Ole Schemion limped in from the hijack, and "Sonic" followed suit on the button. Aki Vihikainen then raised to 250,000 in the small blind, getting Schemion to come along.
"Sonic" spent one time bank before three-betting to 600,000, after which Vihikainen quickly moved all in for 985,000. This forced Schemion out of the pot, while "Sonic" tossed in a swift call.
Aki Vihikainen: A♥A♣9♣4♥
"Sonic": K♥K♦Q♥7♥
Vihikainen faced no sweat as the 3♣A♠9♥ flop gifted him top set. "Sonic" was drawing dead after the 2♠ turn, and the 6♥ river was only dealt as a formality.
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.
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♥.
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.
"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.
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.
Andreas Thelin
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.
Stian Usterud
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.
