Poker pros from near and far showcased their talents in one of the latest High Roller contests during the 2026 Irish Poker Open as Event #74 €3,000 High Roller 8-Max kicked into gear at Royal Dublin Society.
At least €248,078 will be up for grabs in the prize pool but it seems likely that the figure will increase further, as the late registration and re-entry period remains open until the start of the final day at noon local time on Sunday, April 5, 2026. So far, the field has reached 93 entries of which 45 players advanced and the duo atop the leaderboard is separated by fewer than two big blinds.
Stanislaw Grodek (267,000) and Andrew Mikhail (263,500) won their respective final hand of the night with the latter hitting broadway to topple the turned set of Hugo Montes De Oca.
Also among the big stacks upon completion of ten levels of 40 minutes each is the winner of the 2026 Irish Open Shoot-Out Championship just one day ago, as Brandon Harris advanced with 192,500 in chips. He is joined in the top ten by Maximilian Sanders (192,000), Pavlos Xanthopoulos (184,000) and Dean Lyall (162,000).
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
| 1 | Stanislaw Grodek | 267,000 |
| 2 | Andrew Mikhail | 263,500 |
| 3 | Cornelis Van Gent | 225,000 |
| 4 | Luciano Piaggesi | 193,000 |
| 5 | Brandon Harris | 192,500 |
| 6 | Maximilian Sanders | 192,000 |
| 7 | Pavlos Xanthopoulos | 184,000 |
| 8 | Max Burney | 174,500 |
| 9 | Josep Ruiz Mercade | 169,000 |
| 10 | Dean Lyall | 162,000 |
Narrowly outside of the top ten is two-time High Roller champion Roope Tarmi, who tripled his starting stack to 152,000 and will be eager to chase the three-peat. Among the Day 1 survivors is also the Irish EPT Main Event champion Padraig O’Neill, who advanced with 60,000 to his name.
Notable casualties included Ravi Sheth, Leon Kilian, Conor Bergin, Scott Berko and Terry Jordon. All of them still have the option to re-enter until the first card is dealt on Day 2. The recommencing blinds will be 1,500-3,000 with a big blind ante of 3,000 to give all entrants at the very last minute 16 big blinds worth.
