This year’s Irish Open included some real people-pleasers for mixed game fans including Big O, Mixed 8-Game, HORSE, Crazy Pineapple Open Face Chinese and Deuce to 7 Triple Draw. Here’s how they played out.
In the €350 buy-in Big O Championship, our very own Irish Open ambassador Chris Dowling scooped the trophy and €6,850 after besting the 122-entry field. This was the first Big O at the Irish Open and generated a €36,875 prize pool. A stalwart of the Irish poker scene, Dowling is a renowned PLO practitioner and has racked up more than $1.4 million in live scores in both NLHE and PLO events, however this was his first live tournament victory in the Big O variant.
Another mixed games specialist took down the record-breaking €350 buy-in Mixed 8-game Championship. The UK’s Bill Mawer, an aficionado of cash Omaha and mixed games in London, outlasted a 169-entry field for his biggest live score of €11,980. Friend of the Irish Open Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, founder of the popular mixed games series The Festival, made it to 14th place for €900, before heading to the bar for (allegedly) a ‘decaf tea’.
Canada’s David Dongwoo Ko added to his impressive resume by taking down the €350 Horse Championship for €11,000. Ko made the most of his first trip to the Irish Open, cashing a total of four times. He has now exceeded the $900,000 mark in lifetime tournament winnings – a quite remarkable feat given that his first recorded cash was less than three years ago. There were 147 entries in the HORSE Championship creating a €43,292 prize pool.
The first ever Open Face Chinese Championship also saw a big turnout with 118 players in full party mood. Congrats to Finland’s Riku Koivurinne who took down the €350 buy-in event for €8,265. Jon Kyte finished third with a total of 17 players taking a share of the €34,751 prize pool.
On his journey over to Dublin, Mitchell Jones made good use of his time by mugging up on the basic rules for Deuce to 7 Triple Draw. Less than 22 hours later and Jones found himself on the winner’s podium. Jones snagged €7,880 after outlasting the 123-entry field while fellow 2-7 newbie and well-known UK player Tim Chung finished fourth. The prize pool totalled €37,177 divvied up between 17 players.
