Irish pro Niall Smyth wins 2011 Paddy Power Irish Open

Written On  4/27/11 By Recentpoker.com staff writer Emily Apontif :

IRISH OPEN POKER TROPHY STAYS IN THE EMERALD ISLE
 
Irish pro Niall Smyth is a double winner
 
Two weeks back, Irish online poker player Niall Smyth invested Euro 20 on a bet in the Grand National horse race in England, winning Euro 200 on Paddy Power and immediately transferring the cash to his online poker account with the same company.
 
That enabled him to enter for qualifiers for the 2011 Paddy Power Irish Open, I which he won a Euro 3 500 seat in the main event, leading to a notable victory in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a bruising heads up against poker veteran and former World Poker Tour champion Surinder Sunar.
 
Smyth bested 615 players over the four day tournament event to claim the main prize of Euro 550 000 – his biggest career win yet – and retain the trophy in Ireland. But Smyth not only cracked the win in the main event; he won an additional Euro 100 000 in cash and tournament entries for being the Paddy Power Sole Survivor, outlasting 160 other qualifiers.
 
The final table Smyth faced on Monday, holding a substantial chip lead, comprised Surinder Sunar; Danish player Martin Petri; fellow Irishmen Seamus Cahill, Niall McCann and Rob Taylor; Aleksi Savela of Finland; Karl Rudwall from Sweden and John Eames of the UK.
 
After a tough three-and-a-half hour heads up against runner-up Surinder Sunar, Smyth emerged triumphant, saying: "I just can't believe it. Surinder is such a great player, my support has been fantastic, and here I am!"
 
Sunar's second placing was worth Euro 290 000, and the six figure pay days extended down to the fifth player to be eliminated, Aleksi Savela. 64 main event players cashed.