€1,150 Main Event Day 1b | 2026 Irish Open

04-01-2026 20:36 UTC+1

Ahuja Left Short

Frank Visser

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Mo Xu raised to 4,000 in early position, prompting Yurii Zabrodotskyi to commit his 51,500 on the button. Ankit Ahuja then reshoved from the big blind, and Xu let his hand go after some thought.

Yurii Zabrodotskyi: 9♠9♣ All in
Ankit Ahuja: A♣Q♦

Ahuja failed to pair up on the 3♥5♥3♦4♠8♦ board, seeing Zabrodotskyi double up. Ahuja, meanwhile, was left with 18 big blinds as a result.

Player	Chips	Progress
Yurii Zabrodotskyi	110,000
Mo Xu	65,000
Ankit Ahuja	36,000 114,000	114,000

Tags: Ankit Ahuja Mo Xu Yurii Zabrodotskyi

04-01-2026 20:27 UTC+1

Bernstein Busts in Classic Flip

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Frank Visser

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Mark Johnston raised to 4,000 in the hijack. Alexander Bernstein upped the ante to 11,000 on the button, which Johnston clicked back to 26,000.

Bernstein then five-bet jammed for 72,000, and Johnston flicked in a quick call.

Alexander Bernstein: A♠K♥ All in
Mark Johnston: Q♥Q♦

Bernstein stood up as Johsnton flopped a set on 6♥A♦Q♣, and his elimination was confirmed after the 3♣ turn. The 8♣ river did not matter anymore as Johnston was sent the sizable pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mark Johnston	175,000
Alexander Bernstein	Busted

Tags: Alexander Bernstein Mark Johnston

04-01-2026 20:14 UTC+1

Chip Counts, Late Entries, and Recent Eliminations

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Frank Visser

Level 11 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
George Devlin	350,000 183,000	183,000
Fabio De Lima	328,000 328,000	328,000
Hamza Nasir	289,000 49,000	49,000
Georgios Alexandropoulos	275,000 275,000	275,000
Susan Murphey	274,000 274,000	274,000
David Jones	268,000 268,000	268,000
Arni Gunnarsson	254,500 254,500	254,500
Hogni Kjeld	250,000 250,000	250,000
Pierre Basely	242,000 159,500	159,500
Neculai Macovei	235,000 235,000	235,000
Victor Gil	232,000 15,000	15,000
Leo Worthington-Leese	227,000 20,000	20,000
Benjamin Kuch	225,000 105,000	105,000
Gareth McKee	225,000 80,000	80,000
Danilo Donnini	224,000 151,500	151,500

David Masters	218,000 2,000	2,000
Jeroen Leuver	173,000 7,000	7,000
Padraig O'Neill	171,000 60,000	60,000

Samuel Tafler	166,000 18,000	18,000
Vincent Ciarrocchi	164,000 29,000	29,000
Isaac Barker	161,000 9,000	9,000
Hector Berry	161,000 90,300	90,300

Henrik Hoerwing	160,500 31,500	31,500
Vetle Holum	157,500 40,500	40,500
Minh Duc Vu	157,500 29,500	29,500

Read full

Level: 11

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

04-01-2026 19:34 UTC+1

Doug Polk Breaks Silence on The Lodge Raid | PokerNews Podcast #949

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

In the 949th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow do an emergency show to react to the long-awaited video by Doug Polk in which he discusses the raid on his Texas card club. The Lodge. Find out what the large shareholder had to say, his timeline of events, and where things currently stand.

Plus, what did Doug think about the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) theory, some reasons players should remain optimistic for a positive outcome, and why Thursday, April 9, is an important date to remember.

Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.

A new PokerNews Podcast drops every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!

Click here to listen to the new PN Podcast!

04-01-2026 19:22 UTC+1

Dinner Time; Late Registration to Close

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

The 354 remaining players have been sent on their 50-minute dinner break. The Irish Open Main Event will resume around 8:10 p.m. local time.

The late registration will remain open until the end of this dinner break.

04-01-2026 19:21 UTC+1

Van der Swaluw Finds Massive Double as Ho and O'Kane Muck Monsters

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Chong Ho had opened in early position, and Tiaran O'Kane three-bet to 8,500 in the next seat over. Alex van der Swaluw then four-bet all in for 41,800, after which Dara O'Kearney reshoved for 57,700.

Ho let his cards go, later claiming to have pocket queens, and O'Kane folded his A♠K♠ face up as well.

Alex van der Swaluw: 10♦10♣ All in
Dara O'Kearney: A♦K♥

A distraught Ho looked on as the 5♥9♣3♣6♦9♦ board did not pair up O'Kearney, meaning the pot would have been his, but was shipped to a jovial Van der Swaluw instead.

"I've been waiting for a hand like this for seven hours. I was happy to get it in," Van der Swaluw stated as he raked in the chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alex van der Swaluw	98,500 46,000	46,000
Tiaran O'Kane	58,500 58,500	58,500
Chong Ho	45,000 45,000	45,000
Dara O'Kearney	15,900 30,600	30,600

Tags: Alex van der Swaluw Chong Ho Dara O'Kearney Tiaran O'Kane

04-01-2026 19:13 UTC+1

Rus Falls to Leuver

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Anton Herrmann had raised in middle position when Jeroen Leuver three-bet to 9,500 in the cutoff. Mircea Rus then committed his stack of about 30,000 on the button, folding out Hermann.

Leuver quickly called, putting his neighbor at risk of elimination.

Mircea Rus: A♦Q♦ All in
Jeroen Leuver: J♥J♣

Leuver flopped a full house on J♦9♠9♣ and locked up the pot on the 4♠ turn. The meaningless 10♥ river was dealt as Rus said his goodbyes and Leuver chipped up to about twice the average stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jeroen Leuver	180,000 85,000	85,000
Anton Herrmann	126,000 22,000	22,000
Mircea Rus	Busted

Tags: Anton Herrmann Jeroen Leuver Mircea Rus

04-01-2026 19:03 UTC+1

Too Many Outs for Albers

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

Damian Albers got his stack of 50,000 all in preflop from early position against Isaac Barker in the big blind, and was at risk.

Damian Albers: A♠K♠ All in
Isaac Barker: 6♠6♥

Albers added a flush draw to his arsenal of outs on the Q♠9♥4♠ flop, but the 3♥ turn and J♥ river left him unimproved. He took his exit from the table, busting his second and thus final bullet of the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Hamza Nasir	240,000
David Masters	220,000 22,000	22,000
Isaac Barker	170,000 170,000	170,000
Damian Albers	Busted

Tags: Damian Albers Isaac Barker

04-01-2026 18:51 UTC+1

Curran and Keenan Clash at Lightning Speed

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Frank Visser

Level 10 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante

John Curran had opened from the hijack before he called cutoff Gerard Keenan three-bet to 8,000. Keenan quickly tossed in bets of 5,000 on the 5♥7♦A♥ flop and 10,000 on the 7♣ turn, with Curran check-calling both times instantly.

After Curran checked for a third time on the 8♦ river, Keenan moved all in. Curran immediately folded his cards, and Keenan raked in the pot, which lasted for no longer than 30 seconds.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gerard Keenan	84,000 84,000	84,000
John Curran	45,000 45,000	45,000

Tags: Gerard Keenan John Curran