Rok Rotar Triumphs At Poker Irish Winter Festival
October 29, 2013 2:00 pmSlovenian player Rok Rotar has won the 2013 Paddy Power Poker Irish Winter Festival, after besting a field of 341 players over three days on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the €85,000 first place prize.
The €1,125 Main Event was held at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, and attracted many notable players, such as 1999 WSOP Main Event winner Noel Furlong, Irish Open winner Ian Simpson and Irish poker legend Andy Black. However, by Day 3 just 17 hopefuls returned, which was subsequently reduced to a final table of nine after Mark Wagstaff was eliminated from the competition.
As the final table got underway, Joe O´Donaill was the chip leader on a 1.772m stack, with Rok Rotar lying in 4th spot (1.17m), and Sam Welbourne far behind in 8th (815k).
Rok Rotar (A-K) then proceeded to eliminate Philip Gildea (Q-J) in 8th (€8,900), before being dealt A-2 and doing likewise to Bartosz Ciesla (J-10) in 7th (€11,700). Continuing his assault on the final table, Rotar (K-K) subsequently dispatched Mathias Puzich (J-9) to the rail in 5th (€20,500), Joe Ó’Dónaillin 4th (€27,500), and Paul Kristoffersson in 3rd (€37,000) to herald in the heads-up phase of the tournament against Samuel Welbourne.
As the final heads-up commenced, Rotar held a huge 4:1 chip advantage over Welbourne and before long the defining hand was played with Welbourne all-in pre-flop holding Q-8 to Rotar’s A-4. The board then rolled out a 3-7-10-J-2 to consign Samuel Welbourne to a runner-up finish worth €51,500, while Rok Rotar was crowned the 2013 Irish Winter Festival Main Event champion.
Irish Winter Festival Final Result:
1 Rok Rotar – €85,000
2 Samuel Welbourne – €51,500
3 Paul Kristoffersson – €37,000
4 Joe Ó’Dónaill – €27,500
5 Mathias Puzich – €20,500
6 Oliver Boyce – €15,500
7 Bartosz Ciesla – €11,700
8 Philip Gildea – €8,900
9 Jimmy Wan – €6,900