Poker News

Irish Poker Open 2026 Results: Dublin Delivers a Record-Shattering Festival

08 Apr 2026

Pessi Lamm 08 Apr 2026

Share this article

Record-breaking entries with 5,003 in Main Event.
Nedelcu, Agel, and Reardon highlighted winners.
Irish Open to expand globally in 2026-2027.

Narcis Nedelcu takes down the 2026 Irish Poker Open Main Event, setting a new record in the festival's 46-year history. (credit: irishpokeropen.com / Danny Maxwell)

The 2026 Irish Poker Open cemented its place in poker history this spring, with the RDS Dublin hosting the biggest edition of the festival in its 46-year existence. Running across 12 days in March and April, the event drew players from every corner of the globe and broke records that many thought were untouchable.

Headline Numbers

The flagship €1,150 Main Event crossed the 5,000-entry barrier for the very first time, pulling in 5,003 runners and generating a prize pool of €4,852,910, dwarfing every previous edition. The Mini Irish Open added to the excitement with an enormous 7,349 entries and over €1.5 million in prize money. Simply put, Dublin delivered the goods on an unprecedented scale.

Main Event: Nedelcu Clinches Romanian Glory

Romanian professional Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu is the man whose name will go into the history books. Nine players returned for the climactic final day, and after a dramatic five-way ICM deal was struck with €70,000 set aside for the eventual champion. Finally it was Nedelcu who fought through to claim that final prize and bank €336,798 in total. It was the result of his career.

Main Event Final Table

Place	Player	Country	Prize (€)
1	Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu	Romania	336,798
2	Danilo Donnini	Italy	257,662
3	Vasyl Palandiuk	Ukraine	255,188
4	Daryl McAleenan	Ireland	250,493
5	Oliver Gayko	Germany	285,379
6	Francesco Gisolfi	Italy	105,070
7	Isaac Barker	UK	80,800
8	Matthew Twomey	Ireland	62,170
9	Edward Dunphy	Ireland	47,800

Oliver Gayko received the largest individual deal share. Isaac Barker was the UK's deepest run in the Main Event.

Mini Irish Open: Agel Edges UK's Penly

Luxembourg's Sami Agel took down the Mini Irish Open title after a heads-up deal with Britain's own David Penly, who collected a very respectable €117,195 as runner-up. With over 7,300 entries, this was one of the richest Mini Main Events in Irish Open history.

Mini Irish Open Final Table

Place	Player	Country	Prize (€)
1	Sami Agel	Luxembourg	150,855
2	David Michael Penly	UK	117,195
3	Aleksandras Nagreckis	Lithuania	73,970
4	Thomas Pietsch	Germany	56,900
5	Petros Karadimos	Greece	43,770
6	Darren McBrearty	Ireland	33,665
7	Alberto Parenti	Italy	25,900
8	Ahmed Abdella	Egypt	19,920
9	Garrett Patrick Boyle	Ireland	15,320

Mystery Bounty: Reardon Tops the Trophy Count

UK player Trevor Reardon claimed the €1,150 Luxon Pay Mystery Bounty trophy, though it was Finland's Roope Tarmi who walked away with the biggest cheque thanks to a phenomenal bounty haul throughout the tournament. Tarmi's €47,070 take as runner-up actually exceeded Reardon's trophy prize of €40,450.

Mystery Bounty Final Table

Place	Player	Country	Total Prize (€)
1	Trevor Reardon	UK	40,450
2	Roope Tarmi	Finland	47,070
3	Luis Sequeira	Argentina	34,190
4	Pascal Vos	Netherlands	16,230
5	Longmao Fan	UK	34,680
6	Nathan A. Rao	India	34,830
7	Felix Schneiders	Germany	10,525
8	Patrick Bechtel	Germany	11,960
9	Petre Bogdan Ionescu	Romania	6,640

Hendon Mob Championship: Byrne Breaks Through

Scottish pro Martin Byrne ended a personal heads-up hoodoo in fine style, claiming the Hendon Mob Championship title along with a Cape Town package prize. A three-way deal was struck before Byrne navigated the final stages to take the trophy.

Hendon Mob Championship Final Table

Place	Player	Country	Prize (€)
1	Martin Byrne	Scotland	44,950
2	Koen Van Venrooij	Netherlands	30,970
3	Cameron Sinclair	UK	35,420
4	Ed Fogarty	Ireland	18,420
5	Guillermo Gordo	Spain	14,170
6	Sia Browne	Ireland	10,090
7	Adam Early	Ireland	8,380
8	Manfred Gunther	Canada	6,457
9	Szymon Koper	Poland	4,960

What's Next: The Irish Open Goes Global

Off the back of this record-breaking festival, owners Paul O'Reilly and JP McCann have confirmed the Irish Poker Open's first international expansion. Three overseas stops are on the horizon: Sydney in September 2026, Marrakech in November 2026, and a US leg in 2027

Full Event Winners: Irish Poker Open 2026

#	Tournament	Winner	Country	Prize Pool
1	NLH – Luxon Mystery Bounty	Tudor Lazar	Romania	€1,000,000 GTD
3	NLH – Deaf Main Event Championship	Frank Grace	Ireland	€36,938
4	Big O Championship	Barry Grime	England	€35,483
5	NLH – Super Seniors Championship 60+	David Smith	England	€45,047
6	NLH – Mini Irish Open	Sami Agel	Luxembourg	€1,532,634
8	PLO – Deaf Championship	Anthony Lobue	United States	€4,753
12	Sviten Special Championship	Roderick Hamilton	United States	€38,189
14	PLO – Cuatro High Roller 8-Max	Chris Dowling	Ireland	€86,705
15	NLH – APAT Championship	Colin Fox	Ireland	€76,329
16	NLH – Deaf NLHE Championship	Anthony Wilcox	England	€6,887
20	PLO – 7-Max	Martin Schamaun	Switzerland	€94,721
22	NLH – Deaf Mystery Bounty	Robert Tronina	Poland	€7,629
23	Mixed 8-Game Championship	Chris Bean	England	€55,028
26	NLH – Irish Open Main Event	Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu	Romania	€4,852,910
28	H.O.R.S.E. Championship	Sascha Manns	Malta	€46,609
30	NLH – Deaf High Roller	Gregory Olson	United States	€18,944
31	NLH – Cuatro High Roller 8-Max	Luka Sorainen	Finland	€158,403
32	NLH – Kings and Queens	Mike Koch	Switzerland	€21,272
34	NLH – Flip & Go	Jiang Pu	England	€25,220
35	2-7 Triple Draw Championship	Benjamin Sweetman	England	€37,888
37	NLH – 6-Max Championship	Leonidas Georgopoulos	Greece	€260,106
38	PLO – High Roller 8-Max	Balazs Somodi	Hungary	€124,404
40	NLH – 8-Max	Eero Abbey	Finland	€290,273
42	Mixed 8-Game High Roller	John Kabbaj	England	€71,295
43	NLH – Heads-Up Championship	N/A	—	€38,490
45	NLH – The Hendon Mob Championship	Martin Byrne	Scotland	€320,847
46	NLH – High Roller 8-Max	Roope Tarmi	Finland	€336,348
49	PLO – 8-Max	Taago Tamm	Estonia	€199,626
52	Open Face Chinese OFC Championship	Marius Kalfelis	Germany	€39,692
54	NLH – Super High Roller 8-Max	Roope Tarmi	Finland	€122,948
55	NLH – America's Cup	Alexander Tennbäck	Sweden	€239,057
57	PLO – 6-Max Championship	Gareth McMahon	Ireland	€118,476
59	NLH – Flip & Go	Tristan Ragnarsson	Iceland	€11,640
61	NLH – Ladies Championship	Jennifer Frankenstein	United States	€36,496
62	NLH – Mystery Bounty	Sergiu Covrig	Romania	€174,843
63	NLH – Seniors High Roller 50+	Charles Mitchell	United States	€179,256
67	NLH – Shootout Championship	Brandon Harris	England	€63,050
69	PLO – 5-Card	Richie Allen	England	€19,820
73	NLH – JP Poker Masters	Jonas Heuser	Germany	€441,835
74	NLH – High Roller 8-Max	Giuseppe Dedoni	Italy	€288,090
75	NLH – Old Dogs and Young Pups	Thomas Beck	Ireland	€33,577
76	PLO – Mystery Bounty 8-Max	N/A	—	—
77	NLH – Mystery Bounty 8-Max	Trevor Reardon	England	€193,006
78	NLH – Ladies High Roller Championship	Karen Muir	Ireland	€49,907
79	PLO 4/5/6	Marcis Zeltmatis	Latvia	€100,880
80	NLH – Seniors Championship 50+	Manfred Gunther	Canada	€104,042
81	NLH – Flip & Go	Siebe Obbes	Netherlands	€10,670
82	NLH – Triathlon Championship	Mo Xu	China	€93,518
83	PLO – 6-Max	Valetin Imperatore	France	€58,685
84	NLH – Turbo 8-Max	Damian Albers	Germany	€204,719
85	NLH – Liam Flood Memorial 6-Max Turbo	Cenk Niğbolu	Turkey	€128,399
86	NLH – Turbo	Dominik Suthe	Germany	€78,832