Niall Farrell raised to 200,000 from the cutoff before Sean Hegarty three-bet the 475,000 from the button. After it got back to Farrell, he four-bet shoved for roughly 1,500,000. Hegarty pondered briefly before making the call.
Niall Farrell: 10♣10♥
Sean Hegarty: A♣Q♠
Hegarty had been saved by ace-queen at the start of the final table, and would need some more help from it again if he was to eliminate Farrell. The board ran out 7♠J♣5♦2♠A♠ to give Hegarty the winner with a pair of aces on the river, sending Farrell out the door in fifth.
Mark Buckley shoved from the cutoff for 3,005,000. When it folded to Sean Hegarty in the big blind, he took one look at his cards and flicked in the call to put Buckley at risk.
Mark Buckley: A♣5♥
Sean Hegarty: A♥K♠
Buckley was dominated and looked poised to be headed for the rail. The 10♥6♥4♠ didn't change anything but Buckley did have some backdoor draws. The 2♣ turn gave him a gutshot, but the 5♦ river improved Buckley to a pair of fives. Buckley doubled up while Hegarty was left as the table short-stack.
Joni Rantamaki in the small blind took purple chips from his stack and raised to 1,680,000, more than Sean Hegarty's stack. Hegarty looked at his cards, went into the tank and called, being at risk for approximately 1,500,000.
Sean Hegarty: Q♦10♣
Joni Rantamaki: 5♦4♠
Hegarty was in the lead, but Rantamaki flopped a pair on 4♣3♦J♠. The 2♦2♣ runout gave him two pair and sent Hegarty to the rail in 4th place for €50,000.
Mark Buckley shoved from the button and Joni Rantamaki called for his last 800,000 from the big blind.
Joni Rantamaki: 10♦4♣
Mark Buckley: A♦3♦
Buckley would be crowned champion of the 2024 Irish Poker Festival Main Event if he could hold with ace-high. The flop fell 7♣5♣2♣ which offered Rantamaki with a flush draw. The turn came the 3♥ to give Rantamaki even more outs with a straight draw. However, a brick K♠ hit the river and Buckley was the winner of the IPF Main Event.
After Michel Molenaar’s victory in 2023, the Irish Poker Festival has its 2024 winner! The new €3,000 Main Event title belongs to Irish player Mark Buckley, who patiently claimed the first-place prize of €177,000.
Buckley took first place from a field of 285 entrants, which generated a total prize pool of €753,330, slightly exceeding the €700,000 guarantee. Winning the tournament wasn’t easy, due to the nearly nine-hour final table and the strong competition from players like Joni Rantamaki, who finished as the runner-up for €113,000, and Conor O'Rourke, who took third place for €70,000.
Niall Farrell secured fifth place for €38,000, while recent EPT Cyprus Eureka winner Leo Worthington-Leese finished in sixth place for €31,500.
2024 Irish Poker Festival €3,000 Main Event Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Mark Buckley
Ireland
€177,000
2
Joni Rantamaki
Finland
€113,000
3
Conor O'Rourke
Ireland
€70,000
4
Sean Hegarty
United States
€50,000
5
Niall Farrell
Scotland
€38,000
6
Leo Worthington-Leese
United Kingdom
€31,500
7
Ignotas Tamasauskas
Lithuania
€27,500
8
Ignas Navickas
Lithuania
€24,000
9
Florian Fuchs
Austria
€20,500
Winner's Interview
“It was a very long final table. There were a lot of ups and downs, a lot of swings, but we got there in the end,” summed up the new champion after posing for his winning photos. He went on to explain: “It was a tough final table with a lot of good, very aggressive players.” Despite these strong opponents, Buckley said that “it was smooth from the beginning". "I basically max-late-regged; I only bought in on Day 2.” He finished third in chips after that day and never dropped from the top spots.
This Irish Poker Festival marks Buckley’s second-best career cash, following his seventh-place finish at the 2018 European Poker Tour Barcelona for €220,000. Since then, he’s kept grinding across Europe, even winning a Spade in an Omaha event in 2023. “Now I need to win another trophy,” he joked, adding that he doesn’t have many poker plans for now. “Just EPT Prague will be my next stop.”
Mark Buckley
Final Day's Action
Although 18 players returned on Day 3, they were down to 17 on the very first hand of the day after Sam Dobbins was eliminated (18th - €9,500). WSOP bracelet winner Eoghan O’Dea didn’t last much longer (17th - €9,500), losing a flip to Vasilijus Piskunovas, and Tomas Flanagan was also eliminated shortly after (16th - €10,000), running into Ignotas Tamasauskas’s aces.
Day 1a chip leader Alec Torelli then opted to four-bet all-in with ace-seven suited. He faced Worthington-Leese's pair of jacks, which turned into a set on the flop. Finishing in 11th place, Torelli won €15,000.
Alec Torelli
At the same table, Rantamaki and Farrell went all-in, creating a 3,500,000 chip pot. Rantamaki had aces and secured a massive double-up against Farrell’s ace-king. Moments later, Farrell was unlucky again when Ignas Navickasdoubled up through him. However, he managed to turn things around by eliminating Richard Ashby in 10th place and secured his seat at the final table.
After Sean Hegartyhit trips with ace-queen to double up through Buckley’s ace-king, Ignas Navickas lost a flip against O’Rourke and was eliminated in 8th place for €24,000. Following this hand, the seven remaining players went on their second break of the day, with Rantamaki as the chip leader and the other players having relatively even stacks.
Very little action occurred during the next level, but things changed when Tamasauskas and Hegarty found themselves in a classic race. Tamasauskas lost the flip and was sent to the rail, leaving his six opponents to head into a 40-minute dinner break. Moments before heading to eat, Worthington-Leese and then Farrell both doubled up.
He was followed to the cashier desk by Farrell, who held pocket tens against Hegarty’s ace-queen. Farrell was on his way to double up, but an ace completed the board, and the triple crown winner exited in 5th place (€38,000). Thanks to previous eliminations, Hegarty held 40% of the chips in play when only four players remained.
Niall Farrell
Almost two more hours passed at a very slow pace, but Hegarty was unable to maintain his lead, especially after Buckley doubled up through him thanks to a lucky river. After this hand, Rantamaki, in the small blind, applied pressure on Hegarty’s short stack. Hegarty eventually called but lost, taking home €50,000 for his fourth-place finish.
O’Rourke now had the shortest stack and needed to dodge bullets to reach the next step. He was only a few cards away from heads-up play when the two big stacks went all-in. Buckley doubled up with kings, extending the three-way battle. But it didn’t last long, as O’Rourke jammed with ace-deuce into Buckley’s ace-six. O’Rourke was quickly drawing dead and was eliminated in third place (€70,000) after Buckley flopped the best full house. This meant the trophy and first-place prize would go to either Buckley or Rantamaki.
