Canadian poker pro Griffin Benger claimed the champion crown at the 2017 Irish Poker Open €1,150 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event and bagged the first-place prize of €200,000. Benger joined the tournament’s final table at fourth place with a total of 8,010,000 in chips.
The event was once again held at the luxurious Citywest Hotel and Resort, located in Dublin, and attracted a record-breaking field that totalled as many as 1,129 players, who contributed to the accumulation of a hefty prize pool of €1,128,294, shared among the first 135 finishers.
Paul Carr became the tournament’s bubble boy when his pocket sixes failed him against the ace-king of opponent Kristaps Zarans. The flop brought another king and Carr had no other option but to settle for receiving an entry to the next year’s Irish Open event as a consolation prize. Meanwhile, the 135 survivors secured a minimum of €1,500 in cash each.
Each of the nine finalists, who made it to the event’s final table, was guaranteed a minimum win of €13,500. Michael Fletcher was the first of the final table finalists to get eliminated after four hours of play. His namesake Michael Conaty went all in for 2,345,000 in chips and Fletcher was quick to call off his bet in the big blind.
Fletcher was holding a [Kc][10c] against Conaty’s pair of nines when the flop showed a pair of tens. However, it was the king that appeared on the turn that finished Fletcher off. Conaty’s success was short-lived as he was the next to go when Benger prevailed over his ace-ten with an ace-jack. The jack-high flop was of no assistance for the Irishman and neither were the turn or the river.
Fintan Hand followed in Conaty’s footsteps and the final table was reduced to six survivors. The ace-six of Sameer Singh was powerless against the ace-jack of opponent Vamshi Vandanapu. The community cards did nothing to improve either player’s hand and Vandanapu busted Singh with his jack-kicker, sending him to the sixth place with a prize of €35,000. Shortly after, Singh was followed by Antony Wickert, who settled for the fifth-place prize of €50,000. Vandanapu finished fourth for 50,000 in chips, followed by Dowling in third place and 75,000 in chips.
The heads-up battle commenced with Benger in the chip lead. The Canadian was quick to eliminate his head-to-head nemesis Mihail Mazilu. Benger check-raised with [Kh][8d] and the flop showed [8h][2h][6c]. Benger’s opponent went all in with a hand of [10c][8s] but the Canadian emerged triumphant after a [9d] and a [2s] came with the turn and the river, respectively. Mazilu was sent to the runner-up position, collecting a prize of €125,000.
This is the fourth major live poker title in Benger’s career. The 31-year old poker professional boasts $3,668,642 in total live earnings. His seventh-place at the 2016 WSOP $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event earned the Canadian $1,250,190 which is his best live cash to this date.
- Author
Harry Evans
