Cool hand Niall

A YOUNG Clare man who turned a €10 bet on the Grand National into a €650,000 win in one of Ireland’s top poker competitions still thinks he might be back at work next week.

Niall Smyth, 26, from Ballyea outside Ennis, Co Clare, emerged victorious after a mammoth weekend at the table at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, coming out on top in a field of 615 players in the Paddypower.com Irish Open Poker competition.

Niall, who works as a multi-task assistant at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis, spent almost 48 hours playing poker over the weekend before winning a head-to-head with Surinder Sunar from England.