Last year saw the return of the Irish Poker Classic at the Macau Casino Cork as a €1,000 ($1,068) buy-in in its former late-year slot. More recently, the inaugural Irish Poker Festival at the plush Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge was a massive success, with the biggest buy-in Main Events in over eight years in Ireland. The return of bigger buy-ins to Ireland is welcome for a number of reasons, as I’ve written in the past.

The festival kicks off on November 24 with an Irish Poker Tour Main Event with a €150 ($160) buy-in

This year the buy-in for the Irish Classic in the Macau Casino, Cork is €600 ($641). It boasts a €100,000 ($106,733) guarantee. The festival kicks off on November 24 with an Irish Poker Tour Main Event with a €150 ($160) buy-in and €25,000 ($26,683) guarantee. The festival runs until December 3, and is rounded out by a wide variety of side events that include a €400 ($427) buy-in, €30,000 ($32,017) guarantee Mystery Bounty, and several Omaha events.

Cork itself is a great place to visit, and the Macau is arguably the plushest casino in Ireland, boasting an outstanding Chinese restaurant. The casino always ensures a good turnout by running lots of satellites in the club in the run-up.

The event is part of the massively successful Irish Poker Tour which reaches a climax at the end of December in the Green Isle. That event will boast a freeroll for the 16 players with the most points on their yearly leaderboard. It has a prize pool of €40,000 ($42,681) so with only 16 runners that’s equivalent to a €2,500 ($2,668). A lot of players are still in the running, including myself (I’m currently 13th at time of writing) so they will be there chasing those vital points to clinch their top 16 spot.

See you there!