Noel Furlong was an Irish poker player who won the 1999 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
He passed away in 2021, aged 83.
Biography
Born J. J. Furlong, he was given the nickname "Noel" having been born in Dublin, Ireland three days after Christmas Day on December 28, 1937.
After a successful career in the carpeting industry, race-horse owner Furlong began playing poker later in life. He won the Irish Poker Open in 1987 and 1989, first travelling to the WSOP in 1989. He finished sixth in the Main Event.
1999 WSOP Main Event
Ten years later won the WSOP Main Event for $1,000,000, aged 61. He topped a field of 392 players and defeated a final table that featured fellow Irishmen Padraig Parkinson and George McKeever. The final table also featured Erik Seidel and 1996 WSOP Main Event Champion Huck Seed.
"I've no idea what I will do with the money," he said following his victory. "Get drunk. Give gambling up for a while? I hope so."
Furlong faded out of the poker limelight, and hasn't cashed at the WSOP since, preferring to focus on business and other interests.
"I don't play poker at all now," he told the Racing Post in 2021. "I never played seriously after [the 1999 WSOP Main Event]. It's not a game you can just turn up and play; you have to play regularly to maintain any standard."
WSOP Main Event Winners 1990-99
| YEAR | ENTRIES | CHAMPION | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 393 | Noel Furlong | Ireland | $1,000,000 |
| 1998 | 350 | Scotty Nguyen | Vietnam | $1,000,000 |
| 1997 | 312 | Stu Ungar | United States | $1,000,000 |
| 1996 | 295 | Huck Seed | United States | $1,000,000 |
| 1995 | 273 | Dan Harrington | United States | $1,000,000 |
| 1994 | 268 | Russ Hamilton | United States | $1,000,000 |
| 1993 | 220 | Jim Bechtel | United States | $1,000,000 |
| 1992 | 201 | Hamid Dastmalchi | Iran | $1,000,000 |
| 1991 | 215 | Brad Daugherty | United States | $1,000,000 |
| 1990 | 194 | Mansour Matloubi | Iran | $895,000 |
