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€10,300 Championship
Day 1a Completed
2025 PLO Grand Slam Malta
€10,300 Championship
Day: 1a
Event Info
2025 PLO Grand Slam Malta
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
Buy-in
€10,300
Prize Pool
€1,880,000
Total Entries
182
Level
27
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
300,000
Entries
79
Players Left
21
Players Left 1 / 182
Filter
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
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.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Day 1a has reached its end with 21 players out of 79 entries making it through to Day 2, seeing as Corel Theuma was eliminated during the final hand of the night.
The full chip counts are listed below; a recap of the day will follow soon.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
A blind-on-blind pot between Johan Espholm and Mads Amot had grown to 148,000 when Espholm made a pot-sized bet on the K♦K♠4♠6♦ turn. Amot then moved all in for not much more, seeing Espholm make a quick call.
Mads Amot: A♥K♥Q♣10♦ 
Johan Espholm: K♣Q♦9♥3♥
Amot had the better kicker with his trips, but the 9♠ rivered Espholm a full house to take down the pot and eliminate his neighbor in the dying minutes of Day 1a.
Meanwhile, Corel Theuma had made a last-minute reentry to become the final player seated today.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Each table will play five more hands before Day 1a wraps up.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
In a multi-way pot to the 7♣A♣K♦ flop, Corel Theuma pushed in his stack of 135,000 from the cutoff, being looked up by Dennis Weiss under the gun.
Dennis Weiss: A♠A♥5♠2♠
Corel Theuma: K♥7♦4♦4♣
Theume requested running fours, but instead the 10♦ turn brought him a flush draw. It did not come in on the Q♥ river, however, eliminating Theuma with just a few hands to go on Day 1b.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
A massive pot of 500,000 was spotted between Andras Nemeth and Corel Theuma. The completed board read K♣2♠4♥4♠2♥, with Nemeth moving all in for 385,000.
Theuma asked for a count twice before he shrugged and called off.
"Ace-king," Nemeth declared as he showed A♥K♥Q♦3♥. Theuma acknowledged Nemeth had the best hand, tabling Q♥J♠J♦10♠ for a no-good pair of jacks.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Harry Casagrande limped in from middle position. Anton Suarez followed suit in the hijack before Andras Nemeth raised to 52,000 in the cutoff. Espen Myrmo three-bet to 179,000 on the button, quickly folding out the limpers.
Nemeth called to a 10♣4♥2♠ flop, however, where he check-called the all-in of 313,000 from Myrmo.
Espen Myrmo: A♥A♦9♣4♦
Andras Nemeth: A♣7♥6♥4♣
Myrmo made two pair on the 9♦ turn, which remained best on the 6♦ river. He raked in a seven-figure double-up as Day 1b entered its last 30 minutes.
Level 10
: Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante
Daniel Birkmose had raised an earlier limp, to which Ole Schemion responded by three-betting from the small blind. Birkmose then shoved all in for about 275,000, being snapped off by Schemion.
Daniel Birkmose: K♥K♦10♥4♣
Ole Schemion: A♠A♣10♣6♦
Schemion's aces remained the best hand on the J♥8♣2♣6♥3♦ runout, sending Birkmose to a late-night exit.
