Europe’s oldest poker tournament, the Irish Open, is always one of the most exciting. With that famous Irish temperament keeping things upbeat, it’s no surprise to see the best players in the world making a yearly pilgrimage to the Emerald Isle. Yet the man who captured the 2011 title was no big name online poker rooms pro. Amateur Niall Smyth from Ballyea, Ennis, Co Clare was the native chip-master who took down the €650,000 first place prize.

Smyth won the contest after an engaging 4 hour heads-up battle with his country’s old enemy. Englishman Surinder Sunar is a former WPT champion, having won the Paris leg of the 2004 tour. Going into the Irish Open 1v1 battle, many would have backed Surinder’s experience to take it down, but the Irish 26-year-old proved he had enough mettle to grasp the title.

After the tournament, Niall paid tribute to his better half. “My girlfriend, Kim, and her brother had a big part in it. A few weeks ago, they told me they do a bet each year for the English Grand National. I didn’t even know it was on and wasn’t going to bother with it, but I did all the… READ MORE