David Docherty reflects on his 2023 Irish Open victory and looks ahead to the 2026 festival – by Matt Warburton & Mad Harper
On Easter Monday, April 2023, the biggest tournament ever held in Ireland was nearing its dramatic end. Nine players – who had survived a 2,491-strong field – had reached the final table and were hoping to walk away with the €365,000 first place prize.
As the final table started, Irish delivery driver Declan Rice had the lead. But by the time it came to heads-up, Scottish pro David Docherty had a massive chip advantage. No deal could be reached, so the pair battled on for another hour.
Following an intense split-pot hand, Declan won a flip and brought it all even again, before Docherty landed a killer blow to double up and take most of his opponent’s stack. An all-in and call closed out the action, and Docherty let out a roar as he locked up the championship, €365,000 and the trophy.
Since then, records have again been broken and new winners crowned. In 2024, Finland’s Tero Laurila won, followed by Ireland’s Simon Wilson last year who took down another record-breaker for €600,000.
Since his 2023 Irish Open victory, Docherty has had his ups and downs. He won the 2023 UKIPT Player of the Year race after dominating the leaderboard virtually throughout the season. In 2024, he had a deep run in the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, finishing 16th for €40k, followed by several big cashes in Vegas and another deep run in the EPT Prague Main Event. 2025 featured cashes at numerous PokerStars events including victory in the PokerStars Open Manchester Deep Stack and a min cash in the Irish Open Main Event along with a lucrative Irish Open lottery win as part of a seven-player syndicate.
Looking ahead to 2026
He’s now looking forward to the Irish Open once again. He said: “I will be back in a few weeks – trying to win my second title in four years. I managed to cash it last year – for only the second time – and it was so much fun hanging in there at the deep end again. I realise the odds of me ever winning it again are long, but I’m looking forward to having another shot at it.
“I know I’ll be ready the moment I see the RDS – either way. When I walked in and saw the stage again last year, it was pretty special. I hope it stays at this venue for a long time to come because I get that nice little vibe every time I’m there.”
David is also really looking forward to the expanded 2026 schedule. He said: “I love how many new things JP and Paul are trying. The Aussie Millions always used to be my favourite festival because of how many unique formats it has, but I think the Irish Open has overtaken it now. I always love a Shootout event so I’ll definitely be involved in that, and the Triathlon sounds like a lot of fun too. The Heads-Up is maybe my favourite tournament on the whole schedule. I got knocked out in the first round last year, so I’ve got to do better this time!”
Can you describe the Irish Open for those who haven’t been?
“If anyone’s ever played the WSOP Main, they’ll know the feeling of walking into a room and just seeing tables into the distance as far as the eye can see. I’m not saying it’s that big at the Irish Open, but there’s an outrageous number of tables in the room and they’re all full of players.
“The buzz here is unlike anything you’ll get at any other festival in the world. It’s not just about poker. Everyone at every table is really friendly and chatting. If you go to Vegas and play a 1k, no one talks to each other. Go to Europe and play a 1k and everyone’s in sunglasses, not talking. The Irish Open is its own thing and it’s getting bigger and bigger, and better and better every year.”
What advice do you have for Irish Open Main Event players?
“I do think people really underestimate how good the structure is. You can wait for good spots, you really don’t have to force it. It’s a four-day tournament and I think people maybe drop from starting stacks of 50,000 down to say 30k and then they panic, mentally they are broken.
“You’re gonna get peaks and troughs throughout. I bagged the Day 1 chip lead when I won it, but the first half of Day 2 and the first half of Day 3 were a nightmare for me. I lost every pot for six hours on both days. You just have to keep your composure.
“The structure’s so good, you don’t need to panic at any time. If you’ve got 10 big blinds and you need to accumulate 50 million chips, then so be it. There’s only one route to success but you’re not going to win it if you punt your chips off. But you also have to ask yourself, ‘Am I willing to put all my chips in the middle in order to make the right decision,’ because it all boils down to that. You can be patient, but you should also just try to make the best decisions possible.”
Was your 2023 victory a bit of a game-changer for you?
“It was a game-changing moment, but I also think I was threatening that kind of score … building up to it. I’d final tabled EPT London and got pretty unlucky on Day 5 to finish seventh. That was like 600k up top, that would have been a game-changer too.
“I was backed at the time and that big of a score gave me the opportunity to go on my own and I’ve been on my own ever since, so from that point of view you have to say it’s a game changer, yeah. I just never anticipated winning an event like that. I still can’t believe it now. You see your face on the wall and stuff, it’s pretty mad.”
What are some of your favourite off-table memories?
“The problem with off-table memories at the Irish Open is that they sometimes disappear in your sleep, right!? You don’t remember them in the morning. The Craic Den is pretty wild.
“When I won the event, Jack Hardcastle had a piece of my action. He was on holiday in Thailand at the time and watching it from his hotel room. He phoned me as soon as I’d won but I couldn’t answer because I had tons to do – winner’s photos, interviews, getting my payout, and I was also on Facetime to my mum. I left Jack waiting for an hour and a half – after he’d stayed up all night in Thailand watching. It was pretty funny. I’d just won him six figures and he was still angry with me.”
Do you still spend time studying the game?
I’m always studying. If I’m at home and I’m not doing anything then I have the solver open, just trying to figure something out. Maybe I’ll go home from a festival and I’ll think of a spot that I think I didn’t play enough and I’ll drill it through and try to figure it out.
What’s been your biggest improvement over the last couple of years?
“I actually would say ‘application in end game’. It’s not even necessarily a strategic thing. It’s all very well doing the study but it’s a lot more important to apply it when it matters. At UKIPT London, for example, I got a massive bluff through on Day 3, where I might not have gone for it in the past. The study reinforced what I thought was the right decision and I went for it and got it through.
“So, just pulling the trigger is the biggest improvement. Not just bluffs, even thin value bets or big folds. Just having the confidence to pull the trigger a bit more and apply what I’ve learnt.”
Who have been the biggest influences on your poker career?
“I’ve got to give a shout-out to Jack Hardcastle. After the pandemic, I didn’t have the bankroll to travel around and fire all of the bullets in all of the tournaments but he did because he’d had a lot of success during COVID.
“Having his backing, I won GKUPT Luton like five months after getting back on the scene and that was a big moment for me. It was my first major title and I’d never have won it if it wasn’t for Jack’s backing.”
Are you superstitious?
Are you superstitious?
“I like to think I’m not superstitious, but I probably am even though I don’t like to be. At the Irish Open, I like to go to the pizza place across the road and part of the reason why I do that is because, when I won the Main Event, that’s where I went for dinner every night.”
