The 2026 Irish Poker Open Begins in 100 Days
The Irish Poker Open is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated and attended poker festivals every year. Each edition is larger and richer than the previous one, and 2025 gave the team behind the Irish Open the confidence to go even bigger in 2026. It all begins on March 26th at the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge, running through April 6th.
Paul O’Reilly and JP McCann, in collaboration with global poker sites PokerStars and Paddy Power, have put together an 86-event schedule packed with more than €4,500,000 in guarantees. Headlining this year’s festival includes a €2.5M guaranteed Irish Open Main Event, a €1M guaranteed Mini Irish Open, and the €1M guaranteed Luxon Pay Mystery Bounty.
The award-winning Irish Poker Open is the longest-running No Limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament in Europe. Following the success across the last few years, the Irish Open has won several awards this year, including Best Stand-Alone Festival at the Global Poker Awards and, most recently, the SiGMA award for Best Live Poker Event.
€2.5 Million GTD Irish Open Main Event
Coming off a guarantee-smashing €4,447,950 prize pool, which saw 4,562 entries, the €1,150 buy-in Irish Open Main Event is back with another €2,500,000 prize pool guarantee. Festival sponsors PokerStars and Paddy Power are offering hundreds of opportunities for players worldwide to qualify via online satellites. Over 1,300 players won their way into the Main Event this year via online satellites.
The 2026 Irish Open Main Event begins on Sunday, March 29th at noon with the first of five Day 1 flights. Players start with 50,000 chips and play 45-minute levels on Day 1A. Each flight permits a single re-entry.
The record-breaking 2025 field saw Ireland’s Simon Wilson walk away with €600,000.
€1 Million GTD Mini Irish Open
The €250 Mini Irish Open begins on opening day and spans the entire length of the festival. Fourteen qualifying flights and a €1,000,000 guarantee will see over 4,000 entries needed to reach the guarantee. In 2025, the Mini Irish Open drew 6,411 entries, creating a prize pool worth €1,343,874. The UK’s Tyler Gordon collected €116,000 for the win.
€1 Million GTD Luxon Pay Mystery Bounty
Event #1 on the schedule sees the return of the €1,150 Luxon Mystery Bounty. The event runs from March 26 to 31 and features four Day 1s. Players start with 50,000 chips and play 45-minute levels on Day 1A. Each flight permits a single re-entry.
The main prize pool paid out €595,725 in 2025 with 1,222 entries. Germany’s Nils Pudel took home €102,600 before bounties.
The Hendon Mob Championship
As we have done every Irish Open since 2019, The Hendon Mob Championship is on the schedule for 2026. THMC Dublin will run over two days, with a buy-in of €350. Day 1 begins at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31. Followed by Day 2 on April 1.
THMC has been a growing success within the Irish Open schedule, hitting 238 runners in 2019, 332 in 2022, 400 in 2023, 599 in 2024, and a massive 888 entries in 2025. Our player-friendly events feature 30,000-chip starting stacks, 30-minute levels, and single re-entry.
