2026 Irish Open €1,150 Main Event Breaks Records; Bubble Bursts on Day 2

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Apr 04, 2026 2 min read

The 2026 Irish Open Sponsored by PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker proved to be record-breaking as the €1,150 Main Event drew a field of 5,003 entries and generated a prize pool of €4,852,910, nearly double its €2.5 million guarantee.

Festivities took place at the Royal Dublin Society with five different starting flights. The largest of them was Friday’s Day 1D, which attracted 2,037 runners, nearly equal to the 2,040 total field in 2022! It was a great turnout for the second-longest-running poker tournament outside the World Series of Poker (WSOP), as the Irish Open is currently in its 46th iteration.

The eventual winner will claim one of poker’s most prestigious titles along with a €517,100 first-place prize.

2026 Irish Open Main Event Payouts

Irish Open Celebrates Diversity

In a year that the Irish Open announced it would visit the world, the world came to visit it.

Players from 60 different countries entered this year's €1,150 Main Event, with a diverse selection of nationalities represented.

It is no surprise that Ireland leads the field with 28% of participants, closely followed by the United Kingdom at 25%.

Rounding out the podium, players hailing from Germany accounted for 4.24% of the field.

The Bubble Hand

On Saturday, 1,236 players returned to action, but only 735 of them would make the money. With 738 remaining, the tournament clock was paused, and hand-for-hand play began.

The bubble burst in Level 18 (5,000/10,000/10,000) and was reported by Frank Visser. Going to the 10♥7♦3♠A♠ turn, Daniel Smiljkovic checked from the small blind to David Marboeuf in the cutoff, who bet 30,000 into the pot of 85,000. Smiljkovic then raised all in, and Marboeuf quickly called off his stack of 215,000.

Once the cameras and the tournament director had arrived, the players tabled their cards.

David Marboeuf: 10♦10♣
Daniel Smiljkovic: J♠8♠

Smiljkovic had plenty of outs to crack the set of Marboeuf, but the river fell the innocuous 6♥ to decide the pot in Marboeuf's favor.

Marboeuf doubled up, after which it was announced that all remaining players were in the money as Brian Quigley, Niall Grace, and Yan Song had busted at the same time to burst the bubble. Each received €1,200 as they split two min-cashes.

The in-the-money finishes came fast and furious after that, and you can see a full list of payouts here.

Irish Open Recent History

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