Luke Martens Takes Down International Poker Open

Dutchman Luke Martens has won the Boylepoker.com International Poker Open (IPO) in Dublin after defeating Irishman Paul Purcell in their heads-up clash.

Eindhoven’s Luke Martens collected €51,350 for the victory after he outlasted 1,387 other players.

The final eight took their seats at Ken Doherty’s Snooker Academy in Dublin, following on from the field being cut down by 1,380 back on October 23 at the city’s Regency Hotel.

Similar to the main events at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Partouche Poker Tour (PPT), the IPO halted its €225 ($300/£193) buy-in main event after the final eight was reached late last month.

The eight finalists resumed their battle in Dublin on Saturday, with Martens – who had returned in fourth place on chips – taking the title after seeing off Purcell when the Dutchman had entered heads-up play with a 3 to 1 chip lead. Roscommon’s Purcell left with €36,100 as runner-up.

Even with poker seemingly in something of a slump this year, 95 more entries were registered than the 1,293 that lined up for last year’s event, which was won by John Gray.

Englishman Guy Webster had entered the final table as chip leader but crashed out in fourth for €20,130, while another Dutchman, Rik Snoeijink, could not improve on his second place at the start of the day and hit the rail in sixth for €12,840.

Huddersfield’s Daniel Watson was first out in eighth place for €7,700, followed by Ireland’s Mark O’Connor (€10,270), Snoeijink, Frenchman Laurent Galaup (€15,405), Webster and another Irishman in Rory Brown (€25,000), from Dublin.

International Poker Open Top 10 Placings and Payouts

1. Luke Martens (Netherlands) – €51,350 ($68,635/£44,068)

2. Paul Purcell (Ireland) – €36,100 ($48,261/£30,984)

3. Rory Brown (Ireland) – €25,000 ($33,435/£21,462)

4. Guy Webster (UK) – €20,130 ($26,912/£17,276)

5. Laurent Galaup (France) – €15,405 ($20,602/£13,226)

6. Rik Snoeijink (Netherlands) – €12,840 ($17,166/£11,022)

7. Mark O’Connor (Ireland) – €10,270 ($13,734/£8,817)

8. Daniel Watson (UK) – €7,700 ($10,297/£6,610)

9. Declan Leung (Ireland) – €5,025 ($6,717/£4,313)

10. John Woodhouse (UK) – €2,555 ($3,416/£2,193)