The 2026 Irish Poker Open has officially entered the record books, proving that the appetite for live poker in Dublin is stronger than ever.
Hosted at the Royal Dublin Society, the Main Event drew a massive field of 5,003 entries, shattering previous benchmarks and creating a prize pool of €4,852,910. It was a staggering turnout for the €1,150 buy-in event, and it highlights why this festival remains a bucket-list stop for both European grinders and the significant contingent of American players who made the trip across the Atlantic.
Nedelcu’s Road to the Final Table
While the early headlines on Day 3 were dominated by the pursuit of a second title for former champions like Steve O’Dwyer and Dan Wilson, Narcis Nedelcu was busy orchestrating a masterclass in patient accumulation. Nedelcu’s climb began in earnest during Level 34, with blinds at 200,000/400,000. In a pivotal three-way pot, Gerard Carbo opened to 800,000 under the gun and Nedelcu flat-called in the small blind, with Matthew Twomey also coming along from the big blind. The flop and turn of 6-8-3-5 were checked around, but the 8 on the river changed everything. Having flopped a set that improved to a full house, Nedelcu fired a massive 2,700,000 value bet. While Twomey folded quickly, Carbo agonised over the call before eventually paying off the Romanian, handing over a significant portion of the chip lead in the process.
Nedelcu continued to act as the primary executioner as the field thinned. During Level 35, he was involved in a high-stakes confrontation with Carbo once again. Nedelcu opened from the cutoff and snap-called after Carbo three-bet shoved from the small blind for nearly 7.5 million. It was a classic flip: Nedelcu’s pocket nines against Carbo’s jack-ten. The board offered a sweat with an open-ended straight draw for the Spaniard on the KQ5 flop, but a clean turn and river sent Carbo to the rail in 17th place.
The Romanian pro didn’t slow down there. Shortly after Steve O’Dwyer’s elimination in 16th, Nedelcu secured another massive scalp by knocking out Michael Prendergast in 14th place. In that hand, Nedelcu woke up with pocket kings and comfortably called a 7.5 million shove, which held firm to propel his stack past the 25 million mark. By the time the final ten players bagged for the night, Nedelcu had secured 28,100,000 chips. This put him in fourth place overall, comfortably behind the leader Danilo Donnini but well ahead of the average stack, providing him with a 47 big blind cushion heading into the final day of play.
The Final Table
The final table began with Italy’s Danilo Donnini holding a commanding lead of 65.1 million chips, while Nedelcu sat in the middle of the pack with roughly 31 million. The early stages were a cagey affair; however, once the field narrowed to the final five players, the escalating blinds prompted a pause in play. Following a brief discussion, an ICM deal was struck that guaranteed each player over €250,000, leaving the trophy and an additional €70,227 for the eventual champion.
With the financial pressure mitigated, the action turned aggressive almost immediately. The defining moment of the tournament arrived when Nedelcu looked down at pocket queens in the big blind. Daryl McAleenan, the last remaining Irish hope, moved all-in for 13 big blinds from the cutoff with king-ten of clubs, and Oliver Gayko called for his last 10 big blinds from the small blind with ace-six. Nedelcu snap-called, creating a massive three-way pot. The board ran out 7-4-2-2-4, safely navigating the overcards to send both McAleenan and Gayko to the rail in a single hand.
This double knockout gave Nedelcu a dominant chip lead that he never relinquished. He clinically eliminated Vasyl Palandiuk in third place when his ace-five found an ace on the turn to beat Palandiuk’s pocket tens. Entering heads-up play with a nearly four-to-one advantage over Donnini, the match was brief. In the final hand, Nedelcu’s ace-deuce stayed ahead of Donnini’s king-six on a jack-high board, securing the title and a total payday of €336,790 for the Romanian pro.
The Dream Satellite Run
While the winner’s trophy went to a seasoned pro, the emotional heart of the 2026 final table belonged to Francesco Gisolfi. The Italian café worker from Salerno provided the definitive “spin-up” story of the year, having turned a humble €10 online satellite on PokerStars into a life-changing sixth-place finish. His journey was a masterclass in staying composed under the bright lights of a televised final table. Gisolfi managed to survive several high-pressure spots, including a crucial double-up with pocket sevens that kept his dream alive during the early levels of the final day.
His run eventually came to an end in a classic “poker is brutal” scenario during Level 41. Gisolfi found himself in a dominant position with ace-jack against the king-queen of Danilo Donnini. The Italian rail was on its feet, but the board had other ideas; a king on the turn left Gisolfi drawing thin, and the blank river confirmed his exit. Despite the disappointment of missing out on the five-way deal, his €105,070 payday represented a staggering return on investment of over one million per cent. It was a performance that resonated with the entire room, proving that even in an era of solvers and professionals, the grassroots satellite dream is still very much alive in Dublin.
A Global Celebration of the Game
The sheer scale of the festival meant that the RDS was a non-stop hive of activity for the duration of the twelve-day programme. With players from over 60 countries and a schedule featuring 86 separate events, the energy in the building was constant. This buzz wasn’t just confined to the tournament floor; the social side of the week was just as prominent, and it was common to see the lounge areas packed with players unwinding between sessions. For many, this meant catching up with friends or perhaps playing a live game at NetBet Ireland after the intensity of the tables. It was a proper festival atmosphere where the camaraderie was just as important as the competition itself.
The focus for the organisers is already shifting towards an ambitious international schedule. This year’s record-breaking turnout served as the perfect backdrop for the announcement of the upcoming remote Day 1 for the Sydney event in September, which will be followed by further stops in Marrakech and a highly anticipated debut in the USA next year. For the Dublin faithful, however, the bar has been set incredibly high. The 2026 event wasn’t just a tournament; it was a record-breaking celebration that proved the Irish Open remains the beating heart of the European circuit.
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