The Irish Poker Open is set to be bigger, better and more exciting than ever this year with the introduction of a whole bunch of mixed game events on the opening week.
Taking place April 10-21 at the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, this year’s Irish Open features nearly 70 different tournaments and, for the first time ever, will include some real people-pleasers for mixed game fans including H.O.R.S.E., Big O, Mixed 8-Game, Crazy Pineapple Open Face Chinese and Deuce to 7 Triple Draw.
If you’ve been craving something beyond No-Limit Hold’em and PLO, this is your time to shine! And if you’re a mixed games newbie, the Irish Open is the perfect place to dip your toes into something new and dive into some true poker bonkersness. The massively-expanded 2025 schedule will give you the chance to flex your poker smarts across multiple poker variants.
The mixed games schedule has been put together with the help of Friend of the Irish Open Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk who has been hosting The Festival – a celebration of mixed games tournaments – for many years. Franke said: “Personally, I feel No Limit Hold’em has so many players who have mastered the format that’s it’s become essentially a “solved game”. But I don’t feel mixed games are the least bit “solved” – players need to adopt their style depending on the game. There’s higher variance (suits me!) and a lot more action. Mixed games are ideal for the Irish Open – there’s fewer sunglasses, headsets and hoodies and a lot more banter, Guinness and camaraderie.”
What is a mixed game?
If more than one game is spread, it’s a mixed game. Many people feel that mixed games are the best judge of a player’s true poker ability. But if you feel you need a bit of a guiding hand before launching yourself into the frenetic world of mixed games, then PokerStars, PokerNews and The Festival all have very helpful guides on how the variants are played. Click any of these links for features on 8-Game / 8-Game, Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw / Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw, Big-0, OFC / OFC and H.O.R.S.E / H.O.R.S.E. / H.O.R.S.E
The mixed game fun kicks off right at the start of this year’s Irish Open so mark your calendars April 10 – April 14. We know these tourneys are going to be super popular so both the HORSE Championship and Mixed 8-Game Championship will be two-day events. Remember, you can buy into any of these events in advance on Luxon Pay.
Here’s a quick rundown of all the new variants making their way into this year’s festival.
April 10: €350 buy-in, Big O Championship – Single Re-Entry
Think Pot-Limit Omaha High Low, but with a twist—you get FIVE hole cards instead of four. That means bigger hands, crazier action, and even more room to pull off sick bluffs (or get hero-called). If you love Omaha, this one’s a must-play. Big O has featured at the World Series since 2015 when it was included in the Dealer’s Choice mix for the first time.
April 11: €350 buy-in two-day Mixed 8-Game Championship – Single Re-Entry
Want even more variety? The two-day Mixed 8-Game Championship involves switching gears between eight different poker games. It’s the ultimate test of poker adaptability—one minute, you’re grinding Limit Hold’em, and the next, you’re in the wild streets of Razz or 2-7 Triple Draw.
April 13: €350 buy-in two-day H.O.R.S.E Championship – Single Re-Entry
This one’s a classic involving, in rotation, Fixed Limit Hold’em, Fixed Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz (Seven Card Stud Low), Seven Card Stud High, and finally Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo. Each individual game is unique so to become a good HORSE player, you’ll need to 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, river or turn is dealt. The other three games are variants of Stud and don’t use community cards. H.O.R.S.E is a true test of versatility and rewards players who are well-rounded across all five formats.
April 14: €350 buy-in Deuce to 7 Triple Draw Championship
Deuce to 7 Triple 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 can discard from zero to all of them on the draw – and receive that number of replacement cards. In Triple Draw, each player has the opportunity to draw three times, though you might choose to ‘stand pat’ and not discard any cards on any or all of the draws.
April 16: €350 buy-in Crazy Pineapple Open Face Chinese
Crazy Pineapple – a low version of the popular OFC game -s fiendish and frenetic. In this lowball variant, the middle poker hand is played according to the rankings used in 2-7 lowball while the other two hands are played as regular “high” poker hands.
Want to check out the full schedule? It’s all right here.
