The Unibet Poker-sponsored International Poker Open is up and running with close to 250 entries already. The field will include nearly 50 players who won their seats in online satellites on Unibet Poker.
The International Poker Open is one of Europe’s longest-running and most popular poker events and has been held annually since 2008. This year’s event is taking place at Dublin’s Bonnington Hotel from October 23-28. Following the first-ever online Day 1 on Unibet Poker on Monday, the live festival kicked off on Tuesday with a Warm-Up event and super satellite to the €260 + €40 Main Event.
There were 77 entries for yesterday’s Day 1a with 14 through to Day 2, including Unibet Ambassadors David Lappin and Dara O’Kearney, winners of Best Podcast at this year’s Global Poker Awards. The Day 2 field also includes seven players who got through Unibet Poker’s online Day 1 on Monday. Well done Vinod Jadav, Ivan Tononi, Emmett Davis, Michael C Hill, Zac Sloper, Andrew Pullen and Johannes Rimpiläinen!
Today’s Day 1b field has already attracted more than 180 entries including Unibet Ambassador Ian Simpson, Scotland’s top player Niall Farrell, Irish veteran Andy Black, Jude Ainsworth and Mick Graydon. Re-entries and late registration end at the end of Level 9 for each Day 1.
This year’s International Poker Open has a live stream throughout the Main Event for the first time. You can follow all the action on https://www.twitch.tv/internationalpokeropen – with Phil “The Tower” Heald and Fintan Gavin on commentary, joined by numerous special guests.
The IPO typically has a thousand entries for its Main Event and organisers are anticipating this year’s prize pool will top €250,000. Players flock to the event from all over Ireland as well as the UK, Europe and further afield.
IPO regular David Lappin said: “I bubbled the event last year – because that’s what all great Ambassadors do! – so I’m obviously hoping for a much better finish this year. It’s a fantastic tournament – I’ve played it at least five times and really love it.” O’Kearney added: “I finished 40th in 2008 but my best IPO memory is from 2011 when they hosted the only ever Irish Poker Awards there and I picked up two awards – Best Poker Blogger and Best Social Media User.”
The IPO Main Event
There are six start flights for this year’s Main Event – with one re-entry per flight. Day 1c starts at 2pm tomorrow (Saturday, October 26); Day 1d is a “reduced clock” flight turbo with 20-minute clock starting at 8pm tomorrow while Day 1e is a Hyper Turbo with ten-minute blind levels, kicking off at 9.30am on Sunday. All Day 1 players start with a 30,000 stack.
In total, there are 18 different tournaments on the schedule including the flagship €550 High Roller along with a €120 PLO Double Chance, several €100 Nightly Freezeouts, a €120 Progressive Knockout, the €120 APAT Irish Amateur Poker Championship, a €120 #QueenRules Ladies Event, €120 No Limit Hold’em Mini Main and several super satellites for the Main Event and High Roller.
Ireland is famed for its lively nightlife and there will be a ton of entertainment going on during the festival. Scheduled events include a Buck-Shot-Pong evening with DJ and free drinks tomorrow night (Saturday, October 26), along with the “Lip Sing” themed official IPO Players Party on Sunday, October 27.
Last year Joseph McKeown secured the biggest cash of his live poker career when he beat Irish veteran Mick McCloskey heads-up for €24,370. There were 767 entries with 95 players taking a share of the €194,435 prize pool.
Nataly Sopacuaperu, Unibet Open’s Head of Events and Sponsorship, said: “Unibet loves coming to Ireland and the IPO certainly gives Unibet players a great taste of what Irish poker and hospitality is all about. Following the IPO, we’ll be hosting the last Unibet Open of 2019 with Unibet Open Paris running November 27 to December 1.”
For full details, please visit https://internationalpokeropen.ie/.
