Alan Smurfit Wins WSOP $1,500 Pot-Limit
Omaha with Re-Buys Championship

"Smurfit began the final table dead last with $95,000 in chips"

The winner of the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em (with re-buys) championship was Alan Smurfit, a 64-year-old retiree from Miami, FL. This is his second year to compete at the World Series of Poker. It is his first time ever to cash at the WSOP after a dozen cashes at tournaments elsewhere.

Smurfit’s victory was not only the most hard-fought battle at this year’s World Series, to date. It was certainly the year’s greatest comeback. Smurfit began the final table dead last in chips. He started with $95,000 in his stack to his eight opponents, each who had upwards of ten times that amount. Smurfit’s victory was a staggeringly impressive accomplishment, not only of perseverance, but of physical and mental endurance.

The final table clocked in at just over nine hours. However, heads-up play lasted a mind-boggling 167 hands, spread over six hours. It was one of the longest Pot-Limit Omaha heads-up matches in WSOP history. First place paid $464,867.

Reflecting the international appeal of Pot-Limit Omaha, six of the final nine players were born outside the United States. Countries represented included Afghanistan, Australia, England, Ireland, Sweden, Vietnam, and the U.S. One finalist currently lives in Panama. Four of the final nine players were former WSOP gold bracelet winners, with a combined nine wins between them.

Smurfit was born in Ireland. He is the owner of the “K-Club,” one of the most famous luxury resorts and golf courses in Ireland. It is the equivalent of Augusta National, home of The Masters. He now owns poker’s equivalent of famed the green jacket – his own gold bracelet from the World Series of Poker.

by Nolan Dalla