14/09/2026
๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ง ๐ช๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฅ ๐๐
History has officially been made as Jarrod Thatcher becomes the first ever Main Event champion of an international Irish Open series!
The Sydneysider was regarded as one of the favourites to get the job done, which is no mean feat considering the likes of Joe Antar and Martin Finger were also on the final table. Thatcher was staring down the barrel of a ninth place finish when he was all in and at risk before spiking a two-outer to claim a massive pot against the start-of-final table chip leader Jacob Alha.
A short time later, Thatcher took the rest of his chips by picking off Alhaโs bluff jam to take a commanding chip lead. From then onwards, he never looked back.
He finished off the 2026 Australian Poker Open with a win on the final day of the series, and has done the same here but on a much larger stage.
The entire day was defined by constant laughter between the final nine, with many of them having shared hundreds of hours at the felt with one another in the past. This camaraderie came to the fore when the top five players agreed to an ICM deal that secured them all healthy paydays, with a worthwhile sum still left for them up top.
Seats 1,2, and 3 were the last ones left, with Joe Antar in the middle of a Jar(r)od sandwich, and the un-ending smiles almost a distraction from the fact there was still plenty to play for.
In the end, Jarrod hardly relinquished dominance from the moment the field of 1,515 was reduced to eight and he ultimately defeated Antar in a short-lived heads-up battle.
After recently becoming a father for the first time, Jarrod felt the weight of the occasion and displayed a touching show of emotion when describing his pride in being able to bring home such a prestigious title to his wife and child.
Having always been a supporter of the Poker Palace, with nearly ten titles now to his name at this venue, itโs fitting that Jarrod is the face of the teamโs latest adventure in bringing the Irish Open overseas for the very first time.
Thank you to all who made this event, and this entire series a wonderful occasion, and congratulations once more to Jarrod Thatcher - our Irish Poker Open Sydney Main Event titlist!
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐:
1st: Jarrod Thatcher - $155,100*
2nd: Joseph Antar - $101,900*
3rd: Jarod Cunningham - $77,000*
4th: Martin Finger - $98,500*
5th: Jiajun Yang - $98,000*
6th: Shengfeng Ma - $37,500
7th: Xiangxi Zheng - $28,500
8th: Aaron George - $21,400
9th: Jacob Alha - $16,900
*๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ
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๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ | $๐ญ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐ผ๐น | $๐ฎ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ | ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ
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