‘I’d have to be dead not to be there. This year will be very weird’
– Neil

England’s Neil ‘Bad Beat’ Channing talked about last year’s Irish Open, which by the way he won.

What do you think of the field compared to other events, such as elsewhere in Ireland, England, on the EPT or WSOP?

It’s funny, the EPT has easily the hardest fields, lots of tough Scandies and top Internet pros, the GUKPT in the UK is pretty tough sometimes, there are a bunch of tough UK pros who always turn up and the fields are not diluted by enormous numbers of inexperienced players. The Irish Open has a mixture of some very tough, top pros, some high quality Internet qualifiers, some very inexperienced qualifiers and a smattering of total lunatics.
    It’s actually the WSOP that has the most really bad players of the four. The fields are so large you can go five events without meeting a world-class opponent.

What was your strategy going in: Play it safe or be aggressive?

I was so keen to give myself a chance, to be patient and to let things unwind. I tried to fight my demons, take deep breaths and sit on my hands.

What was the turning point in the event for you?

The turning point was a large pot I won with a pair of queens. I immediately won the next pot with a pair of tens and it left me with a big chip lead and fourteen players left.

What were the biggest mistakes you saw other players making?

I think the most common mistakes were similar to those I see often. People played way too freely early and then way too tight late on.

What was your thinking going into the final table?

Going into the final I thought just keep the pressure up, play lots of small pots, don’t f—k it up and whatever you do watch out for that Donal Norton – he looks like he might be a bit of a nutter.

What was your thinking going into heads-up?

Going into the heads-up I was desperately keen to keep the pots small and focussed on chatting away to Donal, hoping he’d stay relaxed and not get too aggressive.

What was the crucial hand in heads-up play and what was your thinking on it?

We played a pot where we both turned trip eights, although there was a flush draw out. If anyone made a mistake in the pot it was probably me. I could have ended it there.

Are you playing this year’s Open and what are you expecting (anything different from last year)?
 
I’m definitely playing this year’s Irish Open. I’d have to be dead not to be there. This year will be very weird going back as the champion.
    I’ve decided to make it even harder for myself by recording every hand on a dictaphone. I’m going to publish the results on my new website BlackBeltPoker.com for the world to read. I’d better not get knocked out too early.
 

‘I also didn’t want to let myself get pushed around by Neil, so I made my stand against him early on at the final table’

– Donal

Not surprisingly, coming second in the Irish Open was huge for Ireland’s Donal Norton, who was not that well known prior to the event.

“The event meant a lot to me. I was very disappointed when I didn’t get to lift the trophy. I really wanted to lift the trophy and when we got down to heads-up I thought I had a decent chance. But second place is something to be very proud of and I will always remember that day and remember how happy I was to finish runner-up in the Irish Open, one of Europe’s most prestigious events.”

What do you think of the field compared to other events, such as elsewhere in Ireland, England, on the EPT or WSOP?

It was a very tough field, well every one of the tables I was playing on had very good players and there was very little room for mistakes. The field for the WSOP, other Irish and English tournaments are a lot softer. I would not be able to compare it to any EPTs since I haven’t played any of these events. But I do like a good challenge and you would get that at the Irish Open.

What was your strategy going in: Play it safe or be aggressive?

I played pretty tight for Day 1 and then became more aggressive on Day 2. A particular hand played out pretty horrifically for me at the start of Day 2, and after that hand I just went for it and didn’t look back. I got very aggressive in the later stages and played fearlessly, which was probably one of the reasons I did so well.

What was the turning point in the event for you?

The turning point was the big hand I had against Abel Maiberg. I had the nut flush draw against his two pair. The pot was for over 300,000 when the average stack was only 70,000 at that stage in tournament, which I took down. This gave me a lot of room to play when the short stacks were very nervous. Then coming up to the bubble I was able to pick up a lot of easy chips, which helped me storm into the lead.

Why do you think you did so well in this event?
The reason I did so well was because I really wanted to prove myself on the poker scene, and was very determined going into the event. I said to myself when I sat down on Day 1 that I was still going to be here on Monday and wasn’t going to let anything stop me. I also got some advice from some poker colleagues, which was very helpful throughout the tournament.

What were the biggest mistakes you saw other players making?

I can’t really say as I made lots of mistakes myself. Nobody can play perfect poker for the duration of a tournament so it is unfair to comment on their mistakes.

What was your thinking going into the final table?

I went into the final table with the intention of pushing forward to the finale of the tournament. As I was second in the chip count I knew I could press on the shorter stacks at the table. I also didn’t want to let myself get pushed around by Neil, so I made my stand against him early on at the final table. I think we avoided each other from that point until heads-up. My main plan was to try and win the tournament. I didn’t want to sit around waiting for the jump in money, so instead I decided to start pushing the action straight away.

What was your thinking going into heads-up?

I knew going into heads-up that I was very inexperienced for Neil, so I just needed to play big pots and hopefully get that little bit of luck when needed.

What was the crucial hand in heads-up play and what was your thinking on it?

I think the crucial hand was when the board ran 6-8-9-8-A and I had J-8 and Neil had K-8. I lost 75 percent of my stack during this hand, which crippled me for the rest of the tournament. I thought I was lucky enough not to go broke in this hand. I finally got the rest of my chips in on a coin-flip a couple of hands later, which I lost, but at least I got that chance to recover from that terrible hand.

Are you playing this year’s Open and what are you expecting (anything different from last year)?

Yes, I’m definitely playing this year’s Irish Open. I’m very excited about it and I’m optimistic to go one further this year. I’m playing very well at the moment and had a few recent results so I will give it a good craic of the whip and hopefully get another decent result.