€10,000 Super High Roller
Dia 1 Concluído
€10,000 Super High Roller
Dia 1 Concluído
The €10,000 Super High Roller at the 2025 Irish Open, sponsored by PokerStars and Paddy Power Poker, started off as a quiet affair. It needed a few minutes to get underway, with three players taking their seats at the halls of the Royal Dublin Society about ten minutes after starting time. However, over the course of the ten levels of late registration, 53 entries were made, collecting a prize pool of €503,831, of which 25 made it through to Day 2.
Mengshi Tian joined in the second level of the day and could not be stopped for most of the day. At one point, the Hong Kong native had nearly eight starting stacks in front of him. However, he lost some pots near the end of the night, and he ended with 600,000 chips in his bag, six starting stacks, worth 100 big blinds at the start of Day 2. That put him in the lead in the hunt for the top prize of €163,800, which would double Tian's total lifetime earnings.
Following Tian in the counts is Christopher Nguyen. Nguyen was the recipient of a 1,000 big blind pot at the start of the day, doubling his starting stack. He closed the day out with a stack of 354,000, bagging just over half of Tian's chips. Marcel Kessler rounds out the top three with 284,000, while satellite winner Adrian Cazacu put his ticket to good use, ending in fourth with 265,000.
Other notables in the top ten include longtime high roller Govert Metaal (261,000), highest-placed Irishman Robbie Toan (251,000), and online phenom Anton "WhatIfGod" Bergstrom (200,000), who is attending more and more live events.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mengshi Tian | Hong Kong | 600,000 | 60 |
| 2 | Christopher Nguyen | Austria | 354,000 | 59 |
| 3 | Marcel Kessler | Germany | 284,000 | 47 |
| 4 | Adrian Cazacu | Romania | 265,000 | 44 |
| 5 | Govert Metaal | Netherlands | 261,000 | 44 |
| 6 | [Removed:548] | Austria | 259,000 | 43 |
| 7 | Robbie Toan | Ireland | 251,000 | 42 |
| 8 | Jorge Artiga-Pacheco | Canada | 237,000 | 40 |
| 9 | Roope Tarmi | Finland | 215,000 | 36 |
| 10 | Bernard Larabi | Hungary | 200,000 | 33 |
Like Cazacu, Ireland's Simon Wilson grabbed his ticket in the satellite, and made Day 2 with 160,000. 2022 GPI Player of the Year Stephen Song needed two bullets to find a bag with 148,000, while 2023 EPT Cyprus winner [Removed:553] ended with less than a starting stack with 91,000 chips in his possession. Meanwhile, Finnish legend Juha Helppi bagged up 54,000 chips as the absolute short stack of the field.
With just over half the field not making it through, many notable names saw their tournament end on Day 1. Samuel Ju fired three entries without success, while 2022 Irish Open Main Event champion Steve O'Dwyer fell victim to Tian's wrath before exchanging some heated words with Daniel Smiljkovic, who did make it to Day 2 with 133,000. EPT founder John Duthie also came to play some high-stakes poker in Dublin, but was eliminated just before the end of late registration.
The 25 remaining players will return at 1 p.m. local time tomorrow, April 17, for the second and final day of the Super High Roller. Seven of them will reach the money, with the min-cash amounting to a staggering €26,500. Meanwhile, two six-figure payouts are reserved for the eventual heads-up opponents.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €163,800 |
| 2 | €108,300 |
| 3 | €73,100 |
| 4 | €55,400 |
| 5 | €42,800 |
| 6 | €34,000 |
| 7 | €26,500 |
The tournament will resume in Level 14: 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante. All levels will remain 40 minutes in length until the final three players have been reached or a deal has been made, at which point they will be reduced to 30 minutes. The 30-second shot clock will also remain in play until the end of the tournament, which will be when the winner is declared at the end of Day 2.
For the first time in 11 years, a new Super High Roller champion will be crowned at the Irish Open. Tune back in to PokerNews tomorrow to find out who will receive the honor, along with all the action leading up to it.
| Table | Seat | Country | Player | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ireland | Simon Wilson | 160,000 | 27 |
| 1 | 3 | Hungary | Bernard Larabi | 200,000 | 33 |
| 1 | 4 | Sweden | Anton Bergstrom | 200,000 | 33 |
| 1 | 5 | Austria | [Removed:548] | 259,000 | 43 |
| 1 | 6 | Netherlands | Michel Molenaar | 167,000 | 28 |
| 1 | 7 | Germany | Marcel Kessler | 284,000 | 47 |
| 1 | 8 | Hong Kong | Mengshi Tian | 600,000 | 100 |
| 2 | 2 | United Kingdom | Jamie Dwan | 100,000 | 17 |
| 2 | 4 | Austria | Josef Schusteritsch | 144,000 | 24 |
| 2 | 5 | United States | Jordan Glazer | 68,000 | 11 |
| 2 | 6 | United States | Stephen Song | 148,000 | 25 |
| 2 | 7 | Canada | Duff Charette | 113,000 | 19 |
| 2 | 8 | Finland | Juha Helppi | 54,000 | 9 |
| 3 | 2 | Austria | Daniel Smiljkovic | 133,000 | 22 |
| 3 | 4 | Finland | Severi Palmu | 185,000 | 31 |
| 3 | 5 | Finland | Roope Tarmi | 215,000 | 36 |
| 3 | 6 | Romania | Adrian Cazacu | 265,000 | 44 |
| 3 | 7 | Ireland | Robbie Toan | 251,000 | 42 |
| 3 | 8 | Austria | Christopher Nguyen | 354,000 | 59 |
| 4 | 1 | Austria | [Removed:553] | 91,000 | 15 |
| 4 | 3 | Germany | Timo Kamphues | 125,000 | 21 |
| 4 | 4 | United Kingdom | Jonathan Proudfoot | 190,000 | 32 |
| 4 | 6 | Netherlands | Govert Metaal | 261,000 | 44 |
| 4 | 7 | Canada | Jorge Artiga-Pacheco | 237,000 | 40 |
| 4 | 8 | Czech Republic | Zdenek Zizka | 167,000 | 28 |
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
|
600,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
354,000
54,000
|
54,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
284,000
16,000
|
16,000 |
|
|
265,000 | |
|
|
261,000
86,000
|
86,000 |
|
|
259,000
39,000
|
39,000 |
|
|
251,000
119,000
|
119,000 |
|
|
237,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
|
215,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
|
200,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
|
200,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
190,000
105,000
|
105,000 |
|
|
185,000 | |
|
|
167,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
|
167,000
13,000
|
13,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
160,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
148,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
144,000
82,500
|
82,500 |
|
|
133,000
33,000
|
33,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
125,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
|
113,000
74,500
|
74,500 |
|
|
100,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
|
91,000
44,000
|
44,000 |
|
|
68,000
237,000
|
237,000 |
|
|
54,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
|
||
The players are bagging up, with 25 of the 53 entries making it through to Day 2.
Stay tuned for full chip counts and a recap of what has been an action-packed day.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Eliminado | |
|
|
Eliminado | |
|
|
Eliminado | |
|
|
||
|
|
Eliminado | |
Stephen Song opened to 10,000 under the gun. Adrian Strobel then put his stack of 56,000 in the middle from middle position, with Severi Palmu calling the all-in bet on the button.
Song got out of the way, leaving the other two players to show down.
Adrian Strobel: K♥K♦
Severi Palmu: A♦J♣
Strobel flopped a set on J♠K♣3♥ and secured his double-up on the 8♦ turn. The A♠ river changed nothing as Strobel climbed back above starting stack with a couple of hands to go on Day 1.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
|
185,000
65,000
|
65,000 |
|
|
156,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
124,500
24,500
|
24,500 |
The floor has announced that three more hands will be played before Day 1 of the Super High Roller concludes.
Jamie Dwan opened to 10,000 as first to act. It folded to Roope Tarmi in the small blind, who pushed in his stack of 95,500. Govert Metaal then rejammed in the small blind, forcing out Dwan and heading to showdown.
Roope Tarmi: 6♠6♦
Govert Metaal: A♥Q♣
Metaal did not hit the 9♥4♥10♦ flop or 8♠ turn, while the 6♣ river gave Tarmi a set to secure his double-up.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
|
206,000
171,000
|
171,000 |
|
|
175,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
|
135,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
In a modest pot of 40,000 chips, Marcel Kessler got his stack of 114,000 in on the K♦8♥5♣Q♦ turn from the small blind against Juha Helppi in the big blind.
Marcel Kessler: A♥K♣
Juha Helppi: J♦2♦
Helppi's flush draw did not come in on the 3♣ river. Kessler doubled up with his top pair, leaving the Helppi with 10 big blinds to try and spin up.
| Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
|---|---|---|
|
|
268,000
128,000
|
128,000 |
|
|
40,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
||