With the threat of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) growing, several major poker brands have cancelled or postponed their events. The latest to join the list is the Irish Poker Open moving to be played online at partypoker. On March 10, the organizers announced the postponement of the event. Just a few days later, it was announced that the brand partnered with partypoker to make the event happen. The prestigious festival will happen online at partypoker and it is scheduled for April 6-12, 2020.
The Irish Poker Open is the second longest running poker tournament series in the world, behind only the most prestigious WSOP (World Series of Poker). The Main Event of the series will feature a whopping €1 million in guaranteed prizepool and it will begin on April 6, 2020. The 2020 Irish Poker Open schedule will also have some revisions, while the majority of the slate will remain the same. The final and detailed schedule of the online version of the Irish Poker Open is yet to be released.
“Since our announcement last week regarding the postponement of Irish Open 2020, considerable efforts have been made to find an alternative date to run Irish Open 2020. However, as the uncertainty surrounding live poker events continues, we feel that the best decision to take at this point is to cancel the live festival for 2020,” said JP McCann of the Irish Poker Open.
“We would like to thank partypoker for taking the initiative to help ensure Europe’s oldest running poker festival goes ahead during these very challenging times. We hope to see you for the first time ever on the virtual tables for the 40th Anniversary of the Irish Open.”
“We are delighted to be associated with Europe’s oldest Poker Festival. The Irish Open is a truly unique event and following the disappointment of its cancellation this year, an online Irish Open series looks a perfect fit for both event organizers and partypoker.” Tom Waters, partypoker Managing Director, said.
In 2019, the Irish Poker Open €1,150 Main Event attracted a field of 1,807 entries. Weijie Zheng topped that field to take home the €300,000 first-place prize. The full schedule of the 2020 Irish Poker Open is yet to be released. Stay tuned in for the updates on the same and other poker events!