Irish Poker Open - Live Updates

Donal Norton open-shoves pre-flop and after some thought, Neil Channing makes the call, showing A♣ 9♥ to Norton's 5♣ 5♠. We're racing for the tournament title, and the flop comes A♠ Q♣ 10♣ to give Channing the lead. The turn is the K♣ and the river the A♥ and Channing makes trips to win the 2008 Irish Poker Open!

For the win, Neil Channing takes home €801,400 while runner-up Donal Norton earns €420,000 for his efforts. Congratulations to both finalists, to Headmaster Liam Flood and to all of Ireland for putting on a poker tournament that so well represented the Emerald Isle!

Neil Channing open-shoves from the small blind and in the big blind, Thomas Dunwoodie makes the call, pinning his tournament life on the strength of his A♦ 8♥ and finding himself ahead of Channing's A♥ 7♣. The flop comes Q-4-3 and Dunwoodie maintains his advantage. The turn is a nine and nothing changes, but the river card is the 7♠ and Channing rivers a pair of sevens to send Dunwoodie to the rail.

The Englishman is out in third place and will take €275,000 for his time.

Thomas Dunwoodie open-shoves for his last $256,000 from the small blind and Donal Norton makes the call in the big blind, turning up A-5 to Dunwoodie's A-4. The board comes J-10-8-6-Q and the players split the pot.

Neil Channing limps-in and Thomas Dunwoodie completes in the small blind before Donal Norton checks his option in the big. The flop comes J-5-5 with two spades and the action checks to Channing, who bets out $150,000. His opponents fold and he takes the pot.

Neil Channing raises to $140,000 and Tim Blake moves all-in over the top for $198,000 more. Action folds back to Channing, who makes the call with Q6o against Blake's K♣ J♣. Blake looks to be in good shape to double, but the flop changes the situation by coming A-Q-9. The turn is a five and the river an other queen and Tim Blake is eliminated in fourth place. He earns €220,000 for his efforts.

The field is now on a fifteen minute break.

Tim Blake open-shoves for his last $182,000 on the button and Donal Norton makes the call in the big blind, showing K-9 while Blake has woken up with aces (and not a moment too soon). The board comes J-4-2-7-x and Blake doubles through Norton to bring his stack back up to about one-third the average. He's still in hot water.

Neil Channing raises to $125,000 from the button and Danilo Paulsen makes the call in the big blind. The flop comes K-8-6 and Paulsen checks to Channing, who checks behind. The turn is the T♠ and Paulsen bets out $160,000. Channing re-raises to $450,000 and Paulsen goes into the tank for a few minutes. Eventually he announces all-in and Channing snap-calls, turning up 9-7 for the nut straight while Paulsen can only muster K-J and is drawing dead. The river is the 7♣ and Paulsen's demise is official; he's out in 5th place and will take home €175,000 for his time.

Thomas Dunwoodie open-shoves all-in for his last $350,000 and Donal Norton snap-calls, turning up A-10 to Dunwoodie's A-J. The flop comes K-J-9 and Dunwoodie flops a pair of jacks. The turn is a 10 and Norton catchs up a little, but after the river is a nine, Dunwoodie doubles up to more than $350,000 and we remain five-handed at this final table.

Neil Channing raises to $140,000 and the action folds around to Donal Norton, who re-pops to $600,000. Channing goes into the tank before ultimately deciding to pass and Norton takes the pot to a cheer from the gallery.

Tim Blake raises to $120,000 on the button and Danilo Paulsen re-raises to $350,000 from the small blind. Blake gives the matter some thought before passing and Paulsen takes the pot.

Due to some absolutely amazing work by the tournament announcer, here is what we can tell you about the second hand of the final table:

"And there has been an all-in at the table. Donal Norton shows J-10 and Edwin Tournier has K-7. And we're going to lose Edwin Tournier!"

So, really helpful.

Anyway, we've been able to piece together that Tournier got all of his money in the middle on the river of a J-J-4-Q-K board holding kings-up, with Norton more than happy to play holding trip jacks. Tournier is out in sixth place and will take home €135,000.

Welcome back to the Citywest Conference and Golf Resort on the outskirts of Dublin for the fifth and final day of the 2008 Irish Poker Open. Easter is but a memory and so are the tournament fortunes of all but six of the 667 competitors who bought-in to this epic event, and by the end of the evening only one of those six will be left standing.

There's an €801,400 first prize on the line and plenty of TV face time for the winner, as well as the priceless honor of an exclusive PokerListings.com interview. Action will begin in just a few minutes' time and continue until we've crowned a winner, so settle yourself into that groove on your couch, fire up the old PL.com and keep it locked right here as we bring you the final battle from the Irish capital!

Here are the seating positions and chip counts going into the final day of play:

Seat 1	Neil Channing	$2,748,000
Seat 2	Tim Blake	$921,000
Seat 3	Danilo Paulsen	$716,000
Seat 4	Thomas Dunwoodie	$544,000
Seat 5	Edwin Tournier	$562,000
Seat 6	Donal Norton	$1,164,000