Parkinson Wins UKIPT

1. Padraig Parkinson, €125,000
2. Paul Marrow, €82,000
3. Ben Lefew, €52,000
4. Michael Graydon, €36,000
5. Michael McFadgen, €22,000
6. Paul Dooley, €17,000
7. Vinny Cosgrove, €13,000
8. Cat O’Neill, €11,000
9. Trevor Bulless, €9,000

The first leg of the PokerStars UK & Ireland Poker Tour came to a conclusion in Galway, Ireland yesterday and saw Irish native Padraig Parkinson win the tour’s first ever title. Parkinson collected €125,000 for the victory and also a bonus prize of a seat in the EPT London worth £5,000.

The result was a perfect start to PokerStars much-anticipated new tour. Parkinson is one of the most familiar faces on the UK circuit, having made his name by coming 3rd in the 1999 WSOP Main Event. Since then, he’s gone on to have much televised poker success, winning series five of Late Night Poker, occasionally writing for PokerPlayer magazine and being one of the co-hosts on The Poker Show Live along with PokerPlayer regular Jesse May.

Despite good starts by new Team PokerStars Pro UK members JP Kelly and Jude Ainsworth, Parkinson was the only familiar face on the final table. With 259 players paying the €2,000 buy-in the first leg has to be considered a big success for the tour.

The next leg begins on February 11th in Manchester and is a very affordable £500 buy-in. With the added publicity that the popular Padraig Parkinson’s win will give the UKIPT expect it to sell out. Qualifiers are live now on PokerStars.com.