Stephen Dillon limped in under the gun without having seen his cards, after which Jakub Juklicek raised to 2,400 as next to act. Kamil Lakomy called in the hijack, and Dillon also called once it had folded back to him.
Juklicek tossed in another 2,400 on the 8♦10♦6♠ flop. Dillon immediately called, but was notified that he had acted out of turn. Dillon apologized as he thought it was heads up, after which Lakomy moved all in for 13,900.
Dillon wanted to rejam but was informed he could only call due to his action out of turn, so he called. Juklicek also called and snap-called Dillon when he shoved in his stack of 33,000 on the Q♠ turn.
Kamil Lakomy: 10♣7♣
Stephen Dillon: Q♦2♦
Jakub Juklicek: J♥9♦
No diamond arrived on the 2♥ river. Juklicek's straight remained the nuts, and he shipped the big pot to knock out both opponents and cross four starting stacks in chips.
With 17,700 in the pot, the dealer fanned the 5♣6♣J♠ for Raoul van Wersch in the big blind and Vasileios Paramythellis in the cutoff. Van Wersch checked to Paramythellis, who bet 7,500.
Van Wersch called to the 8♥ turn and checked it. Paramythellis then put in a bet of 20,500, leaving only 5,200 behind. After some thought, Van Wersch decided to put his opponent all-in, and he received a quick call.
Vasileios Paramythellis: A♣4♣
Raoul van Wersch: 10♠10♣
Van Wersch faded his opponent's outs on the 4♥ river, leaving him without chips and sending him to the exit.
Raymond Power in the big blind and Joe Ward on the button had gathered 25,000 in the pot when they went to the J♠10♠2♦ flop. Both players checked, prompting Power to bet 14,000 on the 7♥ turn.
Ward instantly called to the 10♦ river, where Power shoved all in. Ward's stack of 59,400 was slightly covered, and he took some time to think things through.
After about 30 seconds, Ward slammed in a call. Power tried to muck his cards, but the dealer revealed K♥9♥ for an attempted bluff.
Ward had called with K♣J♦ for jacks and tens, and he took down the enormous pot to be among the leaders in the room.
Three-way to a K♦2♠9♦ flop with around 5,000 in the middle, Sean Foley checked in the big blind before Ian Bosley bet 3,200 under the gun. Stribor Gruicic then upped the ante to 8,000, folding out Foley.
Bosley called to the 7♥ turn, however, which he checked over to Gruicic. Gruicic piled in a bet of 13,000 and quickly called when Bosley put him all-in for 38,400 in total.
Stribor Gruicic: 2♦2♣
Ian Bosley: A♥K♥
Gruicic's bottom set had already locked up the pot, and the inconsequential 6♦ river was dealt before he was shipped his double-up.
Daniel Pastor opened his button to 800 off a massive stack. Eugenio Peralta three-bet to 3,500 from the small blind, and Pastor called to come along to the 2♦10♥5♥ flop.
Peralta continued with a bet of 3,000, and Pastor called to see the 7♥ turn. Peralta slowed down with a check, eliciting a bet of 10,000 from Pastor.
Peralta called to the 8♠ river, which the players checked to showdown. Pastor could only show queen-high with Q♦9♦, leaving Peralta to take the pot with A♠A♦.
Brandon Harris under the gun and Sean Kozak in the hijack were looking at a completed board of 10♠5♥4♣Q♥9♥, already having amassed a massive pot of 40,000 chips.
Harris then virtually moved all in for 30,000. Kozak confirmed the amount before he quickly called.
Harris showed 10♥10♣ for a set of tens, and Kozak revealed A♦Q♠ before his cards ended in the muck.
"I thought it might be a set, but I can't fold ace-queen," Kozak stated as he saw Harris double up to a six-figure stack.
Sam James opened his button to 500, which Isaac Borghouts three-bet to 2,500 in the small blind. Matthew Stearns then bumped it up to 6,500, which only Borghouts called.
Both players checked the 10♥A♠5♣ flop, and Borghouts knuckled the table again on the 5♦ turn. Stearns flicked in a bet of 6,000 for Borghouts to call.
Borghouts checked a third time on the 8♥ river, prompting Stearns to pile in a hefty bet of 17,000. Borghouts debated for a few seconds before he called off.
Stearns tabled 10♠10♣ for a full house, and Borghouts mucked his cards in defeat.
Over at another table, John Catena became the first player to reach a six-figure stack after he eliminated Gilbert Black.
Michael Ray tossed in a big raise to 700 under the gun, which Tomas Jauring called on the button. Dmytro Naimushyn and Robert Fitzgerald defended their blinds, and the quartet went off to a 3♣8♥A♦ flop.
It checked to Ray, who continued for 800. Jauring called before Naimushyn and Fitzgerald mucked their cards. Jauring called again when Ray fired 1,600, on the 8♠ turn, leading to the 4♥ arriving on the river.
Ray completed his triple barrel with a bet of 2,500, but Jauring quickly raised to 7,500. Ray flicked in a calling chip but saw his A♣K♦ was no good against the A♠A♥ of Jauring, who had raked in the pot with his trapped aces.
A new day in Dublin means a new starting day of the 2026 Irish Open €1,150 Main Event, sponsored by PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker, is on the horizon. Day 1c, the third of five starting flights in the €2,500,000-guarantee tournament, is scheduled to kick off at noon local time, looking to add to the 1,176 total entries so far on Day 1a and Day 1b.
During last year's record-breaking edition of the Irish Open Main Event, Day 1c attracted a field of 1,012 entries. Day 1a and Day 1b both had a few more entries this year than their counterparts in the previous edition, meaning another busy day can be expected in the halls of the Royal Dublin Society.
Leading the 242 survivors of Day 1a and Day 1b is Lawrence Penfold. The old-school online poker player proved he still had what it takes on Day 1b, crushing the competition to end up with 796,000 in chips, good for over 130 big blinds at the start of Day 2. Penfold is closely followed by Day 1a chipleader Massimiliano Cordeschi, while Abel Pruchon, Fraser Bellamy, and Hamza Nasir also collected more than 100 big blinds in their starting flight.
Day 1a and 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Day 2 Big Blinds
1
Lawrence Penfold
United Kingdom
796,000
133
2
Massimiliano Cordeschi
Italy
773,000
129
3
Abel Pruchon
France
666,000
111
4
Fraser Bellamy
United Kingdom
665,000
111
5
Hamza Nasir
United Kingdom
617,000
103
6
Ian Simpson
United Kingdom
554,000
92
7
Gavin Sardini
South Africa
544,000
91
8
Thomas Waters
United Kingdom
532,000
89
9
Pierre Basely
France
530,000
88
10
Danilo Donnini
Italy
527,000
88
Lawrence Penfold
Day 1c will follow the same structure as Day 1a and Day 1b, meaning 15 40-minute levels will be played today. Each entry will receive a fresh stack of 50,000 chips, and the Main Event will start very deep-stacked, with the first level having blinds of 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante.
A 50-minute dinner break is scheduled around 7:20 p.m. local time, following Level 10. Late registration remains open until after dinner, when blinds reach 1,000/2,000 (2,000), and single reentry is permitted per starting flight. Day 1c will conclude when Level 15: 2,000/5,000 (5,000) has been completed, which will be around midnight.
Day 1c 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 live reporting Day 1c from start to finish, so stay tuned as the action will get underway in Dublin shortly.
