Latest News
IPT One Dayer in Ballinasloe
€20k Up For Grabs The Irish Poker Tour continues to bring the good news about tournament poker all over Ireland and on Saturday May 11th the tour will rock up...
The Irish Poker Tour Heats Up For Summer
Over €2million Guaranteed From May to September Thanks to the amazing backing that we get from the Irish poker community and our friends at Paddy Power Poker the Irish Poker...
The Irish Poker Tour goes North, West & North-West
New Festivals announced in Dundalk and Letterkenny, €20k in a Day in Claremorris The Irish Poker Tour continues to bring international quality events all over Ireland and has announced three...
Paddy Power Poker Adds Three Portugal Packages to The Monster
The Monster is back at the Green Isle Hotel from May 1st to May 5th and it will be huge. The Monster Main Event has a €200,000 guarantee for a...
Shane Keary wins the Connacht Cup in The Eglinton
Big Man is Heading to Portugal The Connacht Poker Festival in Galway’s iconic Eglinton Casino took place over last weekend and, as always in poker mad Galway, was a great...
Continuation Bets Continued
In my last two pieces, I set up the following scenario: The under the gun player opens to 2.3 BBs playing 40 BBs, it’s folded to us in the big...
Killarney 2024 Schedule Announced
Main Event Guarantee Raised to €400,000 The Killarney Festival at the INEC and the Gleneagle Hotel is one of the undisputed highlights of the Irish poker year and it continues...
Summer is Coming – The Portugal Adventure is Just Around the Corner
Despite all the storms in Ireland, Summer is on the way and with it the most exciting poker trip in years – The Portugal Adventure will mix big time, high...
Huge Crowds for Paddy’s Weekend Festival in Dublin
1,771 Entries in the Main Event The Irish Poker Tour continues to grow and grow. The St. Patrick’s €100k for €100 Festival in Dublin’s Green Isle Hotel proved to be...
The Monster is Back
€200,000 Guaranteed for €150, €350,000 in Festival Guarantees The Green Isle Hotel in Dublin will once again host The Monster Festival this May 1st to 5th and this one promises...
Irish Poker Tour Heads Back to Galway
Connacht Poker Festival April 11th-14th The Irish Poker Tour will return to Galway for the €50,000 guaranteed Connacht Poker Festival. This Festival will take place in The Eglinton Casino in...
Portugal Adventure
The Irish Poker Tour and Paddy Power Poker have come up with their best idea yet. A perfect mixture of summer sun holiday and top class poker action. The Paddy...
Galway Poker Festival Smashes Everything
Derek Baker Takes Down €83,500 Main Event First Prize The first weekend of a new year and it is time to head to the Galmont Hotel in Galway for every...
€100,000 for €100 in The Green Isle Paddy’s Weekend
The Irish Poker Tour’s €100,000 for €300 in January in the Green Isle has been cancelled in order to allow us to go bigger and better for Paddy’s weekend when...
Galway Poker Festival Opens 2024 with €500K+ Guarantee
The Galway Poker Festival returns to the glamorous Galmont Hotel starting today the 3rd of January and running through to Sunday the 7th. The Festival is notorious for its late...
Jason Tompkins Joins the Irish Poker Tour Team
The Irish Poker Tour is delighted to announce that Jason Tompkins has been appointed to the role of Tour Manager and will take up his new position in early...
The Irish Poker Tour Rankings Leaderboard & Playoffs
Throughout 2023 1100 players have cashed in tournaments and therefore accrued points for the Irish Poker Tour Leaderboard. The Leaderboard ran from the IPC in The Galmont in January through...
All-in Or Folds & Irish Poker Classic 2023
Irish Poker Tour Team Pro Paul Carr won last Sunday’s Irish Poker Classic in the Macau Casino Cork after a brilliant display showing the full range of his renowned...
Bluffing Against Continuation Bets
In my last piece, I set up the following scenario: The under-the-gun player opens to 2.3 bbs playing 40 bbs, it’s folded to us in the big blind with the...
Dublin Winter Festival Rocks Green Isle – Irish Poker Tour Keeps on Growing
The Green Isle Hotel once more proved itself to be a magnet for Irish and international poker players as ambitious guarantees were smashed and a great time was had by...
The Irish Poker Festival Returns Bigger & Better In 2024
We’ll be back. The Irish Poker Festival returns for 2024 between Tuesday, October 29th, and Sunday, November 3rd, 2024. After the incredible success of the inaugural Irish Poker Festival, we...
Clonmel: Another Tour Stop, Another Blinding Success
Reporting By: Jerry Fitzgerald Are we in the midst of a poker boom? The evidence seems to suggest so. Standing on the tournament floor of the Talbot Hotel in...
Killarney Women of Poker Championship Review
On Friday the smash hit of the Killarney Poker Festival was the Killarney Women of Poker tournament! 46 runners and a €7,990 prize pool were very impressive, but much more...
Just Do It
Killarney Eve is upon us, pretty exciting indeedy. I have not written for some time since before Easter in fact.I have been focusing on the Irish Open and then the...
Paddy Power Opens Book on The Killarney Main Event
Back The Winner Of 'The Irish Poker Cup' Festival partners Paddy Power have set the odds for the Killarney Poker Cup next week at the INEC. Now we can all...
Irish Poker Tour Partners With LuxonPay
The Irish Poker Tour is now partnered with Luxon Pay – the industry leaders for poker payment. Starting at the flagship Killarney Poker Festival, players will be able to buy-in...
James O’Brien Wins Macau Irish Poker Tour €60k
Well-known Irish Poker Tour regular and all-around nice guy James O’Brien from Wexford was the big winner at the Cork Poker Festival when he took first prize of €17,500 in...
Tour Team Pro Takes Two at Lunasa Lunacy
Double Top for Darren Harbinson The Lunasa Lunacy Festival at the Green Isle Hotel was always scheduled to be a landmark event for the Irish Poker Tour Team Pros as...
Defending Against Continuation Bets
Apologies for my lengthy absence but I was away at the WSOP, in Cyprus and Barcelona. But now that I’m back I’m ready to start cranking out the strategy again...
Paul Carr Joins Irish Poker Tour Team Pro
The regulars on the Irish Poker Tour have got what they asked for and Paul Carr has finally fulfilled his greatest ambition. He has been elevated to the ranks of...
Tanya Masters Joins Irish Poker Tour Team Pro
Tanya Masters was born to play poker. Raised in Dublin with a poker-mad father and three poker-mad brothers she had no choice. She started playing official tournaments in Tallaght 15...
Irish Poker Tour Unveils Magnificent Bracelets for Major Winners
For the majority of poker players, the main attraction in winning a tournament or a league is the substantial cash prize attached. However, money has a habit of disappearing so...
Bratislava Poker Festival is a Huge Hit
Inaugural Event Beats All Expectations The first-ever Bratislava Poker Festival at the Card Casino was a triumphant success! All players expressed delight at the quality of the casino, the range...
Clonmel To Host Premier Poker Championship
Tipperary’s Biggest Ever Guarantees The Irish Poker Tour is heading back to the Talbot Hotel in Clonmel from Friday, October 20th to Sunday 22nd to host The Premier Poker Championship....
The Killarney Festival is Back… with bells on!
The Killarney Poker Festival returns for its annual visit to the INEC this September and it is going to be bigger and better than ever before. This year the entire...
Irish Poker Tour: London Roundup
For several weeks leading up to the Irish Poker Tour London Festival Aspers Casino had 'The Irish are Coming, the Irish are Coming' emblazoned on every screen in their poker...
Strategy: Continuation Betting Part 4
In my last article I posed the following question: You have 40 big blinds and raise under the gun to 2.3 big blinds. Only the big blind with the same...
The Irish Poker Tour Returns to London
Like a heavyweight champion defending his title, the Irish Poker Tour is going back to Aspers Casino this June, scene of the best poker party in London last year. Record...
Irish Poker Tour Team Starts Well
The newly formed Irish Poker Tour Team had a solid start to life at The Monster Festival in the Green Isle Hotel. Ray Bryant, Darren Harbinson, and Johny McCullough all...
Slattery Son Follows Father to Irish Poker Tour Glory
The Slattery family from Limerick has come to love the Irish Poker Tour's major events. Brian Slattery took the massive €58,000 first prize in the premier event at the Road...
Darren Harbinson Joins Irish Poker Tour ‘Team Pro’
Everyone that meets Darren Harbinson takes to him immediately. The epitome of a Gentle Giant, Darren is a big man with a heart of gold; he is softly spoken with...
Irish Poker Tour Adds To ‘Team Pro’
The Irish Poker Tour is delighted to announce two more members of our newly launched ‘Team Pro’ Along with Robbie and Ray Bryant, today we can add the names of...
Irish Poker Tour Launches ‘Team Pro’
Team Aims to Promote Strong Upcoming Players The Irish Poker Tour is delighted and excited to announce the launch of the newly-formed Irish Poker Tour Team. By backing this Team...
Irish Poker Tour Regulars Strike it Big at Irish Open
Tour Ambassador Shines Brightly Last week’s Irish Poker Open saw massive numbers of players gather in Dublin from all across Ireland and from all around the poker world. Despite the...
The Nature of Poker (Week 8) – White Magic vs GTO
Something a little bit different this week. Recently, I was in 'The Chip Race' podcast with David Lappin and Dara O'Kearney and we covered a lot of stuff. Give it...
News: Big News At Irish Poker Tour for April & Beyond
Ireland’s Leading Poker Brand The Irish Poker Tour continues to produce the pre-eminent poker experience in Ireland and beyond. This year alone we will have combined prize pool guarantees of...
Strategy: Continuation Betting Part 3
In my last strategy article, I posed the following question: You have 40 big blinds and raise under the gun to 2.3 big blinds. Only the big blind with the...
The Nature of Poker (Week 7) – Chip Counting
For much of his career, Chip Reese was regarded by the poker community as the best all-round cash game player. He was Doyle Brunson’s closest friend and the big man...
Trip Report: IPT Clonmel
Sylvia Conquers Clonmel The Irish Poker Tour paid its first visit to the Talbot Hotel Clonmel for what should become a regular tour stop. A total of 231 entries produced...
The Nature of Poker (Week 6) – Presence
At the heart of the debate that is central to one’s choices as to how you approach poker whether you are more mathematical or employ a variety of other more...
€50,000 for €50 in The Green Isle This Paddy’s Weekend
€100,000 in total 2 Day Festival Guarantees The Irish Poker Tour is rightly renowned for its insanely generous guarantees but the headline event at this year’s St. Patrick’s weekend festival...
The Nature of Poker (Week #5) – Andy on ‘The Swedest Deal’ Podcast
For a change this week Andy talks to 'The Swedest Deal' poker podcast. Check out this great interview:
Westport Poker Festival Smashes It Up
The Irish Poker Tour continues to break new ground as it strives to bring high-quality, championship-style poker to all parts of Ireland. The Westport Poker Festival was the first ever...
The Nature of Poker (Week #4) – Underdog Mindset
Being present for what is actually happening is always at the heart of everyone’s best performances. It is a myth both pervasive and understandable in equal measure that doing the...
Eglinton Last Man Standing Goes on Tour
Great news for Westport-bound poker players is that The Eglinton Casino sponsored Last Man Standing is going for a sequel. An amazingly popular bonus for players in the Irish Poker...
Announcement: Irish Poker Tour and Cotton Club’s Ed Fogarty Link-up
Tour Stop Scheduled for Clonmel February 25th One of the Irish Poker Tour’s main goals is to spread high-quality poker throughout Ireland. In furtherance of this goal, the Irish Poker...
Strategy: Continuation Betting Continued
In my last article, I explained what a continuation bet is, and asked you to start thinking about when they should and shouldn’t be used in this specific example: You...
The Nature of Poker (Week #3) – Peripheral Vision
This is one of my favourite times of the year for watching sports. As time has passed I have come to regard the American Football playoffs season with its “win...
Irish Poker Tour and Green Isle Hotel Announce Partnership for 2023
Major Series of Events Confirmed €1million + in Guarantees After an unforgettable series of great poker events throughout 2022, the Irish Poker Tour and the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin...
Tournament Update: Chip Colour Change
Following on from discussions with regular players the Irish Poker Tour management and staff held an EGM to discuss the colour of the 25,000 chip in our main chipset. Several...
Strategy: Continuation Betting
In my previous articles, I have focused on preflop for good reason. We face at least one preflop decision every single hand we play. Most of the decisions may seem...
The Nature of Poker (Week #2)
Who are you ? I mean who are you as a poker player? It probably has a lot to do with who you are as a person as well. In...
Update: Irish Poker Tour Rankings Have Officially Kicked Off
Irish Poker Tour, along with their good friends at Paddy Power Poker, has hit the ground running with The Rankings. From now until the Irish Poker Tour Final (in The...
The Nature of Poker (Week #1)
This is the first in a 52-week series of articles (possibly some videos) for 2023. What is the nature of Poker? We all share a love (or sometimes hate )...
Irish Poker Tour Annual Rankings
In Association with Paddy Power Poker At this year's Irish Poker Championship in Galway the Irish Poker Tour and their good friends at Paddy Power Poker are launching an astounding...
Paul ‘Rinty’ Monaghan Becomes an Irish Poker Tour Ambassador
The Irish Poker Tour is delighted to announce that Paul 'Rinty' Monaghan is to be our new Tour Ambassador with particular responsibility for the northern poker community. Rinty is...
Amazing Support For Irish Poker Tour Final In The Green Isle
It might have been the week after Christmas but the Irish poker community was not going to miss out on the chance to celebrate the incredible first full year of...
John Dale Rimmer Rolls It Up Bigtime
They say that some guys have all the luck and right now John Dale Rimmer would tell you that he is that guy. First off, the Irish Poker Tour...
Strategy: Defending the big blind
One of the most important positions at the poker table is the big blind. It’s vital that you master defending your blind, with the right ranges. Defend too wide and...
Irish Poker Tour Christmas Giveaway: Winners
If you've been anywhere near social media for the last couple of weeks you'll have not failed to notice that we here at the Irish Poker Tour have been running...
Irish Poker Tour Announces its Stunning 2023 Schedule: Over €2.6 Million GTD
€2,600,000+ Guaranteed, Plus New €30,000+ Leaderboard to be Launched The Irish Poker Tour in partnership with Paddy Power Poker has set out its audacious plans for next year. Building on...
Dublin Poker Series – December – Improvements
Structure and Timing Improvements for Second Weekend Dec 9th- 10th Following the record-breaking first weekend of the Irish Poker Tour’s Dublin Poker Series #2 the management has done what management...
Strategy: Opening the Pot in Mid and Late Position
In my last article, I gave a theoretically correct range of hands to open in early position when you and the players behind have 100 big blinds. I also explained...
News: €150,000+ Westport Poker Festival Coming Next Year
Biggest ever poker festival in the North West The Irish Poker Tour is delighted to announce the latest fabulous festival in its ever-expanding countrywide schedule. From Friday, February 3rd to...
Irish Poker Tour Announce ‘The Irish Poker Championship – Road To Galway’ Schedule
Over €500,000 in guaranteed prize money, Main Event worth €250,000+ The Irish Poker Championship is back in early 2023 and it is in its rightful home; the luxurious Galmont Hotel...
Irish Poker Tour and Irish Poker Classic Announce Major Link-up
The Irish Poker Classic held in the Macau Casino Cork has long been one of the pre-eminent high-stakes tournaments in Ireland. Missing off the schedule for a couple of years...
Onwards and Upwards with the Irish Poker Tour
After the adventure that is an Irish Poker Tour major festival in Killarney, the tour sets off on the glistening road to Galway. All poker eyes will now turn to...
Hilarious Paddy Power Ad With Andy Black
Poker got the 'famous' Paddy Power advertising treatment this week with the launch of an advert featuring Irish Poker Tour's Festival Ambassador, Andy Black. In his perfect deadpan style, Andy...
Strategy: Opening the pot
In my first article, I talked about the most important concept in poker: position. Position is an important factor at every point in a hand, starting with pre-flop. Preflop we...
Awaken the Poker Player Within
“Now come on Andy, fuck off with this!" Poker players aren’t going to go for an event for fifty minutes where you get them to play silly games, you get...
Speed Coaching – Andy Black
About 4/5 Years ago I was playing the WSOP Europe Main Event in Rozodov (Finishing about 12th I think ) while doing a bit of commentary with our Great Leader...
Bragging Rights – The Irish Omaha Championship
Make no mistake about it, whoever wins the €2,500 buy-in Irish Omaha Championship in Killarney may regard themselves as the most accomplished and even the most talented poker player in...
Andy Black – Introducing Irish Poker Tour’s Festival Ambassador
In partnership with Paddy Power Poker, the Irish Poker Tour is delighted to announce that Ireland's leading live poker player, Andy Black, is joining us in our mission to provide...
Killing it in Killarney – Andy Black
A festival brings with it its own challenges Like the Olympics, The World Cup, The Tour de France or of course The WSOP. These festivals require a different type of...
The Irish Poker Festival Schedule – Printer Friendly Version
One thing about multi-day festivals that can be very time-consuming for floor staff is answering queries about the schedule. Now, here at The Irish Poker Tour, we do our best...
Leading Industry Website, PokerNews, Promotes Irish Poker Festival in Killarney
The largest website for poker news out there, PokerNews, has just promoted the upcoming Irish Poker Festival in Killarney. You can read the article here. Editor, Matthew Pitt, goes into...
NEWSFLASH: €50,000 Super High Roller Added to Irish Poker Festival
Following strong demand from players, a €50,000 guaranteed prize pool Super High Roller tournament has been added to the already incredible schedule of the Irish Poker Festival which will take...
Irish Poker Tour Announce ‘Dublin Poker Series’ Season 2
Following the fantastic success of this summer’s Dublin Poker Series at the Green Isle Hotel, the Irish Poker Tour is very proud to announce Season 2 of these popular and...
Strategy: Introduction & The Importance of Position
Introduction My name is Dara O’Kearney. I’ve been a professional poker player for the past 14 years, primarily online where I’ve notched up over 2 million in profit, but I...
The Irish Poker Tour Welcomes Dara O’Kearney as Our New ‘Live Poker Strategy Coach’
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dara as the newest member of the Irish Poker Team in the newly created position of ‘Live Poker Strategy Coach’. As part...
Online Update: The Latest Paddy Poker Poker Satellite Events
Our online partner, Paddy Power Poker, has just updated the satellite schedule for the 'Road To Killarney' festival at the end of September (see here for more details on the...
Press Release: The Irish Omaha Championship 2022
Irish Omaha Championship set for Killarney The latest addition to the already stunning line-up of tournaments scheduled for the Irish Poker Festival in Killarney this Autumn is the €2,500 buy-in...
Don’t Miss Paddy Power’s Million Euro Irish Poker Tour
The Irish Poker Tour is back and better than ever, with a series of craic-ing events around Ireland and London. Yes, you heard that right! Hold your horses London… the...