Today is the final day of the 46th-annual Irish Open, the crown jewel of poker stops for many across Europe. The record field of 5,003 entries in the Main Event has been whittled down to just nine. The final nine players, led by Italy’s Danilo Donnini, will play for the lion’s share of the €4,852,910, with €517,100 reserved for the champion.
This writer, for what it’s worth, finished in 578th place for €2,280. Irish poker pro David Lappin, celebrating his homecoming after being named the newest PokerStars ambassador, finished 412th for €3,010.
In addition, some enormous news broke during Day 2 of the Irish Open Main Event. The Irish Open is now going international, adding three stops across the globe between now and the 2027 Irish Open.
Irish Open international stops
The Irish Open is heading to Australia and Morocco in late 2026, followed by a trip to the United States in early 2027.
Sydney will host the first-ever international stop from September 6–15. It will be a 10-day festival at the Poker Palace featuring a $2,000 AUD buy-in, $1 million AUD-guaranteed Main Event.
The Casino de Marrakech will host a six-day festival from November 10-15, featuring a €1,150 buy-in, €500,000 guaranteed Main Event.
Finally, the United States will host an event in early 2027. While the official location has been kept in the dark, sources here and in Dublin have told me that it will take place at the Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, sometime in February.
Irish Open co-owner Paul O’Reilly told PokerNews: “The Irish Open has been held in Dublin since 1980; it’s the oldest No Limit Hold’em event in Europe.
“But the game itself came from America, introduced by Terry Rogers after he met Benny Binion in Vegas, so being ‘international’ is in our DNA. We are also passionate about innovation, so exporting the brand, taking the Irish Open global, is a very logical next step.
“We’re very excited that we can now introduce that experience to new audiences across the globe.”
Co-owner JP McCann said: “Paul and I took over this event over 10 years ago, and from day one the vision was clear – grow the Irish Open and take it global.
“The Irish Open Internationals is something I’ve been developing for several years, and with our 50th anniversary on the horizon in 2030, the plan is to expand worldwide: Delivering incredible standalone events in top-tier venues, alongside multiple international Day 1s feeding into our flagship Dublin festival.
“This is just the beginning of something special. Ultimately, our ambition is simple: to make the Irish Open the biggest tournament in the world by its 50th anniversary.”
2026 Irish Open Main Event final table
Danilo Donnini has come into the Irish Open Main Event final table at the top of the chip counts with 77 big blinds.
Coming into the day, all ten players had €39,840 locked up, though they’re all looking for the €517,100 top prize. At the time of writing, we know Jarkko Suokas finished in 10th place for €39,840, while Edward Dunphy finished in ninth place for €47,800.
You can catch all the 2026 Irish Open Main Event final table action live on the PokerStars YouTube stream. We will provide full coverage of the final table tomorrow in our recap.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danilo Donnini | Italy | 46,400,000 | 77 |
| 2 | Vasyl Palandiuk | Italy | 34,100,000 | 57 |
| 3 | Isaac Barker | United Kingdom | 28,700,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Narcis Nedelcu | Romania | 28,100,000 | 47 |
| 5 | Daryl McAleenan | Ireland | 20,900,000 | 35 |
| 6 | Edward Dunphy | Ireland | 20,700,000 | 35 |
| 7 | Oliver Gayko | Germany | 19,300,000 | 32 |
| 8 | Jarkko Suokas | Finland | 19,000,000 | 32 |
| 9 | Matthew Twomey | Ireland | 16,700,000 | 28 |
| 10 | Francesco Gisolfi | Italy | 16,000,000 | 27 |
