John Woods has won the Irish Poker Tour’s 2026 Glasgow Poker Festival Main Event, claiming the first prize of £45,485, at the Alea Casino in Glasgow.
The Scotsman defeating a field of 601 entrants in the £400 buy-in NL Hold’em tournament, facing off against Josh Tweedie heads-up. Going into the 9-man final, Woods had been in the middle of the pack, with 2m chips, while Tweedie sat in second with a stack of 4.2m. However, by the time the field had been reduced to six, they held the two shortest stacks. They both turned that around and Woods, who had close to a 2-1 chip lead when they got heads-up, held on for the win.
Glasgow Poker Festival Main Event Final Table Result
- Buy-In: £400 (£350+£50)
- Entries: 601
- Prize Pool: €201,935
- Places Paid: 61
| Place | Player | Country | Prize Money |
| 1 | John Woods | Scotland | € 45,485 |
| 2 | Josh Tweedie | Scotland | € 28,000 |
| 3 | Craig McCairns | Scotland | € 17,700 |
| 4 | Gavin McDaid | Ireland | € 12,300 |
| 5 | Alistair Buxton | Scotland | € 9,500 |
| 6 | Gary Stokes | Scotland | € 7,800 |
| 7 | Anthony Gray | Scotland | € 6,600 |
| 8 | Glenn Davies | Ireland | € 5,500 |
| 9 | Vytautas Aganauskas | Lithuania | € 4,500 |
The Irish Poker Tour is now it its fifth year and is run by a team led by Donal Macaonghusa, following Fintan Gavin’s exit from the poker business earlier in the year. It hosts around 20 events per year, mostly in Ireland, with a few live poker stops in the UK and the occasional overseas event on the continent. The schedules focus predominantly on No Limit Hold’em and Omaha, including plenty of satellites.
While most of the participants were Scottish, Many Irish players made the journey over, with Andy Black, Paul Carr and Dara O’Kearney being the most high-profile. Black, who finished 5th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, had the best week of the three, taking the most in a 4-way chop of the Omaha Championship (but not winning the trophy), while also booking a 4th place finish in the £200 NLH side event.
Glasgow Omaha Championship Result
- Buy-In: €500 (£450 + £50
- Entries: 32
- Prize Pool: €15,000
- Places Paid: 4 (4-way deal)
| Place | Player | Country | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James McLean | Scotland | €3,430 |
| 2 | Stuart McNally | Scotland | €3,580 |
| 3 | Parviz Asgari | Scotland | €3,025 |
| 4 | Andy Black | Ireland | €4,365 |
However it could have been a much better week for poker mind-coach Black, as he soft bubbled both the High Roller and the Main Event. Having made Day 2 of the Main Event, only the old-school prize structure that paid only 10% of the field prevented Black getting another cash, as he busted in a tantalisingly close 64th place, with 61 getting paid. He also lost most of his stack in the festival closing Glasgow Poker Cup to a recreational fish who called it off light, binking a river card to survive ;)
Neither Carr nor O’Kearney made any trips to the payout desk in a frustrating week for both players, as they chase a spot in the Irish Poker Tour’s end of season leaderboard play-off. Both bubbled or soft-bubbled in multiple events.
Amongst the Scottish players in attendance was 2026 Goliath runner-up Lewis Aikman, plus mixed games specialists Barrie Dear and Graham Clarkson, who turned up for the four-event Omaha schedule. Aikman had a similar experience to O’Kearney and Carr, with several near misses when the money was approaching.
While there were a few wins for Irish players in side events, the marquee events were all won by Scottish players. The Mystery Bounty at the start of the week, which was almost an entirely Scottish affair, was won by Michael Marco for £5,300 plus £2,950 in bounties. Gaoyang Yang won the High Roller for £12,500, while the £300 Glasgow Poker Cup winner was Chris Quinn for £7,550.
Glasgow Poker Cup Final Table Result
- Buy-In: £300 (£265 + £35)
- Entries: 105
- Prize Pool: €26,710
- Places Paid: 11
| Place | Player | Country | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Quinn | Scotland | €7,550 |
| 2 | Joey Ibanez | Scotland | €5,010 |
| 3 | Mark Johnston | Ireland | €3,400 |
| 4 | Alex Gillies | United Kingdom | €2,400 |
| 5 | Steven Keay | Scotland | €1,850 |
| 6 | Edreece Aziz | Scotland | €1,550 |
| 7 | John Doherty | Ireland | €1,300 |
| 8 | Alexander Hart | Scotland | €1,100 |
| 9 | Kamiran Othman | Scotland | €950 |
Angela Rogan was also in the field, going for her fourth Women’s title of the year on the Irish Poker Tour, but failed to get close to the money this time. She also went deep in the Glasgow Poker Cup, dominating her table for most of the early and middle stages of the tournament, but fell short of the prize money by a few places.
Baldie was not the only female title winner during the festival, as Margete Jensen took the trophy in the Monsterstack, after a 3-way deal, cashing for £1,790.
Three players cashed three times during the week, including Martin Byrne, who earlier this year won The Hendon Mob Championship at the Irish Open. He won the Omaha Hi-Lo for £2,350, also cashing in the Main Event and the Poker Cup. He cashed for £4,150 in total and also went close in the High Roller, finishing on the bubble. Steven Keay (£4,250) and James Gibbons (£3,850) also both cashed three times during the festival.
Full results from all events at the Glasgow Poker Festival can be found on the Irish Poker Tour website.
This was the second time that the Irish Poker Tour has held an event in Glasgow, following its debut in 2025. The quayside located Alea Casino in Glasgow is large, with vast windows that let natural light into the poker room, which overlooks the River Clyde. It’s a refreshing change from the usually windowless venues that most poker events take place in.
Although numbers were down compared with last year, the 2025 event was held in March, making direct comparisons difficult. There were small overlays in just three events, while the Main Event and the Glasgow Poker Cup crept above their guarantees.
Overall the event was actually quite well attended, when the context of the wider European poker schedule is taken into account. GUKPT Blackpool had huge overlays in several events, including missing by over £50k in the Main Event, which had events at Dusk Till Dawn as well as the Glasgow Poker Festival competing against it.
Last week the hugely popular Battle of Malta saw hundreds of players from the UK and Ireland making the trip to the Mediterranean. This and the fact that Party Poker Cork has now begun, contributed to the scheduling congestion which has affected lots of operators over the last week.
The top heavy payout structure and 10% in-the-money set up was a talking point at the tables and perhaps something for the Irish Poker Tour to address for future overseas events. Based on table chat, a lot, but not all players seemed to be in favour of spreading it a bit further down the field.
One other topic that came up at the tables was that the Day 1s played for a set number of levels rather than to a percentage of the field, no matter how many players remained. Play became very short-handed towards the end of some flights, but not others. In one of the smaller flights, only three players progressed. With slightly higher attendance this would not have been an issue and it’s something that Donal Macaonghusa and his team will likely address for future events.
Overall, the Festival had a great atmosphere and is a great addition to the UK poker calendar. Fingers are crossed that it returns in 2027.
The next event for the Irish Poker Tour is the Dublin Winter Festival, which takes place at the Green Isle Hotel from 26-29 November, with a €150 guarantee Main Event with a €200 buy-in. Also on the schedule is a €300 TORSE Championship and three Omaha events.
Photos by Adam Herdman & Jerry Fizgerland, courtesy of Irish Poker Tour.