Irish Poker Open nears climax

April 17 2006, Paul Sandells

The much publicised Paddy Power Poker Irish Open comes to a conclusion this evening. Sky Sports cameras will broadcast the action live as the six finalists battle it out for a cool €350,000 winners cheque.

Bank Holiday Monday's are well known for masses of sporting fixtures. Today is no different with football, horse racing and rugby taking centre stage as usual. Tune into Sky Sports 2 this evening, though and be prepared for a feast of live poker action. Direct from Dublin, the Irish Poker Open is about to unfold before the nations eyes.

After three days of hard poker grafting, the tournament is down to six. It's an England vrs Ireland affair. The majority are relatively unknown players. One name sticks out like a sore thumb however, Ian Woodley. Woodley is no stranger to big money action, after winning £1,000,000 on a Chris Evans TV show in the 90s, he has gone on to become a regular face on the poker circuit and a regular name at the final table.

Woodley's recent record is impressive:

Two cashes at the European Poker Classics at The Vic in March this year netted him over £25,000.

In September 2005 he won the Party Poker, Poker Den tournament for £50,000.

Woodley also boasts a string of final tables dating back to winter 2004.

Surprisingly, his record does not include any finals or cashes outside of England. This, of course, will change in the coming hours.

Woodley, with 836,500 chips, faces the following five players in his quest to become Irish Poker Open champion:

872,000 chips Vincent Millann

513,000 chips Conor Smith

407,000 chips Jon Wong

84,000 chips Paul Daly

893,000 chips Brendan Ruane

Be sure to tune in to Sky Sports 2 at 9.30pm to catch all the remaining action live.

Ed note: For the softest online cash games around, download Bet Direct Poker today. We'll throw in a £25 bonus too.

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