Irish Poker Veteran, WSOP Main Event Finalist and UKIPT Champion
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Padraig Parkinson is an Irish poker player whose career connects the World Series of Poker’s late-1990s era with later tournament success in Ireland. His best-known result is third place in the 1999 WSOP Main Event, and he subsequently won the inaugural UK and Ireland Poker Tour stop in Galway.
His poker involvement also extends to writing. Live Poker Updates publishes his Once Upon a River column, giving him a platform to discuss the game and its community alongside his tournament appearances.
⠀
WSOP Main Event Final Table
Parkinson finished third in the 1999 $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship at Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas. The official WSOP results record a 393-entry field and a $489,125 payout for his finish.
Reaching that final table placed Parkinson among the last players competing for poker’s most prominent tournament title. The result remains an important reference point in his career, but it was a third-place finish, not a Main Event championship or a bracelet victory.
⠀
Galway Title and Poker Writing
In December 2009, Parkinson won the Galway stop that launched the PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour. PokerStars includes the Galway victory in its official retrospective on the UKIPT.
His Once Upon a River archive contains first-person writing about tournaments, players and the Irish poker scene. That work offers a different view of his connection to poker than a list of cashes alone.
⠀
Killarney Runner-Up Finish
Parkinson added another substantial Irish tournament result on October 18, 2026. He finished second in the €700 Killarney Poker Festival Main Event, earning €63,000 from an 884-entry tournament at the Gleneagle Arena in County Kerry.
The Irish Poker Tour’s official payout list confirms that finish. Coming more than two decades after his WSOP final table, the result documents his continued participation in major Irish fields.
