In all the best poker games, you’re sure to hear ‘the F-word’.
I’m talking, of course, about ‘fun’. Poker can be a challenge, a job, or a series of life lessons, but we should never forget that, above all, it’s a game. And games that are no fun don’t tend to persist for hundreds of years, as has been the case with poker.
The Irish Poker Open (IPO) gets underway tomorrow in Dublin. And if you speak to anyone who’s been before, they’ll tell you: there’s nowhere quite like it for fun.
Is that down to the famous hospitality of Ireland, its people, or the notorious ‘craic den’ bar to be found on-site at the Royal Dublin Society, host venue of the IPO since 2023?
It’s surely impossible to pinpoint just what makes it so special, but the consensus is that it’s a tour stop not to be missed. Just ask the legions of players who travel annually, many from Canada and further afield, to take part each year.
What's the craic?
This year’s series runs from March 26 to April 6, and our very own Tiffany Michelle will be in the thick of the action for PokerOrg.
Tiffany will be joined in Dublin by the winners of our Pick 3 for SCOOP 2026 contest, who will be playing the Main Event for free after picking the top performing trio in PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (will it be you? Now’s a good time to check your place on the leaderboard).
So while we may not be able to define exactly what gives the Irish Poker Open its je ne sais quoi (or, as they say in Irish, rud éigin speisialta), what we can do is drill down into the schedule and highlight some of the most appealing tourneys during the festival.
So, where's the fun (WTF)?
Here are our tournament picks for each day of the series, but this is just a taste of the huge range of events running every day. For more details, check the full series schedule.
March 26
The Irish Deaf Open Championship is available for players with a certified hearing impairment. The single re-entry tournament has a buy-in of €200, begins at 1pm and has late registration until 5:40pm.
Starting stack is 30,000 and levels are 30 minutes. Day 2 plays on March 28.
March 27
The €350 Sviten Special Championship offers a refreshing change from no-limit hold’em, with the fusion of Omaha and draw poker making for a fun split-pot variant.
The action starts at 2pm, late registration will be open for five hours, and it’s expected to wrap up in a single day.
March 28
The €350 Mixed 8-Game Championship starts today, and will play down to 15% of the field who will be in the money. Play resumes for the final day at 12pm on March 29.
March 29
The first starting flight of the Irish Open Main Event takes place today, starting at 12pm.
The €1,150 tournament has a guaranteed prizepool of €2.5 million, and offers five Day 1s before the field combines for Day 2 on April 4. Players may join any or all of the starting flights, carrying their biggest stack into Day 2.
March 30
This opening day of the €5,000 PLO High Roller 8-Max plays right down to the money, with those surviving the bubble returning the following day to play it out.
March 31
If full-ring just ain't your thing, today’s €350 Irish Open NLH Heads-up Championship should be up your street. The first four rounds take place today — at 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm — with all players who reach round 4 making the money.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place on April 1.
April 1
With 14 starting flights, the €250 Mini Irish Open should build quite the prizepool by the time the final day rolls around.
That will be on April 6, and while there’s a €1 million guarantee on this event, we wouldn’t be surprised to see that comfortably outstripped. Today’s starting flight runs from 6pm, and with 20-minute levels should move at a fair pace.
April 2
If you want the best chance of rubbing shoulders with a big-name ambassador, we know for sure where Ben ‘Spraggy’ Spragg is going to be today: playing the €350 NLH Spraggy Mystery Bounty.
When the field is reduced down to 20% each player will receive a mystery bounty token, and knocking out a player will see you win their token. Trade them in for big prizes over in the mystery bounty draw area.
April 3
Capped at 300 players, the €550 Shoot-Out Championship will keep levels at 20-minutes to ensure each table finishes in good time.
Round one starts at 12pm, with three players from each of 30 x 10-handed tables advancing to round two at 3pm. This will start with nine 10-handed tables; make it to the final five on that table to make the money. One player from each table advances to the final table, at 7pm.
April 4
The €3,000 High Roller 8-Max starts at 4pm, and Day 1 will feature 10 x 40-minute levels before breaking for the day. Registration will remain open until the start of Day 2, 12pm on April 5.
April 5
The €1,150 Ladies High Roller Championship runs across the final two days of the series. Today’s starting flight kicks off at 2pm with late registration open for six hours.
Day 1 will play 16 x 30-minute levels before players return at noon on April 6 to play to a winner.
April 6
The €350 Triathlon Championship looks like a fun way to see out the series.
Split into three rounds, the first will be an 8-game mix with 20-minute levels, and will play down to 48 players. Round two will take the form of knockout heads-up matches, first reducing 48 to 24, and then 24 to 12. Round 3 will be a no-limit hold’em 6-max tournament.
Stick with PokerOrg for news and updates from the Irish Poker Open, March 26 to April 6.
