Robert Fluereci, who finished eighth in the Irish Open Main Event last year, had opened his button and called when Wayne Finlay flicked in a three-bet from the big blind.
Fluereci placed a continuation-bet on the 3♠K♥5♥ flop, which Fluereci called. Finlay seemed to slow down on the 4♥ turn, checking it over to Fluereci.
With the pot having grown to about 18,000, Fluereci took the initiative with a bet of 14,000. Finlay then moved all in for about 50,000, and Fluereci quickly called with the covering stack.
Wayne Finlay: A♣10♥
Robert Fluereci: 5♠4♠
Finlay needed to hit a flush or a straight to double up, but he made a pair on the A♠ river instead. Fluereci's two pair remained best, and he shipped the massive pot to be among the leaders in the room.
Robert McAdam opened the action with a raise to 1,300 under the gun. Stefanos Chortis flat-called in the hijack, and Jamie Sequeira and Alex O'Brien followed suit in the cutoff and button, respectively.
Simon Wilson eyed the action before he squeezed in a three-bet to 7,600 from the small blind. McAdam clicked it back to 18,700, folding out Chortis.
Sequeira had other plans, however, and four-bet all in for 35,000. O'Brien got out of the way, but Wilson reshoved, covering McAdam's stack of 60,000. McAdam eventually let his cards go as well, forcing a showdown between Wilson and Sequeira.
Jamie Sequeira: 6♠6♣
Simon Wilson: K♠K♣
Sequeira flopped a set on 6♥10♠7♦ for a big lead over Wilson's kings. No chops were available after the A♠ turn, and the 10♣ river improved Sequeira to a full house, raking in the pot as he almost tripled up.
With both the €5,000 High Roller and the €10,000 Super High Roller titles already under his belt this week, Roope Tarmi has taken his seat in the Main Event. The Finnish pro is looking to win an unprecedented third trophy at the 2026 Irish Open.
Loic Francois had opened from the hijack when defending champion Simon Wilson three-bet to 4,400 from the big blind. Francois clicked it back to 10,500, and Wilson flicked in a call.
Francois continued for 5,500 on the 3♥J♣A♠ flop. Wilson check-called before both players checked the 6♠ turn. Wilson took some time before announcing a bet of 16,000 on the 9♠ river.
Francois eventually found a fold, eliciting a smile from Wilson. Wilson then allowed Francois to table one of his cards, and Francois picked the K♦.
Alan Gilmore kicked off the action with a raise to 700 from under the gun. When play folded to John Duthie in the cutoff, he three-bet to 2,200. The players in between folded, and Gilmore called.
Both players checked on the 3♥6♣J♥ flop, prompting Gilmore to lead out for 2,600 on the 9♥ turn, which Duthie called.
The A♣ river slowed the action, as both players checked.
Gilmore revealed 10♠8♠, which was unable to beat Duthie's K♠9♠.
The action was caught on a completed board of K♣6♠5♦2♥6♣. Atte Franssila checked in the cutoff to Alan Flannery on the button, who fired 12,000 into the already sizable pot of 15,000.
Flannery took some time, then tossed in a calling chip. Flannery showed 6♥6♦ for four sixes, and Franssila could only muck his cards in defeat.
Some time earlier at this table, Ankit Ahuja got his pocket kings in against the pocket aces of Thomas Venet, and busted when the board failed to improve him.
Scott Berko opened his button to 500. 2024 Irish Open champion Tero Laurila called in the small blind, and Andrew Dooley came along in the big blind.
The A♦6♥J♣ flop was checked to Berko, who continued with another bet of 500. Laurila called before Dooley folded. Berko sized up to 1,700 on the 3♥ turn, again seeing Laurila check-call.
Laurila kept checking on the 9♦ river. Berko spent some time in the tank before firing an overbet of 6,300 into the pot. Laurila quickly looked him up, but he mucked his cards in defeat when Berko tabled J♥J♦ for a flopped set.
The time has arrived for the last two starting flights of the 2026 Irish Open €1,150 Main Event. The tournament sponsored PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker boasts a guaranteed prize pool of €2,500,000, but with 2,241 entries on the previous three starting days, that number will get shattered as Day 1d and Day 1e play out at the Royal Dublin Society today.
In fact, this year's Main Event is on pace to set a new attendance record by a couple of dozen entries, meaning all eyes today will be on the number 4,562, the record-breaking number of entries from last year's edition. Day 1d will kick off at noon local time, while the turbo flight of Day 1e provides a final shot to make Day 2 at 8 p.m.
All registrants today will be chasing Lawrence Penfold. The old-school online grinder captured the overall chip lead on Day 1b by amassing a stack of 796,000, good for 133 big blinds when play restarts on Day 2. Penfold is followed by Italian player Massimiliano Cordeschi, who gathered 773,000 chips on Day 1a. Meanwhile, third-place finisher in the 2025 Mini Irish Open, Alexander Rizvi, has made a good start at bettering that score in the big Main Event, bagging 748,000 chips on Day 1c for a third place on the overall leaderboard.
Day 1a, 1b and 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Lawrence Penfold
United Kingdom
796,000
133
2
Massimiliano Cordeschi
Italy
773,000
129
3
Alexander Rizvi
United Kingdom
748,000
125
4
Alex Todd
United Kingdom
746,000
124
5
Abel Pruchon
France
666,000
111
6
Fraser Bellamy
United Kingdom
665,000
111
7
Ronan Sweeney
Ireland
627,000
105
8
Yan Birg
Belgium
618,000
103
9
Hamza Nasir
United Kingdom
617,000
103
10
Karl Nolan
Ireland
557,000
93
Lawrence Penfold
Day 1d will follow the same structure as the previous three starting flights; 15 40-minute levels will be played today, ending around midnight. Each fresh entry will receive 50,000 chips, and the first level will be 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. A single reentry is allowed per starting day, and late registration will end after the 50-minute dinner break, which is scheduled after Level 10, around 7:20 p.m. local time.
Day 1e, meanwhile, has a faster structure with 20-minute levels. The same ten levels of late registration apply, meaning the latest anyone can enter the 2026 Irish Open Main Event is when the clock strikes midnight. Day 1e will then play five more levels, and is scheduled for a late-night finish around 1:40 a.m. PokerNews will provide an in-depth live report for Day 1d, while Day 1e's chip counts will be posted before the start of Day 2. The PokerStars live stream will also start today, kicking off at 8:30 p.m. local time on their YouTube channel.
Day 1d Structure
Level
Length (min)
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
1
40
100
100
100
2
40
100
200
200
3
40
100
300
300
4
40
200
400
400
Break
20
5
40
200
500
500
6
40
300
600
600
7
40
400
800
800
Break
20
8
40
500
1,000
1,000
9
40
600
1,200
1,200
10
40
800
1,600
1,600
Dinner Break
50
11
40
1,000
2,000
2,000
12
40
1,000
2,500
2,500
13
40
1,500
3,000
3,000
Break
20
14
40
2,000
4,000
4,000
15
40
2,000
5,000
5,000
How large will the 2026 Irish Open Main Event get? Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out, as we will bring you all the latest from the final starting flights live from the tournament floor in Dublin.
