David Leger and Richard Owen were battling in the blinds when Leger checked the 7♥9♠10♥ flop over to Owen. Owen fired a bet of 20,000 into the pot of 41,000, which Leger called.
Owen sized up to 30,000 on the 3♠ turn, again seeing Leger check-call. Leger then took a few minutes on the 4♥ river before shoving all in for 233,000.
Owen's stack of 201,000 was covered. He took some time himself before finding the fold as the bubble crept closer.
The record-breaking 4,562 entries of the 2025 Irish Open Main Event have generated a prize pool of €4,447,950. The top 671 spots will receive a payout, with the min-cash amounting to €1,600.
The top six will walk away with a minimum of six figures, while a massive €600,000 is reserved for the eventual champion.
Adam Bromley had made it 10,000 to go when Nils Linden three-bet to 30,000. Starny Hoang, winner of the Irish Open Deaf Championship, then jammed all in for 77,000, which only Linden called.
Starny Hoang: A♠A♣
Nils Linden: K♠Q♦
Linden paired up the 10♦Q♥2♦ flop, but it was not enough to crack Hoang's aces on the 2♣5♣ runout, doubling up Hoang.
Benedikt Wenzel and Seamus Cahill had created a pot of 72,000 when a flop of 7♥Q♥A♥ was dealt. Wenzel bet 18,000 out of the small blind, seeing Cahill call in the cutoff.
Wenzel fired another small bet, 25,000 this time, on the 2♣ turn, which Cahill also called.
Wenzel then moved all in on the 7♣ river, for a huge bet of 285,000, covering Cahill by a few blinds.
"Did you see my 100K's?" Cahill asked. "Did you see that I have 250,000?"
Wenzel did not reply and continued staring stoically. After five minutes or so, Cahill mucked his hand in defeat. The pot was shipped to Wenzel, who returned his cards to the dealer face down.
The 2025 Irish Open €1,150 Main Event has blown all expectations out of the water. For the first time, the Main Event sported a guaranteed prize pool of €2,500,000. However, when 4,548 entries were made across the five starting flights, that guarantee was absolutely crushed. The final prize pool amounted to €4,434,300 when the late registration of the last flight ended, a new record for the Irish Open.
About a third of the field made it through to Day 2, with the halls of the Royal Dublin Society being filled with the 1,393 players taking their seats at noon local time. Among them is Irish Open sponsor PokerStars' ambassador Fintan Hand, who accumulated 280,500 on his starting flight, well above the average stack of 162,000 and equaling over 70 big blinds. The Irishman is still some ways away from chipleader Michael Rolt's 765,000, however, which Rolt gathered on Day 1d.
Day 1b leader Michel Karim and Day 1c leader Borja Urrea complete the top three with 671,500 and 628,000 respectively. Meanwhile, the most notable name on the top of the leaderboard is that of Timothy Chung, whose 555,500 secured him ninth place.
Start of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Michael Rolt
United Kingdom
765,000
191
2
Michel Karim
Sweden
671,500
168
3
Borja Urrea
Spain
628,000
157
4
Oleksii Buhrim
Ukraine
627,500
157
5
Niall Campbell
Ireland
605,000
151
6
Uzair Choudhary
Canada
595,000
149
7
David Pollock
Ireland
572,500
143
8
Jason Tompkins
Ireland
559,500
140
9
Timothy Chung
Hong Kong
555,500
139
10
Gonzalo Veiga
Spain
555,000
139
Michel Karim
EPT champions Niall Farrell (240,500), Steve O'Dwyer (213,000), Tom Middleton (181,000), Ian Hamilton (158,000), Stephen Song (116,500), and Giuliano Bendinelli (90,000) have also found their way to Day 2, as have many more notables, including Christopher Brammer (363,000), Carl Shaw (336,000), Jamie Walden (187,500), and Robert Cowen (169,500).
Day 2 will resume with blinds at 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 ante. The Main Event will play nine 60-minute levels today, although due to the huge turnout, that will be subject to change. A short break will take place after every two levels, with a 45-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 20, around 6:45 p.m. local time.
The payout structure has not yet been made public, but with the bubble set to burst today, it is expected to be announced shortly after the shuffle up and deal. The cards-up live stream will also start today, and can be found on PokerStars' Twitch and YouTube channels.
The PokerNews team will be on the floor in Dublin to provide you with live updates throughout Day 2, so stay glued to this page as the bubble-bursting action will get underway shortly.
