Not all heroes wear capes but some HEROS players wear caps, especially when they lift the Irish Open trophy after an incredible heads-up duel in Event #28 HORSE Championship on March 30, 2026. The tournament drew 155 entries who paid the €350 price tag and that generated a prize pool of €46,609, which was split among the top 23 finishers.
After more than six hours of play on the final day, more than one of which was heads-up only despite a limited amount of big bets in play, Germany’s Sascha Manns finally broke his curse of runner-up finishes and defeated Keith McCormack to claim the top prize of €10,300. The always jovial German already had some deep runs during the festival at the Royal Dublin Society and finally claimed the coveted prize for his hard work.
While based in Canada, June Jenkins has been visiting Ireland for live poker tournaments many a times and “Poker Momma” has been a cherished guest of the Irish Open for many years. She once again showed her prowess at the tables and made it all the way to third place, even earning praise from none other than Dara O’Kearney.
Ethan Bennett had narrowly missed the final table in the Mixed 8-Game Championship the previous day and then entered the next contest right away. He bowed out in fourth place this time, right ahead of Alexander Cheng who entered the final day as the only player with a seven-figure stack.
Among the early casualties were Blaise Bourgeois, Nicolas Bokowski, Lee Horton and Sandeep Nene. Both Bill Chen and Isaac Barker were eliminated by Kami Chisholm in a Limit Hold’em hand and the third attempt of Randy Hagen to win a trophy during this festival came up short in 11th place. Former PokerStars ambassador Mason Pye crashed out against Cheng and Nils Mallon saw his hopes vanish in a duel with fellow German Ingo Klasen that left him with a single chip.
Klasen and Chisholm were knocked out by Manns when the German rivered a straight to crack the flopped top set of aces in Omaha Hi-Lo by Chisholm, who was visibly stunned about the outcome of the hand. For start-of-the-day chip leader Cheng, the late stages were no fun and he never recovered from becoming a short stack.
Manns then stormed into a big lead after hitting a flush against the set of queens for Bennett and the American fell prior to the podium spots. The formidable run of Jenkins ended in a duel with Manns and it seemed just a short matter of time for a winner to be crowned. However, it took more than four full levels for the epic heads-up duel thereafter to conclude in a Razzle dazzle.
Final Table Result:
1st Place: Sascha Manns – €10,300
2nd Place: Keith McCormack – €6,300
3rd Place: June Jenkins – €4,840
4th Place: Ethan Bennett – €3,720
5th Place: Alexander Cheng – €2,840
6th Place: Kami Chisholm – €2,220
7th Place: Ingo Klasen – €1,800
