Greek online qualifier Ioannis Triantafyllakis was the last man standing from the 321 entrants at this year's Irish Open at the Hilton Doubletree (formerly the Burlington) over the Easter weekend (3-6 April).
Triantafyllakis took home €209,500, plus a bonus €50,000 for becoming the PaddyPower Poker Sole Survivor from 107 qualifiers in the tournament.
The €3,200 + €300 main event generated a prizepool of €1,027,200, with 36 places getting paid, but reaching the final table meant outmanoeuvring the likes of Simon Deadman (16th for €9,750), Steve O’Dwyer (15th for €12,500) and Tom Kitt (ninth for €20,500).
Just to finish in the money involved nearly three days of navigating the shark-infested waters of the main event, past Mike Sexton, Dan Harrington, Daragh Davey, Sean Prendiville, Jude Ainsworth and Dave Masters.
The final table featured players from five countries, including respected local lad and UKIPT Dublin winner Kevin Killeen and Declan Connolly, making an incredible third appearance at an Irish Open final.
Andreas Gann may have spent the least amount of time on the feature table (finishing eighth for €26,750), but his exit was most talked-about hand of the entire tournament.
Playing out of position against Donnacha O’Dea with KD-QD, he flopped the nuts on an 8D-AD-6D board when O’Dea’s AC-6C guaranteed him a payoff.
Instead of snap-calling when O’Dea set him in, there ensued a tank of over a minute, qualifying it as slow roll of the year. The deck brought Gann’s karma full circle though, with a 6H on the river completing O’Dea's full house and sending the crowd, staunch supporters of both tournament etiquette and the O’Dea poker clan, into a frenzy.
Next out was Norwegian Baard Dahl (seventh for €35,250), a victim of his stack size and some unlucky timing running his KS-JC into Killeen’s pocket aces.
Killeen used his stack boost to start mixing it up against the two most active players on the (now short-handed) final table, Michael Wang and Triantafyllakis, the latter soon to become a comfortable chip leader after busting Fergal Cawley in sixth place (€46,500).
Irish poker legend and two-time WSOP finalist O’Dea, who had been chip leader at the start of the day, hit the rail in fifth place. Short stacked, he found a hand – AH-9H – and decided to make a stand against Triantafyllakis. Unfortunately, the chip leader had A-K and O’Dea exited in fifth place for €61,850.
A tournament break seemed to bring the stars (or at least the deck) into alignment for Killeen, as in back-to-back hands he picked up pocket queens and busted an opponent.
His first victim one was Connolly, who probably felt more at home playing on the feature final table (with hole cards broadcast with an hour delay) than anyone, seeing as he’d done it before in 2010 and 2013.
But even for a seasoned player like Connolly, finishing fourth must have rankled because although he picked up a hefty €82,750, his exit made Triantafyllakis the Sole Survivor and the recipient of a €50,000 bonus.
Victim two was American Wang (€111,750), Killeen's second pair of queens crushing Wang’s QS-JC.
That left Killeen heads-up with Triantafyllakis and they quickly came to a chop arrangement – €192,500 for Killeen and €197,500 for Triantafyllakis, with €12,000 and the coveted trophy left to play for.
Triantafyllakis soon forged a 2:1 chip lead and after around a level and a half of play he put an end to Killeen's resistance when he called with QS-10D after Killeen had moved all-in with AS-2C.
It was a swift and clinical end for the local hero Killeen – a queen in the door left him drawing thin and it was soon all over – but almost €200,000 for a weekend’s work was probably some consolation for him.
Irish Open
1st Ioannis Triantafyllidis €209,500
2nd Kevin Killeen €192,500
3rd Michael Wang €111,750
4th Declan Connolly €82,750
5th Donnacha O'Dea €61,850
6th Fergal Cawley €46,500
7th Baard Dahl €32,250
8th Andreas Gann €26,750
