Main Event cruises on with 2,241 entries so far

Day 1d of the Main Event kicks off at noon today and is likely to be full of a) tons of online qualifiers AND b) people with massive headaches after last night’s Beer Pong session in the Craic Den. And the Venn diagram for that could have a large overlap section.

For those who simply can’t get here for 1d at noon, there is the back-up option of a turbo Day 1e with 20-minute blind levels starting at 8pm.

Live stream starts today

Very excitingly, today is also DAY 1 of the live stream!!!! If you can’t be here in person, then NOTHING beats watching the Irish Open on the live stream!

We are very much looking forward to hearing the dulcet tones of award-winning commentators James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton, along with PokerStars Team Pro Nick Walsh and guest commentator 2017 Irish Open Champion Griffin Benger.

Coverage at 8.30pm local time tonight.

Day 8 highlights video

The €2.5 million guaranteed Irish Open Main Event is on pace to break last year’s record, with 2,241 entries reported through the first three starting heats. Yesterday’s Day 1c attracted 1,065 entries with 252 players through to tomorrow’s Day 2. Britain’s Alexander Rizvi and Alex Todd are the soaraway Day 1c chip leaders with 748,000 and 746,000 respectively.

Just before dinner break, it seemed that two-time EPT Prague Main Event finalist Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot was on track towards claiming Day 1c’s top spot as he charged to over 450,000 but his stack eventually dropped to 187,000. That will be close to average when he returns for Day 2 tomorrow.

Other notable players who also made it through 1c yesterday were Sinead Davenport who is top lady at present with 497,000. Hubby Matthew isn’t far behind, currently in 11^th place with 477,000. The pair married in August 2024 and now travel playing tournaments together.

Michael Malm thriving

Also still in is Calgary qualifier Michael Malm (322,000). Malm won a huge $17,510 package at the Deerfoot Casino which included two Main Event entries, round-trip airfare for two plus accommodation. The package was one of two that were auctioned at a huge $645,000 fund-raiser for the youth and community charity, the  Calgary Flames Foundation. Organiser Don Forigo, a former President of the Canada Poker Tour, bought both packages – gave one to the Deerfoot for their satellite and took the other package himself. After a raucous session of Beer Pong last night – partnering Cedric Billot, Associate Director of PokerStars Live Events, Don will be playing Day 1d today.

Also still in: Jack Hardcastle with 240,000 and EPT Paris champion and wizard looky-likey Barny Boatman on 200,000.

The stats so far are:

Day 1A: 467 entries, 93 advanced
Day 1B: 709 entries, 149 advanced
Day 1C: 1,065 entries, 253 advanced

So far: 2,241 entries (2,163 last year at this stage)

Check out our live updates page for more info – just click the event title. And don’t forget you can also see all tourney results on the PS Live app.  

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For full details of the Craic Den schedule, click here. Loads of Craic Den pics are here

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