This year’s Irish Open included some real people-pleasers for mixed game fans including Big O, Mixed 8-Game, HORSE, Crazy Pineapple Open Face Chinese and Deuce to 7 Triple Draw. Every mixed game held at the 2025 Irish Open attracted over 100 runners creating the biggest fields ever seen in Europe – including 2-7 triple draw and Open Face Chinese which are very rarely played on this side of the Atlantic. The tournament directors at the RDS were absolutely gobsmacked by the huge turnouts.
Here’s how they all played out.
In the €350 buy-in Big O Championship, our very own Irish Open ambassador Chris Dowling scooped the trophy and €6,850 after besting the 122-entry field. This was the first Big O at the Irish Open and generated a €36,875 prize pool. A stalwart of the Irish poker scene, Dowling is a renowned PLO practitioner and has racked up more than $1.4 million in live scores in both NLHE and PLO events, however this was his first live tournament victory in the Big O variant.
Another mixed games specialist took down the record-breaking €350 buy-in Mixed 8-game Championship. The UK’s Bill Mawer, an aficionado of cash Omaha and mixed games in London, outlasted a 169-entry field for his biggest live score of €11,980. Friend of the Irish Open Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, founder of the popular mixed games series The Festival, made it to 14th place for €900, before heading to the bar for (allegedly) a ‘decaf tea’.
Canada’s David Dongwoo Ko added to his impressive resume by taking down the €350 Horse Championship for €11,000. Ko made the most of his first trip to the Irish Open, cashing a total of four times. He has now exceeded the $900,000 mark in lifetime tournament winnings – a quite remarkable feat given that his first recorded cash was less than three years ago. There were 147 entries in the HORSE Championship creating a €43,292 prize pool.
The first ever Open Face Chinese Championship also saw a big turnout with 118 players in full party mood. Congrats to Finland’s Riku Koivurinne who took down the €350 buy-in event for €8,265. Jon Kyte finished third with a total of 17 players taking a share of the €34,751 prize pool.
On his journey over to Dublin, Mitchell Jones made good use of his time by mugging up on the basic rules for Deuce to 7 Triple Draw. Less than 22 hours later and Jones found himself on the winner’s podium. Jones snagged €7,880 after outlasting the 123-entry field while fellow 2-7 newbie and well-known UK player Tim Chung finished fourth. The prize pool totalled €37,177 divvied up between 17 players.
