For the second year in a row, the Irish Open Main Event drew a record number of entries. Despite WSOP Europe simultaneously taking place in Prague, the €1,150 buy-in event attracted 5,003 runners and created an enormous €4,852,910 prize pool.
After it was all said and done, Romania’s Narcis Nedelcu, better known as “Narcisus90” on PokerStars, came out on top. Nedelcu took home the €336,798 top prize, the trophy, and goes down in history as the latest Irish Open champion.
Nedelcu, clearly the best player at the final table, is on an extremely hot run of form, having won a SCOOP title last month in the $530 Sunday Million, taking down $150,167 in that event after topping a field of 1,865 entries.
“I feel amazing. It’s something so, so special,” Nedelcu told PokerNews after the win.
“I just can’t describe it right now. I’m now fifth on the Romanian all-time money list, I think. And also fourth online, so yeah, I’m okay.
“I used to prefer online poker, but nowadays I prefer live poker, so you’ll definitely see me at EPT Monte Carlo.”
Irish Open Main Event final table chaos
The 2026 Irish Open will always be remembered for the five-way ICM deal that the players accepted. After over three hours of thrilling five-handed play, all five players were between roughly 20 and 30 big blinds.
The variance was simply far too high, with nearly €400,000 separating the original €136,650 fifth-place prize and the nearly €520,000 top prize. After the dinner break, a couple of hands later, the players all looked at the numbers and shook hands.
This sort of deal is unprecedented for a tournament of this magnitude. After the deal was struck, all five players erupted with their rails, with everyone receiving between €250,493 and €285,379. Still, €70,227 was set aside for the winner, and the poker completely opened up after the deal, as there were no further ICM considerations.
While Germany’s Oliver Gayko took the most money in the deal, as the chip leader, he ended up finishing fifth after a wild three-way clash. Daryl McAleenan went all in from the cutoff with and Gayko called off for less from the small blind with . Unfortunately for both of them, Nedelcu found in the big blind and called it off, essentially flipping against both players. The board ran out seven-high, and Nedelcu took a commanding chip lead.
Italy’s Danilo Donnini would double through Nedelcu before the Romanian took down Vasyl Palandiuk, holding with against to take a two-to-one chip lead heading into heads-up play.
Heads-up didn’t last too long and, eventually, Nedelcu won with holding against Donnini’s to wrap up the title.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Narcis Nedelcu | Romania | €336,798* |
| 2 | Danilo Donnini | Italy | €257,662* |
| 3 | Vasyl Palandiuk | Italy | €255,188* |
| 4 | Daryl McAleenan | Ireland | €250,493* |
| 5 | Oliver Gayko | Germany | €285,379* |
| 6 | Francesco Gisolfi | Italy | €105,070 |
| 7 | Isaac Barker | United Kingdom | €80,800 |
| 8 | Matthew Twomey | Ireland | €62,170 |
| 9 | Edward Dunphy | Ireland | €47,800 |
Luxembourg claims record-setting Mini Main title
Elsewhere, the €250 Mini Irish Open brought in an incredible 7,349 entries throughout 14 flights, with just five percent of players from each flight getting through to Day 2.
With such huge prizes available at such a low buy-in, just about everyone in Dublin took their shot at the title. The event smashed the €1,000,000 guarantee, attracting a €1,532,634, with eternal glory and six-figure scores up top.
At the end of Day 2, Luxembourg’s Sami Agel was the last player standing. Following a heads-up deal, Agel defeated the UK’s David Penly to win a massive €150,855 – over 600 times the buy-in.
Irish Open Mini Main Event final table
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1. | Sami Agel | Luxembourg | €150,855 |
| 2. | David Michael Penly | United Kingdom | €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 |
