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Noel Furlong, 1999 WSOP Main Event Winner Passes Away At 83

The world of poker has lost one of its former WSOP Main Event champions, Noel Furlong. The poker veteran breathed his last on Sunday, 27 June. Furlong passed away at 83 due to natural causes.  

The poker champion was born on December 25th, 1937 by the name J.J Furlong, however soon he got the name Noel. Apart from poker, Furlong was a successful businessman based in Kildare, Ireland. He founded his own venture Furlong Flooring, which is a leading carpet and other flooring products manufacturer. He had also established his name in the horse racing industry. 

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He was known in the world of poker for his 1999 WSOP Main Event victory, wherein, he defeated Alan Goehring at a final table. The two-time Irish Poker Open champion had claimed the 1999 WSOP title by defeating poker pros including eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, four-time WSOP bracelet winner and 1996 Main Event champion Huck Seed. He won $1 million along with the title at the $10,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em World Championship held at Binion’s in Las Vegas.

Furlong has nailed the Irish Poker Open title twice in 1987 and 1989. Sources suggest that Furlong accumulated $11,45,806 in live tournament earnings throughout his poker career including the $1 million he won from his 1999 WSOP Main Event victory.

Prior to shipping the 1999 WSOP Main Event, Furlong had finished sixth at the 1989 Main Event, which was shipped by Phil Hellmuth and happened to be Furlong’s first WSOP trip. 

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Hellmuth shared his memory of how fearless and confident Furlong was as a player. He further said, “As successful as Noel was in the poker world, he was even more successful off the table as he crushed it in the business world! We heard rumors of one of the most successful businessmen in Ireland! But that is a tale for someone else to tell. He never bragged to us about his business prowess. I mean, you would never know about those massive business successes from the humble, well-mannered businessman, who always seemed to handle himself well, with class and always with a smile: RIP Noel Furlong.”

Furlong was Ireland’s leading poker player for several years in terms of the prize earnings he won until 2005. Andy Black, who finished fifth in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, surpassed Furlong in terms of prize money won by an Irish player. Currently, Furlong ranks 14th on the all-time money list among his countrymen. 

WSOP told pokernews.com, “Mr. Furlong helped put the ‘World’ in the history of the World Series of Poker. He is a worthy champion to be remembered, a businessman and gentleman who was also a world-class player.”

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Photo credit: Racingpost.com

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