Another day, another winner in a four-card contest at the 2026 Irish Poker Open at the Royal Dublin Society. And it was a local lad who went all the way as Gareth McMahon took down Event #57 €350 PLO 6-Max Championship after a very short but intense heads-up duel with Mitchell Hynam. The tournament attracted a field of 394 entries to generate a prize pool of €118,476 and paid the top 53 spots with 52 hopefuls returning for the final day.
McMahon already had 11 live poker wins to his name in small reoccurring live poker tournaments in Ireland but they are overshadowed by the triumph against Hynam worth a top prize of €23,825. The English WSOP bracelet winner from last summer was denied a win during the 2026 Irish Poker Open once again after finishing third in Event #48 €1,150 PLO 8-Max yesterday evening. Hynam then max late-registered for the PLO 6-Max Championship and ran it all the way to a runner-up finish for €15,200.
The top two were not only responsible for a lot of action at the tables but also beyond it with a ton of banter going back and forth, also known as the Irish Craic. Hynam may not be from here but his mother is from Belfast and he sure knows how to talk smack as the last couple of hours clearly told.
Darren McBrearty was the second Irish player on the final table and bowed out in third place while Matteo Fritz and Sven Toth laddered their way to third and fourth spot respectively.
Final Table Result:
1st Place: Gareth McMahon – €23,825
2nd Place: Mitchell Hynam – €15,200
3rd Place: Darren McBrearty – €10,850
4th Place: Matteo Fritz – €8,100
5th Place: Sven Toth – €6,250
6th Place: Jack Hardcastle – €4,800
With one third of the survivors below ten big blinds at the start of the day, the early stages were a frantic affair and until the first break, half of the field was already sent to the payout desk. Among those early casualties were Mark Rubbathan, Jamie Flynn, Andre Magi, and Glen Keogh.
Canada’s Junior Roberts was the chip leader as only player with a seven-figure stack and endured a wild ride at the tables, getting involved in a ton of hands. That eventually led to his elimination on the final three tables, after which the action slowed down. McMahon soared to a big stack when his straight draw got there against Juuso Parviainen and a minute-madness of sorts also sent €5,000 PLO High Roller champion Balazs Somodi as well as Anthony Ross to the rail on the other two tables right as everyone headed on the second break.
Hynam wasn’t among the chip leaders then but slowly assumed control to run up a big stack. WSOP Europe bracelet winner Antoine Vranken narrowly missed out on the seven-handed final table, as did long-time chip leader Tai Quoc Hoang and Antonio Guido.
When they were down to one table, the shortstack doubled to get back into contention only to have his aces cracked by Hynam in the very next hand. Jack Hardcastle fell to McMahon before the two German-speaking short stacks hit the rail. McMahon caught McBrearty bluffing when he rivered a full house with queens and then out-flopped Hynam in a three-bet pot to seal the victory.
“I just ran like god,” McMahon said absolutely beaming during a phone call before taking the winner shots and he also needs to fork out on a Steak dinner to his friend Mikey as promised during the final three tables.
