Ladbrokespoker.com Northern Ireland Open Championship 2004 Report

MadsL

Over 150 poker players made it to Belfast’s Cavendish Club for a hugely successful inaugural Ladbrokespoker.com Northern Ireland Open Championship.
The field included 46 Ladbrokes Online Qualifiers (link to qualifiers page?), drawn from all parts of the British Isles as well as Ireland and Scandanavia.

This was an amazing turnout for an event and venue totally new on the poker circuit; from far and wide they came too.

Quality was there in spades, with snooker ace Mark Williams playing alongside the likes of World Series winner Noel Furlong who, once again, clashed swords with George McKeever who finished seventh in that epic 1999 WSOP final.

McKeever is, of course, a Northern Ireland resident along with Paul Leckey, who is already a serious force on the world poker stage and a major winner waiting to happen.

Then there is Ivan Donnaghy, who won this year’s Irish Open and promptly gave the prize-money to an ill friend for the cost of potentially life-saving surgery.

First Session

154 Players filled the Cavendish Poker Room as play commenced at 8pm sharp, with a 3 blind structure and 1 hour levels that allowed all players to work themselves in slowly. During the first session there were only 20 casualties as all players had the option to take the 7,000 chip add-on which was available to any players who had used their initial 5,000 chip.

At 11 o’clock players were given a 1 hr break during which our host Sean Murphy laid on a fine buffet at local bar which was greatly appreciated by all as it also provided the opportunity for a for a few beers.

Second Session

At midnight action recommenced with the blinds now at 300/300/600 and with all add-ons now taken. Over the next 5 ½ hours 90 player fell by the wayside including WSOP champion Noel Furlong and Ladbrokes own Roy The Boy as the field was whittled down to 39. The original plan had been to play down to 27, but after more than 8 hours play every one was ready for some rest!

Final Day.

As the final 39 reassambled at the Cavendish Club there were all pleased to learn that due to the number of entrants and add-on’s, the prize fund had grown to an impressive £147,000 from the anticipated £108,000, which meant that prize structure could be adjusted so that all the players (25% of the field) on the final day were guaranteed at least a monkey and charity donation to the Northern Ireland Hospice had been increased from £5,000 to £25,000.

The guarantee of prize money for all led to a much more open style of play and in the first hour 10 players fell by the wayside as the short stacks were forced to make their moves.

Soon we were down to the last 27 and a minum prize of a grand. At this stage there was a seating redraw for the final 3 tables.

Over the next 90 minutes the increasing blinds started to take their toll we were down to the final 9, with hamsterboy finishing a frustrating 10th.

Final Table

At the final table there were three Ladbrokes players:

Paddy O’Connor – Alias:treemore
Johan Ericsson – Alias: Kingiran
And Cavendish regular Barry Craig - Alias: batroot

Competing with 6 local players for a final table worth £98,000 and a first prize of £50,000.

Soon we were down to 7 players with Paddy and Barry playing out a personal battle with regular clashes, whilst Johan moved into a significant chip lead. Eventually Paddy and Barry settled their battle with Barry calling Paddy’s A2 suited with 94 offsuit and Barry hitting 2 pairs on the flop, with Paddy leaving in 7th with £2,500.

Johan continued to whittle down the field taking out Neil Duggan, when his 77 held up against AJ.

Owen Mullen was next to leave the table when his A10 didn’t improve and Barry’s 55 held up and he was not the big chip leader.

Down to 4 with Johan and Barry holding the majority of the chips and short-stacked Paddy was soon out with J10 when Johan’s KJ hit a K on the flop.

Down to 3 and Johan’s lack of offline experience was starting to tell as Cavendish regular Damian Cunningham turned up the heat and through some very aggressive play, built up his short stack to rival chip leader Barry.

Johan finished a credible 3rd in what was his first major offline event, winning 140,000 krona (£10,000).

Heads-Up

Once we were heads-up we did not to have to wait very long for a conclusion. Damian went all-in with 99 and Barry called him with AQ. The flop came down K10x, turn helped no one and Barry was left praying for a Jack on the river. After what seemed an eternity the dealer turned over river to reveal a Jack and we had a winner.

Barry promptly made a donation of £2,500 to the Hospice. His donation, was quickly matched by Ladbrokes Poker, which when added to funds raised at the tournament with previous pledges by the sponsor’s, a most worthy cause was now better off to the tune of £30,000, the largest single donation they had ever received from a fund raising event.

After the presentations, the winner along with a number of Ladbrokes players retired to the Hilton to celebrate with a drink or three.

The event was a resounding success for all parties, with all player, including the large Swedish contingent all vowing to come back again to take on the cream of Irish poker players.

Ladbrokes Poker would like to thank Sean Murphy and all his team (especially the dealers) at the Cavendish Club for all the hard work they have put into preparing the venue and delivering everybody with a first class event which is set to become a major event on the Poker calendar.

MadsL

1. Barry "batroot" Craig GBP 50,000
2. Damian Cunningham GBP 20,000
3. Johan "Kingiran" Ericsson GBP 10,000
4. Paddy McClusky GBP 6000
5. Owen Mullen GBP 4000
6. Neil Duggan GBP 3000
7. Paddy "treemore" O’Connor GBP 2500
8. Roy Douglas GBP 2000
9. Gerard Broderick GBP 2000
10. John "hamsterboy" Huckle GBP 1500
11. Paul Lecky GBP 1500
12. Mark McAtamney GBP 1500
13. Johannes "hilding" Sundberg GBP 1500
14. Roger "BobLocks" Deans GBP 1500
15. Seamus King GBP 1500
16. Jerry Jones GBP 1500
17. William "wackybill" McIlroy GBP 1500
18. Malachy Graham GBP 1000
19. John Kalmar GBP 1000
20. Martin "mhtnl" Tvergaard GBP 1000
21. Gary Donaghy GBP 1000
22. Thomas "Five_Aces" Martinsson GBP 1000
23. Ronan Mullan GBP 1000
24. Alan Stewart GBP 1000
25. John Fitzsimmons GBP 1000
26. Neil Sweeney GBP 1000
27. Joe Dorran GBP 1000
28. Gareth Cervell GBP 500
29. Darryl "ROSEMARY" Sheens GBP 500
30. Eammon Leonard GBP 500
31. Mark Muldoon GBP 500
32. Lee-Anne "citychick2" Smyth GBP 500
33. Gary "Munchs" Smolinski GBP 500
34. Noel "GL_ALL" Gillen GBP 500
35. Brian Lyttle GBP 500
36. Chris "pubeheed" Port GBP 500
37. Michael Agnew GBP 500
38. Brian Lagan GBP 500
39. Martin McKensie GBP 500

amp

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