Europe’s longest-running live poker event, the Irish Poker Open (IPO), returns this week, kicking off on April 10 at the Royal Dublin Society. This year marks a special milestone, the 45th-anniversary edition, and all signs point to the 2025 stop being even bigger and better than last year’s record-breaking festival.
For the third year in a row, PokerStars and Paddy Power have been teaming up with the IPO, which has been joined by several iPoker skins. Both operators have been running online satellites since the start of the year, as the number of online qualifiers continues to grow, 2025 is shaping up to be no exception.
According to information shared by PokerStars with pokerfuse, more than 1,200 players have already won their seats through online qualifiers this year. Of those, 764 qualified via PokerStars—701 through traditional satellites and 63 via Power Path. An additional 467 players have qualified through Paddy Power and other iPoker skins.
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That brings the total to 1,231 online qualifiers so far, setting a new record. Last year, over 800 players qualified through these platforms, meaning there’s already been nearly a 55% increase year-over-year. And it’s not over yet — online satellites are still running for a few more days, so there’s still time to win your way into this special 45th-anniversary edition of the IPO.
| Network | Online Qualifiers |
|---|---|
| PokerStars | 764 |
| Paddy Power / iPoker | 467 |
This year’s IPO is indeed quite big in terms of schedule and guarantees. Spanning 12 days, the 2025 edition features more than 60 tournaments, double the number from last year, which itself set records for the series. Three headline events come with massive guarantees, led by the €1,150 Main Event which now boasts a €2.5 million guarantee, more than double its usual €1 million. The festival opens with the €1,150 Luxon Mystery Bounty, guaranteeing €1 million, while the Mini Irish Open offers the same guarantee for a much more accessible €250 buy-in.
Several tournaments have been extended to two-day formats, prize pool guarantees have been boosted, and the schedule now includes dedicated events for women and the deaf community. For the first time ever, the IPO is also embracing a wider variety of mixed games, with additions like Pot Limit Deuce to 7 Triple Draw, Big O, Open Face Chinese, a two-day H.O.R.S.E., and a two-day Mixed 8-Game event. A brand-new High Roller tournament has also been introduced.
Last year’s IPO broke multiple records, with the Main Event setting new all-time highs for both attendance and prize money in Ireland. The flagship tournament attracted 3,233 entries, generating a massive €3.15 million prize pool.
The momentum behind the IPO continues to build. Since 2016, the series has experienced consistent growth in both participation and payouts, and all signs suggest the 2025 edition will push those numbers even higher.
The €200 Mini Irish Open also made history in 2024, becoming the largest live poker tournament ever held in Ireland with 5,320 entries. It welcomed 3,325 unique players from over 55 countries.
In total, the 2024 series drew more than 17,000 entries—up from around 10,000 the year before—and paid out nearly €7.5 million in prizes. Organizers are anticipating that this year’s payouts could exceed €10 million, continuing the IPO’s remarkable upward trajectory.
IPO Rich History
The IPO is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious live poker events in the world and holds the distinction of being the second-longest-running series globally, second only to the World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was first launched in 1980 by renowned Irish bookmaker Terry Rogers and has since become a cornerstone of the European live poker calendar.
Paddy Power took on the role of main sponsor in 2005, a partnership that lasted for over a decade until 2016. The following year, Entain’s PartyPoker stepped in as the headline sponsor, while Paddy Power continued to support the tour through online satellites via the iPoker network.
The collaboration with partypoker proved fruitful, with the site sending hundreds of online qualifiers to the Main Event and helping boost attendance year after year. In 2019, the Main Event attracted 1,807 entries, nearly doubling its €1 million guarantee.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the event to pivot online for the 2020 and 2021 editions, which were successfully held on partypoker.
In 2023, PokerStars and Paddy Power took over as co-sponsors, replacing PartyPoker. Since then, both operators have significantly increased the number of online qualifiers, sending hundreds if not thousands of players to the festival.
Online satellites are still running, with buy-ins starting as low as €1.10. The €2.5 million guaranteed Main Event is set to kick off on April 13.
