Irish Poker Open Sets March Return to Dublin With €2.5 Million Main Event Guarantee
The 48th edition begins after St. Patrick’s Day and brings three seven-figure guaranteed tournaments to the Royal Dublin Society.
- The 2027 Irish Poker Open runs March 18-29 at Dublin’s Royal Dublin Society.
- The €1,150 Main Event carries a €2.5 million guarantee and six starting flights.
- The Mini Irish Open and LuxonPay Mystery Bounty each have €1 million guaranteed prize pools.
- The schedule spans mixed games, special championships and buy-ins from €115 to €5,000.
- The 2026 festival drew more than 32,000 entries and generated more than €15.5 million in prize money.
The Irish Poker Open will return to Dublin’s Royal Dublin Society from March 18-29, 2027, beginning the day after St. Patrick’s Day. The 48th annual edition will be the fifth held at the venue since the festival relocated there in 2022.
The festival’s organizers announced the dates Oct. 15 and said the schedule will feature three seven-figure guarantees: €2.5 million for the €1,150 Main Event, plus €1 million each for the €250 Mini Irish Open and €1,150 LuxonPay Mystery Bounty.
The Main Event runs March 21-29 and has six starting flights scheduled from March 21-26. Its €2.5 million guarantee matches the 2026 Main Event’s stated guarantee, though last year’s tournament ultimately drew 5,003 entries and produced a €4.85 million prize pool.
The Mini Irish Open opens the festival on March 18. It has 15 starting flights through March 28, allows unlimited re-entries and concludes March 29.
The LuxonPay Mystery Bounty also begins March 18, with five opening flights before it finishes March 22. The festival’s schedule also lists daily events in roughly the €250 to €500 range, while the highest listed buy-in is €5,000 for no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha tournaments. At the other end of the schedule, the €115 Flip and Go is the lowest-priced open event listed.
Players looking beyond hold’em and PLO will find 2-7 triple draw, HORSE, 8-Game, Sviten Special, PLO 4/5/6 and Big O on the mixed-game schedule. The programme also includes Seniors and Super-Seniors events, a Ladies High Roller Championship, and Irish Open Deaf Championships in both PLO and no-limit hold’em.
The March timing places the opening immediately after the March 17 St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Paul O’Reilly called the parade “the perfect opening ceremony” and said players would get 13 days of celebration when the holiday is included.
The 2026 Dublin festival set a substantial recent benchmark, with 89 tournaments, more than 32,000 entries and an overall prize pool above €15.5 million. Narcis Nedelcu won the Main Event for about €336,000 after a five-way chop.
The event is run by O’Reilly and JP McCann with PokerStars and Paddy Power. Cedric Billot said PokerStars will continue the collaboration for a fifth consecutive year in 2027.
The Irish Poker Open began as a five-card stud tournament in April 1980, before its Main Event switched to no-limit hold’em for its second running in 1981.
Earlier coverage
- Queens of Tallinn Returns With a €555 Main Event Aug 17, 2026
