Padraig Parkinson has won the UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Main Event after beating a field of 259 players over 4 days to take the title and €125,000 prize money.
Having been born in Galaway, the BoylesPoker pro was the crowds’s favourite from the start, and following his victory at the €2,000 buy-in event, a jubilant Padraig exclaimed, “’I was born just down the road so I can’t believe that I won it. If anyone wants a drink, I’m buying!’
The final table got underway with Padraig the most recognizable player at the table, and from the start the action was fast and furious. As players exited the competition, though, the pace of the game began to slow and Padraig’s experienced saw him bide his time and wait for the short stacks Ben Lefew and Paul Marrow to make their moves before turning the aggression levels up a notch.
Seven hours later he had defeated Paul the ‘Diceman’ Marrow in a quick heads-up battle which pivoted on an all-in race with Padraig holding A Q versus his opponent’s pocket 6’s and hitting a Q on the flop. Soon after Marrow was forced to shove his remaining chips into the middle with 2 5 against K Q and despite making a pair, the writing was on the wall for Marrow who walked away with the €82,000 runner-up prize.
A good friend of Padraig’s, Marrow graciously said that although he wanted to win the heads-up, he was equally happy that Padraig was now the Irish champion.
Padraig Parkinson became a well recognised face on the UK circuit after coming in third at the 1999 WSOP Main Event, where he picked up $489,125, and since then has gone on to accumalate around $1.5 million from live tournament cashes.
The second leg of the UKIPT tour will now take place next year between February 11th to 14th in Manchester, with qualification satellites running regularly at PokerStars in the meantime.
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