Denmark’s Søren Larsen took down the €1,100 buy-in main event at the Euro Masters of Poker Tour (EMOP) Dublin stop at the Clontarf Castle Hotel.
Søren Larsen Wins Euro Masters of Poker Tour Dublin Event
Denmark’s Søren Larsen took down the €1,100 buy-in main event at the Euro Masters of Poker Tour (EMOP) Dublin stop at the Clontarf Castle Hotel.
Søren Larsen saw off 302 other entrants – and in particular a strong home entry – at the fourth stop of season three of the tour to leave with the €71,210 first prize after defeating Irishman Dara O’Kearney (€42,720) in their heads-up clash.
The final table was undoubtedly an Ireland-Scandinavia battle, with four representatives from the former and five from the latter – and it eventually all came down to Larsen versus O’Kearney.
Incredibly, the final table only produced 137 hands – with just 12 of those seeing heads-up play.
However, before that, the gathered railbirds saw Finland’s Jukka Nybäck exit in third for €27,880, while Irishman Michael McCloskey finished in fourth for €16,970, Swede Jimmie Torneus (€13,330) exited in fifth, Norwegian Sigurd Eskeland (€10,300) crashed out in sixth, Ireland’s Michael Muldoon (€9,090) left in seventh, Finn Johan Palokangas (€7,880) took eighth and another home player, JP White (€6,670), was eliminated in ninth.
With the heads-up battle starting, Larsen held a good chip lead over O’Kearney with 4.5 million compared to his experienced opponent’s 1.5 million – and the Dane never really looked in trouble as he remained aggressive throughout.
On the button, O’Kearney pushed all of his 1.2 million chips in on the final hand, and was called by Larsen. The Irishman held K♦ 8♥ and the Dane showed J♦ 9♦, but the latter received the dream flop of J♠ 9♣ 7♦ to give him two pair. The turn came 6♠ and the river showed 4♠ to change nothing and Larsen lifted the title.
Larsen joined Romanian Abdul Atila Seiar Seiar, Finland’s Jukka Koskela and Stefan Hansen, from Norway, as season three winners after the trio won events in Bulgaria, Spain and Portugal respectively.
The tour now moves on to Spain for its fifth stop, with the €1,000+€100 buy-in main event at the Gran Casino in Barcelona, which runs from September 29 to October 2.
The final positions and payouts from the Euro Masters of Poker Tour Dublin event:
1. Søren T Larsen (Denmark) – €71,210 (£62,100)
2. Dara O’Kearney (Ireland) – €42,720 (£37,300)
3. Jukka Nybäck (Finland) – €27,880 (£24,300)
4. Michael McCloskey (Ireland) – €16,970 (£14,800)
5. Jimmie Torneus (Sweden) – €13,330 (£11,700)
6. Sigurd Eskeland (Norway) – €10,300 (£9,000)
7. Michael Muldoon (Ireland) – €9,090 (£8,000)
8. Johan Palokangas (Finland) – €7,880 (£6,900)
9. JP White (Ireland) – €6,670 (£5,850)