2026 Irish Open
Level: 10
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 1,600
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.
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♠
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.
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♦
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.
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♣
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.
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.
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.
Level: 11
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 2,000