Umberto Ruggeri Leads 19 Survivors After Penultimate Day of Irish Open Main Event
A thrilling day at the Royal Dublin Society saw the field of the 2025 Irish Open €1,150 Main Event being dwindled down from 218 to just 19 players. They are the only ones standing from a record-breaking field of 4,562, and will come back tomorrow for the final day of the event, battling for the lion's share of the prize pool of €4,447,950.
Italian regular Umberto Ruggeri will have sweet dreams tonight, as he topped the leaderboard after the ten levels of Day 3, bagging 24,675,000 chips on his hunt for the top prize of €600,000. Ruggeri will be looking for his second final table of the festival after finishing fourth in the €5,000 High Roller for €44,700 earlier in the series, adding to his seven figures in lifetime earnings.
Ruggeri is closely followed by Irishman Greg King, who is looking to keep the trophy on home soil during his first-ever Irish Open Main Event cash. King was on the receiving end of a daring three-bet river bluff by Gabriel Rymar, but busted the Polish player near the end of the night to get his chips back and ended with 22,000,000 of them.
Rounding out the podium is Brandon Harris, who doubled up with aces against kings during the final hands of the night to bag 19,600,000, while Day 1b leader Michel Karim continued his impeccable run in the Main Event, securing a top five spot for the third day in a row.
End of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 4 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Umberto Ruggeri | Italy | 24,675,000 | 82 |
| 2 | Greg King | Ireland | 22,000,000 | 73 |
| 3 | Brandon Harris | United Kingdom | 19,600,000 | 65 |
| 4 | Michel Karim | Sweden | 19,525,000 | 78 |
| 5 | David Pollock | Ireland | 17,050,000 | 57 |
| 6 | Panteleimon Pontos | Greece | 17,000,000 | 57 |
| 7 | Georgios Skarparis | Cyprus | 16,700,000 | 56 |
| 8 | Robert Fluereci | Romania | 14,850,000 | 50 |
| 9 | Joe O'Donaill | Ireland | 12,850,000 | 43 |
| 10 | Marius Gicovanu | Romania | 11,575,000 | 39 |
Day 4 Action
With 218 players seated at the start of the day, many had to fall before the final 19 were reached. Third place finisher in the Super High Roller Klemens Roiter added €4,760 to his Irish Open earnings for finishing in 164th, while Severi Palmu, who finished in fourth that event, received a pay jump to €5,470 for his 121st place. Brian Altman (118th - €6,270), Irish Open Ambassador Chris Dowling (114th - €6,270), and backgammon grandmaster Zdenek Zizka (106th - €6,270) were all eliminated before the top 100 was reached as well
Marc Macdonnell and Jon Kyte received €8,300 for their 64th and 63rd place, while Canadian superstar Ari Engel lost his last chips in 53rd place for €9,500. 2022 Irish Open champion Steve O'Dwyer received the same amount for his 50th place, as did Daniel Smiljkovic (46th).
The last PokerStars Ambassador in the field was Parker Talbot. Talbot had a promising start, but lost a big pot against Irish regular Simon Wilson. Talbot eventually petered out in 43rd place for €9,500, while Wilson went on to make Day 3 with 10,150,000.
In sight of the final three tables, the field lost Josef Schusteritsch (31st - €12,600) and start-of-day chipleader Michel Molenaar (29th - €12,600), while Carl Shaw (21st - €16,700) and 2013 Irish Open Main Event champion Ian Simpson (20th - €19,200) were eliminated during the final hands of Day 3, with the latter's bust-out ensuring a new Irish Open champion will be crowned this year.
The 19 remaining players will return at 1 p.m. tomorrow, April 21, to crown that champion. Although they are guaranteed to walk away with €19,200, all eyes will be on the six-figure prizes for the top six, and especially so on the grand prize of €600,000.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €600,000 | 9 | €45,800 | |
| 2 | €316,000 | 10-11 | €36,700 | |
| 3 | €225,000 | 12-13 | €30,600 | |
| 4 | €170,000 | 14-15 | €25,500 | |
| 5 | €130,000 | 16-17 | €22,100 | |
| 6 | €100,000 | 18-19 | €19,200 | |
| 7 | €77,500 | |||
| 8 | €59,030 |
The tournament will resume tomorrow in Level 34: 150,000/300,000 with a big blind ante of 300,000. The levels will remain 60 minutes long, with a break after every two levels, until three players remain, at which point they will be reduced to 40 minutes. The Main Event will crown a winner tomorrow, so the returning players might be in for a marathon session.
PokerNews will report the final day of the Main Event from start to finish, so tune back in then to find out who becomes the 2025 Irish Open champion, taking home the prestigious trophy.