James Mitchell Wins Irish Poker Open 2010

The new Irish Open champion for 2010 is James Mitchell. This poker professional from London admitted that his prize was to be split between people who staked him but hopefully this is the first step for yet another talented poker player from England to establish themselves on the competitive but lucrative international poker scene.

James, a 20 year old student of Black Belt poker which is ran by top UK poker pro Neil Channing, beat a field of 708 players including himself for his first major poker tournament win. 72 players cashed and other notable finishers included Ben Roberts in 5th place winning €130,600, Nik Persaud finishing in 15th place, Marty Wilson in 18th place and snooker player Ken Doherty among the top finishers in 65th place. Andy Black also cashed.

Mitchell had been very close to defeat. In a heads up post against Paul Carr towards the end of the tournament when Carr went all-in with QQ and Mitchell called with A-6. The flop was a blank for the A6, as was the turn. Mitchell’s fans screamed for the Ace and on the river they were rewarded as the miracle Ace hit. Carr was shocked and it decimated his stack. After a short break play resumed and on a flop of J-J-8 Carr shoved all in with Q-5 and was called by Mitchell holding A-8. The Queen that Carr needed to stay alive did not come and the championship was over. It was a great performance by both players but special praise for Carr who was so close to winning the title.

James already had a good poker pedigree in UK poker tournaments. He finished 6th in the Dusk Till Dawn £1 million series and won £45,000. In October 2009 he came second in the World Heads up Championships in London and won £30,000. Although this is the first time that he will be known to the wider poker world he is already considered a great young player on his home shore. Unfortunately for Irish poker fans, a home-grown player will need to wait another way before they can snatch back the trophy. James will certainly hope to retain his title in 2011 in this tournament that will hold so many good memories for him.

The Irish Open final table results are as follows,

1st James Mitchell – €600,000
2nd Paul Carr — €312,600
3rd Santeri Valikoski — €205,200
4th Rob Sherwood — €163,300
5th Ben Roberts — €130,600
6th Edmund Sweeney — €100,800
7th Declan Connolly — €75,000
8th Peter Murphy — €56,300
9th Yann Dion — €37,700

My favourite online poker site is bwin.com. They sent a lot of players to the Irish Open this year via their satellite qualification tournaments. Check out the bwin poker blog to find out how they got on at the event. Congratulations to James and I hope he makes the most of the poker opportunities that comes his way. Although he was partially staked into the event he now has a decent bankroll boost that should allow him, if he wishes, to buy into more tournaments and maintain his poker profile that has been given such a boost following his big win.

By Malcolm Clarke

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Tags: irish open, irish poker open, james mitchell, neil channing, online poker, poker