With about 23,000 in the pot, Sebastian Crane in the big blind and David Masters in the cutoff got all their chips in the middle on the 3♣5♦4♦ flop, with Masters' stack of 86,000 being at risk.
David Masters: A♠A♥
Sebastian Crane: K♠K♣
Masters celebrated as his aces remained best on the 10♥8♣ runout, and he raked in a gargantuan double-up to be among the leaders in the room.
Ken Denning in the small blind, Parker Talbot in the big blind, and Edward Dunphy in the hijack went to a flop of 9♠Q♦J♦. Denning checked to Talbot, who placed the minimum bet of 800. Dunphy called before Denning folded.
The 2♠ turn saw Talbot toss in a massive over-bet of 12,000. A perplexed Dunphy eventually let go of his cards, after which Talbot allowed his opponent to table one of his cards.
Dunphy chose the 10♠. "Phew, the good one," Talbot joked as he was awarded the pot.
Derek McDonald opened the action with a raise to 1,500 under the gun. Carl Engdhal called in the cutoff before Michael Dwyer squeezed in a three-bet to 6,000 on the button.
McDonald quickly four-bet to 16,500, forcing Engdhal out of the pot. Dwyer responded by moving all in for 59,600, however, sending McDonald into the tank.
After a few minutes, McDonald opted to muck his cards and forfeit the pot to Dwyer.
At a table which also featured PokerStars ambassador Marle Spragg and €1,150 Luxon Mystery Bounty runner-up Carlo Wolters, Raoul van Wersch bet 5,500 into a pot of 14,500 from the small blind on a Q♣4♠6♠ flop.
Franco Munafo raised to 12,500 under the gun, which Van Wersch called. The 9♥ turn saw Munafo size up to 15,000, but this time Van Wersch raised all in.
Munafo's stack was covered, and he quickly called off his 29,000 total chips.
Franco Munafo: J♥J♣
Raoul van Wersch: K♥K♣
Munafo needed a jack to survive, but the river brought the meaningless A♥ instead, sending him to the exit.
Defending champion Simon Wilson was heads up in a pot against Michael McAleer.
Under the gun, McAleer placed a small bet of 2,200 into a pot of around 20,000 on the completed board of A♠5♦J♥4♣3♥, which Wilson raised to 22,000 in the hijack.
McAleer quickly folded, granting the sizable pot to Wilson.
One hand later, Barny Boatman opened to 1,000 at the same table under the gun. Gerard Fenech called on the button, and McAleer defended his big blind. McAleer led out for 1,600 on the 9♥2♥6♠ flop, seeing both opponents call.
He sized up to 5,000 on the 8♦ turn. This time, only Boatman called. Boatman called again when McAleer pushed in 8,500 on the 5♦ river.
McAleer showed K♥8♥ for a pair of eights, but Boatman had called down with 10♥9♠, winning the pot with top pair.
From the hijack, Anton Herrmann moved his remaining 30,700 chips in on a completed board of 3♦6♠4♠5♣8♣ for around a pot-sized bet. Jeroen Leuver was on the button and asked for a count.
Leuver cut out calling chips from his stack and slid them in after some thought. Herrmann tabled A♥A♣ for an overpair, doubling up as Leuver could only show ace-high with A♠Q♠.
With a massive 23,300 already in the pot, Kelly Slay checked the 3♥A♠2♥5♠ turn over to Richard Sysko. Sysko then moved all in for about 37,000, sending Slay into the tank.
After a couple of moments, Slay called, covering her opponent.
Richard Sysko: 2♠2♦
Kelly Slay: A♥9♥
Slay had flush outs against Sysko's set, and one of them arrived on the 4♥ river. An unhappy Sysko stormed out of the tournament room, while Slay raked in the massive pot.
"I didn't come here to fold," Slay shrugged as she stacked up the chips.
After some preflop action, Miroslav Forman had made it 5,300 on the button. Benjamin Kuch then put him all-in for 20,300 in total, and Forman called after some internal debate.
Miroslav Forman: A♥K♠
Benjamin Kuch: Q♠Q♥
Kuch won the classic flip on the 7♣10♥6♣4♠4♥ runout, sending Forman to an early exit.
Some minutes prior, Barny Boatman became the very first player to be eliminated from Day 1b.
Maksim Petrov had opened in the cutoff when Dmitrii Sokolov tossed in a three-bet to 1,000 from the small blind. Petrov came along to the Q♥6♠Q♦ flop, where he called Sokolov's continuation-bet of 2,000.
Sokolov sized up to 3,000 on the 10♣ turn, but checked the K♦ river once Petrov tossed in another called. Petrov then took the initiative with a bet of 6,000, which won him the pot as Sokolov quickly mucked his cards.
Springtime has come, meaning like every year, the halls of the Royal Dublin Society have been filled with poker players from around the world for the past few days for the 2026 Irish Open, which is once again sponsored by PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker. However, it will only get busier in the Irish capital as the marquee €1,150 Main Event continues at noon local time with Day 1b, the second of five starting flights.
Day 1a of the Main Event took place on Sunday and attracted a field of 467 entries, a comparable number to last year's record-breaking edition, putting the event on pace to smash the €2,500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Italian player Massimiliano Cordeschi conquered the chip lead with a stack of 773,000, worth nearly 130 big blinds at the start of Day 2. UK regular Ian Simpson follows Cordeschi with 554,000, while Daryl McAleenan was Ireland's best performer, ending in third place with 512,000.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Massimiliano Cordeschi
Italy
773,000
129
2
Ian Simpson
United Kingdom
554,000
92
3
Daryl McAleenan
Ireland
512,000
85
4
Alex Romero
Spain
511,000
85
5
Mark Doyle
Ireland
511,000
85
6
Zeb Arnold
United Kingdom
510,000
85
7
Kenneth Broad
United Kingdom
486,000
81
8
Mark Finnane
United Kingdom
455,000
76
9
Rostyslav Mozghovyi
Ukraine
453,000
76
10
Gerard Carbo
Spain
439,000
73
PokerStars Ambassador Alex Romero also booked a spot in the top five, while the newest addition to the Red Spade roster, David Lappin bagged an above-average stack of 296,000. Other notable names who have already progressed to Day 2 include Grind on Tour streamer Felix Schneiders (325,000) and 2022 Irish Open champion Steve O'Dwyer (275,000).
Alex Romero
Day 1b will follow the same structure as Day 1a, starting players off with 50,000 in chips. Fifteen 40-minute levels will be played, the first of which will be 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante, providing an opportunity for some deep-stacked play. A 50-minute dinner break is scheduled after Level 10, around 7:20 p.m. local time, after which the late registration will close. The day ends around midnight, after Level 15: 2,000/5,000 (5,000) has been completed, and a single reentry is permitted per flight.
Day 1b 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
PokerNews will be providing live coverage of the Irish Open from the start of Day 1b until a new champion has been crowned, so stay tuned for all the updates live from the tournament floor in Dublin.
