Jordan Glazer got his stack of 115,000 in from the button against Duff Charette in the big blind.
Jordan Glazer: A♣8♣
Duff Charette: K♠Q♣
Charette paired up on the 5♥Q♦9♠ flop to take a sizable lead. Glazer's ace did not arrive on the J♣4♠ runout, resulting in the end of his high roller adventure.
One hand later, Juha Helppi was eliminated from the same table.
Marcel Kessler raised to 12,000 in middle position and was three-bet to 34,000 by Simon Wilson in the cutoff. Small blind Bernard Larabi then four-bet jammed for 149,000.
Kessler asked for a count, spent one time bank, and then made the call. Wilson got out of the way, and the players showed down heads-up.
Bernard Larabi: J♥J♦
Marcel Kessler: A♠A♥
Larabi could not find a jack on the 9♣5♣5♠ flop or 2♠ turn, and the A♦ river gave Kessler a set to lock up the pot and knock Larabi out.
The action was picked up on a 2♥J♦10♦8♥ turn in a heads-up pot between Simon Wilson in the small blind and Marcel Kessler in the cutoff. Wilson put an over-bet of 75,000 into the pot of 65,000, which Kessler called after some thought.
The 8♣ river saw Wilson jam all in, covering Kessler's stack of 160,000. Kessler gave a confused look before quickly folding his cards and surrendering the pot.
Roope Tarmi limped in from the small blind and saw Adrian Cazacu raise to 23,000 in the big blind. Tarmi then jammed all in for 203,000, which Cazacu snap-called.
Roope Tarmi: 3♦3♣
Adrian Cazacu: K♠K♦
Tarmi was in dire shape against the cowboys of Cazacu. The 6♥9♣J♠5♠9♠ board did not improve his hand, seeing him become the first exit of Day 2.
The nickname "WhatIfGod" on PokerStars, a sponsor of the 2025 Irish Open, has struck fear into anyone seated at his virtual table for over two decades. The longtime crusher has countless wins under his belt, including the two online EPTs that were held during COVID, but a live poker victory eludes him yet.
At the final table of 2024's EPT Prague, it was revealed that the player who had remained anonymous for the better part of 20 years was Sweden's Anton Bergstrom. Bergstrom has mostly played online throughout his career but is starting to attend more live events in recent years, and has made the trip to the Royal Dublin Society for a first-time appearance at the Irish Open.
He was one of the 53 entries of the €10,000 Super High Roller and was among the 25 survivors at the end of Day 1, battling for a prize pool of €503,831. He doubled his starting stack, bagging up exactly 200,000, worth 33 big blinds when Day 2 resumes, sharing the bottom spot in the top ten with Bernard Larabi. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Mengshi Tian returns at 1 p.m. today with the chiplead of 600,000, nearly double that of nearest contender Christopher Nguyen, who will begin Day 2 with 354,000.
Mengshi Tian
Start of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 2 Big Blinds
1
Mengshi Tian
Hong Kong
600,000
60
2
Christopher Nguyen
Austria
354,000
59
3
Marcel Kessler
Germany
284,000
47
4
Adrian Cazacu
Romania
265,000
44
5
Govert Metaal
Netherlands
261,000
44
6
Klemens Roiter
Austria
259,000
43
7
Robbie Toan
Ireland
251,000
42
8
Jorge Artiga-Pacheco
Canada
237,000
40
9
Roope Tarmi
Finland
215,000
36
10
Bernard Larabi
Hungary
200,000
33
10
Anton Bergstrom
Sweden
200,000
33
Bergstrom's fellow EPT champions Stephen Song (148,000) and Gilles Simon are also in contention for the €163,800 first-place prize, as are bracelet winners Daniel Smiljkovic (133,000) and Juha Helppi (54,000), Meanwhile, Ireland is represented by Robbie Toan (251,000) and Simon Wilson (160,000).
The players will return to Level 14, with blinds of 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante. Day 2 is the final day of the tournament, meaning the Super High Roller will play as many 40-minute levels as are needed to crown a winner, although the levels will be reduced to 30 minutes at the final three players or when a deal has been struck. A 30-second shot clock is also in play, with time banks distributed after every three levels.
Seven players will see a return on their five-figure investment, with seventh place taking home €26,500. Making the heads-up will guarantee one a six-figure payout, while taking home the trophy will be accompanied by that grand sum of €163,800.
€10,000 Super High Roller Payouts
Place
Prize
1
€163,800
2
€108,300
3
€73,100
4
€55,400
5
€42,800
6
€34,000
7
€26,500
PokerNews will be on the floor for the entire day, so stick around to find out who will be crowned the first Irish Open Super High Roller champion in over a decade.
