(PRESS RELEASE) -- For the third consecutive year
Ladbrokes Poker arrived back in Killarney this weekend for the 2010 Ladbrokes.com Irish Poker Festival. The town was overrun with 632 competitors from across the globe all buying into the tournament for €500, creating a huge prize pot of €316,000 and looking to
scoop the huge €75,000 first prize. Among those vying for the topspot was star of the hotly anticipated Harry Potter films, Nick Moran, who pulled out an intelligent performance managing to put into practice what he learned in the poker tutorials he hosted on LadbrokesPoker.com earlier this year.
Moran, had been a complete poker novice before appearing alongside Ladbrokes professional Jon 'Skalie' Kalmar, in the 'Ladbrokes Poker School'. The series of tutorials offered him the chance to get acquainted with the game as Skalie tutored in everything from 'getting started' to 'advanced poker strategy and
bankroll management'. This all appeared to have rubbed off at the Irish National Events Centre in Killarney as a series of good decisions saw the Lock Stock star make it deep in to day one.
Moran's luck unfortunately ran out soon after, when he went all in with his King Ten after seeing a two Kings on the flop only to find out he had a weaker
kicker than his opponent who was holding Ace King. Despite this, Moran stuck around to support his Poker School co-host Skalie, who made the final table eventually finishing 4th and claiming a handy €20k for his troubles. Moran commented, "I'm absolutely delighted for Skalie, he really deserved the €20k and by following all the tips he's been giving me this past year I managed to put in a pretty decent performance myself!"
Swede Lars Torngren triumphed over the field and took home the €75k first prize as his
pocket sixes held up in a three way all in against Irishmen Paul Lucey and Barry McGleenon in an exciting finale that was fitting of a tournament that continues each year to establish itself as a firm fixture on the European poker calendar.