Irishman Noel Furlong, winner of the 1999 WSOP Main Event, passed away on Sunday at the age of 83.
He was 61 when he won the WSOP Main, making him the second older person to win the event. The oldest was Johnny Moss, who was 67 when he won it in 1974, and 64 during his 1971 victory. The third oldest was the 2019 champion Hossein Ensan, who was 55.
Furlong had also made a Main Event final table in 1989, finishing 6th in the year that a kid named Phil Hellmuth won.
Furlong didn't play much poker after 1999 -- only scoring a handful of cashes, and just one since 2006. His real name wasn't Noel, but he adopted that name because he felt that each day in life was like opening new presents. He didn't like publicity, and usually turned down interviews.
He was friends with fellow poker player Padraig Parkinson, another Irishman.
Here's an article about Furlong by Chad Holloway: https://www.pokernews.com/news/2021/...away-39404.htm
Here's another by Nolan Dalla: https://www.nolandalla.com/irishman-...oker-champion/
I never played with him, as he was mostly out of poker (especially US poker) by the time I started.
RIP