Mark Johnston Takes Down the Dublin Poker Festival ACOP Main Event
Northern Ireland's Mark Johnston is relatively new to the live poker scene, but you would never think so if you looked at his results. Since recording his first Hendon Mob flag in September 2023, Johnston has racked up 21 cashes, including seven final tables. His 21st in-the-money finish was an impressive victory in the €350 Amaetur Championship Of Poker (ACOP) at the WPT Global Dublin Poker Festival.
Johnston shot to fame in March 2024 when he entered the €1,150 Irish Open Main Event for the first time. A few days after parting company with €1,150, Johnston finished third from a 3,233-strong field and banked €232,685. He cashed in the 2025 Irish Open Main Event and has now recorded his first live victory in the Emerald Isle's capital. He sure enjoys playing in Dublin.
WPT Global Dublin Poker Festival ACOP Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Johnston | Northern Ireland | €31,000 |
| 2 | Robert McGuirk | Ireland | €27,250 |
| 3 | Paudie Cusack | Ireland | €25,000 |
| 4 | Sander Smit | Netherlands | €13,690 |
| 5 | Karolis Mikalauskas | Lithuania | €10,850 |
| 6 | David Lyons | Ireland | €8,450 |
| 7 | John Fannon | Ireland | €6,160 |
| 8 | Matthew Blayney | Ireland | €4,210 |
| 9 | Panagiotis Kostopanagitis | Greece | €3,330 |
The €350 ACOP Main Event had a €100,000 guarantee, but ultimately awarded €212,294 after 706 players bought in. The top 95 finishers made the money, with a min-cash of €630 and a steadily increasing top prize of €31,000.
Greek grinder Panagiotis Kostopanagitis was the first of the nine finalists to be relieved of their stack. Matthew Blayney and Irish Poker Tour regular John Fannon followed suit before David Lyons busted in sixth place for a career-best €8,450.
Lithuania's Karolis Mikalauskas' only cash before this event was a runner-up finish in a €25 buy-in tournament in Dublin back in March 2016. He can now boast of a €10,850 prize after securing only his second cash in a decade.
Fourth place and €13,690 went to Dutchman Sander Smit, who finished third in this event in 2017 for €15,714.
The final trio of surviving players struck a deal that essentially removed the last remaining pay jumps. That deal meant Paudie Cusack collected €25,000 for his third-place finish, the second-largest haul of his career.
Johnston and Robert McGuirk locked horns and butted heads in the one-on-one section of the 2026 ACOP Main Event. Johnston got the job done, his hands on a rather fetching championship belt, and a €31,000 top prize. McGuirk helped himself to a €27,250 concolsation prize.
The Dublin Poker Festival continues until March 1, with everyone's attention now fixated on the €700 buy-in, €200,000 guaranted European Deepstack Poker Championship. Day 1a starts at noon on February 26, with Day 1b shuffling up and dealing at the same time on February 27. Day 2 begins at 12:00 p.m.GMT on February 28, and the third and final day's play also kicks off at noon, but on March 1.
When this tournament was held in March 2025, it had a €570 buy-in. A field of 515 entrants created a €251,060 prize pool, of which an anonymous Irish player claimed €43,980 after emerging victoriously.
In 2024, Tomas Geleziunas came out on top and banked €43,993 of the €227,663 prize pool.
