Irish Open champions David Docherty and Ian Simpson have stormed the opening of the new PokerStars Open Manchester festival by taking down the first two tournaments.
Docherty won the opening event of the festival – a £220 Deep Stack which proved so popular that the heads-up had to be paused well into the small hours with an unscheduled Day 2 resuming later on. When play restarted, Docherty had a nearly 3:1 chip against Kasim Mahmood and the heads-up only lasted a few hands.
The £7,232 win gave Docherty his first tournament victory of the year and his first PokerStars spade for actually winning a tournament – although he does have two other spades back home in Scotland! He said: “I got one for winning the UKIPT Player of the Year race in 2023 and I also got one for being the only player to register the £550 turbo at the end of UKIPT Birmingham back in 2016!”
Docherty took down the 2023 Irish Open for €365,000 after qualifying on PokerStars for just €109. If you fancy emulating Docherty’s phenomenal ROI, check out PokerStars satellites for the 2026 Irish Open Main Event which get underway on November 16. Docherty is now a serious contender in this year’s PokerStars Low Live League after picking up maximum points for winning the £220 Deep Stack and then cashing in the subsequent £220 NLH side event. The Low Tier awards a first prize of €15,000 (ten PS Open entries and ten PS Open Cup entries).
He said: “Obviously the £220 here in Manchester was only a small event but it’s come at a good time for me. I’m chasing the Live League low leaderboard so the win got me some important points there. Hopefully this is the catalyst for a strong end to the year and maybe another leaderboard win!”
Simpson takes down High Roller
Irish Open champion Ian Simpson took down the two-day £2,200 PokerStars Open Manchester High Roller for a first prize of £53,140. There were 106 entries creating a £203,520 prize pool with PokerStars Ambassadors Kenny Hallaert and Adam McKola also finishing in the money.
Simpson won €265,000 when he took down the Irish Open in 2013. It was a moment that meant a lot more to him than just putting money in the bank though because – only minutes after lifting the trophy aloft – Ian got down on bended knee and proposed to his then girlfriend Emma. The couple now have a five-year-old daughter.
PokerStars Open Manchester runs October 20-26 at The Manchester Deansgate Hotel. The next PokerStars event in Europe is EPT Prague which takes place December 3-14.
