Mark Flanagan, 40, from County Wexford in Ireland, beat a field of 216 players to win the Celtic Poker Tour (CPT) Grand Final in Athlone.
Flanagan works at a road haulage business and spends most of his spare time looking after his five children, but the time he found to play poker once each week proved lucrative as he scooped €35,000 for his win at the tournament. Remarkably, Flanagan had only been playing Texas Hold’em poker for a year.
In the final showdown, second placed Maurice McNamara raised Flanagan’s big blind. The response from Flanagan was a well considered ‘all-in’ holding JQ. It was enough to beat McNamara’s J10. McNamara took home €15,000 for his second place finish.
As well as his €35,000 cash prize, Flanagan also won a package to the Betfair Asian Poker Tour (BAPT), the first ever poker event in Singapore.
“I thought I had no chance. I just wanted to make it through to the second day!” admitted Flanagan. “I’m looking forward to seeing how I get on with the big fish in Singapore. If I can last an hour I’ll be pleased because I like to play an aggressive game.”
Mark Flanagan, 40, from County Wexford in Ireland, beat a field of 216 players to win the Celtic Poker Tour (CPT) Grand Final in Athlone.