Win your way into the 2026 event with Paddy Power!
Back in 2024, Irish Open owners Paul O’Reilly and JP McCann took a massive punt. What if we put on a tournament with a HUGE guarantee but a VERY low buy-in plus a ton of starting flights?
The result was the Mini Irish Open, which, as history relates, became the biggest poker tournament ever held in Ireland.
Last year, Paul and JP took yet another punt – doubling the Mini guarantee to a whopping €1 million. They needn’t have worried – the tournament soared past the guarantee well before the last of the 13 different starting flights. Players relished the chance to have a stab at six-figure prize money for such a low buy-in and, by the end of all the Day 1s, the tournament had attracted a total of 6,411 entries, making it the best-attended event of the festival.
2026 Mini Irish Open
This year’s €250 Mini Irish Open is set to be even bigger. The €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool makes it a lush prospect for players of all kinds. The event is the largest low buy-in tourney in Europe and kicks off right at the start of the festival – at 6pm on March 26. This year’s tournament – which features unlimited re-entries, with a single re-entry per starting flight – also has more starting flights than ever before: 14 in total. The tournament is “Stack Choice” – if you bag up on multiple Day 1s, you can take your biggest stack through to Day 2. Approximately 15% of the field will be in the money on Day 1, but play will continue until 5% of the field remains.
Paddy Power satellites
Irish Open headline sponsor Paddy Power is also offering a ton of satellites for this year’s Mini. The qualifiers are running three times a week (Monday, Friday and Sunday) with a mix of €10 entries (re-entries and re-buy/add-on tournaments.) More than 50 players have already won their Mini seats on Paddy Power this year, including new Paddy Power Ambassador and award-winning podcaster Dara O’Kearney.
Last year’s record 6,411 entries created a total prize pool of €1,343,938, with the €116,000 first prize going to British player Tyler Gordon. Ireland’s Moya Murphy was the last woman standing, finishing fourth for €48,200 – way her biggest live cash. Others who finished in the money included Leo Worthington-Leese, Yucel Eminoglu, Alex Todd, Vanessa Kade, Jamie Flynn and Mick Graydon.
