The Dublin Poker Festival is on the horizon
This year, the Dublin Poker Festival (DPF) will be celebrating its tenth edition in the Irish capital with players flocking from far and wide to pit their wits against one another across the live felt. The event was launched in 2015 when the Amateur Championship of Poker (ACOP) merged with the prestigious European Deepstack Poker Championship (EDPC), creating an 11-day poker extravaganza.
Good structures are what this entire festival is all about
The DPF has since incorporated the €300 ($311) Irish Senior Poker Championship to the schedule (February 17–18), the largest and best structured seniors event in the country. There is also the €570 ($592) Irish Omaha Championship (February 15-16) and the €300 Irish Mixed Game Championship (February 18-19). Good structures are what this entire festival is all about, a big part of the reason it has been so popular since finding its home in Dublin’s Bonnington Hotel.
This year’s event promises cash games around the clock and a total of 38 tournaments but the big one is always the €570 EDPC, a tournament dating back to 2008 and one which is steeped in history. Among those in attendance will be a man who has not been eliminated from the tournament since 2022. Tomas Geleziunas, affectionately known as TommyG or LuckyMo (depending on whether you meet him in person or online), took down the marquee event in 2023 and 2024.
Quiet man Geleziunas was ecstatic
VegasSlotsOnline News spoke exclusively to Geleziunas about his famous back-to-back victories. The talented poker pro is a man of few words but we managed to squeeze a few out of him.
“When I won it in 2023, I was really happy. To come back and win it again, I was ecstatic. I suppose it dawned on me that I had a chance when there were two tables left. I had a good stack and it has a proper tournament structure so I knew there was going to be room for me to play my game…
All tournaments should be like this, in my opinion.”
An online tournament crusher in both Hold’em and PLO, Geleziunas had put serious time into his game, grinding harder than most. In 2019, he reached an all-time high of 65th in the world in the Pocket Fives rankings. He has played over 220,000 tournaments online but admits that live poker used to be a holiday from his laptop.
“I used to treat it like a break from online poker but more and more in recent years, I’ve been enjoying the live grind. I feel like I’ve built up a lot of hand-playing experience from online and now I combine that with some live skills. I think I’m very quick at spotting when people make mistakes and capitalising on it.”
What a story it would be if Geleziunas could complete a hatrick when the EDPC crowns a champion on February 23. One person looking to thwart his ambition and create his own ‘double’ in this tournament is Irish poker player, coach, author, podcaster, and my VSO News colleague Dara ‘O’Kearney.
A special place in O’Kearney’s heart
O’Kearney won the EDPC in 2008 when it had a €1,500 ($1,557) price tag and attracted an elite field of 140. Speaking to VSO News, he acknowledged the importance of the EDPC, both to him personally but also as a singular event on the Irish poker calendar:
“As the winner of the inaugural event, my first Hendon Mob result, this event has a very special place in my heart with its unique slow deepstacked structure. It’s also a tournament which has helped to launch the careers of several other Irish players.”
O’Kearney is correct. Many of Ireland’s top names have carved their names onto the EDPC trophy, which in more recent years has been a WWE-style belt. In 2009, Francis McCormack and Jason Tompkins chopped it. Cathal Shine won it in 2014, Richie O’Neill binked it in 2019, and Stephen Kehoe took it down in 2020.
Distinctive atmosphere
A big feature of the festival is the distinctive atmosphere, something which is very important to Brian Lannon, DPF’s creator, who also spoke to VSO News, explaining his philosophy:
“I have two goals. Firstly, I want the players, especially those coming for the first time, to feel like they are at a big buy-in festival. My staff are all top notch and they help to create a professional and friendly experience at the tables. Secondly, I think it’s very important to encourage everyone to have fun off the felt…
I want the entire room to be buzzing, whether you are in a tournament, a cash game, or at the bar.”
Before the EDPC gets underway on February 20th, the ACOP will take centre stage from February 13-16 with four starting flights. At the €350 buy-in price-point, this will likely be the largest field of the DPF. Qualifiers for both the EDPC and ACOP are already up and running on Unibet Poker where you can satellite in via the Sunday final for just €50.