Andy Black, Marty Smyth and Neil Channing join Ciaran O’Leary for paddypowerpoker.com Irish Winter Festival
Large contingent of professionals to vie for Irish Masters title

paddypowerpoker.com today announced that Andy Black and Irish Open winners Marty Smyth and Neil Channing are among the poker professionals who have joined Ciaran ‘Big C’ O’Leary in pre-registering for the Irish Masters.  The €1500 + €150 No-Limit Holdem tournament, which headlines the Irish Winter Festival, is scheduled to run from Saturday, October 25th until Monday, October 27th.

Ciaran ‘Big C’ O’Leary burst onto the international poker scene with bang in June 2007, when he captured over $725,000 and a coveted bracelet by winning the $1,500 No Limit Holdem Event 3 at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, outlasting almost 3,000 other players.  Andy Black, the enigmatic ‘Mad Monk’ of poker, final tabled the WSOP main event in 2005 and was knocked out in 6th place for $1.75m.  He tops the all-time Irish money list, with lifetime tournament winnings of almost $4m.

The paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open winners of both 2007 and 2008 have also booked their seats at the Irish Masters.  Marty Smyth continued his fine run of form over the past few years by capturing the WSOP $10k Pot Limit Omaha championship in Las Vegas this summer.  Neil Channing returns to the venue where he won more than €800,000 in March of this year with the hope of taking down both of Irish poker’s most prestigious titles in the same year.

paddypower.com is currently offering an “Outright Winner” market for the 2008 Irish Masters.

Irish Masters Main Event (Oct 25th-27th) – Outright Winner – selected odds
Ciaran O’Leary                        50/1
Andy Black                             50/1
Marty Smyth                            50/1
Neil Channing                          50/1
Joe Beevers                             66/1
Donal Norton                           100/1