Marty Smyth Wins €650,000 First Prize at Paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open

Belfast man triumphs in Europe's largest poker tournament.

(PRWEB) April 13, 2007 -- Popular Northern Irish man Marty Smyth won the 26th Irish Open in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin 9th April 2007, earning himself a whopping €650,000.

Waterford boys, Nicky Power and Brian O'Keeffe went out 6th and 5th, earning €100,000 and €125,000 respectively. Mayo man Daniel McHugh picked up €175,000 for his fourth place finish. 19 year-old Canadian Sorel Mizzi lifted €210,000 and de Wolfe netted a cool €325,000.

Tom Finneran from Galway came 7th and also won the 'Paddy Last' competition, beating over 70 players to win a €12,500 trip to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

This year's event, broadcast on RTE Two and Challenge TV (in late April), was the biggest tournament ever held in Europe with 708 players and a €2.4 million prize pool (Ireland's richest ever sporting event; €3,500 buy-in).

Note to editors: PaddyPower.com does not accept bets from US residents.

For more information please contact: Brendan Murray, Paddy Power Poker Communications Manager, Tel: 00 353 1 488 1759, Mob: 00 353 87 916 6000, bmurray @ paddypower.com You can also visit www.irishpokeropen.com or www.paddypowerpoker.com/media-suite for additional information.

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