Paddy Power Irish Winter Festival Won By Michael O’Sullivan
October 29, 2009 9:17 amMichael O’Sullivan (24) outlasted a field of 398 players over three days at the €1,650 buy-in Paddy Power Irish Winter Festival to take home the top prize of €143,000.
Commenting on his victory, O’Sullivan said it “hasn’t sunk in yet,” which is hardly surprising considering the final hand played between him and his heads-up rival Michael Murphy. All the chips had been shipped to the centre of the table with O’Sullivan’s AK up against his opponents JJ. He must have felt it was all over when the flop and turn produced blanks for his ‘big slick’ but a miracle A on the river turned despair to elation as he secured his first major win and the €143,000 score.
Once the dust had settled and he had overcome the shock of being pipped on the river, Michael Murphy must have felt slightly consoled by his €88,500 runner-up prize.
Paul Dooley finished in seventh place for €22,400 but also picked up an extra €20,000 after becoming the ‘IWF Sole Survivor’ having outlasted all the other online satellite qualifiers in the tournament. The 37 year old Tipperary man is no stranger to success having cashed at several events including an 8th place finish at the paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open in 2007 for €50,000.
John Cassidy was also a paddypowerpoker.com online satellite qualifier, but narrowly missed becoming the ‘IWF Sole Survivor’ as he exited the competition in ninth place when his AK went up against Igor Kurganov’s pocket aces. He collected €13,500 for his deep run in the tournament.
Poker enthusiasts were able to watch the action live from the final table courtesy of live streaming from Boyles poker.