Day 1b of the 2026 Irish Open €1,150 Main Event, sponsored by PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker, saw 709 entries being made during its ten levels of registration. With Day 1b totaling nearly two dozen entries more than last year's edition, the tournament stands at 1,176 total entries and is still on course to set a new record as the €2,500,000 guaranteed prize pool is already almost halfway met.
After 15 levels of play at the Royal Dublin Society, the 149 survivors bagged up for Day 2, joining the 93 players who made it through on Day 1a on Saturday. Topping the counts was Lawrence Penfold, who cracked James O'Connor's pocket aces during the last level of the night by hitting quad queens. Penfold, a former PokerStars Supernova Elite player, rode the momentum to gather some more chips during the final hands and ended Day 1b with 796,000, nearly 18 starting stacks and good for 133 big blinds at the start of Day 2.
Penfold is followed by Frenchman Abel Pruchon with 666,000, while Fraser Bellamy sits in third with just 1,000 fewer chips. The international top ten also features South Africa's Gavin Sardini, Italy's Danilo Donnini, and Vincent Ciarrocchi from the United States.
End of Day 1b Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lawrence Penfold | United Kingdom | 796,000 | 133 |
| 2 | Abel Pruchon | France | 666,000 | 111 |
| 3 | Fraser Bellamy | United Kingdom | 665,000 | 111 |
| 4 | Hamza Nasir | United Kingdom | 617,000 | 103 |
| 5 | Gavin Sardini | South Africa | 544,000 | 91 |
| 6 | Thomas Waters | United Kingdom | 532,000 | 89 |
| 7 | Pierre Basely | France | 530,000 | 88 |
| 8 | Danilo Donnini | Italy | 527,000 | 88 |
| 9 | Vincent Ciarrocchi | United States | 521,000 | 87 |
| 10 | Ben Dixon | United Kingdom | 519,000 | 87 |
Meanwhile, Anthony Fagan became the best-performing Irishman by gathering 396,000 chips. Other notable hometown players include Conor O'Driscoll (391,000), 2016 Irish Open winner Dan Wilson (290,000), EPT Prague champion Padraig O'Neill (224,000), and Michael Dwyer (138,000).
Three PokerStars ambassadors tried their luck today, but Sebastian Huber, Adam McKola, and Marle Spragg all busted before the end of the day. PaddyPower Poker ambassador Dara O'Kearney was eliminated just after the final break of the night, not long after defending champion Simon Wilson had lost his last chips. Other players who will have to try to make Day 2 on another starting flight include Sinead Davenport, Matthew Davenport, Barny Boatman, Parker Talbot, and Ankit Ahuja.
The Irish Open Main Event will continue tomorrow, Thursday, April 2, at noon local time with Day 1c, the third of five starting flights. Day 1c will follow the same structure as Day 1b, meaning another 15 40-minute levels of play are on the cards. Late registration is open for the first ten levels, with a single reentry allowed per flight.
PokerNews will be back on the floor at the "shuffle up and deal" tomorrow, so tune back in then for all the latest poker news from the Irish Open in Dublin.
