Friday, Sept. 28, 2007

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Irishman lucks out at PartyPoker

By Sarah Polson

Whether it was leprechauns or just the plain, old-fashioned luck of the Irish, James McManus from Dublin, Ireland, was a big winner of "The Grind" at PartyPoker as well as a Bad Beat Jackpot.

After a couple of months of grinding away to earn points and enter Grindrolls, McManus ended up winning a Mini Cooper S convertible as well as a Nintendo Wii. Plus just under two months ago he topped up his account with $52,000 that he won in the PartyPoker Bad Beat Jackpot.

"To bag a Wii, win a sports car in a draw and pocket $52,000 for flopping quad queens in just two months almost beggars belief; it is unprecedented," said a PartyPoker spokesman. "James is a great guy but it almost seems that someone is out there looking out for him!"

McManus is a 22-year-old recent college graduate who was studying math. He intends to work in the finance industry or as a math teacher, but he'll have fewer money issues to worry about now that he's won the equivalent of nearly $100,000 in the past two months.

"It has been a good couple of months," McManus said. "I didn't have many debts, but I've paid off all that I did have. I intend to use some of the money to build a bankroll for online cash games."

He said he's also thought about the tournament circuit, but he doesn't quite have the bankroll for it yet and he's happy playing at his current level.

"The Grind" promotion featured $100,000 worth of Grindrolls and ran until Sept. 9. Players had to earn at least 25 PartyPoints per day over a three-day period to qualify to play in the $2,000 Grindroll. The more points a player earned, the bigger the Grindroll they qualified for.

McManus managed to grind for five days in each of the two weeks of the promotion and was automatically entered into the prize draw for the Mini Cooper. He also won his Nintendo Wii in a Grindroll.

"I opted to take the $40,000 rather than the car," McManus said. "A Mini Cooper S convertible would be great but I don't really have the need for it at the moment. I'm looking forward to getting my Wii though."

McManus acknowledged that his math skills come in handy while he's playing, but for the most part he gives credit to a very good run lately.

"It has been going great recently. I normally play $2/$4 or $3/$6 No-Limit cash games and the odd tournament," he said. "I intend to stick to the same stakes for the time being and build on what I have."

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