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Irish Poker Open 2026: Nedelcu Wins Historic Main Event as Dublin Breaks All Records

08 Apr 2026

Pessi Lamm 08 Apr 2026

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Irish Open 2026 broke records with >5,000 entries, €4.85M prize pool.
Romanian Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu won the Main Event with €336,798.
Announced expansion to Sydney, Marrakech & USA for future editions.

Romanian poker pro Narcis Nedelcu, winner of the record-setting 2026 Irish Poker Open Main Event. (credit: irishpokeropen.com / Danny Maxwell)

The RDS Dublin played host to a 12-day festival that surpassed every benchmark ever set, drawing players from across Europe, the Americas, and beyond. When the final chips were counted, Romanian professional Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu stood alone as the champion of the most significant Main Event in the Irish Open's history.

A Festival That Rewrote the Record Books

The numbers alone tell a compelling story. The €1,150 buy-in Main Event attracted first time over 5,000 entries. That historic turnout produced a prize pool of €4,852,910, obliterating every previous edition.

The festival did not stop there. The €250 Mini Irish Open drew 7,349 entries, generating over €1.5 million in prize money and delivering one of the richest lower buy-in poker events Europe has seen this year. Across all 50-plus events on the schedule, Dublin proved it can compete with any poker destination on the planet.

Main Event: Nedelcu Seals a Five-Way Deal and Fights Through

Nine players returned for the Main Event's final day carrying both ambition and pressure in equal measure. With stacks closely bunched, a five-way ICM deal was negotiated, with €70,000 held back for the eventual champion to claim after play resumed.

Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu made the most of the opportunity. The Romanian pro navigated the remaining action with composure, securing the final payout and banking a total of €336,798. Germany's Oliver Gayko had received the largest individual deal share at €285,379 but fell short of the title, finishing fifth.

irish Poker Festival 2026 Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize (€)
1	Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu	Romania	336,798
2	Danilo Donnini	Italy	257,662
3	Vasyl Palandiuk	Ukraine	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

Mini Irish Open Final Table Results

Place	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

Irish Open Mystery Bounty Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Total Prize (€)
1	Trevor Reardon	England	40,450
2	Roope Tarmi	Finland	47,070
3	Luis Sequeira	Argentina	34,190
4	Pascal Vos	Netherlands	16,230
5	Longmao Fan	United Kingdom	34,680
6	Nathan A. Rao	India	34,830
7	Felix Schneiders	Germany	10,525
8	Patrick Bechtel	Germany	11,960
9	Petre Bogdan Ionescu	Romania	6,640

Hendon Mob Championship Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize (€)
1	Martin Byrne	Scotland	44,950
2	Koen Van Venrooij	Netherlands	30,970
3	Cameron Sinclair	United Kingdom	35,420
4	Ed Fogarty	Ireland	18,420
5	Guillermo Gordo	Spain	14,170
6	Sia Browne	Ireland	10,090
7	Adam Early	Ireland	8,380
8	Manfred Gunther	Canada	6,457
9	Szymon Koper	Poland	4,960

Other Notable Winners

Finland's Roope Tarmi was arguably the festival's standout performer, adding the €4,750 High Roller 8-Max title (€336,348) and the €10,000 Super High Roller crown (€122,948) to his Mystery Bounty runner-up finish. Germany's Jonas Heuser shipped the prestigious JP Poker Masters for €441,835, while Scotland's Byrne and Romania's Nedelcu joined a champion's list spanning more than 20 nationalities across the full schedule.

Irish Open Goes International: Sydney, Marrakech & the US

Perhaps the most consequential announcement of the entire festival came off the felt. Festival owners Paul O'Reilly and JP McCann confirmed the Irish Poker Open's first international expansion, with three overseas editions now confirmed:

Sydney: September 2026
Marrakech: November 2026
United States: 2027

The move signals a clear ambition to transform the Irish Open from a beloved European institution into a globally recognised brand, with the festival's 50th anniversary in 2030 already firmly in the organisation's sights.

Complete List of Irish Poker 2026 Winners

#	Tournament	Winner	Country	Prize Pool
1	NLH – Luxon Mystery Bounty	Tudor Lazar	Romania	€1,000,000 GTD
3	NLH – Deaf Main Event Championship	Frank Grace	Ireland	€36,938
4	Big O Championship	Barry Grime	England	€35,483
5	NLH – Super Seniors 60+	David Smith	England	€45,047
6	NLH – Mini Irish Open	Sami Agel	Luxembourg	€1,532,634
8	PLO – Deaf Championship	Anthony Lobue	United States	€4,753
12	Sviten Special Championship	Roderick Hamilton	United States	€38,189
14	PLO – Cuatro High Roller 8-Max	Chris Dowling	Ireland	€86,705
15	NLH – APAT Championship	Colin Fox	Ireland	€76,329
16	NLH – Deaf NLHE Championship	Anthony Wilcox	England	€6,887
20	PLO – 7-Max	Martin Schamaun	Switzerland	€94,721
22	NLH – Deaf Mystery Bounty	Robert Tronina	Poland	€7,629
23	Mixed 8-Game Championship	Chris Bean	England	€55,028
26	NLH – Irish Open Main Event	Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu	Romania	€4,852,910
28	H.O.R.S.E. Championship	Sascha Manns	Malta	€46,609
30	NLH – Deaf High Roller	Gregory Olson	United States	€18,944
31	NLH – Cuatro High Roller 8-Max	Luka Sorainen	Finland	€158,403
32	NLH – Kings and Queens	Mike Koch	Switzerland	€21,272
34	NLH – Flip & Go	Jiang Pu	England	€25,220
35	2-7 Triple Draw Championship	Benjamin Sweetman	England	€37,888
37	NLH – 6-Max Championship	Leonidas Georgopoulos	Greece	€260,106
38	PLO – High Roller 8-Max	Balazs Somodi	Hungary	€124,404
40	NLH – 8-Max	Eero Abbey	Finland	€290,273
42	Mixed 8-Game High Roller	John Kabbaj	England	€71,295
43	NLH – Heads-Up Championship	N/A	—	€38,490
45	NLH – Hendon Mob Championship	Martin Byrne	Scotland	€320,847
46	NLH – High Roller 8-Max	Roope Tarmi	Finland	€336,348
49	PLO – 8-Max	Taago Tamm	Estonia	€199,626
52	OFC Championship	Marius Kalfelis	Germany	€39,692
54	NLH – Super High Roller 8-Max	Roope Tarmi	Finland	€122,948
55	NLH – America's Cup	Alexander Tennbäck	Sweden	€239,057
57	PLO – 6-Max Championship	Gareth McMahon	Ireland	€118,476
59	NLH – Flip & Go	Tristan Ragnarsson	Iceland	€11,640
61	NLH – Ladies Championship	Jennifer Frankenstein	United States	€36,496
62	NLH – Mystery Bounty	Sergiu Covrig	Romania	€174,843
63	NLH – Seniors High Roller 50+	Charles Mitchell	United States	€179,256
67	NLH – Shootout Championship	Brandon Harris	England	€63,050
69	PLO – 5-Card	Richie Allen	England	€19,820
73	NLH – JP Poker Masters	Jonas Heuser	Germany	€441,835
74	NLH – High Roller 8-Max	Giuseppe Dedoni	Italy	€288,090
75	NLH – Old Dogs and Young Pups	Thomas Beck	Ireland	€33,577
76	PLO – Mystery Bounty 8-Max	N/A	—	—
77	NLH – Mystery Bounty 8-Max	Trevor Reardon	England	€193,006
78	NLH – Ladies High Roller	Karen Muir	Ireland	€49,907
79	PLO 4/5/6	Marcis Zeltmatis	Latvia	€100,880
80	NLH – Seniors Championship 50+	Manfred Gunther	Canada	€104,042
81	NLH – Flip & Go	Siebe Obbes	Netherlands	€10,670
82	NLH – Triathlon Championship	Mo Xu	China	€93,518
83	PLO – 6-Max	Valetin Imperatore	France	€58,685
84	NLH – Turbo 8-Max	Damian Albers	Germany	€204,719
85	NLH – Liam Flood Memorial 6-Max Turbo	Cenk Niğbolu	Turkey	€128,399
86	NLH – Turbo	Dominik Suthe	Germany	€78,832

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