Grinder Glory in Galway

It's two days since his live got turned upside down, the online grinder hit paydirt and took down the opening leg of the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) held in Galway at the weekend. A prize of €100,000 smashed his own previous record live win which was just over €2,000 last September.

Omagh's Emmett Mullin, 26, has spent the last 6 years making his living from poker, a regular grinder on the online MTT circuit, his successful forays into the live game have been limited to a small number of festivals results but had failed to make the breakthrough into the big leagues.

SharkRankings.com caught up with Emmett in the aftermath of his first major win to find that he wasn't in Vegas, Macau or on a beach or in a club celebrating his success, he was back at work, multi-tabling while chatting to us.

The story really started a few weeks ago, when he secured his ticket through an online qualifier a few weeks ahead of the tournament. Last Wednesday he set off from Tyrone with a few mates in a car, each with their own hopes and dreams of maybe, just maybe getting their piece of the action out of the weekend.

It didn't start to well for Mullin, who after a tough table draw found his 15,000 starting stack a little worse for wear a few hours in, when he was down to 10,000, but after finding a pair of kings and getting all his chips in the middle against an oppenent holding AK, he managed to double up and that started the juggernaut hurtling towards the final table.

Mullin said "Day 2 got off to a flyer, when after a few raises preflop, I managed to get my pair of Aces paid by a guy holding a pair of 5's. He should have got away, it was a gift really. But it set me up for the tournament."

"Once I had made the money, you know you're picking up some paper at the end of the weekend, the pressure eases a little, and as you pick your spots and chip up, you really start to believe that you can go on and win it."

On his final table performance Mullin continued "I started about 5th in chips, but there were a few players who were very close in chips, with only 25 big blinds, I knew I needed to win some showdowns early. I got the rub of the green, managed to get it in ahead in some great spots, holding each time."

"When we got heads up, I had to put Ronan Gilligan's recent form out of my mind, I raised the suggestion of a deal as we were playing for a prize difference of over €26,000, which is a huge amount of cash, but no business was done at all. Ronan ran over me for the first while, putting a lot of pressure on, not folding to three bets and just being very aggressive. I waited my time, but was bleeding chips."

"I saw a flop with a pair of 2's and was over the moon when the flop came down 253, I figured I was ahead, and I knew the 6 on the turn wasn't a great card for me, but I was committed to the pot. So when the board paired on the river and made my full house, I was pretty relieved. A few hands later, I flopped a set of 3's on a 6 high board and Ronan's pair of 7's just couldn't catch up."

With regard to his future, Mullin seems content to get back to the grind of his online poker, and hasn't allowed the title or the money go to his head, he has no immediate plans but does intend taking part in more of the bigger Irish festivals over the rest of the year.

Who knows, maybe this time next year, he will be the first winner of the SharkRankings.com €1,000,000 Jackpot! "Who knows, I'll probably play most of those events, so a little bonus, although it's a long shot, would be nice.' said the UKIPT Champion