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08 Sept 2025
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08 Sept 2025
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Poker champion Padraig O'Neill
There were celebrations in Drumlish over the weekend as Padraig O'Neill became the first Irish poker player to take a European Poker Tour (EPT) title since 2013 when he secured the top spot in Prague.
The gifted poker player known as 'Smidge' added to an impressive resume that includes winning the Unibet Online Open Main Event twice in a row.
Padraig took down the record-breaking EPT Main Event, beating a field of 1,285 entries and banking €1.03 million.
The triumph was a particularly impressive feat as he put in a come-from-behind display to overcome the biggest chip lead in EPT history to take down over €1 million in Prague. His heads-up opponent Jon Kyte started the day with 228 big blinds when the rest of the final table had 152 between them ( Padraig only had 12).
Many pundits were expecting Kyte’s victory to be a formality, but Padraig played the best poker of his life.
“I was hoping to come fourth or third at best,” Padraig said after the win. “I didn’t think I’d get heads-up. This is surreal.”
He has been a pro for several years and Padraig carried the hopes of the enthusiastic Irish poker community to Prague having burst onto the scene a little more than a decade during the early days of the UKIPT.
Padraig's wife Ciara gave birth to their first child Fionn around six months ago, meaning the new father is obviously missing his family, even as he earns them a tremendous payday.
This was his first overseas trip since the birth of his child.
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