After all four starting flights over the past three days at the Irish Poker Festival, the remaining field finally combines for Day 2 of the €700,000 guaranteed Main Event, getting underway at 1 p.m. local time inside the magnificent Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin, Ireland.
So far, there have been 227 entries into this year's main event, with 117 players bringing a stack through for Day 2. However, with late registration remaining open until the start of Level 13 today, that number is expected to grow and looks likely to surpass last year's field of 286.
Leading the pack heading into Day 2 is Germany's Niels Buch with an enormous stack of 290,600, which he accumulated during Day 1b. Hot on his heels is Leo Worthington-Leese with 288,700, while Alec Torelli rounds out the top three positions with a stack of 268,000.
Day 1a - 1d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niels Buch | Germany | 290,600 | 182 |
| 2 | Leo Worthington-Leese | United Kingdom | 288,700 | 180 |
| 3 | Alec Torelli | United States | 268,000 | 168 |
| 4 | Ravi Sheth | United Kingdom | 265,600 | 166 |
| 5 | Niall Farrell | United Kingdom | 258,000 | 161 |
| 6 | Raul Martinez | Spain | 250,700 | 157 |
| 7 | Lukas Paliulis | Lithuania | 189,800 | 119 |
| 8 | Tomas Flanagan | Ireland | 183,400 | 115 |
| 9 | Richard Ashby | United Kingdom | 178,000 | 111 |
| 10 | Noel Hayes | Ireland | 173,400 | 108 |
Plenty of other notables are still scattered around the chip counts, including Niall Farrell (258,000), Richard Ashby (178,000), Conor O'Driscoll (147,700), Paul Carr (132,000), Dara O'Kearney (123,100), Michael Dwyer (113,000), Jamie Dwan (101,700), Aidan Quinlan (74,700), Liam Chevalier (73,000), Maria Lampropulos (44,800), and the defending Irish Poker Festival champion Michel Molenaar (31,200).
Play is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m. local time and will start on Level 11, which features 800/1,600 blinds with a 1,600 big blind ante. Blinds will continue to be 60 minutes in length, and the schedule for Day 2 will be determined as the day progresses.
Shortly after late registration has closed, at the start of Level 13, the official prize pool will be announced and displayed on the screens around the room.
IPF Main Event Flight Entrant Numbers
| Day | Entrants | Qualifiers |
|---|---|---|
| 1a | 21 | 11 |
| 1b | 38 | 18 |
| 1c | 137 | 70 |
| 1d | 31 | 18 |
Keep it locked in right here at PokerNews to follow all the action from Day 2 of the IPF Main Event as players try to make it through to the third and final day tomorrow.
