Neil Channing smashes Irish Poker Open final table

There are tight battles in poker, and then there's absolute domination.

Neil "Bad Beat" Channing exemplified the latter dynamic when he destroyed the final table of the 2008 Irish Poker Open yesterday.

Entering final-table play as the chip leader with $2.75 million of the $6.67 million in play, Channing quickly took charge of the final table and never relented. It was a scene reminiscent of Brandon Cantu at the final table of the WPT's Bay 101, and perhaps even of Jamie Gold at the 2006 WSOP final table.

Channing, a poker professional and author from Sunderland, England, won €801,400 million and some incredible bragging rights for his efforts at the Irish Poker Open.

Channing played the big stack perfectly and left a wake of destruction in his path. He made short work of Danilo Paulson, Tim Blake and Thomas Dunwoodie, which gave him a great advantage against Ireland's Donal Norton as they entered heads-up play.

Channing had a 2-1 chip lead but with the average stack at over 50 big blinds for each player, many thought it might be a marathon. The poker gods, however, had other ideas.

In a gigantic pot, Norton held J-8 for trip eights when combined with the board, but little did the Irishman know that Channing held K-8.

Norton was suddenly in dangerous territory and forced to make a move with pocket fives. Channing made the call with A♣ 9♥ and hit trip aces on the board, which dashed the hopes of the hometown crowd and gave Channing his biggest poker payday to date.

Winning the 2008 Irish Poker Open was no small feat, considering 667 players including Doyle Brunson, Marty Smyth, Andy Black, Ciaran O'Leary, Rolande de Wolfe, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Padraig Parkinson and many more came out to play in this year's event. The players competed for a total prize pool of €3 million, which made the tournament one of the richest in European history.

To read a comprehensive recap blog from PokerListings' very own Finnish phenomenon Owen Laukkanen, who was on assignment in Ireland, click here.

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