Padraig O’Neill is the first Irish EPT champion after taking down the Main Event in Prague. [Image: PokerStars UK & IRE X]

Master of Europe becomes Champion of Europe

Eleven years ago, my good friend Padraig O’Neill (affectionately known as ‘Smidge’) received his MA in poker, taking down the European Masters of Poker (EMOP) title in Dublin for €32,500 ($35,489). Last night, he became the champion of Europe, winning the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague Main Event for €1,030,000 ($1,124,775).  

Coming into the final day as the short stack of five, Padraig was hoping for a couple of ladders. The maniacal Norwegian Jon Kyte was in the box seat with 72% of the chips in play. The mother of all sun-runs had put him in an enviable position as monster stack with four opponents all looking to outlast one another. 

The heads-up versus Kyte was the dingiest and dongiest of ding-dong battles

Padraig had twelve big blinds and a dream but that dream became a reality after ten hours of the most grueling, enthralling, and, at times, heart-stopping final table. There were some ‘seat of your pants’ bluffs. There were hero calls aplenty. The heads-up versus Kyte was the dingiest and dongiest of ding-dong battles but in the end, it was the Irishman who emerged victorious. 

Never in doubt

Since his breakout win in Dublin in 2012, Padraig has been a genuine quadruple threat, crushing live and online poker, cash games and tournaments. He cashed the Main Event in 2017, 2018, and 2022. In 2020, he won back-to-back Unibet Opens. In March 2022, he took third in a Venetian Deepstack for $127,000. A few days later, he pulled the $100,000 mystery bounty in the Wynn

Down the years, however, what has always been most impressive about Padraig is his temperament. The man is utterly unflappable. When you’ve been in this game a long time, you come to understand that so much of being a professional poker player is about being a professional and not about playing the cards. You have to manage yourself well and Padraig survived the difficult early years of his career by being clever, selective, and, at times, nitty. 

he was not some rich kid with a safety net

Padraig actually got teased for his nittiness but he was not some rich kid with a safety net. He was a staked player for a while. He was judicious with his small bankroll. He got it quietly and built it up gradually. He took calculated risks. He exercised discipline. He was always the model poker player and none of his friends doubted where that road would inevitably lead. 

The comeback

Up against stiff competition, the EPT Prague attracted 1,285 entries, just 18 fewer than last year. That generated a prizepool of €6,101,300 ($6,663,016), shared between the 191 players who made the money. After five days of battle, Kyte, who led the tournament from Day 3, had a gargantuan chip-lead, one that seemed unassailable. 

It seemed like an even greater foregone conclusion early on the final day when his Ace-King spiked a king on the flop against Padraig’s pocket fours. That was until a four on the turn began what is one of the great comeback stories on the EPT. Never since Martin Jacobson manoeuvred his way from short stack to champion in the 2014 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event has a player shown such composure and deftness whilst playing all of the stack-sizes on a major final table.

he had a commanding chip-lead over the beleaguered and punch-drunk Kyte

As soon as he hit the front three-handed, Padraig eased away from his opponents. After eliminating the Italian Umberto Ruggeri in third, he had a commanding chip-lead over the beleaguered and punch-drunk Kyte. It was at this point that deals were offered and rejected. Counter-offers were proffered and rebuffed. The two men would play for it all and what followed was an intriguing heads-up encounter. 

A clash of styles 

It was immediately apparent that we were witnessing a clash of styles. Kyte was brash, fearless, and at times reckless. Padraig was balanced, prudent, and at times circumspect. Kyte bashed himself back into contention with some big bluffs. Padraig chipped away and even pulled the trigger on some cheeky bluffs of his own.

The blinds rose and rose again. The stacks got shallow and at those depths, it was Padraig who had perhaps the most significant edge. Kyte eventually got perilously short and was forced to commit with any two cards. 

After he won the 2012 EMOP in Dublin, I published a blog about Padraig in which I wrote:

“A modest guy, it is never in Padraig’s nature to be boastful about his poker achievements. It is this humility and realistic outlook that keeps him grounded and me, for one, confident that he has a big future in the game.”

With this result, no doubt his legacy in the game is assured but something still tells me that that’s still the case.