Padraig O'Neill Takes Down EPT Prague Main Event for €1,030,000

Padraig O’Neill has won the high-stakes EPT Prague Main Event to become Ireland’s first EPT champion. The 34-year-old saw off his 1,266 rivals to bank €1,030,000 and almost treble his live tournament career earnings.

This was O’Neill’s fourth live tournament victory, coming more than a decade after the last one in the European Masters of Poker IV series.

And it almost didn’t happen. Moving into the final day’s action, O’Neill was struggling with the shortest stack of 12 big blinds while Jon Kyte was bossing the table of five around with almost three quarters of the chips in play.

But we know how the saying goes, right? O’Neill had more than one chip and he had no intention of sitting up from his chair. He meant business and was giving it his all.

The next 10 gruelling hours of play saw Padraig O’Neill fight tooth and nail to keep his dream alive until only Norway’s Jon Kyte stood in his way of a career-defining win.

During three-handed play, O’Neill had consistently increased his chip count until he finally had the biggest stack. After a fortunate river landed in a pot against Umberto Ruggeri, the lead became significant.

As heads-up play began, O’Neill now had a 4.5:1 advantage over Kyte but it was to be short-lived as the Norwegian retook command as the players went for dinner

But the drama was never ending as the lead swapped back-and-forth until the pair went into the final hand with O’Neill sitting with a slender lead.

The Irishman jammed with KT and Kyte felt he had a call with T5 offsuit. The board ran out missing both players and Padraig O’Neill was the 2023 EPT Prague Main Event champion.

Speaking to the media afterwards, O’Neill said:

“It feels amazing it’s just happened. It hasn’t sunk in. I was hoping to get fourth. Third would’ve been amazing. To get heads-up, I never thought it would’ve happened. I booked a flight last night for 7pm today. That’s how optimistic I was.

“Three-handed, I thought: ‘Right, I’m winning this.’ I’m relieved the heads-up is over – it’s going to hit in the next few days.”

EPT Prague Final Table Results