How to Qualify for the Irish Poker Open 2010

The Irish Poker Open is the longest running European Poker Tournament. The tournament is held at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, Ireland and draws players from both sides of the Atlantic such as previous WSOP winners Dan Harrington and Doyle Brunson.

There are many online poker rooms that offer all inclusive prize packages to the Irish Open, as the Main Event has had previous prize pools exceeding €2,000,000 making it a very attractive offer to players.

The most direct way (for online players) to enter is to buy in to the Main Event qualifier known as a “Super Satellite”. Direct buy in to land based poker tournaments ranges in price but usually costs around $200 - $300. The direct buy in for the Irish Open is €175 + €13 (Freezeout).

Then there are a multitude of feeder tournaments known as “Satellites”. The winners of satellites go on to play in other qualifiers up the chain. There are often Stage 1, 2 and 3 satellites with the buy in decreasing per stage. In other words, buy in to a stage 3 satellite can be as little as $1.00

Another option is a “Points” buy in. Most card rooms allow players to accrue VIP Points based on the amount of poker they play. The higher the stake level of game the more points accrued, the more points accumulated. Players can then redeem points for tournament buy ins. One such card room offering a point’s buy in is William Hill Poker. Here a player can cash in as few as 75 Points for entry to an Irish Open qualifier.

Finally there are Special VIP offerings. In this situation, players are given an free entry “Token” to tournament qualifiers based on the VIP level they attain. William Hill Poker also offers Irish Open qualifiers, even for the lowest level of VIP player. 

All of this means, that any player who loves his online poker, but who also loves the chance to leave the country to attend an exciting land based event such as the Irish Open 2010 now has more ways to make it there without having to fork out the €3,200 + €300 Main Event Buy-in from their own pocket.