The 2025 Irish Open has reached the half-way point and another trophy has been awarded in the early morning hours at the Royal Dublin Society. Two local heroes reached the final table in Event #31 NLH 8-Max but they came up short in a field of 441 entries, but the victory and biggest slice of the €451,474 prize pool went to Italy’s Giuseppe Dedoni.
After cutting a three-way deal with James Wynne and Taran Parmar, Dedoni came out on top of a roller coaster ride and defeated Wynne in heads-up to secure the additional €10,000 in cash as well as the trophy that the trio had agreed upon for the eventual winner. And he certainly did so in style after slow-playing aces, because otherwise the rockets would look rather lame on a winner’s shot, eh?
For his efforts, Dedoni received €66,500 to essentially double his cashes on the live poker circuit so far, beating his previous biggest score for a deep run in the 2024 Eureka Prague €2,000 High Roller nearly three-fold. Wynne also recorded a career-best €60,000 for his runner-up finish, while Parmar talked his way to a podium finish and collected €55,274.
Certainly another big story on this final table was the appearance of PokerStars ambassador Fintan Hand, who eventually had to settle for sixth place and a payday of €17,900. Hand was the chip leader on the final two tables before his pocket aces were cracked by the quads sevens of Parmar. Speaking of aces not holding up, Dutch player David Hu bowed out in fourth place after his aces came up second-best to the turned set of kings for Wynne.
Final Table Result
1st. Giuseppe Dedoni (Italy) – €66,500*
2nd. James Wynne (Ireland) – €60,000*
3rd. Taran Parmar (Canada) – €55,274*
4th. David Hu (Netherlands) – €30,300
5th. Adrian Ziemichod (Poland) – €23,300
6th. Fintan Hand (Ireland) – €17,900
7th. Nikolai Mamut (Russia) – €13,800
8th. Dimitrios Manekas (Greece) – €11,300
*reflects deal of the final three players
With the late registration still open prior to the first card dealt, several dozen players jumped into the action and the top 63 finishers were guaranteed a cash prize. The last player to bow out without was Hippodrome Casino ambassador Chris Da-Silva after he was forced all-in out of the blinds. Other big names such as Barny Boatman, Anton Bergstrom, Conor Beresford, and Matt Davenport all bowed out prior to the bubble as well.
Once the money bubble was taken care of, the floodgates opened and numerous players were sent to the payout desk in quick succession including former Irish Open champion Ian Simpson, Kevin Allen, Marle Spragg, Brian Altman, Tyler Hirschfeld, and EPT Main Event champion Giuliano Bendinelli. Altman made up for the misery by bagging the lead on Day 1 of the €5k High Roller thereafter.
The festival is now gearing up for the busiest period with the second flight of the 2025 Irish Open Main Event set to take place on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Concurrently, The Hendon Mob Championship and the Heads-Up Championship will play to a winner as well.
Stay tuned for more live poker action from all of the Side Events right here on the Irish Open website!
