MCSWEENEY TRIUMPHANT IN IRISH POKER FESTIVAL

10 October 2008

Cork player takes home Euro 100 000

Irishman Jimmy McSweeney ensured the Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival honours remained in the Emerald Isle this week by defeating a field of 831 other players to win the Main Event first place prize of Euro 100 000.

McSweeney, who hails from Cork County boosted his career winnings to $162 023 with the win, adding more respect to his victory last year in the Irish Classic. He has cashed 6 times in tournaments.

Ladbrokes will be well pleased with the significant action that the Festival attracted; in the main event alone the maxumum capacity had to be extended from 625 to 750 players, and even this was not enough to cope with the demand for seats which eventually saw a starting field of 832 players, generating a prize pool of Euro 416 000 - well over the quarter million Euro guaranteed by the betting company.

The final table comprised McSweeney, Andrew Roberts, Bo Ericshen, Hugh Whelan, Nick Heather, Ian Smith, Steve Johnson and Barry Hand and ended with a heads up between McSweeney and Andrew Roberts, who's second placing payday was Euro 65 000.

Ladbrokes Irish Territory Manager Bryan Coleman said, “We’re absolutely delighted with the turnout and would like to thank all the players who made this Festival such a success. Our heartiest congratulations go to Jimmy, who is a worthy champion and we’re sure we’ll be hearing more of him in the future.”

The event will air in part on Irish television station TG4.

Ladbrokes next big poker outing will be on October 26th with the start of the fourth edition of its LEOCOP series. This is comprised of 17 events in total, the last of which is the LEOCOP IV Masters Event, which takes place in November. The Main Event is a $1 100 buy-in tournament with a $250 000 guarantee, scheduled for November 9th.

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