The penultimate day of the 2026 Irish Poker Open has seen yet another winner crowned as Event #74 €3,000 High Roller 8-Max has come to a conclusion. Out of a field of 108 entries, Giuseppe Dedoni defeated Ranno Sootla in heads-up play with both players earning the biggest slice of the €288,090 prize pool.
It may come as somewhat of a surprise that this particular duo battled for the win considering the fact that Dedoni had busted on Day 1 while Sootla was the third-shortest stack on a mere nine big blinds for the final day. However, the late registration was still open and 15 players entered with 16 big blinds and a dream. Both Dedoni and Sootla went from almost zero to hero and cut an ICM deal prior to the start of the heads-up to leave €12,000 as well as the trophy to play for.
The heads-up lasted half an hour and Dedoni continually increased his lead to ultimately seal the victory, securing €68,740 for his efforts. Sootla’s comeback story ended with a payday of €54,860 but he was denied yet another trophy on the live poker circuit.
Final Table Result
1st Place: Giuseppe Dedoni – €68,740*
2nd Place: Ranno Sootla – €54,860*
3rd Place: Max Burney – €34,700
4th Place: Luciano Piaggesi – €26,700
5th Place: Robert Bull – €20,500
6th Place: Gary Fisher – €15,800
7th Place: Keith Johnson – €12,600
8th Place: Cornelis Van Gent – €10,190
9th Place: Brandon Harris – €8,400
*includes ICM deal numbers prior to the heads-up
It was an early carnage in the opening stages as the field was whittled down to the final four tables in a hurry prior to the first break and there were several high-profile casualties during the early carnage. Two-time High Roller champion Roope Tarmi scored a triple knockout with pocket nines to take the lead but all his chips were then distributed on the table soon after. Ian Simpson and Dara O’Kearney bowed out before the first break, as were Pavlos Xanthopoulos and Andrew Mikhail. The field raced towards the money bubble, which was reached with the eliminations of Bart Timmer and Stephen Courtney on neighboring tables.
Dutch player Gerben Bos then bowed out on the bubble when his pocket queens was dominated by the pocket kings of chip leader Max Burney with another king appearing right in the window. En route to the nine-handed final table, Burney notched up several knockouts and was the only player with more than a million in chips. He was followed on the leaderboard by Sootla, who had returned for the final day with half the starting stack.
While the short stacks took turns to avoid eliminations, the two big stacks then went to work and decimated the field. Brandon Harris became the first casualty when his pocket nines ran into the pocket tens of Sootla, who then also held up with jacks against the ace-ten of Cornelis Van Gent.
Gary Fisher was pipped by the superior kicker of Burney, who made it two knockouts in a row by cracking the pocket kings of Robert Bull with ace-nine suited. The tides suddenly changed when the two chip leaders tangled in a three-bet pot and Sootla’s queens secured the top spot by a wide margin. Things then went even worse for Burney when Dedoni wasn’t folding pocket aces before the cat with many lives – Luciano Piaggesi and his lucky Maradona statue – eventually succumbed to Sootla.
Another twist awaited during three-handed play when Dedoni had three times as many chips as Burney and raise-called the shove of Sootla with king-jack suited. He was flipping versus pocket treys and Burney was hoping for an unexpected pay jump. However, both the king and jack appeared and the two big stacks were suddenly even. Dedoni even took the lead into heads-up play after his ace-deuce sucker punched the ace-queen of Burney with a straight on the river.
Both remaining players agreed to an ICM deal and left the trophy as well as €12,000 to battle for. It was a very one-sided affair in which Dedoni continued to pull away, seemingly cruising to victory at ease.
