Level 15: 2,000/5,000/5,000
Entries: 93/467
Prize Pool: €2,500,000
The Royal Dublin Society was packed to the rafters today, as 467 hopefuls ponied up the €1,150 buy-in for Day 1A of the €2,500,000 guaranteed 2026 Irish Open Main Event, surpassing last year’s total of 463 entries.
After 15 levels of play, 2013 champion Ian Simpson put himself in prime position for another tilt at the title after bagging up 554,000, only lagging behind Massimiliano Cordeschi of Italy (773,000) from the list of qualifiers.
Simpson was not the only former champion to find a bag, as 2023 winner Steve O’Dwyer (275,000) and 2019 victor Wei Zheng (202,000) also progressed, while 2010 runner-up Paul Carr (207,000) is still in the mix.
PokerStars ambassadors Alex Romero (511,000), Felix Schneiders (325,000) and David Lappin (296,000) also had productive days.
End of Day 1A Top Ten Chip Counts
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Massimiliano Cordeschi | Italy | 773,000 |
| 2 | Ian Simpson | United Kingdom | 554,000 |
| 3 | Daryl McAleenan | United Kingdom | 512,000 |
| 4 | Mark Doyle | Ireland | 511,000 |
| 5 | Alex Romero | Spain | 511,000 |
| 6 | Zeb Arnold | United Kingdom | 510,000 |
| 7 | Kenneth Broad | United Kingdom | 486,000 |
| 8 | Mark Finnane | Ireland | 455,000 |
| 9 | Rostyslav Mozghovyi | United Kingdom | 453,000 |
| 10 | Gerard Carbo | Spain | 439,000 |
For full details of Day 1A qualifiers, see the PLAYERS tab above.
Day 1B is scheduled for noon on 4 April, with Day 2 taking place at noon on 5 April, with the remaining starting flights guaranteed to be action-packed. Stay tuned for all your coverage of the action.
See the video below for a summary of all the action for Day 4 of the 2026 Irish Open.
