10/20/09 - Fears that the popularity of poker as a tournament game may be waning were put aside this week when Boylepoker reported that its International Poker Open tournament in Dublin, Ireland had attracted an entry field the envy of most countries outside the United States.
The $250 buy-in NLHE event pulled in 1 440 players from over 18 countries, and including a $27 000 enhancement from the sponsor, generated a prize pool worth $350 000.
Boylepoker pointed out that the previous record for such a non-USA event was the 1 347 players who signed up for this year's PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
Among those attracted to the Regency Hotel in Dublin to test their poker skills were Neil Channing, Padraig Parkinson, Andy Black, Marty Smyth, Surinder Sunar, Fintan Gavin, Simon Trumper and commentator Jesse May.
The final table came down to Germany's Mark Sippe, Irishman Jay Renehan, Mark Troy, Cat O'Neill, Gary Cavazza, Colin Rutherford, Stephen Egan, Sean Venny and Martin Dunne.
The heads up was decided when Mark Troy was eliminated in third place, leaving Mark Sippe facing Jay Renehan in a finale that lasted a mere 10 minutes. Sippe was victorious, taking home the $62 250 main prize and leaving Renehan with $47 490 in his pocket for the trip back to his home in Galway.
"This year's International Poker Open was another great success, breaking last year's record by a further 140 players," said Boylepoker's Paul Spillane. "The event is proving more and more popular every year, among all levels of players."
