With 85 entries on the clock, the dealers have been instructed to shuffle up and deal as the first hands of the 2024 €1,150 Irish Open Main Event are being played.
The time has come for a new edition of one of Europe's most prolific poker tournaments. Today, players from all over the world gather at the Royal Dublin Society in the Irish capital trying to etch their names in the history books by winning the iconic €1,150 Irish Open Main Event, which is sponsored by PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker for the second year in a row.
The Main Event once again boasts a guaranteed prize pool of €1,000,000, but if last year's numbers are anything to go by, that will be blown out of the water. Back in 2023, David Docherty was the last man standing in a field of 2,491 entries, taking home the lion's share of €365,000 from the €2,428,725 prize pool. Docherty was the strongest on a final table with, among others, Irish poker legend Andy Black and English grinder Carl Shaw, eventually beating the Irish Declan Rice heads up in front of the home crowd.
2023 Irish Open Main Event Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
David Docherty
United Kingdom
€365,000
2
Declan Rice
Ireland
€228,700
3
Panagiotis Mavritsakis
Greece
€161,500
4
Tom Waters
United Kingdom
€124,500
5
Andy Black
Ireland
€95,500
6
Eugeniu Barbaros
Moldova
€73,500
7
Carl Shaw
United Kingdom
€56,500
8
Henri Ojala
Finland
€43,500
Docherty will be back in Dublin this year to defend his title, and he could start his journey today at noon local time when Day 1a begins. Day 1a is the first of four starting flights and is played with 45-minute levels. Each player who registers gets 30,000 chips to start with and blind will commence at 100/100. Late registration will remain open for ten full levels, and a single reentry is available to anyone who makes an early exit.
Meanwhile, Day 1b on Thursday, March 28, and Day 1c on Friday, March 29 know the same structure, while Day 1d is a turbo flight with 20-minute levels instead, being played Friday evening.
Irish Open Main Event Day 1a Structure
Level
Small Blind
Big Blind
Big Blind Ante
Duration
1
100
100
45 min.
2
100
200
45 min.
3
100
200
200
45 min.
Break
20 min.
4
100
300
300
45 min.
5
200
400
400
45 min.
6
200
500
500
45 min.
Break
20 min.
7
300
600
600
45 min.
8
400
800
800
45 min.
9
500
1,000
1,000
45 min.
Dinner Break
60 min.
10
600
1,200
1,200
45 min.
11
800
1,600
1,600
45 min.
12
1,000
2,000
2,000
45 min.
Break
20 min.
13
1,000
2,500
2,500
45 min.
14
1,500
3,000
3,000
45 min.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor in Dublin from the very first hand of Day 1a until the final hand is dealt on Day 4, so stay tuned to not miss any of the poker action straight from the Irish capital.