DUBLIN, October 19 /PRNewswire/ -- German-born Markus Sippe returns to his country of residence, Luxembourg, with US$62,250 and the title of Boylepoker.com International Poker Open 2009 champion after beating Irishman Jaye Renehan heads up.

The US$250 (US$225 + US$25) buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournamentevent set a new world record for the largest ever poker field outside of theU.S., with 1,440 players from more than 18 countries. The overall prize poolamounted to US$350,000, including US$27,000 which was added by thesponsor, http://www.boylepoker.com.

The tournament ran over three days from Oct 16 to 18 at the RegencyAirport Hotel, Dublin, and saw many big names and familiar faces taking partsuch as Neil Channing, Padraig Parkinson, Andy Black, Marty Smyth, SurinderSunar, Fintan Gavin and Simon Trumper.

German-born, Luxembourg resident, Markus Sippe, who won the event at 1:45a.m. after less than 10 minutes of battle heads-up eagerly said, "I hope tocome back next year and do even better!"

Paul Spillane, head of poker at http://www.boylepoker.com said, "Thisyear's International Poker Open was another great success, breaking lastyear's record by a further 140 players. The event is proving more and morepopular every year, among all levels of players. There was a great atmospherethroughout the entire weekend, and everyone appeared to be enjoyingthemselves at the tables. Once again, the event's success can be attributedto the hard work of everyone on the team, and of course the infectiousenthusiasm of those who took part. The IPO has become an unmissable event onany poker lover's calendar, and we are already excited about the next one."

The final table chip counts were:

Martin Dunne (Ireland) - 565,000

Stephen Egan (N. Ireland) - 2,290,000

Mark Troy (Ireland) - 1,905,000

Markus Sippe (Luxembourg) - 800,000

Colin Rutherford (N. Ireland) - 1,175,000

Jaye Renehan (Ireland) - 2,740,000

Sean Venney (Ireland) - 930,000

Gary Cavazza (France) - 1,260,000

Cat O'Neill (N. Ireland) - 1,560,000

The payouts for the final nine were:

1st US$62,250

2nd US$47,490

3rd US$33,208

4th US$24,736

5th US$19,425

6th US$16,187

7th US$12,950

8th US$9,712

9th US$6,335

One minute into final table play, Martin Dunne shoved with A-Q and wascalled by the dominated A-J. Things looked good for him on the K-10-6 flopbut the turn was a queen to give Dunne's opponent the straight and this madehim the final table's first exit. He hit the rail with US$6,335 for 9thplace.

Another Irishman was the event's next casualty. Sean Venney left in 8thplace picking up US$9,712 for his efforts, and then the final table went onto lose two of its three remaining Northern Irish players. Stephen Egan andColin Rutherford finished in 7th and 6th place, taking home US$12,950 andUS$16,187 respectively. Rutherford had been left short stacked after CatO'Neill crippled him in a pocket pair face-off. His 6-6 failed to improveagainst her J-J, and he left soon after.

Frenchman Gary Cavazza was next to hit the rail. He moved all in withqueen high running into Markus Sippe's A-3. An ace on the turn put Cavazzaout in 5th place, with the consolation prize of US$19,425.

A few minutes later, the last remaining female, and bounty holder, wasput out when her Q-J was beaten by A-J. Cat O'Neill went home with US$24,736for fourth place.

One hour on, the heads-up finalists were determined when a short-stackedMark Troy left in third place, US$33,208 richer, after being forced all indue to the cripplingly high blinds. Holding K-4, Troy found himself upagainst Jaye Renehan's A-K and stayed behind all the way.

Going into the Ireland versus Germany heads-up play, Markus Sippe waschip leader with 7.5 million. However, Jaye Renehan was not too far behindwith 5.5 million.

Less than ten minutes later and it was all over when Renehan moved all inpreflop with 5-4 and Sippe made the call with A-4. The flop brought a gutshotfor Renehan, the turn gave him a double belly buster, but the river pairedthe board and Sippe became this year's International Poker Open champion,earning the healthy top prize of US$62,250. Renehan took home US$47,490 forhis fantastic second-place finish.

The final table was streamed live at http://www.boylepokerblog.com.Extensive coverage such as photographs, chip counts, interviews, and videosfrom the event can also be found on Boylepoker's new look poker blog in theIPO 2009 section or athttp://www.boylesports.com/sections/poker/d.asp?show=IPO_EventInfo_English

About Boylepoker

Boylepoker is part of the biggest European poker network - iPoker.Players have access to a huge range of tournaments running around the clock,with massive guaranteed prize pools and the opportunity to qualify forprestigious live events. The company does not accept players from the U.S.