Poker News

Niall Smyth beats Surinder Sunar to win 2011 Irish Open

Niall Smyth just put himself on the poker map in a big way after winning the 2011 Irish Open Main Event along with €550,000.

Smyth's road to the title certainly wasn't easy since this tournament was filled with good players such as Padraig Parkinson, JP Kelly, David "DevilFish" Ulliot, Andy Black and Sam Trickett. However, the online qualifier was unphased as he navigated through the 615-player tournament field, and on towards a heads-up match with poker legend Surinder Sunar.

Fortunately for Smyth, he was able to accumulate a solid chip lead over Sunar heading into the final (8.8 million to 3.4 million). But Sunar didn't go down without a fight because he actually managed to take the lead at one point before Smyth regained it back for good. With a huge lead over Sunar, Smyth shoved with Q-5, only to be called by Sunar and his A-9 combo; Smyth needed a lucky 5 on the river to secure the big win.

What's interesting about Niall Smyth is that he only had three live tournament cashes prior to his Irish Open victory (all three came in 2009). Even more fascinating is the fact that he almost didn't play in the tournament.

This is a story within itself, but the jest of it is that Smyth and his new girlfriend Kim Madigan were at the racetrack, and she urged him to bet €10 on a horse. The horse ended up winning, and Smyth took the €200 he earned and deposited it into PaddyPoker. After winning a 2011 Irish Open seat, the rest is history!

PaddyPoker isn't the only place that you can win major tournament seats though since others sites like Bodog Poker and Titan Poker offer qualifiers for the Irish Open and other big events. Plus they offer big bonuses too if you sign up through PokerSense!

Getting back to the tournament, here is how the final table finished:

1. Niall Smyth - €550,000
2. Surinder Sunar - €290,000
3. Martin Petri - €180,000
4. Seamus Cahill - €145,000
5. Aleksi Savela - €115,000
6. Karl Rudwall - €85,000
7. Rob Taylor - €63,000
8. John Eames - €45,000
9. Niall McCann - €30,000
10. Andy Black - €19,400

POKER NEWSLETTER