Roope Tarmi Reigns Over the High Rollers
Finnish professional Roope Tarmi delivered a performance in Dublin that will go down in the history books of the Irish Open. Over the course of two days, he won both of the event's most prestigious High Roller tournaments. He kicked off his streak with the €5,000 High Roller 8-Max, showcasing exemplary resilience. Despite being the first and second player eliminated, his third 'bullet' was victorious as he dominated the tournament with 73 entries in a start-to-finish fashion.
A few hours later, after celebrating with friends over some beers, Tarmi registered for the €10,000 Super High Roller. This time, he outshone a field of 13 entries, securing the title after defeating Dutch pro Joris Ruijs in a thirty-minute heads-up. In total, Tarmi walked away with nearly €168,000 over the two days.
Results of the €5,000 High Roller 8-Max:
|
Place |
Player |
Country |
Prize |
|
1. |
Roope Tarmi |
Finland |
€88,000 |
|
2. |
Tommi Lankinen |
Finland |
€65,000 |
|
3. |
Conor Bergin |
Ireland |
€44,700 |
|
4. |
Leon Hendrik Kilian |
Germany |
€33,600 |
|
5. |
Luciano Piaggesi |
Argentina |
€25,800 |
|
6. |
Patrick Lauber |
Switzerland |
€20,500 |
|
7. |
Toni Kaukua |
Finland |
€16,400 |
|
8. |
Jonathan Proudfoot |
United Kingdom |
€13,247 |
|
9. |
Nicholas Swann |
United Kingdom |
€11,500 |
Results of the €10,000 Super High Roller:
|
Place |
Player |
Country |
Prize |
|
1. |
Roope Tarmi |
Finland |
€79,945 |
|
2. |
Joris Ruijs |
Netherlands |
€43,000 |
Martin Byrne Dominates the Record-Breaking Hendon Mob Championship
An emotional rollercoaster unfolded during the €350 Hendon Mob Championship (THMC) finale. The championship reached a record high with 1,067 participants creating a prizepool of €320,847, surpassing last year's peak. The overall winner was Scotland's Martin Byrne, for whom the victory was incredibly sweet. Byrne had previously lost an astonishing 19 consecutive heads-up matches.
After a three-way deal, Byrne defeated Koen Van Venrooij in heads-up play and celebrated in tears, dedicating the trophy to his uncle who taught him poker as a child. "I can't believe I finally won a trophy. My friends used to joke about my heads-up record," said the champion after securing the €44,950 prize.
|
Place |
Player |
Country |
Prize |
|
1. |
Martin Byrne |
United Kingdom |
€44,950* |
|
2. |
Koen Van Venrooij |
Netherlands |
€30,970* |
|
3. |
Cameron Sinclair |
United Kingdom |
€35,420* |
|
4. |
Ed Fogarty |
Ireland |
€18,420 |
|
5. |
Guillermo Gordo |
Spain |
€14,170 |
|
6. |
Sia Browne |
Ireland |
€10,900 |
|
7. |
Adam Early |
Ireland |
€8,380 |
|
8. |
Manfred Gunther |
Canada |
€6,457 |
|
9. |
Szymon Koper |
Poland |
€4,960 |
*3-way deal
Main Event Is Chasing Records
The festival's largest tournament, the €1,150 Main Event, has completed its first three flights with total entries reaching 2,241. Surpassing the guaranteed prizepool of €2,500,000 is now a given, and the primary question remains whether last year’s record of 4,562 entries can be surpassed.
The Main Event today features two final Day 1 flights, 1D and 1E, which will definitively determine if we witness another record-breaking year for the Main Event and what prize awaits the victor.
The most attended flight so far was Day 1C, topped by Britain's Alexander Rizvi (748,000 chips). However, the spotlight was on couple Sinead and Matthew Davenport, both showcasing excellent play to advance to Day 2 together among the largest stacks - Sinead in 8th place (497,000) and Matthew in 11th (477,000).
Source: Irish Poker Open, PokerNews, Flickr (Danny Maxwell)
