Mark Murphy put in a raise to 250,000 in the cutoff. The action folded to Florian Duta in the big blind, who opted to defend.
Duta and Murphy checked through the 4♦3♣4♥ flop before Duta bet 190,000 on the 8♠ turn. Murphy called to the 7♦ river, where he called Duta's bet of 215,000 as well.
Duta revealed 4♠2♠ for flopped trips, taking down the pot when Murphy's cards hit the muck.
Last year, a massive field of 3,233 entries assembled at the Royal Dublin Society for the 2024 Irish Open €1,150 Main Event. The tournament set a new record for the Irish Open and absolutely smashing the guaranteed prize pool of €1,000,000 by creating a prize pool of €3,152,175.
However, as with any other tournament, there could only be one person left standing at the end. Over four long days of poker action, it was Day 3 chipleader Tero Laurila who won the iconic Irish Open trophy and took home €292,685 after a three-way deal.
Laurila defeated Ireland’s Hiep Ninh after a relatively short heads up battle, as the blinds had been reduced from 60 to 20 minutes after the deal. Ninh, who plays almost exclusively in Dublin, took home the larger sum of €335,636 for his efforts due to having a massive chip lead when the deal was made. The final person involved in the deal was the 21-year-old Mark Johnston, who is just dipping his toes in the waters of professional poker and walked away with €232,685 for third place.
Patrick Eagers open-raised to 300,000 in the hijack. The action folded to Florian Duta in the big blind, who defended.
Eagers continued for 250,000 on the 2♦3♦5♣ flop, seeing Duta check-call. Duta then led out for 350,000 on the 3♥ turn, but Eagers came over the top with an all-in bet of 1,700,000.
Duta asked for a count but quickly folded once the correct amount was announced.
Nikolaos Angelou raised to 300,000 under the gun. It folded to Philip Joyce in the big blind, who called to the A♥7♣10♣ flop. Angelou continued for 225,000, which Joyce check-called.
Angelou sized up to 750,000 on the K♣ turn, but Joyce stuck around, check-calling undetered. When the 10♥ hit the river, Angelou put in 1,800,000 chips.
This bet sent Joyce into the tank. After a few minutes, he slammed in a call. Angelou quickly flipped up Q♥J♣ for a straight.
Joyce made sure he had read the hand correctly before mucking his cards and being left with around 15 big blinds, seeing his opponent cross the eight-figure mark.
Action was picked up on the flop of J♠10♣8♣ with around 950,000 in the pot. Nikolaos Angelou led out for 200,000 from the small blind and Florian Duta called in the big blind.
Angelou led again on the A♦ turn, this time for 400,000, Duta called. He led once more on the 4♦ river, this time sizing up to 1,500,000. Duta called quickly and was at risk.
He had 10♥4♥ for two pair and cracked the K♣K♦ of Angelou.
Mark Murphy raised to 300,000 in the hijack and was faced with a three-bet to 800,000 from Nikolaos Angelou on the button. Murphy then four-bet to 2,400,000, which Angelou clicked back to 4,000,000.
Murphy opted to six-bet jam, putting Angelou's stack of 7,575,000 at risk, and a snap-call followed.
Nikolaos Angelou: A♥A♣
Mark Murphy: Q♠Q♣
The 7♥6♥8♠5♠ turn brought some chop outs, but the J♣ river brought no further help for Murphy's queens.
Angelou grabbed a massive double-up with his aces and ended with three times the average stack, while Murphy was left short with just over five big blinds at his disposal.
