Ireland's Thomas Finneran Wins UKIPT Cork

Thomas Finneran has won the UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Cork main event, after defeating a field of 347 players over three days to lift the tile, and collect the €55,440 ($74,167) first place prize.
The Irishman now takes his live poker earnings to $405,116 and following his impressive victory at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork, commented: “I’ve played a fair bit of heads-up and worked on my game. It’s important to do that as the difference between first and second is big..”
As the €770 buy-in event on Ireland’s south coast reached its final table of eight, Finneran was in second spot behind Pawel Keller from Poland, with both players holding more than half the chips in play.
A half hour into play, Thomas Finneran (A-A) then eliminated  Nicholas Newport (9-9) in 8th for €5,910; before then being dealt 7-5 and calling a short-stack shove by Pascal Tongi holding A-5. Unluckily for the German, though, the board rolled out 8-2-7-J-3 to eliminate him in 7th place for €7,885.
Next player to leave the arena was Alexander Rhys-Davies in 6th (€10,510), after running his A-9 into the pocket jacks of Fridjon Thordarson; while last woman standing Deborah Worley-Roberts had to be content with a 5th place worth  €14,780, having seen her two pair on the flop overtaken by Pawel Keller’s turned gut-shot straight.
At this stage, Thomas Finneran turned up his aggression levels and grew his stack further before being deat K-10 and calling Thordarson’s short-stack shove (K-2) to send him to the rail in 4th (€24,960). Soon after, UK’s Stephen McGrath (A-K) took care of Pawel Keller    (A-7) in 3rd (€24,960), to usher in the heads-up phase of the competition.
However, despite being behind in chips, Finneran soon managed to gain the upper hand and just 30 minutes later it was all over with a short-stacked McGrath all-in with 6-5 and up against the Q-8 of his opponent. The board subsequently produced a 8-4-3-8-Q to relegate Stephen McGrath to a runner-up finish worth €45,600, while Thomas Finneran was crowned the UKIPT Cork Main Event champion.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1 Thomas Finneran    €55,440
2 Stephen McGrath    €45,600
3 Pawel Keller            €24,960
4 Fridjon Thordarson    €19,360
5 Deborah Worley-Robert €14,780
6 Alexander Rhys-Davies    €10,510
7 Pascal Tongi          €7,885
8 Nicholas Newport      €5,910