08 Jan 12

WPT Ireland Reaches a 5-Handed Final Table

After an extremely long third day of play, the WPT Ireland has reached its final table. Due to an action-packed hand at the final table bubble, just 5 players will return today to compete for the title.

Dave Shallow

338 players entered the inaugural WPT Ireland earlier this week. After 3 days of play at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin, just 5 remain and have a shot to win the €202,680 first-place prize. Typically, WPT final tables are made up of 6 players, but a very interesting hand made that impossible for this event.

The Final Table Bubble

The monster hand took place during the 7-handed final table bubble. With blinds at 20K/40K, chip leader Dave Shallow raised to 85,000. Steven Moreau 3-bet to 220,000, and Shaun Conning moved all-in. Shallow responded by moving all-in himself, and Steven Moreau did the same!

Moreau showed pocket aces, Conning flipped pocket queens, and Shallow held pocket jacks. The board ran

, giving Shallow top set and knocking out Shaun Conning in 7th place (€23,340) and Steven Moreau in 6th (€31,120).

Thanks to that hand, Dave Shallow will enter the final table with 6,115,000 chips - over 1.5x that of his 4 opponents combined.

Who's at the final table?

• Dave Shallow (6,115,000 Chips) - Known as "Dubai" online, Dave Shallow is an English poker pro with about $36,000 in lifetime earnings. Despite minimal live experience, his online experience and mountain of chips certainly make him the favorite to win this event.

• Steve Watts (1,345,000 Chips) - Steve Watts is a retired English footballer and current poker pro. His last football club was Sutton United, and he has earned over $170,000 in lifetime poker tournament earnings.

• Patrik Vestlin (1,070,000 Chips) - Although specific information on Patrik Vestlin has been kept quiet, he is apparently a very successful online MTT player.

• Charles Chattha (835,000 Chips) - English poker pro with over $700,000 in lifetime tournament earnings.

• Ronan Gilligan (775,000 Chips) - The sole Irishman at this final table, Ronan Gilligan is a medical marketing manager who finished in 2nd place in the UKIPT event in Dublin for €43,400.

The final table will begin today at 15:00 GMT, and it will be available to watch via a live stream at 15:30 GMT.

World Poker Tour Final Table Live Stream

World Poker Tour Live Ticker

WPT Ireland End of Day 3 Chip Counts
Place	Name	Chips
1st	David Shallow	6,115,000
2nd	Steve Watts	1,345,000
3rd	Patrik Vestlin	1,070,000
4th	Charles Chattha	835,000
5th	Ronan Gilligan	775,000
...
10th	Ross Boatman	€8,520
22nd	Dermot Blain	€6,300
Blinds: 20,000/40,000/5,000 \| Players: 5 (36) \| Prize pool: €760,500