Although his homeland is no longer part of the Emerald Isle, professional poker player Marty Smyth didn’t mind crossing the border to win the top prize in the main event of Europe’s oldest major poker tournament.

Smyth, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, won the main event of the 26th Irish Open, which concluded earlier this week in Dublin, Ireland, and took home the top prize of 650,000 euros, equal to about 875,000 U.S. dollars.

The four-day tournament, sponsored by Irish Internet poker room Paddy Power Poker (www.paddypowerpoker.com), took place at the Burlington Hotel and featured a tournament field of over 700 players.

The tournament entry fee of 3,500 euros (about 4,700 U.S. dollars) gave the tourney a total prize pool of over 2 million euros (over 3 million U.S. dollars).

“I am obviously delighted that I won,” Smyth told the Belfast Telegraph, a Northern Irish newspaper. “I thought I had a chance of doing well, but I surpassed all my expectations.

“There were 708 entries and there were a lot of good players who could easily have won,” Smyth continued. “I guess I just had a little bit more luck than the others.”

Apparently oblivious to the fact that Northern Ireland is officially part of the U.K., not the Republic of Ireland, Smyth also told the paper: “Of all the competitions, this is one I most wanted to win, because it is in my home country.”

Fortunately for Smyth, the competition involved poker and not georgraphy.

Finishing as the runnerup in the Irish Open and taking home the second prize of 325,000 euros (about 435,000 U.S. dollars) was Roland DeWolfe.

Finishing third was Sorel Mizzi, who earned 210,000 euros (about 280,000 U.S. dollars).

Finishing fourth was Danny McHugh, who won 175, 000 euros (about 235,000 U.S. dollars).

Finishing fifth was Brian O’Keefe, who garned 130,000 euros (about 175,000 U.S. dollars).

Finishing sixth was Nicky Power, who took home 100,000 euros (about 135,000 U.S. dollars).

Finishing seventh was Thomas Finneran, who copped 75,000 euros (about 100,000 U.S. dollars).

Finishing eighth was Paul Dooley, who snagged 50,000 euros (about 67,000 U.S. dollars).

Finishing ninth was Peter Eastgate, who earned 35,000 euros (about 44,000 U.S. dollars).

Rounding out the Top 10 finishers was Glen McCabe, who won 26,250 euros (about 35,000 U.S. dollars).

The top 72 finishers in the tournament ended up in the money, but only those finishers placing 65th or higher made money.

Finishers 66 through 72 merely won back their entry fee–3,500 euros.

This was not the first big win for Smyth.

Last year, he won 100,000 U.S. dollars in a poker tournament sponsored by British gaming giant Ladbrokes.

Article Written by Tom Somach.