Poker Features

The Irish Open is the second oldest poker tournament in the world (the first being the WSOP) and as anyone who's been to the Open can tell you - it's probably the best tournament in the world for atmosphere. But equally the tournament is as steeped in history as the WSOP main event is. The 2007 Irish Open Main Event was officially the largest poker tournament in Europe, attracting 708 player who competed for a prize pool of €2.3 Million, but it had much humbler beginnings.

Bookmaker and card player, Terry Rogers, started the Irish Open after stumbling across the World Series of Poker on a trip to Las Vegas in the late 1970's. Assisted by his friend, but one time bookmaking competitor, Liam Flood they went about setting up a texas hold'em poker tournament to take place on Good Friday - traditionally when the good folks were going to church, and the bad were trying to find an open pub! 36 men and women gathered in the upstairs of a small bookmaker's office in inner city Dublin, thus the Irish Open was born. The year was 1980. Despite a few years in 1990's when Terry was looking after his sick mother, Liam would sit down with friends, old and new, and play cards. Terry passed on. But his legend and legacy didn't.

The 2008 Irish Open is set to break all records with an increased capacity, buy-in and guarantee:

• €3 Million Guaranteed Prize Pool
• €4200 Buy-in + €300 Registration Fee
• 1,000 Player Capacity
• Location: Dublin
• March 19th-24th 2008

Online qualifying is now taking place from as little as $4. Check out the Paddy Power Qualifying Schedule for 2008 now or check out other Irish Open qualifying packages from different poker rooms

Poker magazine Bluff Europe recently named Europe's top five poker destinations, and London topped the bill as the place to be for lovers of all things poker. With the explosion of the game over the past couple of years, it's no surprise that there's a multitude of venues to get your daily fix of cash games and poker tournaments. Every effort is made to ensure that the tournament details are correct before publication on site.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the biggest festival of poker in the world. Coveted Gold bracelets are awarded to players who win any event. To win even one of these Gold bracelets is a fantastic achievement, ane one which is becoming increasingly harder thanks to larger fields. There are over 60 events in the WSOP 2008 including events in Texas Hold'em Limit, Omaha Pot Limit, 7-Card-Stud Hi/Lo, Pot Limit, No Limit, and other types of poker such as Razz and Lowball The festival culminates, as ever, with the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em Main Event. Could it be you this year?

Within this section you will find information on this year's schedule, latest news, history and the best WSOP 2008 packages.