The 2025 Irish Open is set to be the biggest and richest poker festival ever held in Ireland with an extra four days added to next year’s schedule.
The Irish Open will be celebrating its 45th anniversary with a host of new events including a brand new €1,000,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty, a new High Roller series with four €5,000 buy-in events and a €10,000 buy-in event.
Additionally, there will be significantly increased guarantees for the Main Event, now at €2,500,000 and the hugely successful Mini Irish Open, with €1,000,000 guaranteed.
For the third consecutive year, the festival will be sponsored by global poker sites PokerStars and Paddy Power, giving hundreds of players the chance to qualify online. The festival is taking place at the prestigious Royal Dublin Society venue in Ballsbridge Dublin, with 12 days of non-stop poker action and off-the-felt entertainment running from April 10 to April 21.
This year’s Irish Open Main Event was the biggest €1K tournament ever held in Ireland attracting a staggering 3,233 entries. There were record-breaking fields in almost every tournament and players were awarded more than €7.5 million in prize money across the whole festival.
Schedule highlights The €1,000,000 guaranteed Mini Irish Open will top 2024 with the largest guarantee for a low-stakes tournament in Irish poker history. The event will give players the chance to win enormous sums for a buy-in of just €250. This year’s edition attracted 5,320 entries to become Ireland’s largest ever poker tournament.
The festival will open its doors with the new €1,000,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty event, sponsored by Luxon Pay, featuring four starting flights and is expected to attract big numbers.
After this year’s huge turnouts for many of the festival’s most popular events, several tournaments will also be extended in 2025: The Hendon Mob Championship, which attracted a giant field of 599 entries this year; the America’s Cup (495 entries); and the NLH 6-Max Championship event (385 entries) will all become two-day events, along with several other tournaments. The Irish Open is also delighted to announce that the inaugural Irish Open Deaf Championship will be joining next year’s tournament line-up.
New mixed game tournaments on the schedule will include Pot Limit Deuce to 7 Triple Draw, Big O, Open Face Chinese, a two-day H.O.R.S.E event, a two-day Mixed 8-game tournament as well as new two-day €1k events, increased PLO events and more.
Irish Open organisers Paul O’Reilly and JP McCann expressed their excitement about the upcoming 2025 event, stating, “We are thrilled to announce that the Irish Open will be extended by an additional four days next year. Our goal has always been to expand the event and ensure players have an unforgettable experience in Dublin, both at the tables and beyond. We are also delighted to continue our strong partnership with PokerStars and Paddy Power as our event sponsors, whose support helps us deliver a world-class poker experience. Additionally, we are pleased to welcome back LuxonPay as both an event and payment partner. With many exciting plans in place for 2025, we’re looking forward to what will be our most exciting event to date!”
Cedric Billot, Associate Director of Live Events at PokerStars, said, “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the Irish Open event, following the incredible success of last year. The energy, passion, and community spirit at this tournament truly exemplify the best of live poker, and we are excited to build on that momentum for 2025. We look forward to providing players and fans with an even more unforgettable experience, as we continue to support the growth of poker in Ireland and around the world.”
The fun doesn’t stop at the tables. The Irish Open is as known for the ‘craic’ as much as it’s known for the poker. The now infamous player’s lounge – ‘The Craic Den’ – will make an eagerly-anticipated return and as always players can expect tons of live music, games, competitions and top-class entertainment every night.
More than 700 players won their way into this year’s Main Event after qualifying online. Satellites for the 2025 Irish Open Main Event begin on Paddy Power on November 1, 2024, with the PokerStars satellites to follow shortly after.
