Easter Monday is an important day to many around the world, and for 22-year old Simon Wilson, this day has become a lot more special. He topped a record breaking field of 4,562 players that entered the 2025 installment of the €1,150 Main Event at the Irish Poker Open here at the Royal Dublin Society. Wilson claimed a whopping €600,000 for his first place finish from the €4,447,950 prizepool that was amassed over the four unique flights. He qualified through Day 1d, the largest flight of them all and he gets to keep the Main Event trophy on home soil.
Wilson is a local lad, hailing from the town of Ashbourne, which is no more than a 30-minute drive north from the centre of Dublin. He had a hearty rail supporting him throughout the final table play, filled with friends and family members who enthusiastically sang and chanted for hours. Many of his friends had placed wagers on him to win the tournament through PaddyPower at a cracking price of 225/1, so it wasn't just Wilson leaving the building with a fair few Euros more. The crowd that assembled showed support for him from deep into Day 3 which was a "massive boost" for the Irishman. Wilson also featured in the €10,000 Super High Roller this series, finishing fifth for €42,800. He qualified for that particular event via €1,100 satellite, taking his total winnings for the trip to €642,800.
Winners Reaction
"It feels incredible to win" said Wilson when talking to PokerNews. "This year it was a massive festival, more of an EPT sized field and with the standard of play, it was a lot tougher than some of the other tournaments. I've had wins in my career but to win besides my friends and family with my Mum and Dad watching at home I can't describe it, it is just incredible."
He attributed his deep run to "keeping calm and waiting for the right spots" adding, "I had a deep run last year finishing seventeenth, and maybe then I got impatient at a couple of crucial moments." He also acknowledged "I needed to get incredibly lucky to be here."
Despite winning over half a million euros, Wilson is keen to further his education away from the felt, saying: "I will be going back to college in September, I deferred my final year this year and my mother would kill me if I didn't go back and I have to graduate next May. I study Economics and Business at Trinity."
In terms of poker plans, Wilson will be "getting back on the online grind" before playing in Vegas this summer.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Wilson | Ireland | €600,000 |
| 2 | Umberto Ruggeri | Italy | €316,000 |
| 3 | Ignotas Kirsis | Lithuania | €225,000 |
| 4 | Georgios Skarparis | Cyprus | €170,000 |
| 5 | Michel Karim | Sweden | €130,000 |
| 6 | Brandon Harris | United Kingdom | €100,000 |
| 7 | Panteleimon Pontos | Greece | €77,500 |
| 8 | Robert Fluereci | Romania | €59,030 |
| 9 | Joe O'Donaill | Ireland | €45,800 |
Day 4 Action
The day started strong, with chips flying in left right and centre. However for David Pollock, the deck was as cold as it could get. He was on the receiving end of an epic cooler which left him short only a few hands into the day having made a full house against eventual final tablist Panteleimon Pontos who turned quads. He ended up being the first to fall within the first level.
Terrance Reid was the first player to find a double up on the day, courtesy of eventual final tablist Brandon Harris as Reid's ace-queen cracked the ducks of Harris.
Wilson came into the day outside of the top ten in the field but he started to chip up claiming Carlo Wolters stack, sending him to the rail in 18th.
The Irishman didn't stop there. He bust Charles Whitehouse in an aces versus aces scenario as he hit a four liner to a flush on the river to send the Englishman to the rail in 16th.
Riku Koivurinne started the day short-stacked but had span it up to a stack of around ten million by the time the third level of play had started. However he jammed from the cutoff and Wilson once again sent another to the rail as he woke up with kings in the small blind.
One player had to miss out on the final table, and for Marius Gicovanu, it was him. He was left short after eventual third place finisher Ignotas Kirsis flopped a full house in a preflop all in. The rest of Gicovanu's stack went the way of Brandon Harris before the final nine assembled to make the final table.
Final Table
Joe O'Donaill was the first to fall at the final table as he ran his pocket nines into Georgios Skaparis's kings.
Robert Fluereci doubled twice, the first one coming on the very first hand in the final table. He couldn't make it a hattrick and fell in eighth.
Kirsis clearly came to play today and he proved a worthy adversary for Wilson and his tablemates. Wilson and Kirsis had multiple showdowns throughout the final table and seemed the most likely winners alongside Umberto Ruggeri. Kirsis was also the first player to eclipse the 60 million chip mark which he reached by winning a pot versus Skarparis.
Wilson kept plugging away and found a five-bet jam versus Ruggeri shortly after Pontos fell in seventh.
Ruggeri then doubled through Day 1b chipleader Michel Karim having flopped top set with Karim drawing essentially dead.
Wilson's ascent up the counts was also aided by an incorrect hero call courtesy of Skarparis who looked up the Irishman with just king-high.
He also eliminated Harris as both players flopped a ten on a ten high board but Harris had an inferior kicker to Wilson and he was eliminated.
Kirsis kept battling and applied pressure whenever he could. He pushed Skarparis off two pair with king-high on a double paired board to lift him up to the top of the counts.
The key pot for Wilson came against Kirsis. Wilson shipped a 100 million chip pot having rivered a straight versus Kirsis's two pair to become the overwhelming chipleader. He then eliminated Skarparis in fourth place to take play three-handed.
Ruggeri and Kirsis both doubled through Wilson before Kirsis was eliminated in third place. Wilson won a flip to take play heads up.
Heads Up
The battle was short due to the overwhelming deficit Ruggeri had to overcome and ultimately he got it in good against Wilson but failed to make a pair with ace-ten, falling to the six-five of diamonds of Wilson. As the river was dealt, he leapt into the rail full of his friends and family, with the room being filled with songs, woops, hollering and celebration. Despite the tournament floor being practically empty, that was the loudest the Royal Dublin Society had been for the duration of the last eleven days.
Wilson and his rail hung around a little while longer, soaking in the atmosphere and the energy of the moment before departing to the craic den to continue the party. As the poker tables and big screens came down to be packed up for another year, silence slowly started to creep back in and very little was to be heard from then on.
That's all folks for this year's installment of the Irish Poker Open. Could next year's series break the record again? As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage of events taking place around the world and online.
