PLO Grand Slam Heads Back to Tirana as €5,200 Opener Day 1a Kicks Off €5M Guaranteed Festival
The PLO Grand Slam hosted by Diamond Poker Series held its first-ever edition last November at Arena Casino Tirana. After a successful week of four- and five-card action, the festival returns to the Albanian capital for another round. This time around, the guarantees across all tournaments have been increased from €3,000,000 to a staggering €5,000,000 to attract even more players.
The schedule underwent some changes, but the flagship events remain mostly unaltered from last time. The €5,200 PLO Grand Slam Opener starts today with Day 1a and again guarantees a prize pool of €1,000,000. The €10,300 PLO Grand Slam Championship also returns, but has doubled its guarantee to an eye-watering €2,000,000. PokerNews will be on the floor again to live report both tournaments.
2025 PLO Grand Slam Live Reporting Schedule
| Date | Starting Time (CET) | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 24 Jan | 4 p.m. | €5,200 PLO Opener Day 1a |
| Sat 25 Jan | 4 p.m. | €5,200 PLO Opener Day 1b |
| Sun 26 Jan | 2 p.m. | €5,200 PLO Opener Day 2 (Final) |
| Mon 27 Jan | 5 p.m. | €10,300 PLO Championship Day 1 |
| Tue 28 Jan | 4 p.m. | €10,300 PLO Championship Day 2 |
| Wed 29 Jan | 2 p.m. | €10,300 PLO Championship Day 3 (Final) |
Last time, the Opener drew 210 entries, breaking the European record for a PLO tournament at that price point but barely missing the guarantee. It was conquered by Aaron Pahlawani from Austria, who took home €176,100 after striking a deal with his heads up opponent Pavel Izotov. Izotov, meanwhile, was awarded the biggest bag with a score of €194,400.
Day 1a will kick off at 4 p.m. local time and is the first of two starting days for this event. Day 1b starts tomorrow at the same time while the tournament will conclude with Day 2 on Sunday, January 26. As with every event this series, players who register before the start of play will receive ten percent on top of their starting stack of 200,000. All players who register during level one, 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante, also get bonus chips, but they are halved to five percent.
Day 1a will play 11 levels of 45 minutes, ending with 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 big blind ante, after which the surviving players bag up for Day 2. A 45-minute dinner break is scheduled after Level 7, around 8:30 p.m. local time, while the end of the day will be reached around 1:30 a.m. local time. Players can register and reenter throughout the day as the late registration will remain open until the start of the second level on Day 2.
€5,200 PLO Opener Day 1a Structure
| Level | Duration (min) | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 2 | 45 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| 3 | 45 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Break | 15 | |||
| 4 | 45 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 5 | 45 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| Break | 15 | |||
| 6 | 45 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 7 | 45 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Break | 45 | |||
| 8 | 45 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 9 | 45 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 10 | 45 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| 11 | 45 | 6,000 | 12,000 | 12,000 |
Only on Day 1a will the two players with the most entries be awarded a free ticket to the €10,300 Championship, assuring plenty of action. So stay tuned to PokerNews as a new edition of the PLO Grand Slam gets underway.