Ian Simpson wins 2013 Paddy Power Irish Open
Tuesday April 2, 2013 : ENGLISH PLAYER WINS PADDY POWER IRISH POKER OPEN
Euro 265,000 for Ian – and a marriage proposal!
Ian Simpson from Cramlington near Newcastle in England has won the 2013 Paddy Power Poker.com Irish Open, taking home from Dublin the Euro 265,000 main prize.
The English science teacher also won his girlfriend's hand in marriage when he proposed after winning the NLHE tournament at the Burlington Hotel, Dublin in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Simpson's luck was in again after Emma, whose loyal support was in evidence all weekend, said ‘yes' when he took to bended knee and offered her a diamond ring.
Simpson topped the field of 505 players from 29 countries at the Euro 2,250 buy-in event, surviving to the heads up where he defeated Irishman Michael Farrelly.
The talented entry field battled for four days, with 54 players winning a slice of the Euro 1,010,000 prize pool in Europe's oldest poker tournament. The final table of nine – seven from Ireland, Englishman Simpson and American Calvin Anderson – took to the felt on Monday afternoon and around 12 hours later Simpson was the last player standing.
Last year he finished fourth in the tournament for Euro 107,500. He also won an additional Euro 100,000 in tournament buy-ins and cash for outlasting 135 plus online qualifiers in a separate Sole Survivor, last man standing competition.
Going into the heads up early Tuesday morning with a 3 to 1 advantage, Simpson quickly despatched his last opponent Michael Farrelly.
Simpson said after his win, "It’s the most amazing experience of my life. I'm completely overwhelmed by the support and love from all my friends and family, not to mention the kids at BCHS [Ian's school] who stayed up late and cheered me on, it really meant the world to me!
"Winning a tournament of this scale is life changing. Winning Emma's hand in marriage even more so. For the stars to align to allow both things to happen simultaneously is simply perfect.
"For anyone wondering, the proposal was coming regardless of how it ended. If I busted in 8th on a stupid bluff or my A-A got cracked I was shaking everyone's hand and getting down on one knee."
The final table pay-outs were:
1st Ian Simpson – Euro 265,000
2nd Michael Farrelly – Euro 141,500
3rd Mark Davis – Euro 99,000
4th Namir Mohamed – Euro 67,500
5th Calvin Anderson – Euro 49,000
6th Declan Connolly – Euro 37,500
7th Tom Brady – Euro 28,000
8th Adam Fallon – Euro 20,500
The Sole Survivor 2013 honours went to U.S. online poker whiz Calvin Anderson, who picked up Euro 60,000 in tournament buy-ins and cash to add to his Euro 49,000 fifth place finish pay day.
