A 40-year old man from County Wexford in Ireland won the Celtic Poker Tour Grand Final held in Athlone this week when he beat out 216 other competitors. The winner, Mark Flanagan, said he’s only been playing poker for about a year, although he does try to sharpen his skills at least once a week.

Euro 35,000 was in the Celtic Poker Tour pay packet won by Flanagan as well as a package to the Betfair Asian Poker Tour (BAPT), the first ever poker event in Singapore.

After his win, Flanagan, the father of five and manager of a road hauling company said, “I thought I had no chance”. He further added “I just wanted to make it through to the second day. I’m looking forward to seeing how I get on with the big fish in Singapore. If I can last an hour I’ll be pleased because I like to play an aggressive game.”

In the final showdown, Maurice McNamara, who ended up taking second place, raised Flanagan’s big blind. Flanagan responded with an all-in’ holding JQ. Flanagan’s decision was the right one and, as it turned out, gave him enough to beat McNamara’s J10. As second place winner, McNamara took home Euro 15,000.

Texas Hold’em Poker enthusiasts, Denis Alsybury and Mike Foley, created the Celtic Poker Tour in 2005 and by 2006 it had already held over 100 tournaments across the country. The tour, sponsored by Betfair Poker, has been the conduit for a prize fund total exceeding one million Euros.

Posted on: September 27, 2006

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