It's a great day to be in Ireland as a poker player right now.
The Irish Poker Open is a few days into the always-beloved annual festival, and the €2.5 Million Guaranteed Main Event kicked off with Day 1A on Sunday. Combine that with Irishman Rory McIlroy winning The Masters and completing golf's Grand Slam in dramatic fashion, and there's plenty to celebrate here.
The scene on Day 1A
A sunny Sunday morning welcomed players from around the world to the Royal Dublin Society, the festival venue. Many hopped right into the Main Event, but there were plenty of side events in which to participate. It's a packed schedule for the Irish Poker Open's 45th anniversary with more events than typical, which is a delight for players looking for choices.
The €1,150 Main Event kicked off at noon local time and saw a great turnout of 463 entrants for the opening flight. After a full day of play, only 114 players made it through to Day 2.
Martin Ilavsky (pictured above) bagged the biggest stack with 529,000, good for 176 big blinds. The Slovakian has nearly half a million in live tournament earnings, but he's still searching for that first six-figure score. This event will certainly give him that chance, and he's off to a great start.
How PokerStars ambassadors fared
A PokerStars festival isn't a PokerStars festival without the stars — the popular ambassadors — joining the action. Many of them played this opening flight, but only some made it through.
PokerStars' newest ambassador, Caitlin Comeskey bagged 107,000. She's looked up to by both Marle Spragg (95,000) and Alejandro Romero (46,000). Barny Boatman wasn't as fortunate, but he'll have a few more shots at making Day 2.
Not too late to join the party
PokerStars made a smart move by putting Day 1A on a Sunday. They were able to capture the weekend crowd with their opening flight. Now there are a couple of days with no Main Event action, but it picks up again with Day 1B on Wednesday. After the four starting flights, Day 2 will be on Saturday at noon.
Players won't be pushed to find stuff to do. Every day is filled with non-stop poker action, and every evening is filled with music, activities, and shenanigans at the 'Craic Den.'
Day 1A top 10 stacks
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Ilavsky |
529,000 |
| 2 | Andrii Nikitin |
526,000 |
| 3 | Philip Carroll |
523,500 |
| 4 | Michael Prendergast |
520,000 |
| 5 | James McCreanor |
460,500 |
| 6 | Mengshi Tian |
441,500 |
| 7 | Seamus Cahill |
438,000 |
| 8 | Stanislav Ivanov |
426,500 |
| 9 | Silviu Tanase |
410,000 |
| 10 | Stanislav Anufriiev |
405,000 |
All photos courtesy of PokerStars/Danny Maxwell
