Narcis Nedelcu of Romania took the 2026 Irish Open Main Event title at the Royal Dublin Society, winning €336,790 from a record field of 5,003 entries. The turnout set a new high for the event and pushed the prize pool to €4,852,910.
Nedelcu reached the final table through a PokerStars satellite, qualified via a PokerStars satellite into the €1,150 Main Event. He carries more than $2 million in career live earnings and recently added an online SCOOP title. After clinching Europe's longest-running poker tournament, he said: "It's unbelievable. It's something so, so special that I can't describe it."
The final five players agreed to an ICM chop, then played on for the trophy and an extra €70,227. Runner-up Danilo Donnini of Italy earned €257,660.
€10 Satellite, €105,070 Return
Francesco Gisolfi, a café worker from Salerno, Italy, put up €10 on PokerStars and turned it into a sixth-place finish worth €105,070.
Daryl McAleenan of Ireland collected €250,500, a payout that more than doubled his lifetime tournament earnings. Oliver Gayko of Germany received €285,380.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Narcis Nedelcu | Romania | €336,790 |
| 2 | Danilo Donnini | Italy | €257,660 |
| 3 | Vasyl Palandiuk | Ukraine | €255,190 |
| 4 | Daryl McAleenan | Ireland | €250,500 |
| 5 | Oliver Gayko | Germany | €285,380 |
| 6 | Francesco Gisolfi | Italy | €105,070 |
| 7 | Isaac Barker | UK | €80,800 |
| 8 | Matthew Twomey | Ireland | €62,170 |
| 9 | Edward Dunphy | Ireland | €47,800 |
Festival Numbers
The 12-day festival ran March 26 to April 6 at the Royal Dublin Society and covered 86 tournaments. Players from 60 countries entered the Main Event, which paid 736 spots with a minimum cash of €1,200. Cashing began on Day 2.
Dan Wilson finished 27th (€15,870), Steve O'Dwyer 16th (€24,120), and Weijie Zheng 13th (€33,190). James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton, PokerStars Team Pro Nick Walsh, and 2017 Irish Open Champion Griffin Benger called the action across the final four days.
Irish Open Heads to Sydney, Marrakech, and the USA
This year's festival included the first-ever remote Day 1 for the inaugural Irish Open Sydney Main Event, an AU$1,000,000 guaranteed event set for September at the Poker Palace. Marrakech follows in November, with a USA stop planned for next year.
The Irish Open Afterparty, an online series on PokerStars, runs April 12 to 20 with 69 events and more than $3 million in guaranteed prize pools. Buy-ins range from $5.50 to $530.
