Marty Smyth wins Poker Million

Ladbrokes Poker Million Final

Final standings:

1. Marty Smyth, $ 1,000,000

2. Eoghan O’Dea, $ 250,000

3. Ciaran O’Leary, $ 175,000

4. Liam Flood, $ 130,000

5. Kevin Allen, $ 100,000

6. Svein Petter Neilsen, $ 75,000

Marty Smyth produced a brilliant comeback to win the Ladbrokes Poker Million VII and pocket $ 1,000,000 in Friday night’s live final on Sky Sports 3.

The Belfast man was appearing in his third consecutive Poker Million final but found himself with just 15,000 in chips inside the first level after Liam Flood’s kings held up against Smyth’s A-K. Smyth rode his luck as the short-stack to get back to parity then produced some fantastic poker to end up heads-up with Eoghan O’Dea and eventually win the big prize.

“That sort of stuff doesn’t happen,” said Smyth of his comeback in the final. “I was thinking of my exit speech and just going through the motions. All the pressure was off and I was thinking of going back to the party – with 15,000 in chips I have to win three all-ins to get back into it.”

With the blinds in the final starting at 5/10k, Smyth found himself in real trouble then but he won the aforementioned all-ins and stayed with his fellow Irishmen at the table, O’Dea, Flood and Ciaran O’Leary.

The two Chase The Chair semi-finalists made it through to the final but they were unable to progress past fifth and sixth positions. Svein Petter Neilsen was the short stack coming into the final with 179,000 in chips but was unable to make it out of the first level, moving all-in with A-9 but running into the other Chase The Chair winner Kevin Allen with A-10 and the Norwegian failed to hit a nine, leaving with $75,000.

Romford-based poker pro Allen impressed in his TV debut but he had to settle for fifth spot when O’Leary’s aces held against Allen’s tens for the only Englishman in the final to drop to 46k. He got one all-in through and picked up a walk but when he raised on the button with 9-2 he was unfortunate that Smyth picked up K-J on the big blind and Allen was going back to Essex with $ 100,000.

So the four Irish players were left and a real tussle ensued with the chip lead changing at will in a hugely entertaining final. It was Flood who was to be the first to leave for the party in Edgware Road, finishing fourth for the second year in a row when he found himself short stacked and moved all-in with 4-5. Marty Smyth re-raised all-in with A-Q and hit a queen on the turn to make sure – Flood taking home $ 130,000.

Smyth was up to 868,000 and although the three players left soon moved close in chips, the blinds were at 15/30k and we were not far away from heads-up. So it proved when O’Leary moved all-in with A-9 and Marty followed with red queens – the ladies holding up to send Ciaran packing with $ 175,000.

Marty held a huge chip lead heads-up – 1,200,000 against O’Dea’s 400,000 – but some crafty play by Donnacha’s son saw him take the chip lead. The 20/40k level passed without incident but as the blinds were capped at 30/60k, action was inevitable. And it was Eoghan who had the first stab at the million dollar bounty when Marty was all-in with Q-9 and O’Dea called with K-J. The flop and turn left O’Dea one card away from emulating his father’s victory in 2004 but the queen of spades rescued Smyth’s tournament on the river.

A few hands later it was Smyth’s turn to take a shot at the big prize when O’Dea moved all-in with J-4 and Smyth picked up an Ace and called. His other card was a deuce which was paired on the 928 flop, and when the turn and river came down 8 and 9, Marty Smyth was the champion.

“He’s a good friend I didn’t really want to be playing him for that amount of money bacuse he’s also a very good player,” said Smyth of O’Dea, who earned $ 250,000 as runner-up. “He plays a similar tricky game and was one card away from winning but after a few drinks when he wakes up in the morning he’ll be happy with his performance.”