
-Arts, entertainment, and sports :*James Mitchell , American actor who played Palmer Cortlandt on All My Children*James Mitchell , American athlete who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics...
won the title and €600,000 first prize, with Paul Carr
Paul Carr
Paul Carr is a British writer, journalist and commentator, based in San Francisco. He has also - as Carr writes on his official website - "edited various publications and founded numerous businesses with varying degrees of abysmal failure."-Memoirs:Carr's first autobiographical book Bringing...
finishing in second place for €312,600. Rob Sherwood become the €100,000 Sole Survivor by outlasting all other paddypowerpoker.com qualifiers; he won an additional €163,300 for finishing in fourth position.
Past winners
- 2011 Niall Smyth
- 2010 James MitchellJames Mitchell (poker player)James Mitchell is a professional poker player from London, best known for winning the 2010 Irish Poker Open in Dublin.James Mitchell was born on 8th April 1989, in the South-East of London, Currently living in the south-west of london....
- 2009 Christer Johansson
- 2008 Neil ChanningNeil ChanningNeil Andrew Channing is an English professional poker player and author based in Maida Vale, London. He is the 2008 Irish Poker Open champion....
- 2007 Marty SmythMarty SmythMarty Smyth is a professional poker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland with a track record including wins in the 2007 Irish Poker Open Championship and the 2008 Poker Million. He won his first WSOP bracelet in the 2008 $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship.-Poker career:Marty Smyth has...
- 2006 Vincent Melinn
- 2005 John FalconerJohn Falconer"Burnley" John Falconer is an Bitish professional poker player. His poker career peaked in 2005 with an Irish Open title and a number of cash finishes.-Career:...
- 2004 Ivan Donaghy
- 2003 Joe BeeversJoe BeeversJoseph "Joe" Charles Beevers is an English professional poker player and a member of The Hendon Mob....
- 2002 Nick Bernie
- 2001 Jenny Hegarty
- 2000 Alan Betson
- 1999 Liam Barker
- 1998 Mickey Finn
- 1996 Liam FloodLiam FloodLiam Flood is an Irish bookmaker and professional poker player who is a former European poker champion.-Poker career:Flood began playing poker tournaments in the 1980s in Ireland. He won the Irish Poker Open in 1990 and 1996, becoming one of only four players to have won that tournament multiple...
- 1994 Mickey Finn
- 1993 Christie Smith
- 1991 Colette DohertyColette DohertyColette Doherty is an Irish poker player.In her career, she won the Irish Poker Open twice, including in its inaugural year, 1980, and again in 1991....
- 1990 Liam FloodLiam FloodLiam Flood is an Irish bookmaker and professional poker player who is a former European poker champion.-Poker career:Flood began playing poker tournaments in the 1980s in Ireland. He won the Irish Poker Open in 1990 and 1996, becoming one of only four players to have won that tournament multiple...
- 1989 Noel FurlongNoel FurlongJ. J. Furlong is an Irish businessman and recreational poker player who won the 1999 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:Furlong was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland...
- 1988 Jimmy Langan
- 1987 Noel FurlongNoel FurlongJ. J. Furlong is an Irish businessman and recreational poker player who won the 1999 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:Furlong was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland...
- 1986 Bryan McCarthy
- 1985 Irene Tier
- 1984 Tony Byrne
- 1983 Jimmy Langan
- 1982 Frank Conway
- 1981 Sean Kelly
- 1980 Colette DohertyColette DohertyColette Doherty is an Irish poker player.In her career, she won the Irish Poker Open twice, including in its inaugural year, 1980, and again in 1991....