Andras Nemeth potted the button for 900,000. Aku Joentausta called in the big blind before he check-called Nemeth's bets of 500,000 on the 4♥2♣2♥ flop and 2,000,000 on the 2♦ turn.
Joentausta checked again on the 7♥ river, this time seeing Nemeth move all in, putting Joentausta at risk for 6,150,000.
Joentausta went deep into the tank, spending all but one of his remaining time banks. Eventually, he slammed in a call for his tournament life.
"Kings," Nemeth announced as he tabled K♥K♦7♦4♦ for deuces full of kings.
"Kings is good," Joentausta replied, and he showed [jdh9d4c] for deuces for nines as the losing hand.
The two players shook hands before Joentausta was escorted to the payout desk to pick up the largest-ever recorded cash in his career of 14 years.
If there was one thing that was characteristic of Andras Nemeth's run on the third and final day of the €10,300 PLO Grand Slam Malta Championship, it was the ability to show down full houses. No fewer than seven recorded times, the eventual champion won a pot with trips plus a pair, two of which were used to take down Aku Joentausta in a short heads-up battle after the two had discussed a deal. Nemeth was awarded €407,854 for his victory, as the pair had left €65,000 to play for, while Joentausta had to make do with the €325,346 he secured in the deal, his largest-ever recorded live cash as per The Hendon Mob.
Aku Joentausta
It was Nemeth's first appearance at a Diamond Poker Series event, and the established high-stakes pro who goes by "probirs" online left quite the impression as he managed to conquer the field of 182 entries at Casino Malta and take the largest slice of the €1,880,000 prize pool. Nemeth's newly acquired Diamond Poker Series trophy will be a fitting addition to his cabinet filled with the many trophies he has collected since his first live poker victory in 2011.
By being awarded the trophy, Nemeth joined Tom-Aksel Bedell and Imad Derwiche in the exclusive club of PLO Grand Slam Championship winners. The tough final table Nemeth overcame featured the likes of fellow hybrid online-live crusher Ole Schemion, 2019 WSOP Main Event winner Hossein Ensan, and Diamond Poker Series regular Filip Lovric.
€10,300 PLO Grand Slam Malta Championship Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Andras Nemeth
Hungary
€407,854*
2
Aku Joentausta
Finland
€325,346*
3
Andreas Thelin
Sweden
€197,400
4
Ole Schemion
Germany
€161,700
5
Hossein Ensan
Germany
€129,700
6
Stanislav Zegal
Germany
€100,600
7
"Sonic"
€74,400
8
Filip Lovric
Sweden
€54,700
9
Aki Vihikainen
Finland
€43,600
*Denotes heads-up deal
PLO Grand Slam Malta Championship Final Table
Nemeth Negates Competition
Nemeth was the person to beat when Day 3 started with 13 players left, coming in with the chip lead. He quickly increased the gap with the competition further by making Danyil Zaremba (13th - €32,000) the first elimination of the day, but Joentausta took over when he knocked out Austrian poker veteranHarry Casagrande (10th - €36,700) in a massive pot on the final table bubble.
Nemeth struck back when play got seven-handed, reclaiming the lead in a pot with Schemion before eliminating the anonymous player "Sonic" (7th - €74,400) to gain a stack worth double that of anyone else. The unleashed Nemeth went on to take outStanislav Zegal (6th - €100,600), and Schemion (4th - €161,700), going into three-handed play with about 60 percent of the available chips.
Ole Schemion
Joentausta briefly halted Nemeth's momentum by doubling up through him, gaining the chip lead while doing so. However, Nemeth quickly rebounded and took care ofAndreas Thelin (3rd - €197,400), a cash game player who played his first tournament since 2019, to force the heads-up with his nemesis Joentausta, which he would start with a chip advantage of just under two-to-one.
The players instantly engaged in a deal discussion, making clear that they wanted to leave a significant sum in the middle to play for. Eventually, they settled on €65,000 left in the middle, while the rest of the prize pool was chopped according to the chip distribution. The heads-up battle only took 30 minutes to decide, with Nemeth winning the majority of the pots and eventually finishing the job with a back-to-back case of his signature full house.
Aku Joentausta - Andras Nemeth
After taking a quick winner picture, Nemeth grabbed his well-earned trophy and rushed out of the casino. He had stated earlier that he was unsure whether he would stay around to play the €5K Million, which had just kicked off with Day 1a, or go home to his family.
Regardless of whether Nemeth will buy in or not, PokerNews will be on the floor for Day 1b and Day 2 of the PLO Grand Slam Malta €5K Million, so tune back in on Friday for more four-card action live from the Mediterranean island of Malta.
