€5,200 PLO Opener
Day 1b Completed
2025 PLO Grand Slam
€5,200 PLO Opener
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1b
2025 PLO Grand Slam
Buy-in
€5,200
Prize Pool
€1,057,500
Entries
225
Level
26
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
300,000
Entries
93
Players Left
21
Level 11
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Another successful day of four-card poker is in the books at Arena Casino Tirana. On day 1b, the final starting flight of the €5,200 Opener of the second-ever PLO Grand Slam by Diamond Poker Series, 93 entries were made. At the end of the night, 21 of them were bagging up the chips, the exact same number as on Day 1a.
Germany's Fabian Riebau-Schmithals ended the night with the most amount of chips, bagging up 2,976,000 of them. Good for nearly 250 big blinds at the start of Day 2, the PLO specialist has obtained 15 starting stacks on his hunt to take vengeance as he came tantalizingly close to the money in this event just two months ago, ending up on the soft bubble.
Second in chips is American Sean Rafael, with 2,257,000, while Hungary's Gergo Nagy follows in third with 1,872,000. Like Riebau-Schmithals, the live tournament scores of the two players are dominated by Omaha results as they pursue another PLO trophy to add to their collection.
The same can not be said for Tom Vogelsang, who is mostly known for his high-stakes hold 'em prowess. The Dutchman is now slouch in four-card poker either, however, as he amassed 1,714,000 throughout Day 1b to end up in fourth place on the leaderboard. Rounding out the top five is PLO bracelet winner Tomas Ribeiro, while the likes of Espen Myrmo and Robert Cowen also squeeked into the top ten.
End of Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabian Riebau-Schmithals | Germany | 2,976,000 | 248 |
| 2 | Sean Rafael | United States | 2,257,000 | 188 |
| 3 | Gergo Nagy | Hungary | 1,872,000 | 156 |
| 4 | Tom Vogelsang | Netherlands | 1,714,000 | 143 |
| 5 | Tomas Ribeiro | Portugal | 1,024,000 | 85 |
| 6 | "Dima" | 1,005,000 | 84 | |
| 7 | Christos Argyriadis | Greece | 980,000 | 82 |
| 8 | Espen Myrmo | Norway | 867,000 | 72 |
| 9 | "Lion King" | 838,000 | 70 | |
| 10 | Robert Cowen | United Kingdom | 690,000 | 58 |
The bottom half of the field is filled with recognizable faces as well, with bracelet winners Nikolaos Lampropoulos (579,000), Bernd Gleissner (354,000), and Ismael Bojang (225,000) all making it through to Day 2. Diamond Poker Ambassador Max Kruse also made it to the end of Day 2, bagging 293,000 after a mostly uneventful day.
On the other side of the coin were, among others, Stanislav Zegal, Amir Mozaffarian, Hossein Ensan, and Joni Jouhkimainen, and Blaz Zerjav, who all fell throughout the day. However, most of them are expected to fire one or more times tomorrow, as the late registration will stay open until the start of the second level of Day 2.
With 199 entries across the two starting flights, the €1,000,000 guarantee is almost reached. The final few entries needed will almost certainly take place on Day 2, which starts at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow, January 26. The final level of late registration will be the first level of Day 2: 6,000/12,000, with a 12,000 big blind ante. All levels will remain 45 minutes in length and the tournament is scheduled to play all the way down to a winner.
A marathon session is to be expected tomorrow, so check back in to PokerNews then to find out who will cross the finish line in first place.
Level 11
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,976,000
26,000
|
26,000 |
|
||
|
2,257,000
243,000
|
243,000 |
|
1,872,000
202,000
|
202,000 |
|
1,714,000
399,000
|
399,000 |
|
1,024,000
1,024,000
|
1,024,000 |
|
||
|
1,005,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
980,000
308,000
|
308,000 |
|
867,000
642,000
|
642,000 |
|
|
838,000
138,000
|
138,000 |
|
814,000
39,000
|
39,000 |
|
||
|
|
731,000
151,000
|
151,000 |
|
722,000
52,000
|
52,000 |
|
579,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
438,000
377,000
|
377,000 |
|
425,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
416,000
16,000
|
16,000 |
|
354,000
316,000
|
316,000 |
|
|
||
|
304,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
293,000
68,000
|
68,000 |
|
|
||
|
225,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
|
||
|
216,000
394,000
|
394,000 |
Level 11
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
All tables have finished playing and the 21 surviving players are bagging and tagging.
Stay tuned for all chip counts and a recap of Day 1b.
Level 11
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Joachim Haraldstad tossed in his final 56,000 and was looked up by Nikolaos Lampropoulos.
Joachim Haraldstad: A♣K♦9♥6♠ 
Nikolaos Lampropoulos: A♥K♠J♣6♦
The players were chopping on the 10♠5♠10♦ flop and K♣ turn, but the Q♣ river brought Lamproulos a straight to take down the pot and eliminate Haraldstad during the final few hands of Day 1b.
Haraldstad can try again tomorrow as the late registration will be open until the second level of Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
575,000
42,000
|
42,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 11
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Day 1b will conclude once all tables have finished three more hands.
Level 11
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
"Alakazam" had raised in early position and Akin Tuna had called in the hijack when Christos Argyriadis squeezed in a three-bet to 186,000 from the big blind.
He saw both opponents call to the 4♣Q♣5♦ flop, where they called his all-in bet of 32,000 as well.
They then checked through the J♦ turn and 8♣ river. Argyriadis tabled A♥A♣Q♥10♣ for the nut flush, raking in the pot and catching a massive triple-up while Day 1b is winding down.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
815,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
|
672,000
217,000
|
217,000 |
|
|
670,000
230,000
|
230,000 |
Level 11
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Bernd Gleissner limped in under the gun before Tom Vogelsang raised to 54,000 on the button. Gleissner put in a call when the action folded back to him, after which the pair checked through the 10♣3♥8♥ flop.
Vogelsang then bet 138,000 on the 3♠ turn. Gleissner counted out his chips before shoving them all in for a bet of 378,000. Vogelsang pondered his options for a bit but eventually decided to fold and grant the pot to his opponent.
Meanwhile, Fabian Riebau-Schmithals and Sean Rafael have increased their massive stacks even further throughout the late stage of Day 1b.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,950,000
950,000
|
950,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,500,000
1,000,000
|
1,000,000 |
|
|
1,315,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
670,000
355,000
|
355,000 |
|
|
||
Level 11
: Blinds 6,000/12,000, 12,000 ante
Oswin Ziegelbecker got his 150,000 chips in from the hijack against "Jay" under the gun, who had him covered.
Oswin Ziegelbecker: Q♠J♣J♦9♠
"Jay": A♥A♦J♠7♥
"Jay"s aces were in the lead, but the Q♦8♣9♥ flop gave Ziegelbecker two pair. The 8♥ turn helped neither player directly, but the A♣ river did as it gave "Jay" a set of aces for the winning hand, eliminating Ziegelbecker.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
580,000
255,000
|
255,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 11
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Ante: 12,000
