Canada's Griffin Benger Wins Irish Open for €200k

Canada’s Griffin Benger travelled more than 3,583 miles to take part in the 2017 Irish Open, and the decision proved to be a fateful one after the 31-year old pro took down the series’ €1,150 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for €200,000. Furthermore, the tournament attracted a record-breaking 1,129 players, resulting in an inflated prize pool of €1,128,294 that ensured 135 finishers would at least see a return on their buy-ins.
Not so lucky Paul Carr, however, who went out in 136th spot after his pocket sixes lost to Kristaps Zarans’s A-K, although he did at least receive a ticket through to next year’s Irish Open Main Event. By the time the tournament had been reduced to a final table of nine, Griffin Benger was out in front as the leader with 8 millionin  chips, while Mihail Mazilu was a short stack on just 1,855k chips, leaving only two players with less chips.
Benger (A-J) subsequently eliminated Michael Fletcher (A-10) in 9th, followed by Michael Conaty in 8th, and Antony Wickert in 5th. Mihail Mazilu (A-A) then took care of Vamshi Vandanapu (K-Q) in 4th, and after Benger (A-Q) sent Chris Dowling (A-8) to the rail in 3rd, the heads-up phase of the competition was set.
By this stage, Mazilu held a 20,795,000 to 13,050,000 chip advantage over Benger, but the Canadian soon managed to take the lead when the deciding hand was played with Benger (K-8) check-raising on an 8-2-6 flop. Mazilu elected to move all-in holding 10-8 and after the board ran out with a 9 and a 2, Mazilu finished the runner-up for €125,000, while Griffin Benger was crowned the champion.
Griffin Benger now boasts $3,668,642 in live tournament earnings, to go with the $6,521,785 he has won online playing under the screen name ‘Flush_Entity’.
Final Table Results:
1: Griffin Benger €200,000
2: Mihail Mazilu €125,000
3: Chris Dowling €75,000
4: Vamshi Vandanapu €50,000
5: Antony Wickert €35,000
6: Sameer Singh €25,000
7: Fintan Hand €19,445
8: Michael Conaty €15,750
9: Michael Fletcher €13,500