For some, the Easter holiday weekend is a time of reflection. But for those players who will be descending on Dublin, Ireland, this weekend, it is the time for the renewal of one of the classic events in the world of poker.
The 2012 Irish Poker Open begins play tomorrow from the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, a tournament that is steeped in history. The longest continually running poker tournament in Europe – in fact, the only tournament that has been contested longer is the World Series of Poker Championship Event – has consistently drawn some of the greatest names in the game to its emerald felt. With its €3000 buy in, it has also annually awarded an excellent first place prize to its eventual champion.
The tournament was started in 1980 by one of the legends of Irish poker, Terry Rodgers, to demonstrate the prowess of players from Ireland. After Rogers passed away in 1999 another Irish poker legend, Liam Flood, picked up the reins of the tournament and continued the tradition. Over the years, the Irish Poker Open has seen some of the best in the world contest for the title and some top professionals walk away with the crown.
In the first ever Irish Poker Open, the then-unknown Colette Doherty walked away with the championship and used that victory to move on to become the first European and first woman to ever play in the WSOP Championship Event. Doherty would continue to prove her worth on the tables by coming back in 1991 to win the tournament again.
Doherty is joined by three men to have won the title twice. Former WSOP World Champion Noel Furlong (1987, 1989), Mickey Finn (1994, 1998) and Flood (1990, 1996) have been able to vanquish the competition to walk away with the crown. Other notable poker names who can call themselves a former Irish Poker Open champion are Alan Betson, Joe Beevers, “Mad” Marty Smyth, Neil “Bad Beat” Channing and Christer Johansson.
It has been over the past decade that the Irish Poker Open has exploded into one of the major tournaments on the worldwide poker calendar. Through its partnership with PaddyPowerPoker, which began in 2005, the Irish Poker Open has been able to thrive in the competitive tournament poker world. Since 2005, such names as Doyle and Todd Brunson, Dan Harrington, Roland De Wolfe, Phil Laak, Juha Helppi, Padraig Parkinson, Dario Mineri and Sandra Naujoks have stepped up to take part in the tournament.
This year’s Irish Poker Open should provide the same thrills that the 2011 version of the tournament gave to the poker community. Last year, 708 players came out for the tournament, creating a €550,000 first place prize. In the end, Ireland’s very own Niall Smyth was able to outduel veteran poker professional Surinder Sunar to capture the championship and it is expected he will return to defend his championship.
All of the players who are participating in the inaugural event for “iSeriesLIVE” (which begins later today) have committed to playing this year’s Irish Poker Open. That list of players includes Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Carlos Mortensen, James “Flushy” Dempsey, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Eoghan O’Dea, Marvin Rettenmaier, Tobias Reinkemeier, Faraz Jaka and Maria Ho. For Negreanu, getting there has been a bit of a chore.
Over his Twitter account, Negreanu stated that Virgin Airlines was holding his luggage as he made his way to Dublin. “Virgin is dragging their feet and haven’t released my bag to Aer Lingus,” Negreanu commented last night. “Aer Lingus seems to be doing everything they can while Virgin is handling this very poorly.” Even though he had a tough time with the airlines, Negreanu speaks glowingly of the people of Dublin.
Other players who have committed to the tournament over their Twitter accounts include Kevin MacPhee, Tristan Wade and Dominik Nitsche.
PaddyPower, in addition to offering the live wagering for the “iSeriesLIVE” tournament, has set odds on who will win the 2012 Irish Poker Open. Currently, Negreanu is the co-favorite at 80/1 along with Hellmuth and O’Dea. Other notables getting a good price include the defending champion Smyth (100/1) and Jake Cody (125/1), while odds on Barny Boatman and David Vamplew (200/1), two players who have been playing well of late, seem to be a bit high coming into the tournament.
The 2012 Irish Poker Open should once again bring poker fans an excellent event. Poker News Daily will keep you up to date on the action from the Burlington Hotel as it occurs.
