Paddy Power Irish Open: Final Day - At A Glance

[snoopy1239]

Brian O'Keeffe is OUT and becomes the 5th place finisher winning €130,000

With Marty Smyth raising it up pre-flop, the most popular player at the table, Brian 'The Fox' O'Keefe was so shortstacked that he decided to call all-in, showing in the process. Marty, who was inevitably going to be ahead, revealed , and up went the roar of the crowd, banging their feet, clapping manically and continuously demanding one of those lovely ladies to hit the board.

However, with the dealer bashing out a Flop, things looked bleak for the hairless Irishman, perhaps knowing that his fate was about to be sealed when he amusingly highlighted the split pot possibilities.

Turn was no help, but the crowd were still hopeful, praying for a miracle River, but when another 6 hit the felt, you felt not only O'Keeffe's heart drop, but also those of his hoard of fans that have made this such a terrifically entertaining final.

Brian waved to his fans like a golfer finishing on the 18th and basked in the glory of his 5th place finish and the appreciation the audience was showing him. Roland rose from his seat immediately to be one of the first to offer his hand.

The Fox took his exit like a true gent, although the disappointment on his face was clear for all to see.

[Djinn]

The advertised structure:

1st.....................650,000
2nd....................325,000
3rd.....................210,000
4th.....................175,000

The length of time taken to restart implies that they're seriously discussing a deal of some sort.

[Djinn]

No deal news (yet...we have our sources on it) but they're restarting with chip counts as follows:

Danny McHugh   1,145,000
Sorel Mizzi          2,970,000
Marty Smyth      1,615,000
Roland de Wolfe 1,340,000

[snoopy1239]

Danny McHugh is OUT and becomes the 4th place finisher winning €175,000

Roland De Wolfe raised, Danny announced all-in and Roland called after a long deep think.

Roland =

Danny =

Board =

[snoopy1239]

Roland raises, Marty moves all-in, Roland calls 1.4 million.

Roland =

Marty =

Board =

Marty doubles through.

[Djinn]

Roland plays the Full Wilson:

And he sees the flop for free, checking the big blind after Marty Smyth makes up the small.  They both check the flop...
Turn:    Marty checks, Roland bets (the amound not announced, let's go with 150k).  Call.
River:    Marty checks, Roland bets 375k and after a brief think Marty calls only to muck at the sight of the two pair.

[Djinn]

We are currently on a half hour break.

We've played Win With Wilson.  I have no idea what was going on there, but I know that someone won a bottle of wine by answering, "Yes," to the question, "Does anyone know what a koala bear is?"

[Djinn]

Restart - Chip Counts:

Sorel Mizzi     2,530,000
Marty Smyth  2,765,000
Roland de Wolfe  1,775,000

[Djinn]

Did they def do a deal? Does any1 really no?

Yes, word is that a deal is done.  We believe it.

Blinds are now a staggering 60k/120k so I really don't blame them...

[snoopy1239]

With blinds at 60k and 120k, Sorel raises it up to 350k from the button only for Roland (or Ronnie as we're calling him now) to push all-in.

Sorel called and we have a huge 2.8 million pot.

Roland =

Sorel =

"Come on Ronald!" shout a few members from the crowd. Hmm, who could that have been. 

Flop =

The crowd gasp (not for the first time today) at the prospect of a straight.

I personally commanded an Ace, but although the Turn brought a rather dyer , the Poker Gods replied to my request by popping an on a little boat and pushing it down the River.

As the Ace hit the felt, Roland's expression looked like he'd just been pinched on the bottom.

I suspect Jen...

[Djinn]

And after that, it was basically a formality for Mizzi to call all-in Roland's button bet of 350k on the small blind, which was also called by Marty Smyth in the big blind.  The announcer announced, "It will be a split pot."  Running this through the Translator we've developed, that meant:  "There will be a side pot."

Flop:    check-check  (Mizzi can just watch)
Turn:  Marty bets 400k, called by Roland  (Mizzi probably not loving that)
River:    Now Marty checks and Roland bets 500k... Smyth passes and de Wolfe's take the lot, the chip lead, and finish off his worthy opponent Sorel Mizzi.

Sorel Mizzi, therefore, takes Third Place in this year's Irish Open..(officially €210k, but we reckon more like a chop from fourway with €100k to play for, of course)...

[snoopy1239]

We are now heads up:

Roland de Wolfe -- 4,000,000
Marty Smyth -- 3,655,000

[Djinn]

They've gone straight on with the heads up - both players aware that they've only got half an hour before the blinds climb to an even more stratospheric level.  So far Marty took down the first hand with a 175k bet on a board, but then Roland took one preflop with an all-in re-raise over Marty's 400k raise on the button, two with raises from the big blind preflop (he showed A-K and A-J on these), and one with a 200k bet on a limp-checked flop.

Then Marty Smyth won a 700k pot on the river, after Roland check-called the turn, only to pass to a 500k bet on the final ... that classifies as a back and forth early part, doesn't it - although I think Roland is crawling ahead.  The crowd here is clearly excited for Irishman Marty Smyth - and he does get a bit more whooping when he wins hands, but there's a good atmosphere and enthusiasm for both of the finalists.

[snoopy1239]

Very little action to report at the moment - looks like they could be around even, as although most hands have been cut short, a couple did reach a River with Marty correctly calling bets by Roland with pairs, only for the Dublin EPT winner to muck.

[Djinn]

Well, despite the blinds being about to go up to 80k/160k, they're being a lot cagier than I would have guessed.  The last set of hands saw Marty Smyth get a bit of an advantage back over de Wolfe, winning several small pots in a row, with a couple of well-timed re-raises preflop.

As Tom at antesup remarked so astutely, we've been predicting a slowdown in the shrinking of this huge tournament for days, and it happens only heads up...