The partypoker WPT National Ireland €1,100 Main Event has just been completed after eight days of play at Ireland’s National Event Centre in Killarney. Local player Richard Lawlor emerged as the winner of the major tournament to collect €65,000 for his efforts. Lawlor’s victory was not an easy one as the player had to face some seasoned poker professionals throughout the past eight days.
Attracting a field of 260 entries, the event generated a prize pool of €260,000, slightly surpassing the originally announced guaranteed one of €250,000. Eventually, the top 27 finishers left with a payout.
The tournament’s final day started with 14 survivors left to contend for the title, with partypoker brand ambassadors Tony Dunst and Natalia Breviglieri being among them. It is also interesting to note that apart from his professional poker career, Dunst is also an analyst for the WPT Raw Deal. However, none of them made it to the official eight-handed final table.
At the time there were only nine players left in the event, they were all moved to a single table. Lawlor was the chip leader at that point with 1,815,000. There were only two other players beyond the one-million mark when nine-handed action kicked off. Father and son, Raymond and David Masters, were also among the final nine.
It took quite some time before the names of the two heads-up opponents became clear. Eventually, Alan Kelleher was Lawlor’s last obstacle to overcome before taking the tournament trophy and the winner’s check in his hands. Two-handed battle kicked off with the eventual champion holding more than two times more chips than his opponent. A total of 56 hands were played before the winner was determined.
Lawlor did not relinquish his lead over the course of the two-handed match. On the contrary, he managed to extend it, until his opponent had very little to play with. On the final hand in play, Kelleher moved all in pre-flop with [Ah][6c] and Lawlor called with [Kc][2s]. The board ran out [9c][Kd][Jd][2c][As] to secure Lawlor with the winning two pair and the biggest share of the prize pool. Kelleher took home €42,500 for his deep run in the event.
Last night’s victory was Lawlor’s best poker achievement so far. The player has cashed in 19 events over the past eight years, with most of them taking place in his home country.
Raymond Masters took 3rd place in the partypoker WPT National Ireland €1,100 Main Event for €27,500. Dara O’Kearney finished 4th for €20,000. David Masters collected €15,000 for his fifth-place finish. Laurence Ryan finished 6th for €12,000. Eric Doyle took 7th place for €9,250. Tadhg Ryan received €7,000 for his 8th place.
