The first of two starting days for the 2016 PokerStars European Poker Tour Dublin Main Event saw 147 players pony up the buy-in of €5,300. Eight 75-minute levels later, only 79 of them bagged up chips with Gilles Bernies in the lead on 189,600.
The 27-year-old German had three deep runs at the end of 2015 with a 38th-place finish in the World Series of Poker Europe "Oktoberfest" event and first- and second-place finishes during festivals at Holland Casino of Breda in the Netherlands. Coming into this event, Bernies had $74,990 in live tournament earnings.