March 29 – April 6
The original payout for a fifth-place finish before players agreed to a five-way ICM deal.
- 1STNarcis Nedelcu€336,798
- 2NDDanilo Donnini €257,662
- 3RDVasyl Palandiuk€255,188
- 4TH
Daryl McAleenan€250,493 - 5TH
Oliver Gayko€285,379 - 6THFrancesco Gisolfi€105,070
- 7TH
Isaac Barker€80,800 - 8THMatthew Twomey€62,170
- 9THEdward Dunphy€47,800
For the second consecutive year, the Irish Poker Open Main Event drew a record-breaking field of entrants.
In 2025, Irishman Simon Wilson reigned supreme. In 2026, a five-way ICM deal saw the remaining players chop up the prize pool before battling it out for the trophy, the title, and the €70,227 set aside for the eventual winner.
When the final card was dealt, Romania's Narcis Nedelcu was the last competitor standing – laying claim to €336,798, the trophy, and the 2026 Irish Open title.
A five-way deal struck
The deal-making process, facilitated by on-site tournament officials, came about as a result of the steep blinds and a relatively even playing field in terms of stack sizes. With several players clustered together in the chip counts and no clear short stack, the five remaining contenders returned from the dinner break and played a few hands before agreeing to pause play and look at the numbers for a potential deal.
As the cameras and crowd watched on, tournament organizers took a count of each player's chips before presenting them with ICM-adjusted payouts and explaining how they arrived at the numbers.
After taking a look at the figures, all five players quickly agreed to the deal and shook hands – guaranteeing themselves at least a quarter of a million euros each, well beyond fifth-place prize money.
"This is unprecedented and I love it," said Nick Walsh from the commentary booth.
Following a five-way ICM chop, Narcis Nedelcu bobbed and weaved his way to the Irish Poker Open Main Event title. While Oliver Gayko held the big stack at the time of the deal, he ended up finishing in fifth place after a three-way clash saw Nedelcu eliminate both the German and Daryl McAleenan in one fell swoop.
McAleenan moved all-in from the cutoff with 
and Gayko called it off from the small blind with 
. Nedelcu woke up with 
in the big blind and called both all-ins as the covering stack. The 
kept it clean for the Romanian and he took control of an overwhelming chip lead. After sending a double up to eventual runner-up Danilo Donnini, Nedelcu's 
held up against Vasyl Palandiuk's across a 
runout to take play into the heads-up stage.
Nedelcu closed out the victory when his held up against Donnini's .
"It's unbelievable," Nedelcu said in the aftermath. "See you next year."
Images courtesy of Danny Maxwell/Rational Intellectual Holdings
