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Friday’s tournaments and Craic Den action (karaoke!)
3 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

Friday’s tournaments and Craic Den action (karaoke!)

Baoyun Li leads record-breaking Ladies Championship   The record-breaking 2026 Irish Open Ladies Championship has reached its final table after 12 hours of combat. The field was whittled down, from a record-breaking 175 players (last year was 163), to just...

Main Event cruises on with 2,241 entries so far
3 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

Main Event cruises on with 2,241 entries so far

Day 1d of the Main Event kicks off at noon today and is likely to be full of a) tons of online qualifiers AND b) people with massive headaches after last night’s Beer Pong session in the Craic Den. And...

Battle of the Coaches – who’s winning!?
2 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

Battle of the Coaches – who’s winning!?

Well, it’s heating up in the Battle of the Coaches!   Dara O’Kearney’s Simplify Poker site and Faraz Jaka’s Jaka Coaching have thrown themselves into this year’s Irish Open in highly combative mode.   They’re running a points-based challenge that...

Thursday’s tournaments – Irish Open action for April 2!
2 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

Thursday’s tournaments – Irish Open action for April 2!

As well as Day 1c of the Main Event, we have a ton of other tournaments taking off today, or coming back for Day 2s and finals.   Malm leads record-breaking €350 America’s Cup Canadian player Michael Malm is chip...

Winningest Wednesday: Kabbaj, Taam, Kalfelis, Gruszczynski, Tarmi and Byrne
2 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

Winningest Wednesday: Kabbaj, Taam, Kalfelis, Gruszczynski, Tarmi and Byrne

Our team on guard in the trophy vault here at the RDS were certainly kept on their feet yesterday. A record bunch of players took down tournaments with six new champions crowned and more than €920k in prize money doled...

1,176 and counting!!! Irish Open Main Event 2026 already looking like a record breaker
2 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

1,176 and counting!!! Irish Open Main Event 2026 already looking like a record breaker

The Main Event is back in action today with Day 1c of the €2.5 million guaranteed flagship tournament.   Day 1b of the €1,150 Irish Open Main Event yesterday brought another 709 entries into the headline €2.5 million guaranteed tournament...

Rabbiting on with Ben Sweetman, Deuce to Seven Triple Draw champ
2 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

Rabbiting on with Ben Sweetman, Deuce to Seven Triple Draw champ

It’s only halfway through the 2026 Irish Open but British player Ben “sweems” Sweetman is already celebrating a remarkable achievement.   Five events (one a day) and he’s cashed in all of them. And that includes winning one and runner-up...

ON WITH THE CRAIC! IRISH OPEN AFTERPARTY SERIES STARTS NEXT WEEK ON POKERSTARS
1 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

ON WITH THE CRAIC! IRISH OPEN AFTERPARTY SERIES STARTS NEXT WEEK ON POKERSTARS

Over $3 million in prize pool guarantees Whether you’re nursing the mother of all hangovers – or never want the party to stop (or BOTH), then you won’t want to miss the Irish Open Afterparty, a new online series taking...

Wednesday’s Irish Open tourneys … and the Craic Den goes Spragg-tastic!
1 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

Wednesday’s Irish Open tourneys … and the Craic Den goes Spragg-tastic!

The Main Event is back in action today with Day 1b of the €2.5 million guaranteed flagship tournament. Day 1a attracted 467 entries on Sunday, with 2013 champion Ian Simpson right up there in second place. You can read the...

Tuesday’s champs: Somodi, Abbey + Georgopoulos
1 April 2026 | by Mad Harper

Tuesday’s champs: Somodi, Abbey + Georgopoulos

We had three worthy Irish Open winners yesterday with Balazs Somodi getting the job done in the PLO High Roller in just half an hour! Read on for all the details.   Somodi is our new €5k PLO High Roller...