Unibet Open Dublin 2020 is about to kick off at the Bonnington Hotel whizzing hundreds of players into the second bout of a Dublin “super-festival” comprising 18 straight days of poker in the Irish capital.
Unibet Open Dublin, which runs February 26 to March 1, is the first stop of the Unibet Open 2020 tour and follows hot on the heels of the Unibet-sponsored Dublin Poker Festival which was also held at the Bonnington. The first-ever combination of the two festivals has provided players with the opportunity to enjoy a real poker holiday in Dublin with two major events taking place back-to-back.
Among those set to compete this week are Swedish online legend Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, award-winning podcasters Dara O’Kearney and David Lappin, plus two-time champion Mateusz Moolhuizen .
The Unibet Open kicks off this evening with a €165 super satellite to the Main Event. The first full day of poker action starts tomorrow with a brand-new event – the €225 single re-entry “Unibet Open-er”. The two-day €2,200 High Roller begins at 6pm tomorrow, with the invitational Battle Royale and another Main Event satellite also on the busy schedule. The Main Event starts on Thursday.
Unibet Open Dublin Main Event & side events
Well over 100 players have qualified for the €1,000 + €100 Unibet Open Dublin Main Event after winning their seats or full prize packages online on Unibet Poker. There are three Day 1s for the Main Event which starts at noon on Thursday (February 26) with Day 1a. Day 1b is at the same time on Friday followed by a 1c turbo at 9pm Friday.
All Main Event players get a 30,000 starting stack with late registration open until the end of Level 6 with a single re-entry option into Day 1c.
Also on the schedule are the popular #QueenRules Ladies Event, Turbo, Hyperturbo and Flipout tournaments, a Pot Limit Omaha event, a two-day Super Stack tourney and the popular Unibet Community Freeroll.
The final day on Sunday (March 1) will be action-packed with the Main Event playing down to a champion alongside a €100 + €100 + €20 Progressive Knockout tournament and another brand-new event – the €100 + €10 “Mini ME”. This single re-entry tournament will mirror the Main Event with all players receiving a generous 30,000 starting stack.
Among those competing in Dublin will be Unibet Ambassadors David Lappin and Dara O’Kearney, winners of Best Podcast for “The Chip Race” at this year’s inaugural GPI Global Poker Awards alongside fellow Ambassadors Espen Jorstad, Alexandre Reard, Monica Vaka and two-time winner Dan Murariu.
Also set to take part are Swedish poker legend Viktor “Isuldur1” Blom, two-time champion Mateusz Moolhuisen and his girlfriend Dehlia de Jong plus Unibet Belgian Ambassador Charlotte Van Brabander. Among those who have qualified online for Unibet Open Dublin are Unibet Battle of the Champions winner Deivis Rinkevicius, Unibet UK Tour champion Philip Huxley from Birmingham and top LIthuianian player Domantas Klimčiauskas,
Live Stream & Social MediaUnibet Ambassador David Vanderheyden will be hosting a live stream with Henry Kilbane throughout the festival on the Unibet Open website, Twitch, youtube and facebook. Tomorrow’s broadcast will cover the £10,000 Battle Royale from 7.15pm with the live stream featuring the Main Event from Thursday.
There will be live updates from Unibet Open Dublin on PokerNews and you can also follow all the action on your favourite social media platform: YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | Instagram | Twitch.
Off the felt
Off the felt, there will be plenty of opportunities for players to have fun at Unibet Open Dublin including Welcome Drinks at McGettigans Bar on Thursday evening, and the Unibet Open Players Party at Krystle, Dublin’s top nightclub, on Saturday.
Unibet qualifiers will already be up for the craic in Dublin: their €2,000 prize package includes Main Event buy-in, Unibet merchandise and four nights’ accommodation at the Bonnington Hotel for themselves and a guest.
The Unibet Open festival is running from February 26 to March 1 with more than 20 tournaments set to take place.
The Dublin Poker Festival
The Dublin Poker Festival featured nearly 40 tournaments with big turnouts in many events. Veteran Irish player Andy Black took down the ACOP event for €18,150 after a three-way chop while Steven Kehoe won the European Deepstack Poker Championship after a five-way deal. Dara O’Kearney, who won the event in 2008, finished 27th while David Lappin finished 13th. O’Kearney also crushed the side events coming 2nd and 3rd in nightly turbos. Local players John Dwyer and John Hanaphy chopped the High Roller with Dwyer going on to take the trophy.
The Bonnington Hotel, which has been fully refurbished to a very high standard, is an outstanding venue for the Unibet Open festival. Conveniently located on the main route to the airport, and lying just 10 minutes’ drive from the city centre, the hotel boasts a ton of amenities including a gorgeous indoor swimming pool, well-equipped gym, spa, sauna, steam room and hot tub. The hotel is also just 15 minutes’ walk from Croke Park – the third largest sports stadium in Europe.
Unibet Open Dublin history
Unibet Open Dublin marks the tour’s third visit to the Irish capital. The last Unibet Open in Dublin was held in 2018 with nearly €600,000 awarded in prize money across the whole festival, and 1,500 total entries. British player Paul Jux-Holderness won €74,900 after beating a 359-strong field in the Main Event with 47 players paid from the €359,000 prize pool. Jux-Holderness, who hails from Bournemouth, also finished third in the €2,200 High Roller for a further €8,860.
The first Unibet Open Dublin was in 2011 when English poker pro Paul Vas Nunes took down the Main Event for €105,300 after besting a field of 260 players. It was one of Nunes’ earliest recorded cashes and he has since won more than $1.7 million at live poker tournaments.
