The 45th anniversary of the Irish Poker Open sponsored by PokerStars has brought massive numbers with people flocking from around the globe to the fun-filled festival. The marquee event on the schedule is in full swing, and the stage is set to play towards the money on Day 2 on Saturday.
Friday's Day 1d flight was the busiest on record in the festival's history. With 1,841 entrants, most of the Royal Dublin Society was occupied by players looking to punch their ticket.
Now, five starting flights have come and gone in Dublin, Ireland, and the hopefuls advancing to Day 2 of the Irish Open Main Event have been established.
Michael Rolt bags the overall chip lead; massive prize pool established
An astounding 4,548 entrants participated in the Main Event across all flights, while 1,393 found their way into Day 2. Players will have their eyes on the €4,434,300 in the prize pool, another Irish Poker Open record which obliterated the €2.5 million guarantee. Payouts have yet to be finalized; they'll be released early in the day, while players still have several levels to play to reach the money.
Irish Poker Open Main Event Top-10 chip counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Rolt | 765,000 |
| 2 | Michel Karim | 671,500 |
| 3 | Borja Urrea Martinez | 628,000 |
| 4 | Oleksii Buhrim | 627,500 |
| 5 | Niall Campbell | 605,000 |
| 6 | Uzair Choudhary | 595,000 |
| 7 | David Pollock | 572,500 |
| 8 | Jason Thompkins | 559,500 |
| 9 | Timothy Chung | 555,500 |
| 10 | Gonzalo Veiga | 555,000 |
In pole position to compete for the big money is Michael Rolt, who bagged the overall chip lead with 765,000 to bring to battle on Saturday.
A slew of big names played their way into Day 2 with big stacks and look to ride their momentum into the money.
"Boston" Rob Mariano bagged 426,500, along with Soheb Porbandarwala (395,000), Vanessa Kade (370,000), Jon Kyte (390,000), Jeff Walsh (343,000), Daniel Rezaei (283,500), and Jack Hardcastle (252,000) all built dominating stacks coming into the important Day 2.
Veteran media member Jeff Walsh said, "It's been a long time since I had a day like that," after bagging 86 big blinds. "Everything went right."
As far as the PokerStars Ambassadors go, plenty of them are still in the hunt. Fintan Hand (280,500), Parker Talbot (267,000), Sebastian Huber (216,000), Benjamin Bruneteaux (214,500), Caitlin Comeskey (107,000), Marle Spragg (95,000), Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg (47,500), Alejandro Romero (46,000) all look to represent PokerStars via a deep run.
Remaining schedule
Players get back in action Saturday at noon for Day 2 with expectations to reach the money. Day 3 brings more feature-table, cards-up coverage on Sunday. Finally, Monday features the final table as they play to a winner.
Tune in to all the action airing on the PokerStars YouTube channel. We'll also have recaps after each day's action right here on PokerOrg.
