Poker Winner Bets on Opponent's Advice

IRELAND – (PRESS RELEASE) -- When Vincent Melinn won the €1 million guaranteed paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open 2006 he struck gold twice: once with his €350,000 first prize and again with a €250 each way bet on himself at 150-1 – netting a further €47,000 from Paddy Power.

Another player who struck gold as a result of Vincent's canny punt on himself was English pro Rumit Somaiya – in the latter stages of the tournament Vincent went into a crucial hand a huge underdog but hit a miracle straight on the river card to knock Rumit out.

Feeling very fortunate for himself and very sorry for his unlucky opponent he immediately offered Rumit a share of his bet in return for a little coaching for the rest of the tournament.

"I hit top pair on the flop with my King Queen but when Rumit turned over his pair of Aces I knew stood very little chance but a 10 on the river meant I hit a straight and Rumit was very unlucky.

"He has a lot more tournament experience than me so I asked if, in return for a share of my bet, he'd give me some advice on playing through the late stages of the tournament.

"Winning for me was definitely not about the money – I wanted the title and Rumit's advice helped see me through. I wrote him a cheque for €18,000 the day after the tournament ended."

Melinn, a 54 year old chartered accountant who usually plays online had only ever played one live tournament before, the World Series of Poker main event, and went out in the very first hand.