First organised in 1981 by Irish bookmaker Terry Rogers, the Irish Open is the longest running no-limit Texas hold'em poker tournament in Europe and the second longest in the world after the World Series of Poker.
The PaddyPower-sponsored event has been won by the likes of Noel Furlong, Liam Flood, Joe Beevers, Neil Channing and James Mitchell, while the latest addition to that list is Patrick Clarke, who was left with the broadest smile after weaving his way through the 411-player main event field from 17-21 April 2014.
At the start of his heads-up clash with Dave Pollock, Clarke held the chip lead thanks to the elimination of Liam Chevalier in third place. That advantage was enough for Clarke to deliver a knockout blow to Pollock within just a few hands and scoop a top prize worth €200,000.
The popular Dublin event had a number of memorable moments over the Easter weekend including a deep run by the poker commentator Jesse May, who found himself among the chip leaders with just one session remaining. Unfortunately, one of the game's most colourful characters was unable to parlay his popularity into a final table appearance and eventually fell in 17th place for €7,599.
At the end of the day, however, all the plaudits went to Clarke who collected his first Irish Poker Open title after his KD-8D managed to stay ahead of Pollock's QS-7C in the final hand.
In addition to the massive €69,500 jump between second and first place, both players had to consider the €50,000 on offer for being the PaddyPower Poker sole survivor, a prize added for the last-standing PaddyPower Poker qualifier.
Clarke started the heads-up battle with 8.37 million to Pollock’s 3.74 million chips and was always in control of the tie. Then on the 139th hand of the final table Pollock limped from the button and Clarke checked. The 2H-7S-KS flop saw Clarke check to Pollock, who bet 350,000. Clarke leapt into action with a check-raise to 800,000. Pollock wasted no time at all in moving all-in and Clarke called just as quickly as Pollock had bet.
Clarke's king put him way ahead and it stayed that way as the 4H landed on the turn and was followed by the JH on the river. Pollock picked up €130,500 for his runner-up finish, while Clarke won the €200,000 first place prize and an additional €50,000 to boot.
2014 PaddyPower Poker Irish Open Final Table
1st Patrick Clarke €200,000
2nd Dave Pollock €130,500
3rd Liam Chevalier €97,500
4th Thomas O’Shea €73,800
5th Oliver Lynch €54,500
6th Michael Gilligan €38,500
7thBarry Donovan €26,500
8th Jonathan Lundy €19,250
