Irish Open Silver Pass winners share their stories
More than 70 players booked their trips to the Irish Open 2025 via the PokerStars Power Path, turning no more than $11 (and in many cases, pennies) into a special-edition package (an Emerald Pass) worth ~$2,800.
In this special feature, we’ll hear directly from the winners themselves, as they recount the moment they won, the unforgettable experiences that followed, and more.
Dan Turner
Dan Turner is a 28-year-old maths teacher from Kegworth, Leicestershire, England.
Dan Turner
What was your introduction to poker, and your early experience of the game?
I first started in 2017 when my local pub started a poker league. My friends and I went to try it, having never played, and I was instantly hooked. After that first game, I would spend the rest of my free time watching videos, playing play money games and absorbing any information and content I possibly could.
Did you have any key milestones? First wins or different places you played, that sort of thing?
My first milestone was to simply become a winning player, and fortunately, I seemed to pick the game up quite quickly and have always made a consistent profit in the games I play. After that, I just played for fun; however, soon after I won the $2.20 Bounty Builder on PokerStars for around $1.2k. That was my first bankroll and allowed me to play more.
Covid was when I really started to take it seriously, subscribing to studying materials online and looking at charts/solvers to deepen my understanding of the game. In 2021, I played a tournament in Dublin and that was my first trip playing poker outside of England.
I loved going away to play poker and had some great memories, and in 2023, I returned to play the Irish Open for the first time. I managed to satellite into the main event when I was ther,e and I managed to make Day 3, finishing 121st for $3,500. I returned in 2024.
Talk me through how you won your Silver Pass. Anything unusual about it?
I was actually multi-tableing at my local casino. I was bored in the afternoon, so I started playing some step tournaments for something to do, and I managed to get into Step 4 from Step 2, which was $1.
Step 4 was at the same time as the weekly Sunday tournament at DTD (my local). My friend came over to see how I was getting on in the DTD tournament, but I was about three people away from a Silver Pass, so he quickly realised where my main focus was! I unfortunately bubbled a Gold Pass, which is annoying, but I am still over the moon with getting a Silver Pass.
What was your reaction? And what was the reaction of the people you told?
I was shocked at first, and it didn’t sink in for a while; however, once I had selected the Emerald Pass, I was very excited. I had already planned to go to Dublin for the Irish Open, but this was brilliant. My friends were very pleased for me, a lot of them called me lucky or jammy (which was probably true!)
What do you do outside of poker?
I am a Maths teacher at a secondary school in Leicestershire, and I have been teaching for four years. My girlfriend and I are in the process of hopefully buying our first home together this year.
How does teaching impact your poker playing?
My career has always come first, so sometimes I have not been able to make some of the poker stops I would have liked to travel to, as I am restricted to school holidays, which makes the Irish Open perfect as it is during easter.
Alan Banks
Alan Banks is 59 years old and lives in Alloa, near Stirling, Scotland.
Alan Banks
I didn’t start playing poker until 2005 when I was 40. It was part of the Chris Moneymaker effect after he won the [WSOP] Main Event in 2003. I looked at him on TV and said, ‘Why not me?’
I started playing online, both cash and tourneys, and actually won the very first MTT I entered – a $3 one with about 200 runners. I was hooked from that point on.
After a year playing live and online, I had won enough to take me to Las Vegas, which I loved. I had a winning trip and ended up going eight times over the next 15 years, seven of which were winning trips. My best trip was in 2015, where I managed a 2nd and 3rd in $500 buy-in MTTs and ended up winning $10K after the nine-day trip.
I played a lot online back in the day, but I had a full-time job and three daughters, so I have cut back a bit since then. I’ve played on many sites, but love the options and software on PokerStars the best.
Damien Main
Damien Main is a 38-year-old accountant from London.
Damien Main
I vaguely remember my grandfather teaching me 5-card draw. I played a lot of board games with my other grandparents, in particular the card game Canasta. I was always aware of poker and do remember as a teenager watching the late-night poker shows with Devilfish sticking in my mind.
I didn’t really get into playing until after university and spent years going through phases playing low-stakes tournaments online with the very occasional casino trip, but no successes to note.
Then, during the pandemic, I found the streams of Fintan, Spraggy and the EPT retro streams and started to take it a lot more seriously and play more often. After moving house, I found a weekly pub league £5 buy-in game and really got more into live poker.
Did you have any key milestones?
The 2022 milestone was to cash for over $1,000 in a tournament and I completed it. 2023 was to try and break the $10,000, which I managed. In 2024 I wanted to play more live tournaments, including playing mixed games, and I’ve had profitable years two years in a row.
How did you win your Silver Pass?
It was through a Lex freeroll that I won my Bronze pass (can’t quite remember how, maybe SCOOP league). I had not tried Power Path much, so it was probably only the second time I had got past the $11 stage.
I remember it was a Sunday when the top two were Gold passes, and I was in the final three. We had roughly even stacks going in a circle with button shoves and everyone folding until I shoved A6, was called by A2, and then a 2 on the river made me miss out on Gold. However think a 5k buy-in would be too stressful for me.
I knew straight away I wanted to save it for the Irish Open as I regretted not making more effort to come last year.
Matthew Hyland
Matthew Hyland is a 29-year-old investment associate living in Dublin.
What were your first poker wins?
My first proper live tournament – aside from the odd Fitz casino night back in college days – was the IPT Poker Tour Final in December 2023. I placed 4th for a nice score. The best part of it was having my mates Joe and Alex watch me final table. Both of them were on a night out in town, watching me put updates in the group chat every 10 mins, and as I was getting close to the final table around 2am, they got a taxi all the way out to the Green Isle!
Matthew Hyland
“My whole career path really started from one day in my final year of college when I decided to watch the movie The Big Short. I fell in love with the fast pace of financial markets and risk-taking overall, so much so that the very next day, I applied for an internship as a trader for a prop firm in Dublin.”Â
Talk us through how you won your Silver Pass.
I’d been dipping in and out of low-stakes satellites since the end of last year, mainly because of an audiobook I listened to from a certain Irish poker player (we all know who this is). I managed to spin a $1.50 Step 2 Power Path ticket up to a $55 Step 4 Power Path ticket and got the Silver Pass on the first go – the stuff of dreams! I was down to 1.1bbs at one point to make it a good sweat, but thankfully ran it back up.
What do you do for work?
My whole career path really started from one day in my final year of college when I decided to watch the movie The Big Short. I fell in love with the fast pace of financial markets and risk-taking overall, so much so that the very next day, I applied for an internship as a trader for a prop firm in Dublin.
I was kept on and ended up working there for two years, typically working 14-hour days, buying/selling anything that moved. The experience I gained there was incredible, and it gave me a solid foundation for discipline in a high-risk-taking environment, which is something I’ve carried over to poker.
Right now, I’m working as an investment associate for a private markets firm, which is in many ways a polar opposite within the world of finance, as it involves negotiating off-market transactions.
Do you have any poker-specific goals?
I’m a big goal setter and try to set them at the end of every year. My poker goal for last year was to play 10+ live big-field tournaments, so naturally, I set myself a target to go and win a trophy this year!
James McLaren
James McLaren is 29 and lives in West Sussex.
Is the Irish Open the biggest event you’ve played?
Yes. The previous biggest was a $1,100 entry from a Twitch giveaway and I managed to min cash, which was a good poker memory.
Any memories from winning the Silver Pass?
When I got to heads-up play I had 3 million chips and my opponent had 50k or so. I then lost five all-ins, so they got back to 1 million chips versus my 2 million, which was very nerve-wracking! I was watching Spraggy stream the final table, so I owed him a Guinness.
What was your reaction? And what was the reaction of the people you told?
I was very pleased, but was playing a few other tournaments at the same time, so had to try and concentrate on those still. It was a good feeling, though, knowing even if those went badly that I had won the Emerald Pass.
My family and friends were pleased, although one who often likes to stake me for live tournaments was annoyed he didn’t stake me in the centroll!
What’s your background?
I had been playing poker for a few years full-time, but recently accepted a job offer in insurance. I would say I am quite passionate and competitive in different sports, so I am always trying to improve and help friends with anything they might be able to improve on.
FURTHER READING
Irish Open: There’s only one Simon Wilson! Local lad wins it for €600K
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