The Ladies’ event is one of the consistent fixtures on the Irish Open schedule and always attracts a substantial field. Last year’s winner Elizabeth Bennett-Martin – now a Friend of the Irish Open – will be energetically defending her title this year and, after a fantastic year at the tables, will be serious competition for everyone who enters! Elizabeth snagged a trophy and €3,690 last year after outlasting the 63-runner field.
This year’s Ladies Event is taking place on Thursday, March 28. The €250 buy-in, single re-entry tournament starts at 2pm and features a bigger starting stack than before – now 25,000 in chips – and a 25-minute clock. A whole load of top female players are set to compete including Sunday Million champ Vanessa Kade, PokerStars’ Georgina James and Marle Spragg, Irish Open Ambassador Karen Muir and 2023 WSOP Online International Ladies winner Jessica Marks.
Every player who makes the final table will receive a gorgeous Claddagh pendant made with Irish Hallmarked Sterling Silver and set with a green crystal. Claddagh pendants are traditional Irish jewellery with a history dating back more than 300 years. They feature a heart to represent love, a crown standing for loyalty, and two clasped hands symbolising friendship.
Celebrate International Women’s Day – €500 packages on PokerStars!
PokerStars and the Irish Open are celebrating International Women’s Day today (March 8) by giving away several €500 seat + expenses packages for the 2024 Ladies’ Event. Several Home Games will be running on the PokerStars’ client giving women the opportunity to play together, celebrate the game and be in with a chance to win. Kerryjane Craigie, Director of Poker at The Hippodrome Casino, will be hosting a game, along with PokerStars Ambassadors Georgina James and Marle Spragg. The winner of each of the respective home games will receive a €500 package – comprising the €250 Ladies Event buy-in plus €250 towards expenses. Everyone who makes the final table will receive a Step 3 $11 Power Path ticket offering the chance to qualify for the Irish Open Main Event.
Win a seat in the Irish Open social media competition
The Irish Open is also launching a competition today on social media with a €250 seat Ladies Event up for grabs. The competition will be running on the Irish Open’s facebook page, Instagram and X/Twitter from 3pm today to 6pm Monday (March 11). All you have to do to enter is like, share and tag a friend in answer to the question “Which lady has won the Irish Open twice?”. (Here’s a clue – check out our list of winners page!) The winner will be announced on social media next Tuesday!
Superstar Kade
Among those set to compete in this year’s event is Canadian superstar Vanessa Kade, a formidable player with over $3.5 million in cashes. She hit the spotlight in March 2021 when she took down the biggest PokerStars Sunday Million ever held for $1.5 million. Vanessa also has over $1.1 million in live cashes, including a fourth-place finish in the 2022 Wynn Millions Main Event for $527,000 and a hat-trick of PokerGo High Roller final tables in the summer of 2022.
Karen Muir
Irish Open Ambassador Karen Muir will also be competing. She said: “I’m really looking forward to the Ladies Event. It has an incredible structure (as do all the other Irish Open tournaments) and I’m definitely planning on playing it. I’ve played quite a few ladies’ events in the last six months including being the final table bubble (boo!) at UKIPT Brighton. I’m excited to see all of the women travelling over for the event because guaranteed, the craic will be amazing! Obviously, my aim is to be lifting an Irish Open trophy on home soil!”
Top women players
UK-based American Debs “The Destroyer” Worley-Roberts is another well-known face at the Irish Open and always plays the Ladies Event if she can. She said: “What’s great about the Irish Open is that the organisers don’t schedule the Ladies Event in competition with another big side event – or even the Main Event. There’s often an assumption that women just aren’t going to be playing the bigger events so it doesn’t matter when you schedule their tournament – that’s just rude!!! The Irish Open are very respectful – they don’t dumb the tournament down and it doesn’t clash with anything else!
Debs, whose biggest ever live cash was her runner-up finish at the WSOP Ladies Championship in 2017, is an ardent supporter of Ladies Events. She said: “I’ll be honest, part of that is because they do tend to have a softer field. If they stopped Ladies Events tomorrow, I’d be pretty sad about it!” Debs is also a huge Irish Open fan. She said: “Going to Dublin is always awesome, the whole camaraderie of it is amazing. The cash games are mental, the music is great, the chance to see everyone … it makes losing easier!”
Also competing this year is triple-casher – and 2018 winner – Rachel Warburton. Rachel, who is Head of Marketing at DTD Player in Nottingham, has played the last four live Ladies Events at the Irish Open and has a sensational record so far. She won her first one – in 2018 – and made the final table in the next two. She said: “I love playing the ladies event at the Irish Open. It’s always a fantastic atmosphere with a great group of women. I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone!”
Another player set to compete this year is wedding décor whizz Charlie Waters. Married to Luxon Pay MD Tom Waters – who finished fourth in last year’s Main Event – Charlie is hoping to get her first Irish flag on her Hendon Mob profile. She said: “The best Irish Open for me has to be railing Tom in last year’s Main Event. I’ve worked at lots of Irish Opens in the past and have been to the last two with our son. He’s coming to this one too and even though he’s not three until May, he hasn’t missed an Irish Open since he was born!”
Other notable players taking part this year include Friend of PokerStars Marle Spragg, wife of PokerStars Team Pro “Spraggy” and a highly accomplished player in her own right. Marle has had some phenomenal results lately: she finished eighth in PokerStars’ giant EPT Prague Main Event in December, won the UKIPT London Ladies Event last September and the EPT Monte Carlo Women’s Event in April last year. A few weeks ago, she also won a Global Poker Award for best X/Twitter Personality. Also set to play is Jessica Marks, the 2023 WSOP Online International Ladies Championship winner and Team PokerStars pro Georgina James, who finished third at last year’s event for €1,790.
