It’s 18:00, and it’s time for the first flight of the €250 Mini Main Event to commence – the biggest tournament during the 2025 Irish Poker Open in terms of starting flights! The first hand of tournament is being dealt as we speak.
The Mini Main Event is definitely a tournament all players should give a shot at. With a €1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, there’s much at stakes, and based of last year’s edition, the field is going to be massive.
15 % will Cash, 5 % will Bag
Late registration for Day 1a of the €250 Mini Main Event will close at the end of Level 10. The levels are 20 minutes long, and this goes for all Day 1 flights of the tournament (Day 1m, Sunday April 20, at 20:00, being the only exception where the levels will be 10-15 minutes).
All players start with a 30,000 stack. The structure is as follows:
| Level | Duration (Minutes) | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
| 1 | 20 | 100 | 200 | |
| 2 | 20 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 3 | 20 | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 4 | 20 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 5 | 20 | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| Break | ||||
| 6 | 20 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 7 | 20 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 8 | 20 | 500 | 1000 | 1000 |
| 9 | 20 | 600 | 1200 | 1200 |
| 10 | 20 | 800 | 1600 | 1600 |
| Break | ||||
| 11 | 20 | 1000 | 2000 | 2000 |
| 12 | 20 | 1000 | 2500 | 2500 |
| 13 | 20 | 1500 | 3000 | 3000 |
| 14 | 20 | 2000 | 4000 | 4000 |
| 15 | 20 | 3000 | 6000 | 6000 |
| 16 | 20 | 4000 | 8000 | 8000 |
| Break | ||||
| 17 | 20 | 5000 | 10000 | 10000 |
| 18 | 20 | 6000 | 12000 | 12000 |
| 19 | 20 | 8000 | 16000 | 16000 |
| 20 | 20 | 10000 | 20000 | 20000 |
| 21 | 20 | 10000 | 15000 | 15000 |
| 22 | 20 | 15000 | 30000 | 30000 |
15 % of today’s players will be in the money. However, play will continue until only 5 % of the field remains. These will then bag their chips for Day 2, Monday 21, at 12:00), accompanied by those who advance from the other Day 1 flights.
Each flight offers Unlimited Re-Entry.
Record-breaking Numbers in the 2024 Edition
It’s safe to say last year’s edition of the Mini Main Event was a slam dunk; with 5,320 entries, it set a record for the biggest Irish live poker event in history. Day 2 lasted roughly 12 hours, and with Joseph Carey emerging victorious and claiming €43,300 after a seven-way deal, the trophy stayed on Irish soil.
Considering this year’s Irish Poker Open is set to be bigger and better than ever before, chances are high we’ll see new records broken in the Mini Main Event.
Make sure to tune into the live blog frequently to get all the latest update from Day 1a of this prestigious tournament.
