paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open charity tournament raises over €25,000

The paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open charity tournament and auction, which took place on the final day of the poker festival, raised a total of €26,537 for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin. The poker festival took place from 9th – 13th April and players had the opportunity to donate over the five days of play in addition to playing in the charity event.



Each participant in the charity tournament donated €100 to the hospital, with paddypowerpoker.com donating all registration fees collected from the tournament.

“We are delighted with the amount of funds raised at the Irish Open and it will go a long way in helping us in our work, the main focus of which is upgrading our A&E department”, said Tom Hickey, Development & Promotions Executive for the Children’s Medical & Research Foundation at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital. “I would like to thank paddypowerpoker.com, the Jackpot Casino and everyone who played in the event. All of these efforts are greatly appreciated by everyone in Crumlin Hospital.”

“It is a privilege to be able to support such a fine cause as that of Crumlin Hospital,” said Eric Booth, Head of Poker at paddypowerpoker.com. “Poker players show time and time again that they are one of the most generous groups of people out there and the Irish Open proved no exception. I’m very proud of what we all contributed over the Irish Open weekend!”

Boylepoker.com Poker for the Homeless March Madness raises €10,000

Dublin, Ireland: April 1, 2009 – The Boylepoker.com Poker for the Homeless March Madness festival raised €10,000 for Dublin Simon over the weekend at the city’s Jackpot Club as a host of celebrities pitched in to help the fundraisers who have now collected over €150,000 for Irish homeless charities in the last three years.

Former Miss World Rosanna Davison, broadcaster and journalist Eamon Dunphy, and snooker legend Ken Doherty launched the festival on Friday March 27. The first event, a €100 + €10 no-limit hold’em freezeout, which saw all registration fees go to the charity as well as 20 percent of the prize pool, was won by Damien Balfe. He took home €2,200.

Noel Magner won the Boylepoker.com Be Our Sponsored Pro event on Saturday evening to take home a $20,000 live poker event sponsorship package, while Team Boylepoker, comprising organisers Paul Spillane, Lisa Condon, and Ciaran Corbett as well as Multiplier Challenge man Peter Murphy, won Sunday’s sold out team event.

Padraig Parkinson, ambassador for Poker for the Homeless, said, “It’s fantastic to see such great support for this weekend as it continues to grow and we’d like to thank everyone who played and helped organise the weekend including the Jackpot Club without whose help none of it could have happened. Special thanks to the well-known faces who helped launch the event and well done to Team Boylepoker who not only got lucky sponsoring the festival but also winning the final event!”

The full results of the weekend were:

Individual event, Friday March 27. Buy in €100 + €10. 92 runners.

1st Damien Balfe €2,200
2nd Phlip Godkin €1,200
3rd Noel McMahon €910
4th Connor Sweeney €750
5th Steve Chambers €500
6th Eamonn “Daisy” O’Grady €500
7th Eamonn Connelly €500
8th Anto M €400
9th €400

Team poker event, Sunday March 29. Buy in €400 + 40 per team. 30 teams played.

1st Boylepoker €3,000
2nd Team Mafia €2,000
3rd DevilfishPoker €1,000

Boylepoker.com to host ‘Race the Champ’ at Poker for the Homeless March Madness weekend

‘Coin Flip’ charity event added to Poker for the Homeless weekend as former Miss World Rosanna Davidson takes on World Champion Marty Smyth in A-K suited vs Q-Q challenge; eight Irish Open champions confirmed, and team event almost sold out

Dublin, Ireland: March 23, 2009 – Boylepoker.com today announced the inclusion of a special Race the Champ challenge at the March Madness weekend at Dublin’s Jackpot Club from March 27 to 29 2009 in aid of Europe’s largest charity poker fundraiser Poker for the Homeless.

Race the Champ, starting at 8 p.m. ahead of the main event at 9 p.m., will give players the chance to race pot-limit Omaha world champion Marty Smyth. Marty’s opponent will choose either A-K suited or Q-Q, while Marty will receive the hole cards not chosen by his opponent. They then play out the hand with the winner having the highest poker hand.

Players can buy in for €20 and the first round will see Marty’s opponents allowed multiple rebuys. Players who win their coin flip will progress to the next round, until one player remains. If Marty wins, the charity receives all the buy in money, and if his opponent wins he gets to keep half the cash with the charity benefiting from the other half.

The first hand of Race the Champ will see former Miss World Rosanna Davidson and Smyth.

Also confirmed for the March Madness weekend are eight former Irish Open champions: Liam Barker (1999), Noel Furlong (1987, 1989, 1992), Brian McCarthy (1986), Jenny Hegarty (2001), Christy Smith (1993), Marty Smyth (2007), Liam Flood (1996), and Irene Tier (1985). They will be joined by former Irish Open finalists Scott Gray, Padraig Parkinson, and Eamonn ‘Daisy’ O’Grady.

Sunday’s team event is on its way to selling out, with teams already confirmed including Boylepoker, Eglinton Club, Fortune Rooms, Devilfish Poker, Card Player, and Team Mafia.
The schedule of events is:

Friday March 27 – €100 + €10 no-limit hold’em freezeout. 100% of registration fee and 20% of prize pool donated to homeless charities. Satellites from 6 p.m. Event starts 9 p.m. Capacity 120 players. Former Miss World Rosanna Davidson to start proceedings with ‘Race the Champ’ challenge against Marty Smyth.

Saturday March 28 – Final table of Be Our Sponsored Pro with nine Boylepoker.com players battling it out for a $20,000 sponsorship package. Also Jackpot Cash League Final, estimated prize pool €30,000.

Sunday March 29 – €100 + €10 no-limit hold’em team event. Limited to 27 teams of 4. Entry €400 + €40 per team. 100 percent of registration fees donated to homeless charities. 60% of prize pool paid to the first three teams, 40% paid to the nine final table players. Starts 4 p.m.

Padraig Parkinson, ambassador for Poker for the Homeless, said, “The addition of Race the Champ should bring plenty of comedy to the proceedings. Players can take their shot at the champ but it’s going to take someone special to win several coin flips against this master of the 50/50. I think Rosanna Davidson might have what it takes to tilt him off his game though!”