The 2018 Irish Poker Open main event has been won by Ryan Mandara after he came through a 1,340-player field to beat local lad Ferdia O’Connell heads-up. Partypoker LIVE has released the full schedule for the 2018 Irish Poker Masters and it includes the first-ever €1 million guaranteed tournament the tour has run in Ireland. The Irish Poker Masters takes place at the INEC & Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney, Ireland between Sept. 5-9, with the €1 million guaranteed Main Event running Sept.

1. Irish Poker Tournaments 2018 Winners
2. Irish Poker Tournaments 2018 Calendar
3. Irish Poker Tournaments 2018 Results
4. Irish Poker Tournaments 2018 Schedule

United Kingdom's Ryan Mandara notched up by far the biggest live tournament cash of his poker career after agreeing to a heads-up deal with Ireland's Ferdia OConnell and then shipping the 2018 Irish Poker Open €1,150 Main Event for €210,000 ($259,201) at Citywest Hotel in Dublin on Sunday, March 18.

O'Connell is almost as big of a story as Mandara since he qualified for the tournament for just one penny at partypoker and parlayed it into a huge six-figure payday for €180,000 ($222,172).

The event smashed its €1 million guarantee after attracting 1,348 entrants to generate a massive 001d€1,347,164 prize pool. This represents a sizable 19 percent increase from last year's Main Event won by Griffin Benger for €200,000.

In addition to the Main Event, the festival featured tons of side events, a plethora of ring games, and of course tons of drinking and partying throughout the festival.

Irish Poker Tournaments 2018 Winners

2018 Irish Poker Open €1,150 Main Event Final Table Results

_{*Prize after heads-up deal}

The money bubble broke during Day 2 of the event with the remaining 167 players guaranteed a payout of at least 0002€2,125.

Before hand-for-hand took place on the money bubble, the tournament director announced that the bubble boy (or girl) wouldn't walk away empty-handed and would instead be awarded a ticket to the 2019 Irish Poker Open Main Event.

After a few hands, Bobby Willis hit the rail on the bubble when his pocket jacks couldn't hold against the king-ten held by Eugene Hanratty. The crowd erupted in applause and from there, eliminations took place at a fast and furious pace.

By the time Day 2 ended, there were just 79 players remaining and the field was trimmed down to the official eight-max final table on Day 3 after David Barnes bowed out in ninth place for €19,004.

The final table began with Switzerland's Pascal Baumgartner holding a sizable chip lead against his nearest competitors Mandara and Daniel Samson.

United Kingdom's Dean Clay, who brought the shortest stack to the final table, bowed out in eighth place for €23,000 after his king-queen couldn't hold against the queen-nine held by Joseph Cahill.

Isle of Man's Daniel Fargher brought the second shortest stack to the final table and hit the rails in seventh place for €32,000 after his ace-jack couldn't out-flip the pocket tens held by Samson.

Shortly afterward, Mandara took the chip lead for the first time after winning a hand against Cahill.

United Kingdom's Sameer Singh was another huge story at the final table since last year the primarily online poker grinder took sixth place in the Main Event. It was Groundhog's Day for Singh with history repeating itself after he once against took sixth place for €42,500 when his jack-nine couldn't get there against Mandara's queen-five.

Baumgartner was able to get the lead back before Cahill was eliminated in fifth place for €55,000 when his pocket fours didn't hold against the ace-king held by O'Connell.

Mandara was able to regain the chip lead before Baumgartner took it back once again. Mandara then reestablished the chip lead and eliminated Samson in fourth place for €75,000 when his pocket nines proved to be more than good against his opponent's pocket eights.

An unscheduled break then took place while the three remaining players spoke in private about a potential deal. However, a deal couldn't be agreed upon and play resumed before Baumgartner was eliminated in third place for €100,000 when he jammed a short stack with ace-six and couldn't hold against the nine-eight suited of O'Connell.

Another unscheduled break then took place for Mandara and O'Connell to discuss a deal. Mandara with 23 million in chips had the lead against O'Connell with 17 million. The duo agreed to a deal whereby Mandara was guaranteed €197,000 and O'Connell guaranteed €180,000. They left 0003€13,000 to play for along with of course the coveted trophy.

After play resumed, Mandara had momentum and extended his lead to a 5:1 chip advantage before the final hand took place. Mandara raised the button with and was called by O'Connell with . Mandara check-called the flop with an open-ended straight draw.

The on the turn gave O'Connell top pair, however, it also completed Mandara's straight. Mandara check-called a bet on the turn and a shove on the river to give him the win.

Meanwhile, O'Connell walked away with the biggest prize by far of his poker career with a haul of €180,000 and was poker's latest Cinderella story after qualifying into the event for just one penny.

_{Videos courtesy of IrishPokerOpen.com and images courtesy of partypoker/Mickey May}

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One of the most popular live poker tournaments in the world is the Irish Open, the longest-running live event behind the World Series of Poker.

Colette Doherty triumphed in the first Irish Open in 1980 after a deal with Terry Rogers. Doherty won the title again in 1991 and is only one of five players to have won two Irish Open Main Events.

Double Irish Open Winners

The tournament’s reigning champion is Griffin Benger who topped a field of 1,129 players to get his hands on the €200,000 first-place prize last year. It was Dan Wilson who won the Main Event in 2016, besting 801 opponents to claim the €150,000 top prize.

This Decade’s Irish Open Champions

Irish Poker Tournaments 2018 Calendar

The 2018 Irish Open Main Event sees its guaranteed prize pool double from €500,000 to €1 million. Costing €1,150 to enter, the Irish Open Main Event features two starting flights. Day 1a commences on Mar. 14 with the final day’s play taking place on Mar. 18.

Irish Poker Tournaments 2018 Results

Several online poker sites are running satellites to the €1 million guaranteed Main Event, including bet365, Betfair Poker, Paddy Power Poker, and partypoker. You can grab yourself a welcome bonus at each of these sites if you download the software via PokerNews and use our bonus codes.

There are 20 tournaments scheduled at the Citywest Hotel between Mar. 12-18, with the festival concluding with the ever-popular Norwegian Poker Championships. Please note: only holders of a Norwegian passport are permitted to play in the series-ending Norwegian Poker Championships.

2018 Irish Open Schedule

If you love playing poker in a fun-loving atmosphere and want the chance to win a massive cash prize, why not try and qualify for the 2018 Irish Open Main Event at one of the online poker sites mentioned above. Trust us, you'll love every second of your time in the Emerald Isle.

Irish Poker Tournaments 2018 Schedule

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