Seat 7 - Ciaran Heaney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier - 589,000
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This represents lead IT engineer Ciaran Heaney’s second UKIPT Main Event final table, after he came 8th for ￡11,060 at UKIPT4 Edinburgh back in January this year. “I learned a lot from finalling Edinburgh,” he said, “it was good experience. Here I’ve got to play Eugene Katchalov and Willie Tann – it’s been tough in certain spots.” He said of his run to the final that he didn’t suffer the yo-yo stack effect some of his opponents did, and has not been all-in yet for his tournament life. Back in January, Heaney’s regular game was a small Wednesday league in Omagh, but his regular tournament days may soon be over as his wife is eight months pregnant.
As for this final, Heaney said his strategy has so far been “more of picking small pots than monster ones” and if he can continue without tournament life-risking showdowns, he could stand to win more than six times his biggest prior cash.