The hugely popular International Poker Open is back again next month with a six-day festival at Dublin’s Bonnington Hotel from October 26-31.
Unibet Poker is sponsoring the festival for the fifth time and is hosting scores of online satellites in the run-up to the prestigious event – as well as the online Day 1a on October 23. The International Poker Open is one of Europe’s longest-running and most popular poker events and has been held annually since 2007.
Among those looking forward to competing in this year’s €260 + €40 Main Event is Irish Unibet Ambassador Dara O’Kearney, who is co-host of the award-winning Chip Race podcast. He said: “The IPO has always been the highlight of the year for grassroots poker in Ireland since I played the very first one, and attracts its fair share of foreign visitors to our shores. This year has a full schedule of side events but the one I’m most looking forward to is the Chip Race Mystery Bounty. It’s our first at the IPO and promises to be a lot of fun.”
Organisers are expecting a big turn-out for this year’s Main Event and a prize pool set to top €250,000. Players will be heading to the Irish capital from all over the country as well as the UK, Europe and further afield.
Among those who are certainly taking part is Unibet Ambassador David Lappin who won his seat online last Sunday in a €33 qualifier on Unibet Poker. He said: “The IPO is always a fantastic event and the next one will be even better for the inclusion of ‘The Chip Race Mystery Bounty’ – a €230 value-added tourney courtesy of Unibet.”
Unibet Poker satellites
Dozens of satellites are running on Unibet Poker every week including Step 1 “Flip” satellites which only cost €1 to enter. The €33 qualifiers are on every Sunday until October 23 and players can also buy in direct on the Unibet Poker client. The Sunday qualifiers start at 9pm with six IPO seats guaranteed. Unibet has already run three of these and nearly 20 players are now all set to compete in Dublin after qualifying online.
The 2022 IPO Main Event
There are five start flights for the 2022 Main Event – with one re-entry per flight – including an online Day 1 on Unibet Poker starting at 9pm (CEST) on Sunday, October 23. The live Day 1s start with Day 1a at 2pm on Thursday, October 27. The first three initial start flights have 40-minute blind levels while the Day 1d is a “reduced clock” turbo with 20-minute clock. The final Day 1e flight is a Hyper Turbo with ten-minute blind levels, kicking off at 9.30am on Sunday, October 30 – prior to the start of Day 2 at 1pm. All Day 1 players start with a 30,000 stack. For full schedule details, click here.
In total, there are 20 different tournaments on the schedule and high rollers will be thrilled that the €50,000 guarantee Luxon Pay Super High Roller is back on the schedule once again. Italian player Ivan Tononi took down the inaugural €1,000 + €100 Luxon Pay Super High Roller last year for €19,310 after defeating a 66-entry field; among those who competed were Daragh Davey, Simon Trumper, Jason Tompkins, John Duthie, JP McCann, Max Silver and Patrick Clarke.
The flagship €550 High Roller is being held once again in memory of Leslie McLean. Leslie McLean, who was a popular and respected poker veteran that played in Dublin’s poker events for many years, passed away in early 2021 aged 87.
Other highlights on the schedule include the €80 Dublin Poker Club buy-in Loads’a Chips deepstack and the €60 Dublin Poker Club Cheap n’Deep event – both offer players a generous 50,000 starting stack. Two NLH Progressive Knockout also feature, along with a Saturday Night Freezeout and PLO Double Chance.
At the last live IPO in 2021, Irish player Jamie Cusack defeated a 974-entry field to take down the Main Event for €46,590. Cusack, a 36-year-old personal trainer from Cork, fought his way through the giant field and a tough final table that included WPT300 winner Peter Wigglesworth and the 2015 IPO champion Pat Bermingham. By the end of the four-day tourney, 119 players were paid out from the €246,909 prize pool with a min-cash worth €560.
Live stream
This year’s IPO live stream will be hosted by Unibet Ambassadors Dara O’Kearney and David Lappin as well as other well-known players. The Main Event will be covered throughout Day 1b, Day 3 and the final day. On Saturday, the final of the €50k guarantee Luxon Pay Super High Roller will be taking centre stage.
The IPO is led by Nick O’Hara and an accomplished team that is well-known for providing the highest levels of professionalism and game integrity. Nick is one of the world’s top tournament directors and has been running the IPO since 2013. Robert Mate is the IPO Live Games Manager while Glenn Doyle is Senior Tournament Floor.
Nataly Sopacuaperu, Unibet Open’s Head of Events and Sponsorship, said: “We’re so happy to be sponsoring the International Poker Open yet again. This year’s festival promises to be an epic event and we’re expecting lots of Unibet Poker players to win their seat online. The IPO has a fantastic atmosphere and is one of the highlights of the European poker calendar. Unibet loves coming to Ireland and, with dozens of satellites running on Unibet, there are going to be numerous chances for players to win their seat for as little as €1.”
For more details, please visit https://internationalpokeropen.ie/.
About the Unibet Open
The Unibet Open is the hottest live poker tournament circuit in Europe, with ever-growing numbers of players from amateurs to professionals battling for six-figure prize pools in some of the continent’s most glamorous locations. Since 2007, the Unibet Open has been synonymous with a great poker experience – not only running the best tournaments with the Main Event regularly selling out above cap, but also taking advantage of amazing locations and making sure that every Unibet Open player has the time of their life.
About the IPO
The International Poker Open is one of Europe’s longest-running and most popular poker tournaments and has been held annually since 2007 (including online in 2020). Players from all over Europe and beyond attend the event, lured by huge fields and substantial prize pools as well as Ireland’s legendary “craic” and hospitality.
