The player from Brazil named Pablo Silva managed to win the first-ever Irish Open that took place online on partypoker. He won a total of €462,100 for his effort and managed to top the field of 2,945 players. His final opponent in the heads-up part of the event was the legendary Hungarian player Andras Nemeth.
This way, Silva managed to add one more event to the list of events he has won, which currently also includes MILLIONS South America Main Event, which he managed to win in February.
Sihao Zhang finished in third place, although he started Day 3 as the chip leader. Some other players that also made it to the final table are Parker Talbot and Tom Middleton.
In fact, Zhang was able to hold on the chip lead until he made it to the final table, and he was way ahead of both Silva and Nemeth.
The Final Table Results
As soon as the final table started, the first player to hit the rail was Shaun Conroy, who three-bet all-in with ace-queen in his hand. However, the player who was his main opponent in that hand was no-one else but Silva, who happened to have a pair of queens. That hand was important for Silva as he emerged as a chip leader after that.
At that moment, Silva had almost twice as many chips compared to the next one in line. However, Zhang decided that it was not time for him to give up yet. He had ace-ten in his pocket against Parker Talbot’s pocket queens.
Zhang shoved from the button in the big blind, and Talbot called. However, Zhang had a lot of luck as two tens flopped on the river, making him a three-of-a-kind hand — enough to beat Talbot and send him to the rail.
Apart from Conroy, the only other Irishman who made it to the final of the Irish Open Online was Gerard Finlay. He ended up fifth, winning a total of €96,032 for his effort.
He faced Zhang by shoving his queens against Zhang’s ace-king. However, Zhang was lucky once again as another ace appeared on the flop, meaning it was time for the last four players to continue the game with no Irish players in the game.
At that point, Silva had a chip lead, which further increased when he won against his fellow countryman Eduardo Silva. Eduardo flopped a straight and was certain that he was going to win the hand.
However, the turn proved more useful for Pablo, who also had a straight — except his was bigger. Therefore, Eduardo had to say goodbye to the tournament, earning a total of €139,004.
Silva continued his streak when he faced Zhang, shoving blind-on-blind against him. Although Zhang was better with ace-six, Silva managed to flop a flush draw.
A diamond came on the turn, meaning Silva successfully managed to make a draw, taking all Zhang’s chips along the way. Therefore, Zhang ended up third, earning €224,474.
At the start of the heads-up, Silva had a 2:1 chip lead, but Nemeth soon managed to level out the stacks. Nevertheless, he wasn’t able to improve from that point on, and Silva took the matter into his own hands.
In the final hand, Nemeth managed to flop a pair and turn two-pair. However, the turn card was the one to help Silva create a straight, so Silva decided to call when Nemeth went all-in on the turn. The river was a brick, meaning Silva won the event, and Nemeth had to settle for the consolation prize of €325,423.