Ole Schemion Surges Late to Secure Chip Lead on Day 1a of PLO Grand Slam Malta Championship
The PLO Grand Slam Malta has kicked off with a bang. The fourth edition of the €10,300 Championship of the tournament series hosted by Diamond Poker Series saw 79 entries being made at Casino Malta on Day 1a, the first of two starting days, and when the bags were brought out after ten levels had been completed 21 players remained, just over a quarter of the field.
Leading the pack with 1,829,000, or 229 big blinds, is Ole Schemion. The German poker legend, who sits in sixth on his country's all-time money list as per The Hendon Mob, has been crushing both live and online high roller tournaments for the better part of a decade. Today, he once again demonstrated that he will always be a force to be reckoned with, successfully catching a bluff in the penultimate level of the day and seeming to win every pot he was involved in over the next 90 minutes.
Chasing Schemion closest is poker veteran Harry Casagrande (1,383,000), who was already playing poker tournaments before some of the opponents he faced today were born, while online phenom Andras Nemeth completes the top three with a stack of 1,350,000. PLO experts Espen Myrmo, Gergo Nagy, and Anton Suarez also grinded their way to a top ten stack.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ole Schemion | Germany | 1,829,000 | 229 |
| 2 | Harry Casagrande | Austria | 1,383,000 | 173 |
| 3 | Andras Nemeth | Hungary | 1,350,000 | 169 |
| 4 | Sonic | 1,316,000 | 165 | |
| 5 | Stanislav Zegal | Germany | 1,117,000 | 140 |
| 6 | Espen Myrmo | Norway | 1,015,000 | 127 |
| 7 | Gergo Nagy | Hungary | 919,000 | 115 |
| 8 | Anton Suarez | Sweden | 810,000 | 101 |
| 9 | Andre Plaza Marcano | United States | 789,000 | 99 |
| 10 | Dario Alioto | Italy | 722,000 | 90 |
2025 PLO Grand Slam Tirana champion Tom-Aksel Bedell bagged on his second bullet of the night, increasing the starting stack of 200,000 to 326,000. Diamond Poker Series regular Aaron Pahlawani (677,000) also made it through to Day 2, together with two-time PLO bracelet winner Dennis Weiss (593,000).
On the other side of the coin were the likes of the most recent PLO Grand Slam Champion Imad Derwiche, serial casher Youness Barakat, and Jessica Teusl, who all fired one or two unsuccessful bullets throughout the day.
They will have a chance at redemption tomorrow, Thursday, October 14, as Day 1b is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. local time. The second and final starting flight will see another ten levels of action, and those unlucky enough not to make it to the end of the day can buy in for two more levels of Day 2 as well.
PokerNews will be back on the tournament floor for the very start of Day 1b, so make sure to tune back in then and not miss any of the high-stakes PLO action of the PLO Grand Slam Malta.