Two of the biggest Irish poker players, Padraig Parkinson and Andy Black have made it to the World Series of Poker tournaments in Las Vegas. Parkinson won an amount of 203,000 dollars while Black will take home a sum of 100,000 dollars. In addition, the Irish online poker site Paddy Power Poker send 16 players to take part in the 2006 WSOP events.
Paddy Power Poker 16 poker pros will be playing at the 10,000 dollars buy-in main event. They will have to prove their poker playing skill during two weeks of poker battles, from Friday, 28 July until Thursday, 10 August 2006. The 2006 WSOP prize pool is estimated as 10 million dollars.
Padraig Parkinson and Andy Black are not the first Irish poker players to make it big in the World Series of Poker. The history of the WSOP has seen some Irish who have proven special talent in the American game. In the early 1980s, an Irish bookmaker named Terry Rogers has made it to the WSOP Main Event. His close friendship with the WSOP founder Benny Binion helped promote the World Series of Poker events throughout Ireland. Thanks to Rogers efforts, by the mid 1980s, about 10 percent of the WSOP participants were Irish.
