2026 Irish Open

€1,150 Main Event
Day: 1de
Event Info
2026 Irish Open
Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a2
Prize
€336,798
Event Info
Buy-in
€1,150
Prize Pool
€4,852,910
Total Entries
5,003
Level Info
Level
44
Blinds
2,000,000 / 4,000,000
Ante
4,000,000
Players Info - Day 1de
Entries
2,762
Players Left
742
Players Left 1 / 5,003
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€1,150 Main Event

Day 1de Completed

Kristian Svanbom Tops Record Breaking Flight as Irish Open Announces Travel Plans

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Irish Open 2026
Irish Open 2026

When the doors opened for the 2026 Irish Open earlier today, the masses swarmed into the halls of the Royal Dublin Society. 



Sponsored by PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker, Day 1d of the €1,150 Main Event promised to be the busiest flight of all, and that promise was delivered. When registration closed, 2,037 of poker’s heroes, hotshots and hopefuls had ensured that the previous record for a Day 1 flight at the Irish Open had been smashed.

Including the turbo Day 1e flight, which is yet to conclude but has already closed registration, a total of 5,003 entries were recorded, creating a mammoth prize pool of €4,852,910; almost doubling the initial guarantee.

Owing to its many years of success, it was also announced today that the Irish Open will be packing its bags and going global, with stops scheduled in Australia, Morocco and the U.S.A.

With records being broken and huge news being dropped, the buzz in the room spread to the tables, but amid the light-hearted chatter, there was still a job to do: bag chips for Day 2.

Kristian Svanbom
Kristian Svanbom

When all was said and done, 487 players achieved that goal, securing their spots in the lineup to continue playing for what will be life-changing money for the eventual champion.

Leading the way from flight Day 1d, Kristian Svanbom found a late-night miracle to catapult him to the top of the leaderboard. The Swede found himself with the worst of it in a three-way all-in, but the river bailed him out, and the resulting chips saw him well on his way to holding the end-of-day chip lead.

Not far behind, Glenn Cochrane enjoyed a successful day at the tables and, having bagged 740,000, will begin Day 2 with 123 big blinds. Hot on their heels, and rounding out the podium places, is Jiri Kocab of Czechia, with a stack of 731,000.

Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Kristian SvanbomSweden899,000150
2Glenn CochraneUnited Kingdom740,000123
3Jiri KocabCzechia731,000122
4Florian BockGermany655,000109
5Iani TulicaRomania629,000105
6Francesco GisolfiItaly621,000104
7Gilbert BlackUnited Kingdom620,000103
8Ian HamiltonUnited Kingdom609,000102
9Sushil KrishanGermany533,00089
10Tai Quoc HoangUnited Kingdom525,00088
Ian Hamilton
Ian Hamilton

Further down the chip counts, heavy hitters such as Ian Hamilton (609,000), William Kassouf (468,000), hometown hero Kevin Killeen (441,000), Dean Lyall (346,000), reigning champion Simon Wilson (261,000) and double high roller champion Roope Tarmi (204,000) also progressed. PokerStars Team Pro members Rory Jennings (193,000), Julien Brecard (148,000) and Guillermo Sanz (58,000) will also be in the mix when chips are emptied onto the felt for Day 2.

Not all who entered prospered, though. Players such as Benjamin Spragg, John Duthie, Fintan Hand and Dara O'Kearney all fell shy of putting chips into a bag.

With late registration now closed in the turbo flight, it is just a matter of time before the full Day 2 lineup is confirmed.

Starting at noon local time tomorrow, Day 2 is scheduled to resume on Level 16, with blinds of 3,000/ 6,000 and a big blind ante of 6,000. The plan is to play 10 hour-long levels, with play for the day ending at the conclusion of Level 25. At that point, the remaining players will bag their chips and progress to Day 3.

2026 Irish Open Main Event - Remaining Schedule

DayDateTime
Day 2April 412:00 p.m.
Day 3April 512:00 p.m.
Day 4April 61:00 p.m.

Be sure to tune into PokerNews where you will find live coverage of all the major moments until a 2026 Irish Open Champion is crowned.

Tags: Benjamin SpraggDara O'KearneyDean LyallFintan HandGlenn CochraneGuillermo SanzIan HamiltonJiri KocobJohn DuthieJulien BrecardKevin KilleenKristian SvanbomRoope TarmiRory JenningsSimon WilsonWilliam Kassouf

Day 1e Chip Counts

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Mandu Sansonnens ch
Mandu Sansonnens
491,000
491,000
491,000
Day 1E Chip Leader
Profile photo of Christopher Gee gb
Christopher Gee
461,000
461,000
461,000
Profile photo of Noah Alem fr
Noah Alem
423,000
423,000
423,000
Profile photo of John Power ie
John Power
389,000
389,000
389,000
Profile photo of Vojtech Paxian si
Vojtech Paxian
362,000
362,000
362,000
Profile photo of Catalin Pop ro
Catalin Pop
360,000
360,000
360,000
Profile photo of Ray Langston us
Ray Langston
337,000
337,000
337,000
Profile photo of Hiep Ninh ie
Hiep Ninh
336,000
336,000
336,000
Profile photo of Andre Winkler de
Andre Winkler
320,000
206,000
206,000
Profile photo of Robert McDowell ie
Robert McDowell
318,000
318,000
318,000
Profile photo of Robert Sherwood gb
Robert Sherwood
316,000
316,000
316,000
Profile photo of William Lawrence gb
William Lawrence
302,000
302,000
302,000
Profile photo of Brett McLaughlin gb
Brett McLaughlin
281,000
281,000
281,000
Profile photo of Brendan McGuinness gb
Brendan McGuinness
278,000
278,000
278,000
Profile photo of Robert O'Neill ie
Robert O'Neill
278,000
278,000
278,000
Profile photo of James Clossick gb
James Clossick
268,000
268,000
268,000
Profile photo of Tomas Fara cz
Tomas Fara
261,000
261,000
261,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Breffni Smith us
Breffni Smith
259,000
259,000
259,000
Profile photo of Niall McAleer ie
Niall McAleer
258,000
258,000
258,000
Profile photo of Erik van Hulst nl
Erik van Hulst
253,000
253,000
253,000
Profile photo of Marius Tersanszki ro
Marius Tersanszki
253,000
253,000
253,000
Profile photo of Mark Ridley gb
Mark Ridley
250,000
250,000
250,000
Profile photo of Mark Spelman ie
Mark Spelman
250,000
Profile photo of Patsalides Efstathios cy
Patsalides Efstathios
249,000
249,000
249,000
Profile photo of Anargyros Loizos gr
Anargyros Loizos
247,000
247,000
247,000

Read full

Day 1d Chip Counts (full)

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Kristian Svanbom se
Kristian Svanbom
899,000
134,000
134,000
Day 1D Chip Leader
Profile photo of Glenn Cochrane gb
Glenn Cochrane
740,000
201,000
201,000
Profile photo of Jiri Kocab cz
Jiri Kocab
731,000
429,000
429,000
Profile photo of Florian Bock de
Florian Bock
655,000
25,000
25,000
Profile photo of Iani Tulica ro
Iani Tulica
629,000
104,000
104,000
Profile photo of Francesco Gisolfi it
Francesco Gisolfi
621,000
510,000
510,000
Profile photo of Gilbert Black gb
Gilbert Black
620,000
500,000
500,000
Profile photo of Ian Hamilton gb
Ian Hamilton
609,000
64,000
64,000
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Sushil Krishan de
Sushil Krishan
533,000
163,000
163,000
Profile photo of Tai Hoang gb
Tai Hoang
525,000
525,000
525,000
Profile photo of Terry Farrelly ie
Terry Farrelly
516,000
19,000
19,000
Profile photo of Laurent Vauquelin fr
Laurent Vauquelin
515,000
230,000
230,000
Profile photo of Douglas Lee us
Douglas Lee
481,000
481,000
481,000
Profile photo of Shi Dong cn
Shi Dong
479,000
192,000
192,000
Profile photo of David Urban us
David Urban
474,000
474,000
474,000
Profile photo of Will Kassouf gb
Will Kassouf
468,000
26,000
26,000
Profile photo of Gerard McCullough ie
Gerard McCullough
456,000
351,000
351,000
Profile photo of Kevin Doherty gb
Kevin Doherty
455,000
95,000
95,000
Profile photo of Martin Ilavsky sk
Martin Ilavsky
444,000
444,000
444,000
Profile photo of Jose Sacramento pt
Jose Sacramento
442,000
442,000
442,000
Profile photo of Jun Miao cn
Jun Miao
442,000
442,000
442,000
Profile photo of Kevin Killeen ie
Kevin Killeen
441,000
26,000
26,000
Profile photo of Robert Fluereci ro
Robert Fluereci
440,000
97,000
97,000
Profile photo of Cosmin Iancu ro
Cosmin Iancu
430,000
430,000
430,000
Profile photo of Vidar Assersen no
Vidar Assersen
424,000
424,000
424,000

Read full

Day 1d Concludes; Day 1e Closes Late Registration

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

All of the 487 survivors of Day 1d have put their chips in the bags as 15 levels have been played out.

In the meantime, the late registration of the Day 1e turbo flight has been closed with 725 entries on the clock, bringing the total number of entries in the 2026 Irish Open Main event to 5,003, obliterating the previous record.

Stay tuned for the chip counts of Day 1d, as well as a recap of the day. The Day 1e chip counts will be posted before the start of Day 2.

Curia Leads and Shows During Final Hands

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Daniel Curia made it 12,000 to go in the hijack. Rik van Etten pushed in a three-bet to 32,000 on the button, which Curia called after some thought.

Curia then led out with a bet of 25,000 on the 623 flop, and fired another 25,000 on the 2 turn when Van Etten called the flop bet.

Curia promised Van Etten he would show if he received a fold, and Van Etten obliged by mucking his cards.

Curia tabled JJ for a pair of jacks, and he raked in one of the final pots of Day 1d.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Enric Brullet es
Enric Brullet
400,000
Profile photo of Matteo Zanardi it
Matteo Zanardi
375,000
270,000
270,000
Profile photo of Matteo Di Persio it
Matteo Di Persio
295,000
Profile photo of Daniel Curia de
Daniel Curia
290,000
Profile photo of Dmitri Dudakov ee
Dmitri Dudakov
255,000
255,000
255,000
Profile photo of Tijmen Bronkhorst nl
Tijmen Bronkhorst
230,000
215,000
215,000
Profile photo of Rik van Etten nl
Rik van Etten
210,000
Profile photo of Vedat Levi tr
Vedat Levi
165,000

Tags: Daniel CuriaRik van Etten

Phelan Hits Quad Aces to Triple Up

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante

Conal Prendergast kicked off the action with a raise to 10,000 in middle position. Lewis Rookyard flat-called in middle position, and table chipleader Florian Bock came along on the button.

David Phelan then pushed in his stack of 53,000 from the big blind, seeing Prendergast rejam for about 500,000. Rookyard snap-called his stack of 125,000 in the middle, prompting Bock to get out of the way and muck his cards.

David Phelan: AA All in
Lewis Rookyard: KK All in
Conal Prendergast: 88

Phelan's aces flopped top set on A57 and improved to quads on the A turn. Rookyard stayed alive by winning the side pot when the 9 river did not bring an eight, while Phelan tripled up by shipping the main pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Florian Bock de
Florian Bock
680,000
680,000
680,000
Profile photo of Conal Prendergast ie
Conal Prendergast
370,000
Profile photo of David Phelan ie
David Phelan
166,000
Profile photo of Lewis Rookyard gb
Lewis Rookyard
150,000

Tags: Conal PrendergastDavid PhelanFlorian BockLewis Rookyard

Svanbom Drills River for Double Knockout

Level 15 : Blinds 2,000/5,000, 5,000 ante
Kristian Svanbom
Kristian Svanbom

Kristian Svanbom in middle position, Joseph East in the hijack, and Josep Ruiz in the cutoff had each put in 35,000 on the 626 flop. The J then fell on the turn, prompting Svanbom to push all in.

He covered both opponents and saw East call off his remaining 80,000 chips. Ruiz went deep into the tank before also committing his stack, putting his 155,000 chips at risk.

Joseph East: 22 All in
Josep Ruiz: K6 All in
Kristian Svanbom: 76

Svanbom had the worst hand of the three contenders, but it became the best hand when he improved to a full house on the 7 river.

East and Ruiz left the table in a stunned state as Svanbom gleefully dragged the massive pot and solidified his position as one of the chipleaders in the room.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Kristian Svanbom se
Kristian Svanbom
765,000
350,000
350,000
Day 1D Chip Leader
Profile photo of Joseph East gb
Joseph East
Busted
Profile photo of Josep Ruiz es
Josep Ruiz
Busted

Tags: Josep RuizJoseph EastKristian Svanbom

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