High Roller Champion Roope Tarmi Chip Leads €10,000 Super High Roller
Day 1 of the €10,000 Super High Roller has come to a close, in what turned out to be an intimate affair at the Royal Dublin Society. Sponsored by PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker, the largest buy-in event of the 2026 Irish Open saw ten entries in total across the day, with eight of those bagging chips for Day 2.
Leading the way, Roope Tarmi gave a lesson in how to turn a good day into an even better day. Having taken down the €5,000 High Roller earlier in the day, the Finnish player then jumped into the Super High Roller, ending the day as the chip leader.
Almost immediately after sitting down, Tarmi doubled up a short stack, but his fortunes soon turned around when he won a three-way all-in, which saw Jonathan Proudfoot eliminated. Tarmi carried the momentum through the remaining levels, ultimately bagging 255,000 chips for Day 2.
Hot on his heels, the aforementioned Proudfoot wasn't deterred by his early exit. After ponying up another €10,000, the accomplished Brit sat down with a fresh starting stack and ended the day with 238,000.
The only other player to finish the day with an above starting stack, Kenneth Broad, bagged 159,000.
Day 1 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roope Tarmi | Finland | 255,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Jonathan Proudfoot | United Kingdom | 238,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Kenneth Broad | United Kingdom | 159,000 | 53 |
| 4 | Andrew Hulme | United Kingdom | 99,000 | 33 |
| 5 | Joris Ruijs | Netherlands | 84,000 | 28 |
| 6 | Ranno Sootla | Estonia | 60,000 | 20 |
| 7 | Conor Bergin | Ireland | 50,000 | 17 |
| 8 | Marty Smyth | Ireland | 48,000 | 16 |
The only other elimination besides Proudfoot was that of Nils Pudel. The German qualified via a live satellite, but when he chose to move all in, attacking dead money in the middle preflop, it proved to be ill-timed. Conor Bergin made the call with a pocket pair and improved to quads to send Pudel to the rail.
All hope is not lost, though. Late registration and reentry remain open until the beginning of Day 2, which means Pudel and any other player who would like to join the field still have plenty of time to register.
Action is scheduled to resume at 1:00 p.m. local time on Thursday, April 2nd. Play will recommence at Level 11 with blinds of 1,000/3,000 and a 3,000 big blind ante, and will continue until just one player remains.
Be sure to tune back in to PokerNews when play resumes, and follow full coverage until a champion is crowned in the 2026 Irish Open Super High Roller.