Joe O'Donaill raised to 525,000 under the gun and Ian Simpson called all-in in the hijack for 200,000. Big blind Michel Karim also came along, after which a flop of 5♦4♦9♠ was spread.
Karim checked to O'Donaill, who fired a bet of 275,000. Karim quickly folded, and the cards were shown.
Ian Simpson: K♦J♣
Joe O'Donaill: A♦K♠
Simpson needed a jack to stay alive, but the Q♦3♥ emerged from the deck instead, eliminating the former Main Event winner from the field.
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.
Greg King
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 [Removed:548] 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
Chris Dowling
Marc Macdonnell and Jon Kyte received €8,300 for their 64th and 63rd place, while Canadian superstar Ari Engellost 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.
Parker Talbot
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.
