There's Only ONE Simon Wilson!
After four days of play at the Royal Dublin Society, Simon Wilson has come out on top in the 4,562-entry €1,150 Irish Open Main Event, winning €600,000 from the €4,447,950 prize pool.
The biggest ever Irish poker tournament paid 671 places and ran alongside a huge schedule of side events of similar scale, including the €1,000,000 guaranteed Mini Main and the largest Mystery Bounty event held in Ireland.
The final day of the Main Event started with three tables remaining, after the enormous field had finally consolidated all 227.5 million chips in play into the hands of 19 players.
It took ten hours to set the final table (recap the run-up on PokerNews); when the last nine moved to the livestreamed TV seats, it was Day 1b’s chip leader Michel Karim out in front with nearly 20 million chips more than nearest rivals Umberto Ruggeri and Georgios Skarparis.
After experienced amateur player Joe O’Donaill was eliminated in 9th place (€45,800) running nines into Georgios Skarparis’ kings, there followed dual double-ups for Robert Fluereci. This did not stop the Romanian exiting in 8th place, losing a flip against Brandon Harris.
At this point Ignotas Kirsis went on a tear, rising up the counts to challenge Karim and Skarparis. Karim bounced back into the lead with the elimination of Panteleimon Pontos. Pontos owed his final table appearance in some part to a huge cooler against 19th place finisher David Pollock in which he had doubled up to over 30 million with quads vs. a full house. The €77,500 Pontos received for 7th place represented his biggest ever live cash.
When Wilson busted Brandon Harris in 6th, it was the start of a tussle for the chip lead with Kirsis. The latter eliminated Karim in 5th place (€130,000) calling his small-to-big-blind shove (with queen-six) with pocket sevens; this put him, briefly, exactly neck-and-neck with Wilson. The equilibrium was not to last long, with Wilson pulling ahead, eliminating Cypriot pro player Skarparis in 4th.
Three-handed, a crucial double for Ruggeri through Wilson kept him in contention and it was Kirsis who eventually fell in third, leaving an uneven heads up situation.
Wilson’s rail, loud enough to shake the walls at the Royal Dublin Society, boosted their man with the encouragement, “You gotta pump it up!” Riding a wave of their enthusiasm, Wilson did indeed come out on top, seeing off Ruggeri to take the whole first prize of €600,000 while his Italian opponent collected €316,000.
Wilson said immediately after his win, “It’s really special. We come every year, thousands of people enter, it’s always just a pipe dream, you know. And as the days go, the lads you know — get fewer and fewer and yeah… f&%$!”
Concerning a hand where he hit a gutshot on the river: “Absolutely. It was a big change of momentum. You know how these final tables go, it can come down to one big pot, two big pots. Thankfully I’ve been here before many times. I’ve experienced it and was happy how I’ve handled it.”
“The rail were a big help when we were short early on. Really happy to be able to close it out and of course the first-place prize is incredible, but the memory of winning this tournament… it’s second to none. The biggest achievement I’ve had and I’m going to remember this day forever.”
Thus the Irish Open, the longest-running poker series in Europe, received its new Main Event champion to rapturous, raucous applause from the rail: “There’s only ONE Simon Wilson…Walking along, singing a song, walking in a Wilson wonderland!”
Click the PAYOUTS tab above or visit PokerNews for full Main Event payout info, and recap the key action from the day there, too.
It’s been an incredible 12 days of poker, parties and general madness at the Royal Dublin society, from multiple record-breaking events to a Lotto handing out €52,000 in a bin bag, with karaoke, bar games, and a Lip Sync Challenge (aced by PokerStars’ Shamrock Showdown Team GRND aka ‘The Craic Street Boys’). There’s no other poker festival in Europe – or indeed the world – quite like it.
