Dublin Poker Festival Final Days – European Deepstack Championship
European Deepstack
The European Deepstack Championship brought in 475 entries, and smashed the guarantee with a prizepool of €285,665. The top prize was €55,065 and the championship belt to go with it.
Over 2 live flights plus an online flight, 143 players bagged a stack for day 2. The Top 3 stacks going into day 2 were:
- Kyle Rafferty 886K
- Declan Connolly 733K
- Panagiotis Kostopanagitis 701K
Other notable players include:
Mark Macdonnell 698K
Mark Johnston 573K
Derek Baker 503K
Simon Wilson 328K
Dara O’Kearney 291K
Mick Graydon 251K
Annette O’Carroll 157K
Jason Tompkins 128K
Representing WPT Global:
Lucas Robinson 516K
Fintan Hand 375K
Romulo Dorea 210K (all the way from Brazil)
Some notable players who bagged a stack in the online day 1
Padraig O’Neill (EPT Prague Champ, Representing WPT Global)
Aidan Quinlan (European Deepstack 2025 Champ)
Davide Raschella
Patrick Tardif (Representing WPT Global from Canada)
Shane Murphy (Representing WPT Global)
The bubble was reached after 5 hours of play. Patrick P Rooney went all in preflop for 165k and was called by John Farrell. It was pocket Jacks vs 89 off suit, 89 hit 2 pair by the river to knock Patrick P Rooney out on the bubble.
Defending champ Aidan Quinlan was out shortly after in 60th for €1,220
Shane Murphy came in 25th for his best ever live cash of €2,080, well done Shane!
After 12 hours and 15 levels of play, 18 players bagged for day 3. The chip leader was Gavin Melaugh Mcgrath with 5.98M chips. Some other notable stacks were:
Pablo Villena 4.67M
John Ward 4.2M
Mick Graydon 3.35M
Annette O’Carroll 2.8M
Krzysztof Grubka 1.08M
Day 3 started at 12PM on Sunday. €55,065 up top and the championship belt to play for.
Kenneth Crowley was the unfortunate man to burst the final table bubble, but cashed for €5,200.
Gavin Melaugh Mcgrath went into the final table with a massive chip lead of 21.12M. The next down was Audrius Daugvilavicius with 7.6M. Krzysztof Grubka was the last surviving WPT Global Golden ticket holder, who was still eligible for the €100K bonus for taking down the tournament. He went in 7th in chips with 2.25M. Irish legend Annette O’Carroll was still in the mix with 2.27M chips.
However Gavin’s chip lead was enough to overcome the field and he had a resounding victory, winning the €55,065 top prize and the prestigious Championship Belt.
The Top 8 were:
1: Gavin Melaugh Mcgrath – €55,065
2: Krzysztof Grubka – €34,860
3: Michal Havavka – €25,000
4: Audrius Daugvilavicius – €19,860
5: John Ward – €15,560
6: Adam Green – €12,200
7: Annette O’Carroll – €9,160
8: Marcus Mchale – €6,520
Beer Poker Tour
The craic was had at the Beer Poker Tour’s event. The €25K guaranteed tournament saw 137 entries and a prizepool of €39,870. On Day 1, winning the first hand of each level won you a free beer token or some merch, and during the second break, there was the players party. Free beers were had, beer pong was played, and prizes won, what more could you want! This 2 day event saw 21 players bag a stack for the final on Sunday. The chip leader was Evan Lester with 496K chips. Other stacks included:
Danny Verheij 436K
Marcin Wojtunik 371K
Paul Carr 261K
Ray Wheatley 228K
Dean Dowling 105K
Dara O’Kearney 71K
18 players were paid, with Antonino Gagliano bubbling the tournament.
There was €9,720 up top, and a serious trophy for the winner!
The Final Table saw Marcin Wojtunik chip leading with 371K, Paul Carr 261K close behind in second and Ray Wheatley in the mixer with 228k. In the end it was Olof Thorson from Sweden who took it down.
High Roller
The €1.1K High Roller, smashed its €25K guarantee, with a prizepool of €51,410. With 53 entries, it saw 18 players bag a stack for day 2. Notable players include:
Barry McMahon 247k
James O’Brien 112k
David Lappin 79,800
Romulo Dorea 78,200
Padraig O’Neill 43,200
Darren Harbinson 26,600
Patrick Tardif 11,700
In the end it was Luke Walsh who won the top prize of €16,190, with Barry McMahon second for €11,700 and ACOP & Omaha GP winner, Mark Johnston in 3rd for €7,460.
Over the Weekend
There was plenty of more action over the weekend with loads of side events throughout. here are the highlights:
DPF Daily Turbo
Runners: 15
Prizepool: €1,455
Winner: James Mcmahon – €665
The Nightly Thursday
Runners: 48
Prizepool: €5,820
Winner: Liu Dong – €1,580
The Nightly Friday
Runners: 52
Prizepool: €6,305
Winner: Florian Machnig – €1,965
The Nightly Saturday
Runners: 66
Prizepool: €8,003
Winner: Sebastian Trela – €2,067
DPF 200
Runners: 96
Prizepool: €15,830
Winner: Robert Mcdowell – €3,320
Round of Each BOMB POT (NLH/PLO)
Runners: 17
Prizepool: €2,805
Winner: Kamil Dariusz Maslowski – €1,025
Last Chance Saloon
Runners: 4
Prizepool: €338
Winner: Liu Dong – €388
A great weekend was had at the Bonnington Hotel. It has always been a great venue for poker over the years. Tune in later this year for the International Poker Open
Dublin Poker Festival Update
It’s been an exciting week here in the Bonnington Hotel. The action continues after a very successful ACOP.
Seniors Championship
The Irish Seniors Championship commenced on Monday the 23rd of February. This saw many Irish legends and notable players, including Andy Black, Dara O’Kearney, Ciaran Cooney and Collette Murphy
With a total of 263 entries, they played 9 hours and 83 players bagged a stack for day 2, with Martin Cassidy the chip leader with 275,500 chips. A total prizepool of €53,576 was generated.
Martin managed to make the final table, and cashed in 7th for €1,910. Also on the final table was Colette Murphy who came in 5th, and the top 3 were Chris Rourke: €6,000 in 3rd, Aidan Finnerty: €6,000 in 2nd, and Kieran Mcivor taking home €8,375 and the Championship Belt
Women’s Championship
The Women’s Championship saw 45 runners and generated a prizepool of €7,420 Prizeool. Mighty craic was had, and the atmosphere was heard around the room and a champagne toast was had at the first break. Some notable players were IPT Ambassador Tanya Masters, Mary Galvin, Katie Harrington, Annette O’Carroll.
June Jenkins placed in 3rd place for €1,100 and Katie Burke got 3rd for €1,600, but Colette Murphy came out on top for €2,070 with the Championship Belt to go with it.
Side Events
It’s been a packed week of tournaments, with a lot of variety, including the Irish Mixed Games Championship, for the growing mixed games community, a Round of Each, and 5-Card Draw Jacks or Better tournament. June Jenkins managed to scoop one of the daily turbos, and is having a good festival overall with 4 cashes so far! The Mystery Bounty was a popular one with 140 runners, but was ran away with by Robert, who won 8 bounties with a total cash of €6,900
Win the Button
25 runners
Prizepool: €3,031
Winner: Darragh Flynn €891
Tuesday Daily Turbo
41 runners
Prizepool: €3,977
Winner: June Jenkins €1,367
Irish Mixed Game Championship
30 runners
Prizepool: €7,570
Winner: John Murray €3,190
Round of Each
77 Runners
Prizepool: €9,340
Winner: Simon Keating €2,560
5 Card Draw Poker
24 runners
Prizepool: €2,330
Winner: Keith O’Connor €1,000 Deal made
Mystery Bounty
140 runners
Prizepool: €8,827
Winner: Robert €6,900 Including 8 Bounties!
European Deepstack Championship
The European Deepstack Championship started yesterday. This prestigious tournament, First won by Dara O’Kearney back in 2008, saw 148 entries on Day 1A. 45 managed to bag a stack with the big stacks of the day including Kyle Rafferty 886k, Marc MacDonnell 691k, and the ACOP and Omaha Grand Prix double champ Mark Johnston bagging 575k.
Other notable players include:
Daryl McAleenan 452k
Dara O’Kearney 291k
Jason Tompkins 128k
David Masters 108k
Fintan Hand (375k), Padraig O’Neill (100k) are also in the mixer representing WPT Global.
Romulo Dorea and Patrick Tardiff, have both come from afar to represent WPT Global, and have managed to bag a stack in the online day 1.
Will defending champion Aidan Quinlan be going for the two in a row, like Tomas “Lucky Mo” Geleziunas did the previous two years in 2023 and 2024?
Day 2 of the European Deepstack Championship is on now and late reg is open until the start of Day 2 on Saturday.
More Fun
Saturday is an action packed day with Day 2 of the European Deepstack. For those knocked out, or just looking for a bit of craic, the Beer Poker Tour starts at 2PM. The lads over on the Beer Poker Tour run a great tournament, with prizes and beers given out throughout, and a players party during the first break! There’ll be plenty of bluffing as the day goes on as everyone gets hammered together. It also has one of the best looking trophies on the circuit, so one not to miss!
Also on the schedule is the High Roller at 6PM, then Sunday sees the DPF 200 and the Round of Each Bomb Pot (NLH/Omaha), for all ye degenerates out there!
Stay tuned here on LivePokerUpdates for updates from the event, or follow dublin.poker.festival (https://www.instagram.com/dublin.poker.festival/) for more
The Dublin Poker Festival 2026
The Dublin Poker Festival in partnership with WPT Global, is well underway, it kicked off on the 19th of February with 11 days of poker set to be played at the Bonnington Hotel in Dublin.
Offering over €400,000 in guarantees. The event has been running since 2015. Set up by local Dublin based poker promotion company D4 Events specifically to combine two longstanding tournaments, the Amateur Championship of Poker (ACOP) and the European Deepstack Poker Championship. It has now become a staple on the Irish poker circuit.
Time for a quick recap of how things stacked up over the weekend in the fair city.
In the Friday Nightly, 102 entries brought the prize pool to €9,894 coming in first was Jip Larooi, €1,810. This was after a 5-way ICM deal shared with his Dutch travelling companion Robertus Van Den Bergc, €1,575, who came in 2nd. Jip and Robertus are part of a group of ten travelling from their native land of the Netherlands. A flying start for these two dutchmen.
Saturday’s Nightly saw 92 players joining in, with the lion’s share of the €8,924 prize pool being split between Cathal O’Shea, Christian Marian Nica, Jeroen Mulder, Eoin O’Shea after a 4-way deal all receiving €1,521.
Recent runner up at the Irish Poker Tour’s Galway Poker Festival Main Event, Davide Rachelle, took down the Saturday Flyer that saw 62 entries create a prize pool of €7,520. Jip Larooi, cashed again in 6th along with fellow Dutchmen, Martijn Den Enting who finished 5th and Joeri Zuiderwijk who came 3rd banked €1,050.
Saturday saw the culmination of the Irish Omaha Grand Prix Final which saw 44 entries whittled down to 14. The prize pool was €21,340, with Daryl Mcaleenan finishing third, €3,200, Luke Walsh was second €4,910. From the North was Mark Johnston who came first with €7,370.
The following day the ACOP Main Event Final was settled. €212,294 was the prize pool from 706 entries. It was announced that 95 places were to be paid. When that tense moment arrived it was Darren Harbinson who put out Gerry Mcardle on the bubble. But Gerry wasn’t finished just yet.
One of the livepokerupdates very own, an avid fan of the game and recreational player David Lyons made the final table banking €8,450. David is an integral part of the LPU team who handles everything IT related. He also helps out at major events to provide integral on the floor updates from bad beats, big swings and the sampling of spice bags.
Play continued and when it got down to the final three and a deal was done, €25,000 each, plus an extra €2250 for second and €6000 for first. Play continued and it ended with third place going to Paudie Cusack, €25,000. Second was Robert Mcguirk, €27,250 and for the second night in row the winner was Mark Johnston, €31,000.
Mark who sits in 7th on Northern Ireland’s all-time money list before the DPF came third in the Irish Poker Open in 2024 (€232,685). Now that he is securing number one spots he is definitely one to watch, and so far the festival belongs to him, he lifted the belt with fellow comrades from the North, Darren Harbinson and Joel Baxter on the rail.
On the same day the One Day Classic was played and lived up to its name attracting 228 entries bringing the prize pool to a whopping €37,600 for a €200 buy-in. Three Irish men fought through the pack and went all the way with Evan Lester coming third and banking €3,870. Michael Breen was second securing €5,620, with the “bubble boy” from the ACOP, Gerry Mcardle coming in first with €8,340.
With the European Deepstack Poker Championship still to take place, which has a sure to be surpassed €200,000 guarantee. The live Day 1’s kick off on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th of February two days later is the Final on Sunday 1st March.
WPT Global are running a bubble protection promotion for this event which means –
- Any direct online buy-ins for the event makes you eligible for Bubble protection.
- If you bubble the event, finishing the last position before “in the money”, WPT Global will credit your buy-in back as cash.
Head to WPT Global to secure your seat before Thursday…
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