The forty sixth version of the Irish Open has wrapped up, producing record-breaking numbers, together with an all-time excessive for Major Occasion entries.
However the motion isn’t over but, as PokerStars is now gearing as much as host the Irish Open Afterparty event sequence on its platform.
Because the Irish Open notes on its web site, “The occasion will carry the Irish Open’s unmistakable ‘craic’ to the web PokerStars tables, giving gamers the possibility to recreate the competition’s well-known environment in their very own dwelling.”
The Irish Open Afterparty kicks off this Sunday, April 12, that includes greater than $3 million in assured prize swimming pools. The sequence consists of 69 tournaments, with buy-ins starting from $5.50 to $530 and runs for 9 days.
“The Irish Poker Open is legendary for its environment as a lot as its poker, and we wished to be sure that power carries past the event ground and onto the web felt,” mentioned Steve Clarricoats, Affiliate Director of Poker Operations at PokerStars. “Not everybody could make it to Dublin, however that shouldn’t imply lacking out on the Irish Open expertise. The web sequence offers gamers in all places the possibility to participate, compete for titles and be a part of one thing particular.”
Irish Open On-line on PokerStars 2026 Highlights:
April 12 to twenty
$3 million in ensures
69 occasions
Spraggy particular Thriller Bounty tournaments
Number of codecs
Irish-Themed Occasions and Spraggy Specials
The foyer itself stands out, with tournaments color-coded in inexperienced, white, and orange to reflect the Irish flag. Past that, many occasions draw inspiration from traditional Irish symbols and folklore, together with the Paddy Stack, the 4 Leaf Clover, the Blarney Bluff, and the Leprechaun. The $109 Celtic Fortune Major Occasion, working from April 19 to April 20, headlines the schedule with a $500,000 assured prize pool.
There are additionally occasions named after PokerStars ambassador Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg, together with the biggest assured event outdoors the Major Occasion. Each run on opening day, April 12, that includes the $75 Spraggy’s Thriller Sunday Particular with $400,000 in ensures, and the $11 Spraggy’s Thriller Sunday Storm boasting $750,000 in ensures.
Each occasions use the thriller bounty format, with an added twist: an additional bounty on Spraggy himself. Eliminating him rewards gamers with a $109 Irish Open On-line Major Occasion ticket together with a Spraggy throwable.
Different highlights on the schedule embody The Craic, set for April 19 with a $100,000 assure on a $55 buy-in. An analogous occasion additionally runs on opening day below the title Fáilte, carrying the identical buy-in and assure.
Whereas it is probably not a flagship sequence like WCOOP or SCOOP, the schedule nonetheless affords a stable mixture of variants, together with combined video games corresponding to 8-Sport and HORSE, alongside area of interest codecs like 2-7 Triple Draw, NL Omaha H/L, PL Omaha H/L, and 5 Card Omaha.
There’s additionally loads of selection in codecs, starting from thriller bounties and progressive knockouts to Zoom heads-up whole knockouts, together with 3-handed occasions, turbos, hypers, and extra.
Gamers can qualify for occasions by satellites already working across the clock within the PokerStars shopper, with buy-ins ranging from simply $0.55.
From Document Turnout to International Enlargement
The sequence is the primary to run after the operator hosted SCOOP, which paid out over $52 million throughout 400 tournaments in March.
Nevertheless, this isn’t the primary time the Irish Open has made its approach on-line by way of PokerStars. Final 12 months, an analogous sequence ran forward of the dwell competition, that includes $800,000 in ensures. One other version happened in 2023, providing simply over $425,000 in whole prize cash.
That mentioned, the upcoming version is way bigger, making it the largest on-line model of the Irish Open on PokerStars thus far. In earlier years, when PartyPoker served as co-sponsor, it additionally hosted its personal on-line model of the sequence.
The web sequence follows carefully on the heels of a record-breaking Irish Open. The Major Occasion alone drew greater than 5,000 entries, setting a brand new benchmark. Of these, over 1,600 gamers certified on-line by PokerStars, Paddy Energy, and the iPoker community.
“The connection between the Irish Open and on-line poker runs deep!” mentioned Paul O’Reilly, co-organiser of the Irish Open. “Our partnership with headline sponsor PokerStars means now we have a good larger variety of on-line qualifiers this 12 months than ever earlier than — each package deal and Major Occasion seat winners. So it’s nice we are able to take the occasion again on-line straight after the competition!”
Following the success of the sequence, the Irish Open has additionally introduced plans to increase internationally. Its first worldwide cease will happen in Sydney, that includes an 11-day competition working from September 3 to 13 on the Poker Palace. In November, the tour heads to Marrakech for a six-day occasion on the On line casino de Marrakech, highlighted by a €500,000 assured Major Occasion. Wanting forward, the competition can be set to debut in the US subsequent 12 months, marking the Irish Poker Open’s first American cease.
