Northern Poker Festival 2026 – Day 2 Wrap

Before we delve into Saturday’s action, credit where credit is due. The staff and facilities at The Fairways Hotel in Dundalk have been outstanding. From the warm welcome to the excellent service throughout the weekend, they’ve helped create a fantastic experience for everyone attending the festival.

Now let’s get down to business…

Bright and early players filtered into the poker room after a great feed at breakfast to get things started. The Northern Main Event Day 1B saw 60 signing up, which set the tone for a busy day. From this flight there were 8 players who held on to secure a spot for the final day. From this flight it was Daniel Blake who will come to sit in front of the biggest stack with 541,000.

The Northern Main Event Day 1C was next up and it saw 135 in the field. The larger field created a fantastic atmosphere around the room. A special mention goes to Julie and Gary Mealey, who spent their 19th wedding anniversary at the festival. Julie, playing her first IPT event, enjoyed an impressive seven-hour run before narrowly missing out on a Day 2.

From the Day 1C there were 21 players who secured a stack. With the biggest bag going to John Henderson who pulled in 891,000.

Next up was a chance for players to leave with a trophy in hand, in the form of the Saturday NLH. There were 41 players involved bringing the prize pool to €4,920. As the night progressed, we were left with a final table of hopeful competitors. One by one players feel by the wayside. In third place was Mark Millar who banked €850. In second was Dean Kearney who secured €1,100. Taking home the trophy and €1,670 was Larry Sherry. Larry eliminated 4 players building a stack that was insurmountable, an IPT regular and a true gentleman in every sense of the word. His second trophy with the IPT and it was great to see him bag one this weekend.

Closing out the day was the Northern Main Event Day 1D which saw a further 57 entries enter the mix. This meant that yet again the guarantee for the Main Event was smashed and surpassed now sitting at €79,873 with still the Hyper flight to be played. From this flight there were 8 players who made it through. From this flight the biggest stack was brought forward by Edgaras Jankunas who had 555,000.

All eyes now turn to Sunday’s Final Day. Be sure to stay tuned to Live Poker Updates for live coverage as the latest Northern Poker Festival champion is crowned.