Romania’s Narcis Nedelcu has won the record-breaking 2026 Irish Open Main Event for €336,790 after outlasting a 5,003-entry field at the Royal Dublin Society. The huge turnout for the flagship event of the 12-day festival created a €4,852,910 prize pool.
The last five remaining players cut an ICM deal, playing on for the extra €70,227 but, more importantly, the trophy and 2026 Irish Open Champion title.
Nedelcu, who qualified for the €1,150 Main Event on PokerStars, is not only renowned online (he recently won a SCOOP event) but is also a formidable live player with more than $2 million in live tournament winnings. Asked how he felt about taking down Europe’s longest-running poker tournament, he said: “It’s unbelievable. It’s something so, so special that I can’t describe it.
A few years ago, Irish Open regular Daryl McAleenan told us: “The Irish Open is definitely the one tournament in the year that all your smaller-stakes players will want to play. If they are going to play one event, that’s the one.” Those words certainly came true tonight; his €250,500 prize for fifth place more than doubles his lifetime tournament winnings.
But perhaps the most profitable player at the final table was Francesco Gisolfi from Italy. Gisolfi, who works in a café in Salerno, qualified on PokerStars for just €10. He finished sixth for €105,070.
| POS | NAME | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
| 1 | Narcis Nedelcu | Romania | € 336,790 |
| 2 | Danilo Donnini | Italy | € 257,660 |
| 3 | Vasyl Palandiuk | Ukraine | € 255,190 |
| 4 | Daryl McAleenan | Ireland | € 250,500 |
| 5 | Oliver Gayko | Germany | € 285,380 |
| 6 | Francesco Gisolfi | Italy | € 105,070 |
| 7 | Isaac Barker | UK | € 80,800 |
| 8 | Matthew Twomey | Ireland | € 62,170 |
| 9 | Edward Dunphy | Ireland | € 47,800 |
This year’s Irish Open ran from March 26 to April 6 and featured players from 60 countries. Today’s start-of-day finalists came from six different nations.
The festival was held from March 26 to April 6 at the historic Royal Dublin Society and featured a total of 86 different tournaments.
In all, 736 places were paid in the Main Event, with a min cash worth €1,200; trips to the cash desk started on Day 2 of the tournament.
Several prior champions came close to making the final day: Dan Wilson was eliminated in 27th place (€15,870), Steve O’Dwyer in 16th (€24,120) and Weijie Zheng in 13th (€33,190).
The Main Event was livestreamed on multiple channels with James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton, PokerStars Team Pro Nick Walsh and 2017 Irish Open Champion Griffin Benger providing expert commentary for the final four days.
Sydney bound
Today marked another historic milestone for the Irish Open as it held its first-ever Day 1 for an international event. This was a remote Day 1 for the inaugural AU$1,000,000 guaranteed Irish Open Sydney Main Event which is running in September.
Sydney is just the first stop in a series of new Irish Open international destinations. The Irish Open will also be heading to Marrakech in November and the USA next year. But Sydney is first up with a packed schedule of tournaments at the Poker Palace in September featuring numerous tournaments and a A$1 million guaranteed Main Event.
On with the Craic – Irish Open Afterparty on PokerStars
The Irish Open Afterparty, a new online series taking place on PokerStars, starts next weekend. The event will bring the Irish Open’s unmistakable ‘craic’ to the online PokerStars tables, giving players the chance to recreate the festival’s famous atmosphere in their own homes!
The Irish Open Afterparty takes place from April 12 to 20 and will feature more than $3 million guaranteed prize pools across a 69-event schedule. Buy-ins will range from $5.50 to $530.
