Irishman Simon Wilson Bags Big as 109 Players Survive Day 2 of Irish Open Main Event
An eventful day at the Royal Dublin Society saw the 743 players, out of 3,233 total entries, who started Day 2 of the €1,150 Irish Open Main Event be whittled down to just 109 survivors. They have secured themselves a cut of at least €4,720 from the €3,152,175 prize pool, but all eyes are on the gargantuan top prize of €415,615 which comes with winning the tournament.
Leading them is the relatively unknown Greek player Konstantinos Vatseris with 3,215,000 chips, good for 129 big blinds at the start of Day 3, but Ireland's best performer was Simon Wilson, who occupies the second place on the leaderboard with 2,710,000 in chips.
Wilson, a regular on the European circuit, got most of his chips in a crazy three-way all-in in the later stages of Day 2. He finished fifth in the €3,000 High Roller at the Irish Open last year and will be looking for his second final table in two years in this year's Main Event.
Meanwhile, Georgios Tsouloftas rounds out the podium with a stack of 2,400,000 chips, while online phenom Conor Beresford (1,990,000) also managed to bag big. Much to the delight of the home crowd, Wilson's fellow countrymen Aidan Quinlan (2,340,000) and Robert Shanley (1,840,000) also secured a spot in the top ten.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 3 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Konstantinos Vatseris | Greece | 3,215,000 | 129 |
| 2 | Simon Wilson | Ireland | 2,710,000 | 108 |
| 3 | Georgios Tsouloftas | Cyprus | 2,400,000 | 96 |
| 4 | Aidan Quinlan | Ireland | 2,340,000 | 94 |
| 5 | Conor Beresford | England | 1,990,000 | 80 |
| 6 | Narcis Nedelcu | Romania | 1,950,000 | 78 |
| 7 | Robert Shanley | Ireland | 1,840,000 | 74 |
| 8 | Nicklas Dehli | Denmark | 1,690,000 | 68 |
| 9 | Ravi Sheth | United Kingdom | 1,650,000 | 66 |
| 10 | Kimmo Kurko | Finland | 1,645,000 | 66 |
Also making it through to Day 3 are PokerStars Ambassador Sebastian Huber (480,000), podcast host Adam McKola (235,000), bracelet winner Tobias Peters, and hometown heroes Dara O'Kearney (1,460,000), Padraig Parkinson (1,300,00), Paul Carr (870,000) and David Lappin (400,000).
Day 2 Action
However, long before the aforementioned players booked their tickets for Day 3, the bubble still had to burst. Of the 743 starting players, only 479 would see a payday of at least €1,173. Many notables would fall before that point and left home empty-handed, including many of the Irish Open sponsors' delegations. PokerStars' Parker Talbot, Georgina James, Benjamin Spragg, and Felix Schneiders all failed to make the money, as did Paddy Power Poker's Conor O'Driscoll.
Other notables who missed out on the money include bracelet winners Benny Glaser and Jessica Marks and triple crown winner Niall Farrell. Eventually, it were Gary Kirwan, Henri Ojala, and Sean Cunningham who were all eliminated on separate tables on the bubble, seeing them split two min-cashes as a result.
Once in the money, goodbyes were quickly said to EPT winner Uri Gilboa and old-school legend Luca Pagano. Also falling shortly after the bubble had burst was Kyle O'Connor, who got his Main Event seat in a freeroll hosted by Paddy Power Poker.
Later in the day, Fintan Hand joined his fellow Red Spades on the rail, and Juha Helppi, Scott Margereson, and Sokratis Linaras also headed to the bar.
Finally, 109 players bagged up for Day 3, which will resume at noon local time, tomorrow, March 31, keeping in mind Daylight Saving Time which will go into effect in Ireland during the night. Blinds will then restart at Level 23: 10,000/25,000 with a 25,000 big blind ante.
Check back in to PokerNews then to find out who will make it through the final day of the Irish Open Main Event.