Daniel Wilson Wins Irish Open for €150,000; Two Double Eliminations at Final Table
Daniel Wilson is the latest in a long list of players who have won the famed Irish Open after he topped a field of 802 players in the 2016 edition. The fantastic victory added €150,000 to his lifetime winnings.
2016 Irish Open Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Wilson | €150,000 |
| 2 | Michael Conaty | €85,000 |
| 3 | Tomas Soederstroem | €52,000 |
| 4 | Vegard Ropstad | €36,500 |
| 5 | David Costello | €28,500 |
| 6 | Petr Vejmelka | €22,500 |
| 7 | Brian Nolan | €18,000 |
| 8 | Igor Arkhipov | €14,475 |
| 9 | Michael Rossiter | €12,150 |
The fourth and final day’s play commenced at 2 p.m. local time on March 28 with only 14 players in contention for the title. Within 30 minutes of the restart, Rokas Barzdzius, Cristian Ionut, Jay O’Toole, and Stefano Vellisario all busted to leave the tournament on the final table bubble.
An hour later, a straight-over-straight setup hand involving Peter Eichhardt and Michael Conaty resulted in the former being all in and eliminated from the tournament, leaving the final table of nine, with the official final table starting with eight players.
Wilson found pocket aces to send both Michael Rossiter and Igor Arkhipov to the rail in a double elimination. Wilson min-raised to 160,000 with the A♠A♦, Arkhipov three-bet all in for 1,460,000 with the A♣K♠, and a micro-stacked Rossiter called off his 145,000 chips with the Q♦8♠. Wilson called, the aces held, and ended the hopes and dreams of his two all-in opponents.
Another 70 minutes passed by without an elimination, with Brian Nolan's exit halting that pause in seventh place.
A few minutes after Nolan's demise, a second double elimination occurred. Conaty min-raised to 200,000, Petr Vejmelka reraised all in for 1,710,000 from the button, David Costello then moved all in from the big blind for 2,460,000, and Conaty called to put both all-in players at risk.
Vejmelka: A♥10♦
Costello: A♦Q♠
Conaty: A♣K♥
Conaty and his fans on the rail pleaded for a "king ball" and their demands were answered on the K♦8♣2♣ flop. These community cards were followed by the 8♥ turn and 6♠ river to leave only four players in the hunt for the 2016 Irish Open trophy.
Those four became three as the clocks approached 9 p.m., when Wilson's K♣10♣ triumphed against Vegard Ropstad's dominating A♦K♦ after the board ran out Q♥8♥8♠10♠7♦.
One hand later, Wilson raised to 250,000 (blinds 60,000/120,000/20,000) and then called when Tomas Soederstroem moved all in from the button for 1,900,000. Wilson showed the A♣K♣ and was flipping versus his Swedish opponent's 8♦8♣. Soederstroem's eight remained best on the J♣3♠2♥ flop, but the A♠ turn and 10♦ river improved Wilson to a pair of aces, sending the tournament into the heads-up stages.
Wilson went into the heads-up battle with 14,840,000 chips to Conaty’s 9,025,000. Before a hand was played, they discussed a deal that would leave €6,500 for the eventual winner. Those negotiations broke down and play resumed.
Conaty enjoyed the best of the early confrontations and managed to pull almost level before Wilson made it 500,000 to go early into Level 33 (100,000/200,000/30,000). Conaty responded with a 1,400,000 three-bet, only to see Wilson make it 2,900,000 to continue. Conaty pushed all in for 9,000,000 chips, Wilson called, and the cards were revealed.
Wilson: A♣K♣
Conaty: 9♥9♣
Once again, it would be a coin flip that would settle a major poker tournament, and it was a coinflip that went Wilson's way courtesy of the A♠5♠2♦6♦6♥ board. Conaty busted in second place, leaving Wilson to secure the 2016 Irish Open title.
*Data and lead image courtesy of the Irish Poker Open live updates team.
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