Day 1 of the Irish Open 2023 is in the bag and players are now filling Hall 3 to capacity for today’s busy roster of Championship events and satellites. (So busy that the €150 PLO Deepstack had to be cancelled.)
See schedule here and live updates here.
Heads-Up tournament
The €350 Heads-up tournament kicked off at 2pm with 64 runners and is currently through to the final 16 in Round 3.
Ongoing: Hendon Mob Championship smashes Irish Open record
The €250 “THMC” The Hendon Mob Championship has attracted 354 entries so far – including last year’s champion Wadey Ashraf, PokerStars Ambassadors Benjamin Spragg and Georgina “GJReggie” James, Andy Black, Mick Graydon, Canadians June Jenkins, Elizabeth Bennett-Martin and Kim Kilroy, Kevin O’Donnell, UKIPT London 2013 champion Robbie Bull, GUKPT Manchester champion Marian Dumitrache, Colin Lovelock and Paul Leckey plus EPTLive commentator Joe Stapleton (who has a bounty on his head.)
Roland Boothby, Head of Partnerships at the Hendon Mob said: “We wanted to hold the Championship at the Irish Open just because of the prestige of the event and also I’d long been an admirer of those guys. We approached them and they were very positive and receptive.” Last year’s THMC attracted a total of 332 players, generating a €71,215 prize poolChampion Waheed “Wadey” Ashraf battled through a very long day to win the €10,825 first prize. Click here to watch Ashraf’s interview Laura Cornelius after last year’s victory.
€5k Luxon Pay High Roller
The €5k Luxon Pay High Roller gets underway at 8pm.
News from Day 1 – Noel Hayes takes the first trophy in the 6-Max Championship!
Irish player Noel Hayes achieved a lifetime best cash yesterday after taking the trophy and a €14,885 cash prize in the very first event of the 2023 Irish Open – the €350 6-max Championship event. The final four players chopped the event with prize money doled out according to their stacks at the time. There were 285 entries in total, with 35 players paid from the €86,141 total prize pool. Carl Dobrezelewski was runner-up for €13,160 with Baptiste Duny and Michail Tastanis getting €10,740 apiece. It was an early cash for last year’s Hendon Mob Championship winner Waheed “Wadey” Ashraf who finished 13th for €950. Last year’s Main Event champion, the legendary Steve O’Dwyer, was 22nd for €775. Kevin Killeen, the 2015 Irish Open Main Event runner-up, finished 25th while Kim Kilroy, one of a huge bunch of North American players attending this year’s tournament, was 26th. GUKPT London champion Johnathan McCann min-cashed for €560.