The Irish Open

I first played the Irish Open about 8 years ago, when I finished 2nd to Mick Sullivan in a one table satellite on the day of the event. It may only have been tea time, but mick was already on his way to drunkeness, and it's to his credit that he was fully aware of this and knew that the situation was unlikely to improve as the night went on. With this in mind, he decided it would be a better idea to put me in to play for him on a % deal... and since I probably had about £50 left in the world, I was pretty agreeable to this.

I think I finished 6th that year, which was obviously a decent result for my first big tournament but it wasn't a massive pay day as there had only been about 60 or 70 runners. a couple of years later I had started to play online and was doing rather well for myself, so I stumped up the entry fee myself. I think there was somewhere in the region of 130 players that year and I finished 5th after an unlucky beat at the final table from eventual winner, Joe Beevers. 

I also had another couple of final tables appearances in side events and another money finish in the main event, and I kinda had a feeling that I might win it one day. However, fast forward a few years and the tournament was now getting 300+ players, and now I realised that it would be a hell of an achievement just to make the final again. I'd pretty much given up on the idea of actually winning it. It's funny how things go...

Winning it in 2007 from a field of 700 runners was by far the highlight of my poker career at that point, and while I've had a bigger result since, the Irish Open was undoubtibly the most important tournament I ever won, or ever will win. Up to that point I'd be making great money online and I thought that I'd never had to worry about money again. I didn't know that a few months later things were about to get a whole lot tougher online, and the easy money I'd become accustomed to wasn't going to be all that easy anymore.

At the time I didn't realise how important sponsorship etc was, or how much difference there was between finishing 1st and 2nd in terms of gaining sponsorship. Even though it didn't make any difference in prize money (as we'd chopped it up), it's hard to put a figure on how much difference winning the tournament has since made to me. If I hadn't had a sponsorship deal i don't even know if I would have stumped up the required entry fees for the Pokermillion, World Open, and WSOP Omaha tourneys that I subsequently went on to win. Couple that with the increasing difficulty of online poker, and things could have been very different for me... If I hadn't hit that 2 on the turn against roland de wolf (22 v 33), then I might not even be playing poker now. Even if I lose every single 50-50 I play for the next year it won't be enough to even out my luck from that pot that kept me in the Irish Open.

It's not usually a nice feeling to be knocked out of any poker tournament (unless you've been sitting beside Mark Telscher or Phil Hellmuth for a few hours), but one of my fondest memories in all my time playing poker happened the next year at the 2008 Irish Open when Padraig knocked me out and I got a nice ripple of applause from the section of the room where I had been sitting, as I exited the table. I hope Neil Channing gets to experience it this year when (or if) he busts out.

Speaking of Neil, I think he's been a great champion and he does a lot of good for poker with all the guys that he stakes and helps out. I wish him all the best with his new poker-business venture and also with the defence of his title. As I write this I'm actually on the train to Dublin where I'm going to meet him for a few pints in town before we head out to the City West.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend, and I'd love to get a good run in the tournament again, but the result honestly isn't all that important. I just hope the whole weekend is as good as I'm anticipating and I'll be happy enough if the irish open continues to throw up as many happy memories for me as it has done so far.

Good luck to all those playing, in particular all the Boyles guys including new guy Noel Magnier, who won his sponsorship package a couple of weeks ago in the Jackpot club after an hour's tuition from me in Ryan's pub. The tuition consisted of me removing the logo that he was already wearing and slapping on one of the lucky ones that i carry around in my wallet. It really is that simple.