Liam Flood ( 1943 – 16 August 2014) was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
bookmaker
A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.
History
The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795.
Range of events
Bookm ...
and professional
poker player who was the 1997 European poker champion.
[Kirby, Terry (2005)]
Poker playing robots? Surely not
, ''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', 6 July 2005, retrieved 7 November 2010[Irishman wins big poker pot]
, ''Tuscaloosa News
The '' Tuscaloosa News '' is a daily newspaper serving Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, and the surrounding area in west central Alabama.
In 2012, Halifax Media Group acquired the ''Tuscaloosa News''. Prior to that, the paper's owner was Th ...
'', 29 August 1984, retrieved 7 November 2010
Poker career
Flood began playing poker tournaments in the 1980s in Ireland. He won the
Irish Poker Open
The Irish Poker Open is the longest running No Limit Texas hold 'em poker tournament in Europe and second longest in the world after the World Series of Poker.
First organised in 1980 by Terry Rogers, a well known Irish bookmaker, the tourna ...
in 1990 and 1996, becoming one of only four players to have won that tournament multiple times. He was a close friend of Terry Rogers who created the Irish Poker Open tournament, and has run the tournament since Rogers died in 1999.
He was a finalist in series 1 and 2 of the ''
Late Night Poker
''Late Night Poker'' is a British television series that helped popularize poker in the 2000s. It used "under the table" cameras that enabled the viewer to see each player's cards.
The show originally ran for six series between 1999 and 2002 ...
'' television series and went on to be the floorman for the
Celebrity Poker Club
''Celebrity Poker Club'' is a British television series featuring celebrities playing poker. It aired on Challenge for three series from 2003 to 2005 as a spin-off from Channel 4's popular '' Late Night Poker'' series. Liam Flood was the casi ...
spin-off. In 1997, he had an 11th-place finish in the pot-limit hold-em tournament at the
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...
. In 1998, he had a 15th-place finish in the no-limit hold-em tournament at the World Series.
His biggest cash win to date is a second-place finish at the Party Poker World Open in
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
on 3 April 2005. He won $150,000. Flood also appeared in the 2005 World Speed Poker Open. His total lifetime professional tournament winnings exceeded $1,100,000.
In 2007, Flood won the Party Poker European Open, beating
Darren Hickman in the final head-to-head and pocketing the first prize of $125,000. This was his first outright win in a televised tournament.
On 16 August 2014, Flood died at the age of 71.
References
External links
Hendon Mob tournament results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flood, Liam
1943 births
2014 deaths
Bookmakers
Irish poker players
Irish Poker Open winners
Sportspeople from County Dublin