Noel Furlong

Noel Furlong, born John James Furlong on Christmas Day 1937 in Dublin, Ireland, became a millionaire through carpet manufacturing before discovering poker in 1984. A mentor named Terry Rogers persuaded him to travel to Las Vegas for his first World Series of Poker, where he placed sixth in 1989. Ten years later, at age sixty-one, he defeated Alan Goehring in heads-up play to win the 1999 main event and one million dollars, becoming the second-oldest champion behind Johnny Moss. He remained the top money-winning Irish poker player until Andy Black finished fifth in 2005, and he died in 2021 at eighty-three.