Vincent Melinn, from Dublin, was crowned the current Irish Open Poker champion and was awarded the first prize amount of Euro 350,000. Melinn is an accountant who had only played one live tournament before winning the Irish Open Poker and beat out another 350 players to make it to the final table. To get to the final table, Melinn competed against a number of professional poker players. The final table consisted of five other players in addition to Melinn: Ian Woodley, Brendan Ruane of Ireland, Jon Wong from the United Kingdom and Conor Smyth and Paul Daly - both Irish players. The tournament was broadcast live on Sky Sports television.

Melinn said that winning the title was more important to him than winning the money: “"It's not about the money for me, it's about the title. I've only ever played one tournament before and went out in that in my first hand, but I knew from the early stages of this game I had a chance and I'm really so proud to have my name on the trophy”.

Englishman Ian Woodley won the second place prize of Euro182, 000 – Woodley comes from South London.

The tournament took place during Easter Weekend at Jurys Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin and is considered one of the richest events on the international poker circuit. In addition to the Euro one million guaranteed prize pool, the tournament also boasted an additional Euro 50 000 in sponsorship money and a Euro 3,200 buy-in.

Posted on: May 8, 2006

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