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From Sviten Special to the Big O, the 2026 schedule offers a feast of non-Hold'em variants
Big O
Big O is a five-card version of Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better with each player dealt five hole cards instead of the usual four. Usual Omaha rules apply though - players must still use two and only two of their hole cards, for both the high and low hands.
The pot is split between the best high hand and the best qualifying low - “8 or better” - if there is one. The extra hole card increases the potential two-card combinations a player may have, so stronger hands will be needed to win either pot. As with all split pot games, aim for starting hands that have the potential to win both the high and the low!
Irish Open ambassador Chris Dowling scooped the trophy in the debut Big O tournament in 2025, winning €6,850 after besting a 122-entry field.
2-7 Single Draw
2-7 Single Draw is a lowball draw game in which you’re trying to make the worst possible hand – with 2-3-4-5-7 (unsuited) as the nuts. It’s a ‘draw’ game, meaning that you are dealt five cards and, after the first betting round, can discard from zero to all of your cards and receive the same number of replacement cards. If you feel you already have a winning hand, you can ‘stand pat’. It's played pot-limit, making bluffing and post-draw decisions crucial. Straights and flushes count against you, and aces are always high.
A Triple Draw version of the game was introduced in 2025. The winner was Britain’s Mitchell Jones who only learned the rules on his flight over to Dublin. Jones snagged €7,880 after outlasting the 123-entry field. The prize pool totalled €37,177.
Open Face Chinese
While the order of hands remains the same, Open Face Chinese is dealt and played in a totally different way from traditional poker. It’s fiendish, frenetic and totally addictive and involves a completely different structure to standard poker. Players each build three hands (a back/five-card, a middle/five-card, and a top/three-card) from 13 cards.
The “open face” part means that, after an initial set of cards, players receive cards three at a time and discard one before placing them face up into their rows. Once placed, they can’t be rearranged. The bottom hand must rank at least as strong as the middle, which in turn must rank at least as strong as the top. If you fail eg your top hand beats your middle, you bust. There’s no folding; you play through to the end whether you “foul” or not, and scoring is via points. If you get QQ or better up top, you get into Fantasyland where you are dealt 14 cards at once, face down and then set your rows to the greatest advantage.
Open Face Chinese Championship made its Irish Open debut in 2025 and saw a big turnout - 118 players in full party mood. Congrats to Finland’s Riku Koivurinne who took down the €350 buy-in event for €8,265. Norwegian star Jon Kyte finished third with a total of 17 players taking a share of the €34,751 prize pool.
Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better (included in HORSE + 8-Game)
Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better is a split pot game included as part of HORSE + 8-Game. The pot divided up between the best high hand and the best low hand. As in standard Omaha, you are dealt four hole cards and must use two - and only two. You may use different combinations of your hole cards to make your high hand and your low hand. Omaha Hi/Lo is played with an ‘8-or-better’ qualifier, which means that 8 is the highest permissible card for your low hand. Because of this qualifier, you need at least three cards on the board which are 8 or lower to make a low hand. The nut low is Ace to Five (also known as "the wheel" or "the bicycle") and straights and flushes do not count against a low hand.
Invented by Scandis, loved by everyone!
Sviten Special
Sviten Special is a a five-card, split-pot game, where one half of the pot goes to the best Pot Limit Omaha hand, and the other to the best Five-Card Draw hand. Fast-paced and exciting, the game has a lot of fans in Scandinavia (it was invented in Sweden) but has only recently started gaining traction in other regions. Sviten Special is similar to Drawmaha but with one essential twist – the “One Open “ rule states that if a player chooses to only discard one card, then they get options. The dealer will present them with one face-up card which they can accept or refuse. If they refuse it, then they get the next card dealt face down. If the player is discarding two or more cards, there are no special rules.
HORSE
HORSE is a mixed-game format, playing five poker variants in rotation: H (Texas Hold’em), O (Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better), R (Razz), S = Seven-Card Stud, E = Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo - 8 or Better. The format is played under fixed-limit betting structure. The key challenge in HORSE is the ability to shift strategy rapidly between entirely different game types and have a good grasp of the optimal strategy needed for all five games. The flop games are Hold’em and Omaha Hi/Lo ie a flop, turn and river is dealt. The other three games are variants of Stud and don’t use community cards.
Canada’s David Dongwoo Ko took down the inaugural €350 HORSE Championship this year for €11,000. There were 147 entries creating a €43,292 prize pool.
8-Game
This format is another mixed-game rotation comprising eight different poker variants played in turn. Like HORSE, it’s considered the ultimate test of poker adaptability as it comprises draw, flop, stud and hi/lo formats. The 8-Game Championship includes the following games: 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better, No-Limit Hold’em, and Pot-Limit Omaha. 8-Game is far more challenging than specializing in one game alone and rewards players who are really clued-up on all the variants.
Mixed games specialist Bill Mawer took down the record-breaking €350 buy-in Mixed 8-game Championship this year, outlasting a 169-entry field for €11,980, his biggest live score.
Razz
Razz is a low ball variation of Seven Card Stud and is one of the variants played during 8-Game and HORSE. The object of Razz is to make the lowest possible five-card hand from the seven cards you are dealt. In Razz, straights and flushes do not count against the player for low, and the ace always plays low. Unlike in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo or Omaha Hi/Lo, in Razz there is no ‘eight or better’ qualifier and the nuts is Ace to Five (also known as "the wheel" or "the bicycle".).
