The 2023 €1,150 Irish Open Main Event wrapped up in the early hours of Tuesday, April 11, with Scotland’s David Docherty emerging as the champion following a long final day of play.
Docherty walked away with the trophy and €365,000 ($398,780) up top, as well as taking his place in Irish poker history. He won the biggest-ever Irish Open Main Event and the largest poker tournament ever held in Ireland after 2,491 entrants took their shot at glory.
Those players created the whopping €2,428,475 prize pool, of which Docherty claimed the lion’s share. It was quite the return on investment for the Scotsman as he bagged his Main Event seat for just $109 after qualifying through an online satellite on PokerStars.
The six-figure payday was the largest of Docherty’s career and has taken him over the $1 million mark in Hendon Mob total live earnings. He’s cashed for $1,125,249 in total in live tournaments which has seen him move up to fifth in the Scotland All-Time Money List.
€1,150 Irish Open Main Event Final Table Winners
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Docherty | Scotland, United Kingdom | €365,000 ($398,780) |
| 2 | Declan Rice | Ireland | €228,700 ($249,866) |
| 3 | Panagiotis Mavritsakis | Greece | €161,500 ($176,446) |
| 4 | Tom Waters | England, United Kingdom | €124,500 ($136,022) |
| 5 | Andy Black | Ireland | €95,500 ($104,338) |
| 6 | Eugeniu Barbaros | Moldova | €73,500 ($80,302) |
| 7 | Carl Shaw | England, United Kingdom | €56,500 ($61,729) |
| 8 | Henri Ojala | Finland | €43,500 ($47,525) |
Final Day Recap
The final day began with just 16 players returning, but the field quickly shrank. Seamus Cahill was eliminated on the first hand of the day, and he was soon followed to the payout desk by the likes of Vincent Sanchez, Kevin O’Donnell, Kevin Swayne, Thomas Murphy and former professional soccer player Steve Watts.
Benny Glaser, the winner of the Irish Open Luxon Pay €5,000 High Roller, bowed out in tenth place after his ace-king was beaten by the dominated ace-jack of Irish Open Main Event runner up Declan Rice.
Then the unofficial final table of nine quickly became the official final table of eight after WSOP bracelet winner Carl Shaw ousted Jamie Wynne with eight-four offsuit.
Finland’s Henri Ojala was the first official final table casualty after he lost a flip to Irish poker legend Andy Black. Ojala was all in preflop with a suited ace-queen but could not win the race against Black’s pocket eights.
Shaw then departed in seventh place after his ace-ten could not leapfrog the ace-jack held by Tom Waters, following another all in preflop encounter.
Start of day chip leader Eugeniu Barbaros then ran pocket eights into Panagiotis Mavritsakis’ pocket kings for the sixth-placed payout of €73,500 ($80,302).
Home crowd favorite Black was then the next player to bust after getting a little bit out of line from the big blind. Rice limped in from the small blind with ace-eight and called when Black moved all in with six-deuce. Black paired up on the flop, but Rice made a straight on the river to bring the Main Even to its final four players.
Rice continued to mow over the competition as his ace-king remained best against Waters’ ace-ten to make it three-handed. Docherty then confirmed his spot in heads-up play after he felted Mavritsakis with pocket tens.
After 50-minutes, an intense split pot sweat, and a hand that brought it all even again, Docherty won a huge double up to take a commanding chip lead.
A few moments later, Docherty called Rice’s big blind shove and his king-ten held up to win the tournament. Docherty grinned and threw his hands up in delight and had a look of pure joy on his face as he lifted the Irish Open Main Event trophy.
Editor & Live Reporter
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.