Rory Rees Brennan wins the 2009 Irish Poker Championship

The IPC was the first major Poker Tournament on the hectic 2009 calendar and the recent doom and gloom in the news did nothing to stop 255 people entering the €2000 buyin Main Event which was held in the Radisson Hotel in Galway which generated a total prizepool of €464,000 and a top prize of €160,000 – a nice New Years bonus for one lucky person.

It was a star-studded event with big names such as Mike Sexton, Kenna James, Marty Smyth and of course last years winner, Jude Ainsworth who was determined to defend his title and start 2009 on a high!

131 players failed to survive Day 1, meaning 124 players returned on Day 2, one step closer to the money. David Poole emerged as the runaway chipleader during the day, but it was the young Englishman, Ben Vinson, who was to emerge as the chipleader going into the third and final day with Chris Dowling within arms reach of him.

26 players were to make the money and it was 26 who returned on Day 3. The shortstacked players were quick to fall by the wayside and others, like the ever-determined Rory Brown, just couldn’t catch a break and often fell at the hands of the extremely active Ben Vinson who seemingly could do no wrong. Once we reached the final table however, the momentum looked set to change.

The final table consisted of an interesting bunch. Peter Murphy continued his recent good form in what was to be another final table for him. Derek Murray and David Curtis were the local Galway representation while Krzysztof Gwvszko was the sole Pole remaining in the event. The well known Rory Liffey found himself sat beside his namesake, Rory Brennan while David Poole and Chris Dowling had no intention of sitting back and letting themselves blind out! Chipleader Ben Vinson intended on continuing the dominance he had enjoyed since the beginning of the day.

It wasn’t to be Ben Vinson’s name engraved on the crystal trophy, however, after he was eliminated in 3rd place for €55,000. So it was left to Rory Rees Brennan and Chris Dowling to go head to head in an epic two and a half hour battle for the top prize of €160,000. Both players made few mistakes, but Rory finally forced Chris into making a small error when he went all-in with nine-six off-suit. Rory showed Ace-Ten and despite getting help in the form of a nine, Rory hit an ace to bury Chris and be crowned the 2009 IPC Champion, taking home the massive first prize of €160,000.

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