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€10,300 Championship
Day 2 Completed
2025 PLO Grand Slam Malta
€10,300 Championship
Day: 2
Event Info
2025 PLO Grand Slam Malta
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
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
13
Players Left 1 / 182
Filter
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
When registration closed after the second level of Day 2 of the €10,300 Championship at the PLO Grand Slam Malta, the clock stood at 182 entries. Barely missing the guarantee, the prize pool remained €1,880,000, and the 13 players who survived Day 2 have already secured a piece as the bubble burst around midnight, although all will be having their eyes on the top prize of €437,100.
During the bubble, a red-hot Andras Nemeth was chipleading the field at Casino Malta, having been in the top spot of the leaderboard since halfway through the first level of the day. Unsurprisingly, the poker legend known as "probirs" online was also the top dog at the end of the night, bagging 5,940,000 for nearly 100 big blinds as he secured his first-ever cash at the Diamond Poker Series.
Contrary to appearances, however, Nemeth had to battle hard for his chips. In fact, the anonymous player "Sonic" was in the lead for the majority of the last two levels. It was only in the final hand of Day 2 that Nemeth reclaimed the crown, taking a big pot off his rival by rivering a full house. "Sonic" was left with 4,580,000 chips, still good for second on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Andreas Thelin is the only other player who crossed the four-million mark, ending the night with 4,305,000.
End of Day 2 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andras Nemeth | Hungary | 5,940,000 | 99 |
| 2 | Sonic | 4,580,000 | 76 | |
| 3 | Andreas Thelin | Sweden | 4,305,000 | 72 |
| 4 | Aku Joentausta | Finland | 3,780,000 | 63 |
| 5 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | 3,750,000 | 63 |
| 6 | Filip Lovric | Sweden | 2,520,000 | 42 |
| 7 | Johan Espholm | Denmark | 2,500,000 | 42 |
| 8 | Ole Schemion | Germany | 2,405,000 | 40 |
| 9 | Stanislav Zegal | Germany | 2,065,000 | 34 |
| 10 | Aki Vihikainen | Finland | 2,060,000 | 34 |
| 11 | Harry Casagrande | Austria | 1,560,000 | 26 |
| 12 | Hans Thumann | Germany | 1,325,000 | 22 |
| 13 | Danyil Zaremba | Ukraine | 1,195,000 | 20 |
2019 WSOP Main Event champion Hossein Ensan is still in the mix, as is Day 1 chipleader Ole Schemion. Ensan will be looking to get redemption for his runner-up finish in the €5K Million at the PLO Grand Slam in Tallinn, while, like Nemeth, Schemion is enjoying his debut at the Diamond Poker Series. With Danyil Zaremba, the shortest stack in the field, still having 20 big blinds at his disposal at the start of Day 3, the remainder of the tournament is promising to be a deep-stacked affair.
Day 2 Action
With late registration open for two hours at the start of Day 2, the action was fast and relentless. Tom-Aksel Bedell was one of the many eliminations during the early phases of the day, ensuring a new champion would be crowned as he opted not to reenter. Bracelet winners Stefan Lehner, Dario Alioto, Nikolaos Lampropoulos, Oleksii Kovalchuk, and Robert Cowen all fell well before the money as well.
Day 1b chipleader Bharath Janardhan could not turn his good starting position into a cash, finishing six away from the 23 paid places. Dennis Weiss only came two spots short, and, eventually, Stian Usterud became the unlucky bubble boy as his top set of aces was cracked by a rivered gutshot.
Once in the money, min-cashes of €21,800 were awarded to Anton Suarez and Tobias Hausen, while the Dutch duo of Lucas van den Belt and Marcus Dieleman made the pay jump to €23,700. Aaron Pahlawani recorded his fifth Diamond Poker Series cash by finishing 16th for €26,300, while Mads Amot was the final elimination of the night, securing €29,100 for his 14th place.
Meanwhile, the 13 remaining contenders have locked up €32,000 for their efforts. The big pay jumps will start at the final six, when six-figure payouts will be awarded, but of course, everyone's eyes will be fixated on the first place, with the trophy and title of PLO Grand Slam Champion that comes with it.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €437,100 | 7 | €74,400 | |
| 2 | €296,100 | 8 | €54,700 | |
| 3 | €197,400 | 9 | €43,600 | |
| 4 | €161,700 | 10-11 | €36,700 | |
| 5 | €129,700 | 12-13 | €32,000 | |
| 6 | €100,600 |
The tournament will resume tomorrow, Thursday, October 16, at 1 p.m. local time. The final day will start with blinds at 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante, and all levels will remain 60 minutes long. Day 3 will see a winner crowned, meaning a long session could be ahead for the players.
PokerNews will be back on the floor for Day 3, so tune back in then to not miss the thrilling conclusion of the €10,300 PLO Grand Slam Malta Championship.
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The players have reached the end of Level 19, meaning Day 2 of the €10,300 PLO Grand Slam Championship is in the books.
Thirteen players progress to Day 3; their counts can be found below. A recap of the day will be posted shortly.
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
"Sonic" raised his button to 175,000, and Andras Nemeth defended in the big blind. Nemeth check-called "Sonic"s continuation-bet of 150,000 on the 7♥K♥2♣ flop, leading to the 5♥ being placed on the turn.
After Nemeth checked again, "Sonic" announced a pot-sized bet of 725,000. Nemeth slid in a few towers of chips to match the bet, after which both players checked the 5♣ river.
"Full house," Nemeth announced as he tabled J♠8♠2♠2♦ for the bottom full house. "Sonic" needed a minute to recheck his cards before he added them to the muck.
After the hand, bags were brought to the table as the final hand of the night had just been played, crowning Nemeth the Day 2 chipleader.
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The pot totaled 500,000 when Mads Amot jammed his last 335,000 in from the small blind on the 4♠J♦4♥ flop. "Sonic" spent some time banks in the hijack before he called to put Amot at risk.
Mads Amot: K♦K♣Q♣7♠ 
"Sonic": K♠J♠7♣6♥
Amot had a big lead, but was drawing slim after the J♣ turned "Sonic" trips. The 2♦ river was of no help to the Norwegian PLO expert, who departed in the dying minutes of Day 2.
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The field will play five more hands before Day 2 concludes.
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Stanislav Zegal limped in under the gun. "Sonic" then raised to 225,000 in the cutoff, to which Zegal responded by three-betting to 750,000.
"Sonic" came along to the 10♦2♠2♦ flop, but he quickly folded when Zegal put his remaining 565,000 at risk.
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Arriving on a 8♠3♠2♠ pot with about 650,000 in the pot, "Sonic" checked from the small blind to Aki Vihikainen in the big blind, who bet 150,000.
Martin Nielsen then moved all in for 500,000 in the cutoff, which "Sonic" called cold. Vihikainen quickly got out of the way to force a showdown.
Martin Nielsen: Q♠10♦10♣9♠
"Sonic": K♦8♦8♣5♣
"Sonic"s set became a full house on the 3♥ turn. The 3♣ river changed nothing, sending Nielsen on his way.
"So sick," he muttered to himself as he headed to the payout desk.
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The short-stacked Aaron Pahlawani's cards were already swept into the muck when the action was caught.
It appeared he had moved his last few chips in before the flop, and had run into Hossein Ensan's A♦A♣J♦4♣, who eliminated Pahlawani on a board of 8♦5♥7♠4♥8♥.
Level 19
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Under the gun, Thilo Leifert bet the pot of 575,000 on a three-way flop of 8♣2♥5♣. Harry Casagrande weighed his options before he folded in middle position, but Hossein Ensan quickly moved all in on the button.
Leifert wasted no time in calling off his stack of 1,600,000, being covered by Ensan.
Thilo Leifert: J♣J♦9♦6♣
Hossein Ensan: A♣K♠Q♣7♠
Ensan did not hit any of his outs on the 4♦ turn, but the A♠ river made him top pair. It was enough to win the pot as Leifert's jacks had not improved, eliminating the latter from the tournament.
