After three grueling days of battle through the second largest field in the history of the event, Sweden’s Christer Johansson defeated poker announcer and player Kara Scott to win the 2009 PaddyPowerPoker.com Irish Open on Monday evening.
The PaddyPowerPoker.com Irish Open, held this year at the City West Hotel in Dublin, is the longest running tournament on the European continent, with its inaugural event having played out in 1980, and is second only to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in longevity. This year’s event brought in 700 of the top poker players in the world, which made for the second largest field in the history of the tournament (2007 saw 706 runners come to the line).
Among those who entered the event was its defending champion, England’s Neil “Bad Beat” Channing, who was joined by former WSOP Main Event winners Dan Harrington and Jamie Gold. Noted cash game player Brian “sbrugby” Townsend represented the online world. Several Irishmen, including WSOP bracelet holder Ciaran O’Leary and “Mad” Marty Smyth, vied to bring the title back to the Emerald Isle. On the first day of play, however, it was an American who made the most noise.
Day One saw professional Phil “The Unabomber” Laak streak to the Top Ten of the leader board, but he had significant competition. Joining Phil among the leaders was European professional Julian Thew, but neither would be around when the final table started on Monday. The Day One leader, Bradley Verburg, and Andrew Pantling would make the final table after bursting out of the gates well, with Pantling holding the lead as final table play began:
Seat 1: Lee Brooke-Pearce — 998,000 chips
Seat 2: Andrew Pantling — 2,286,000 chips
Seat 3: Andrew Bradshaw — 351,000 chips
Seat 4: Kara Scott — 701,000 chips
Seat 5: William Kassouf — 569,000 chips
Seat 6: Bradley Verburg — 217,000 chips
Seat 7: Christer Johansson — 906,000 chips
Seat 8: Atanas Gueorguiev — 990,000 chips
With a plethora of chips among the players, it was expected that the final table would be a drawn-out affair. This wasn’t meant to be, however, as Bradshaw was eliminated in eighth place on the second hand when his A-Q couldn’t top Gueorguiev’s pocket Kings. Pantling eliminated Verburg in seventh a few hands later and, when Scott moved all-in and wasn’t called, there were three different all-in situations in the first ten hands of action.
Both Pantling and Gueorguiev continued to apply pressure to the final table, with Gueorguiev eliminating Kassouf in sixth and Pantling dispatching Brooke-Pearce in fifth. With four players remaining, the chips were evenly spread out and the action calmed down. With play subsiding, both Scott and Johansson began to climb up the leader board.
It took approximately an hour and a half before another member of the final table would be dismissed. After raising the pre-flop pot, Gueorguiev found himself re-raised by Pantling. Scott, who held a slight chip lead on the table, promptly moved a 500,000 chip bet to the center. Gueorguiev immediately popped the remainder of his stack into the pot and, after Pantling folded, faced the call from Scott. Gueorguiev’s pocket Kings were ahead of Scott’s A-Q, but a cruel Ace on the river stole the hand from Atanas and eliminated him in fourth place.
After administering the bad beat, Scott held nearly two-thirds of the chips in play. Known for her poker announcing across the European continent, Scott was attempting to become the fifth woman to win the Irish Open poker crown. After Johansson eliminated Pantling to reach heads-up play when he rivered a Queen against Pantling’s pocket sevens, Scott still held the chip lead, albeit by only 400,000 chips.
It only took 13 hands to determine a champion. Johansson, who had been steady throughout play at the final table, gradually began to impose his will against Scott until he built a solid lead. On the final hand, Scott raised the stakes to 140,000 and was flat-called by Johansson. After a J-7-K flop, the remainder of Scott’s chips found their way into the middle and Johansson called. When the cards were turned up, Johansson held the lead with K-3 for top pair against Scott’s J-9 for second pair. No saving card came on the turn or river and Johansson captured the 2009 Irish Open.
With the championship, Johansson, who previously had won a major title on the World Poker Tour at the inaugural Grand Prix de Paris, surpassed the $2 million mark in career earnings. Scott, who finished 104th last year in the WSOP Main Event, took home her best finish ever in a tournament and showed that her poker skills are just as prominent as her announcing duties.
The final table paid out as follows:
1st Place: Christer Johansson – €600,000
2nd Place: Kara Scott – €312,600
3rd Place: Andrew Pantling – €205,200
4th Place: Atanas Gueorguiev – €163,300
5th Place: Lee Brooke-Pearce – €130,600
6th Place: William Kassouf – €100,800
7th Place: Bradley Verburg – €74,600
8th Place: Andy Bradshaw – €56,000