Irish Poker Open – A Cash Cow and Quantified Success
The 2024 Irish Poker Open set a new entry record over Easter weekend. The decades-old annual tournament surpassed 2023’s 2,491 entries by 742. The competition was won by Finland’s Tero Laurila, who collected €292,685. Ireland’s Hiep Ninh finished second and, courtesy of some dealmaking, took a bigger prize of €335,636.
Organizers did not release exact details of the number of individual players that took part in the €1,150 entry main event – re-registration allowed for individuals to play several times – but sponsors PokerStars said they and its Flutter Entertainment-owned sister site, Paddy Power, had provided over 800 online qualifiers.
Finland’s Tero Laurila celebrates his Irish Open victory. ©PokerStars/Maxwell
Once again, Irish Poker Open organizers also had an event to remember. A demanding €150 entry fee meant the 3,233 entries produced €484,950 in collected rake. An additional 2.5 percent of the entry – €80,825 – was also removed from the prize pool to be paid as “staff gratuity”. There were extra charges for eventualities, such as paying tournament entry fees via a debit card (three percent). On Average, each individual Main Event player donated in excess of €350 in fees and charges.
Pints on Mini Main Winner
Another money maker was a new event on the Irish Poker Open schedule, the €170 entry ‘Mini Irish Open’. Organizers bravely put a €500,000 guarantee on this tournament and were rewarded with 5,320 entries. Charging €30 for every ‘entry’, their prize was an additional €159,600 in rake.
The winner of the contest – one of 35 tournaments played over a week – was Irishman Joe Carey, who collected €43,300. A German, Swede, and Slovak filled the place positions, winning upwards of €26,000 apiece.
Days later, Carey celebrated in his local pub, the Spout in Kilcullen, County Kildare, by offering a bounty on his head in its weekly €30 Hold’em tournament and using his winning trophy as the dealer button! Incidentally, PokerStars announced that 100,000 pints of Guinness were purchased at the Irish Open.
Here’s the Irish Poker Open’s Mini Main event winner’s trophy being used as a dealer button in a pub game! pic.twitter.com/5IWTPGY92Y
— Sports & Betting History by BestBettingSites (@CDCHistory) April 5, 2024
Elsewhere, the €3,000 High Roller saw 172 entries create a €461,175 prize pool (and generate €43,000 in registration fees). It fell to Germany’s Samuel Ju, who collected €95,275. PokerStars Team Pro Parker ‘tonkaaaa’ Talbot won €134,279 after navigating through a 111-entry field in the €4,750 (plus €250 reg fee) Luxon Pay High Roller event.
It was Canada’s Miruna Muller who, while celebrating her 50th birthday in Dublin, landed the €250 Ladies event for a top prize of €6,132. One hundred thirty-six entries represented double that of last year’s corresponding event. It was a stacked field, which saw 23 players share the €28,508 prize pool.
Brits and Irish Heading to Spain
With the Irish Poker Open consigned to the record books for another year, PokerStars UKIPT (UK and Irish Poker Tour) now turns its attention to Spain and will set sail for Malaga in June. This time, it is set to join forces with the Estrellas Poker Tour.
PokerStars says it is “bringing communities together to enjoy a week of poker and partying in the Mediterranean sunshine, with plenty of action on and off the felt and activities for all players to get involved in, including screenings of the Euros as it kicks off over the final few days of the stop.”
The ESPT & UKIPT Malaga event – with a €1,000 entry plus €100 registration headlining Hold’em tournament – will take place from June 10-16 at The Gran Madrid Casino Torrequebrada in the heart of the Costa Del Sol in the Municipality of Benalmádena. Later in the year, the UKIPT London will be staged between August 3-11 at the Hippodrome Casino, and the UKIPT Nottingham has been given November 8-18 dates at the Dusk Till Dawn card room.
