They call it the America’s Cup but the final table of the latest 2025 Irish Open trophy event saw nine players from nine different countries battle for the lion’s share of the €207,041 prize pool out of a field of 685 entries. None of them were from the United States, as their last hope Jason Blodgett bowed out in 11th place for €2,880.
Ultimately, it was Dutch player Bart Timmer who continued his recent wave of success and earned a new career high score on the live poker circuit. Just one month ago, he had won a WSOP Circuit ring on home soil in Amsterdam and finished third in another ring event. However, the top prize of €38,340 topped that and he jumped out of his chair in celebration after defeating Marco Meisser in heads-up.
Long-time chip leader Leo Worthington-Leese had to settle for fourth place, while the last woman in contention Sigrid Dencker from Germany finished in seventh place during her second trip to the Irish Open.
Final Table Result America’s Cup
Place Winner Country Prize (in EUR)
1st. Bart Timmer (Netherlands) – €38,340
2nd. Marco Meisser Switzerland) – €23,980
3rd. Leo Worthington-Leese (United Kingdom) – €17,120
4th. Kenneth Berge (Norway) – €13,180
5th. Hugo Dempsey (Ireland) – €10,140
6th. Sigrid Dencker (Germany) – €7,800
7th. Veaceslav Jumir (Moldova – €6,000
8th. Xavier James (France) – €4,620
9th. Eduard-Alexandru Francu (Romania) – €3,540
The money bubble had burst on Day 1 and only 47 players returned for the final day, which lasted a mere eight hours until a winner was crowned. Among the early casualties in a rapid-fire opening stage were Philippe Souki, Michail Tastanis, Katie Swift, and Cassandra Yong.
Mixed game specialist Pedro Barossi from Brazil reached the final three tables only to bust against Hugo Dempsey in a hand that had many at the table raise their eyebrows, when Barossi called a three-bet with jack-nine suited and check-shoved instantly on a jack-high board.
Dempsey remained a big stack for a long time after that and scored several knockouts en route to the final table. Scott Roberts was the penultimate American in contention and had to settle for 19th place while Canada’s Timothy Silman ran with pocket tens into the pocket queens of Meisser to finish in 13th place.
The final table was a tense affair at the start before Worthington-Leese started to ramp up the aggression. After the Brit doubled from a short stack, he sent Eduard-Alexandru Francu to the rail and the Brit went on a rampage to become the run-away chip leader amid several other eliminations.
Dencker was one of the players throughout the day to run into the pocket aces of Worthington-Leese, who found them in the big blind this time and also earned a full double against the pocket nines of Kenneth Berge as well. Hugo Dempsey doubled into the lead through him right after before they reversed the cards and stack sizes minutes later.
Dempsey then ran into pocket aces of … Worthington-Leese, who picked them up once more but lost to the pocket sixes of Meisser. Three-handed play began soon after when Berge ran out of chips and a possible ICM deal found no agreement. Worthington-Leese had asked for a little more money, and instead he was next out of the door when ace-king suited was cracked by the ten-five suited of Timmer.
Heads-up play was a very short affair and Timmer was the one to jump up and celebrate with his Dutch rail. His third win in 2025 came with more than 100 times the €350 buy-in, which is certainly a nice bankroll boost. Whether or not the tournament will be remained to The Netherlands Cup in 2026 remains to be seen.
