Hey, you got plans for the next St. Patrick’s Day?
Okay, how about the day after? Grab yourself an aspirin, as there’s the perfect opportunity to keep the party going with the Irish Poker Open (IPO) kicking off on March 18, 2027, the day after the country's biggest national celebration.
One of the world’s longest-running poker festivals, the IPO will be back at the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland’s capital city, from March 18-29.
The 2027 series will be the 48th annual event, and the 5th since it relocated to the RDS in 2022. The 2026 series drew over 32,000 entries creating an overall prizepool of €15.5M (around $17.4M). The winner of this year's Main Event Narcis Nedelcu (above) won €336K after an unprecedented 5-way chop.
You can check out the full schedule for 2027 here, but there are a few tournaments that already look like must-plays.
Main Event headlines with €2.5M GTD
The €1,150 Main Event has a guaranteed prizepool of €2.5M and runs March 21-29, with six starting flights available from March 21-26.
There’s another €1M GTD in the €250 Mini Irish Open, featuring unlimited re-entries across 15 starting flights, March 18-28, before the final on March 29.
Another €1M guarantee is in place for the €1,150 LuxonPay Mystery Bounty, March 18-22, which will have 5 starting flights.
The top end of the buy-in scale is €5,000, with tournaments at that price available in both no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha formats, while the lowest priced open event being the €115 Flip and Go tourney. Each day of the series will offer a wide choice of tournaments around the €250-€500 mark.
Variants-wise, you can expect the likes of 2-7 triple draw, HORSE, 8-Game, Sviten Special, PLO 4/5/6 and Big O, while special events will also run for Seniors, Super-Seniors, a Ladies High Roller Championship and the Irish Open Deaf Championships (for both PLO and NLH).
Like poker, on craic
While there’s lots of money to be won, and plenty of variety in the schedule, ask anyone who’s been why the IPO is an unmissable stop and they’re sure to bring up the fun to be had away from the tables.
With a feelgood atmosphere in the room and beyond, including the infamous ‘Craic Den’ bar at the RDS, the series has a unique place in the hearts of many poker players and draws a crowd from all across the globe.
And with St. Patrick's Day on March 17, the day before the first tourney starts, this time they'll be arriving with Dublin already in full-on party mode.
“People come from all over the world to watch the St. Paddy’s Day parade — it’s the perfect opening ceremony for the Irish Poker Open!” said IPO co-owner Paul O’Reilly. “The world gets one Paddy’s Day but Irish Open players are going to get 13!”
Featured image courtesy of Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
