The PokerListings Experience of the Irish Poker Open 2025

Meet & Greet

The Irish Poker Open, sponsored by PokerStars and PaddyPower, is the world’s second-oldest running live poker series and the largest of its kind in Europe. Players from literally all over the world come together for 12 days of pure poker action — not just to play poker, but also to meet each other and have fun in perhaps the most entertaining side activities you can imagine.

On April 10, the doors opened for poker players, media, and everyone involved in the Irish Poker Open. PokerListings was invited to create the best possible impression of the event and share it with the world through all social media channels. Melvin Schroen from The Netherlands, Social Media Manager and Content Writer for PokerListings, and Ricardo Matamala, Content Creator, were appointed to the event, and they literally had the time of their lives from the very first step into the venue of the Royal Dublin Society.

After meeting fellow media companies such as PokerNews, Poker.org, PokerStars, Rec Poker, Pokerfuse, and the very own team of the Irish Poker Open, it was time to get a real taste of the event. The venue is extremely big and very well structured, with the cash game area separated from the tournament area. It was already busy on the first day, and seeing people like Xflixx, Spraggy, EasyWithAces, Marle Spragg, Tonkaaah, Barny Boatman, WistenJL, and Peaceandloove walking around, it was clear that this event was destined to be a great place to be.

A Taste of the Irish Poker Open 2025 Action

There are a couple of reasons why the Irish Poker Open is so popular among poker players from around the world (even WPT World Champion Scott Stewart came to experience the IPO!). One of them is the well-run tournaments, thanks mainly to Shawn Lytle, Nick O’Hara, and their crew. Players were very well informed about their seating, table changes, and everything else they needed to know to enjoy a smooth tournament experience.

The Irish Poker Open cannot run without dedicated staff who take care of cash management. Despite all attendance records being broken, we hardly saw any waiting queues at the registration or payout desks. This is thanks to the team of Brian McNamara — really extraordinary when you think about it.

Entertainment and Ireland go hand-in-hand. Phil Baker, who took care of the entire entertainment program of the ‘Craic Den,’ is the man of the hour — every hour! Sometimes we wonder when he actually catches some sleep, as he is constantly running around for interviews, arranging the entertainment program, and still always happy to help with whatever question we threw at him.

Time for Poker!

The Irish Poker Open is about the hottest poker action, with grand Main Events featuring €1,000,000 and €2,500,000 guarantees, along with several High Roller events, a Ladies Championship, a Deaf Championship, and multiple Seniors Championships. Are you a mixed games player? No problem! There was a HORSE Championship, an 8-Game Championship, and an OFC Championship. If you consider Omaha a mixed game, you can add even more tournaments to the list.

The Main Event, which had a €2.5M guarantee, got absolutely smashed with 4,562 entries. It resulted in a total prize pool of €4,447,950 and a first prize of €600,000. The road to the final table was long, exciting, and full of familiar faces. Players like Parker Talbot, Jon Kyte, Mateusz Moolhuizen, Ian Simpson, and Steve O’Dwyer all made deep runs.

What’s even more ironic is that Michel Molenaar and Gabriel Rymar, both former The Festival Series Main Event winners, also ran deep. Their victories in Bratislava (in 2022 and 2023, respectively) marked their official breakthroughs on the poker scene.

It was eventually Simon Wilson, a home-grown Irishman, who took down the whole lot for his personal best on The Hendon Mob, with a payday of €600,000. Coincidentally, Wilson made his first cash during The Festival Bratislava, when Michel Molenaar won his first major event.

Wilson was perhaps the best possible outcome for the Irish Poker Open organisation. What this guy brings to the table is pure class, dedication, and a lot of homework. You could just tell that a person like Simon would, at some point in his career, win a massive tournament. And then there was his rail — consisting of 90 noisy Irish supporters chanting pot after pot towards Wilson. The overall experience of the final table was an absolute delight to witness. Thank you, Ireland!

Conclusion from PokerListings

When you check out our social media channels, you’ll find the epic content we created during the Irish Poker Open 2025. Social media runs on follows, likes, and comments — please do! It helps us continue creating great content for live events like the Irish Poker Open.

The Irish Poker Open truly met every single expectation of what the perfect live poker series should look and feel like. Not only was the atmosphere incredible, but the organisation was top-notch from beginning to end.

Whoever hasn’t yet visited Dublin for this event: You are missing out!
Thank you, JP McCann and Paul O’Reilly, for this amazing opportunity. Thank you for giving us the platform to create content that’s different from the usual channels. See you next year!