After six starting flights over the past four days at the International Poker Open, the remaining field finally combines for Day 2 of the €250,000 guaranteed Main Event, getting underway at 1 p.m. local time. inside the magnificent Bonnington Dublin Hotel.
The hyper-turbo flight is still running and will finish just before cards are dealt for Day 2, so the current number of players starting today is yet to be determined. However, the total number of entrants for the IPO Main Event is 909, which has smashed last year's field of 794 players!
A total of 148 players qualified for Day 2 through the first five opening flights, but because Joe Ward qualified twice, only his largest stack will be brought through, meaning the current number stands at 147 before the Day 1e qualifiers are added to the field.
Leading the pack heading into Day 2 is Bolivia’s Rodrigo Diaz with an enormous stack of 452,000, which he accumulated during Day 1c. Hot on his heels is Aidan Quinlan with 444,000, while Paul Carr rounds out the top three positions with a stack of 420,000.
Day 1a - 1e Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rodrigo Diaz | Bolivia | 452,000 | 90 |
| 2 | Aidan Quinlan | Ireland | 444,000 | 89 |
| 3 | Paul Carr | Ireland | 420,000 | 84 |
| 4 | John Vogelaar | Ireland | 410,000 | 82 |
| 5 | Audrius Daugvilavicius | Lithuania | 392,000 | 78 |
| 6 | Steven Frew | United Kingdom | 378,000 | 76 |
| 7 | Veaceslav Jumir | Moldova | 350,000 | 70 |
| 8 | Daire Burke | Ireland | 345,000 | 69 |
| 9 | Paudie Cusack | Ireland | 336,000 | 67 |
| 10 | Gary Hanley | Ireland | 323,000 | 65 |
Plenty of other notables are still scattered around the chip counts, including 2021 IPO Main Event runer-up Raymond Bryant (321,000), Luke Walsh (302,000), Stephen Leahy (206,000), Dara O'Kearney (194,000), Leo Worthington-Leese (175,000), the fifth-place finisher of the 2023 IPO Main Event Richard O'Neill (144,000), and the IPO Founder Stephen Mclean (125,000).
Play is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m. local time and will start on Level 16, which features 2,000/5,000 blinds with a 5,000 big blind ante. Level lengths will be increased to 50 minutes each, and the schedule for Day 2 will be determined as the day progresses.
Shortly after play has started, the official prize pool will be announced, and with roughly 12.5% of the field being paid, the money bubble will be quickly upon those that remain.
IPO Main Event Entrant Numbers
| Flight | Entrants | Qualifiers |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1a | 80 | 12 |
| Day 1b | 160 | 22 |
| Day 1c | 219 | 34 |
| Day 1d | 268 | 52 |
| Day 1e | 125 | 28 |
| Day 1f | 57 | TBD |
Along with following PokerNews' live coverage straight from the tournament floor, you can also tune into the cards-up live stream, which will be airing later today on Twitch with a slight delay.
