Stefan Ebinger raised to 10,000 under the gun with Stephen Heathcote calling in the cutoff and Edwin Roycroft defending out of the big blind.
All three players checked the 6♠5♠A♦ flop to see the 4♣ hit the turn. Roycroft and Ebinger checked, but Heathcote bet 20,000. This got two folds from Roycroft and Ebinger, and Heathcote took down the much-needed pot.
Sean Foley raised to 10,000 from the cutoff and Cathal Young called from the button before Marcin Wojtunik shoved for 42,000 from the small blind. Foley folded but Young called.
Marcin Wojtunik : K♦Q♦
Cathal Young : 9♠6♦
Wojtunik just needed to fade a nine or six to make it to Day 2. The board ran out Q♠7♠2♦Q♣3♣ to give Wojtunik trip queens and he doubled up.
The biggest flight so far of the €250,000 guaranteed International Poker Open Main Event has wrapped up, with 52 out of 268 entries maneuvering their way to finding a bag after fifteen 40-minute levels of poker.
Day 1e has also just concluded, with 28 players advancing to Day 2 out of 125 entrants. This brings the total number of participants in this year’s Main Event to 852, surpassing last year’s field of 794 and assuring the €250,000 guarantee is passed—all with one more flight still to go tomorrow morning.
After the final hand of Day 1d, the United Kingdom's Steven Frew emerged at the top of the chip counts with a stack of 378,000 after he carefully navigated his way through a tough field. Second in the counts is Ireland's Gary Hanley with 323,000, while Raymond Bryant rounds out the podium positions with a stack of 321,000.
End of Day 1d Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Steven Frew
United Kingdom
378,000
76
2
Gary Hanley
Ireland
323,000
65
3
Raymond Bryant
Ireland
321,000
64
4
Stephen Robinson
Ireland
305,000
61
5
Noel Murphy
Ireland
276,000
55
6
Gabor Csire
Ireland
263,000
53
7
Joe O'Donaill
Ireland
226,000
45
8
Tomas Flanagan
Ireland
220,000
44
9
Rory Liffey
Ireland
215,000
43
10
Kevin Keely
Ireland
205,000
41
Raymond Bryant
Bryant has come close to tasting IPO glory in the past, having finished second in the 2021 Main Event, where he achieved a career-best score of $32,946. This year, he surely will want to take it a step further, and with his current chip count, he’s well on his way to making that happen.
Another player who has gone under the radar today but managed to secure a stack of 125,000 for tomorrow is the founder of the IPO, Stephen McLean, who received a round of applause when he took his seat today for his contribution to this series since he first started it back in 2009. Mclean is also quite the shark at the poker table, having over $145,000 in live tournament earnings, so he will be one to keep an eye on tomorrow.
Stephen Mclean
First up tomorrow is Day 1f, the final flight of the Main Event, kicking off at 9:30 a.m. for early birds looking for one last shot at Day 2. This flight features a hyper-turbo format with 10-minute blinds. Like the previous five flights, players will go through 15 levels and can reenter once if needed.
For the players who have already earned their ticket, Day 2 kicks off at 1 p.m., with blind levels now extended to 50 minutes in length. Blinds will start at 2,000/5,000 with a big blind ante of 5,000, and the plan for the day will be announced once play gets underway.
The prize pool will be announced shortly after play begins, and with around 12.5% of the field making the money, the first goal for all returning players will be to survive the money bubble.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the latest action from the tables at the Bonnington Dublin Hotel, and find out who makes it through to the third and final day.
