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€1,650 PokerStars Open
Day 2 Completed
2025 PokerStars EPT Malta
€1,650 PokerStars Open
Day: 2
Event Info
2025 PokerStars EPT Malta
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
Buy-in
€1,650
Prize Pool
€2,656,800
Total Entries
1,845
Level
35
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Entries
277
Players Left
79
Players Left 1 / 1,845
Filter
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
A bite-sized Day 2 of the €1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event at the 2025 PokerStars European Poker Tour Malta at Casino Malta saw 277 players return, out of 1,845 total entrants, in pursuit of the €423,700 top prize from a €2,656,800 prize pool, along with the PokerStars Open Main Event trophy.
Just seven levels were played in the second stage, but that was enough to trim the field to 79 players. Claudio Coelho (1,775,000) leads the way, narrowly ahead of online crusher Thomas Muehloecker (1,765,000) and Mateusz Moolhuizen (1,535,000), a player who’s no stranger to PokerStars glory.
Last year at EPT Paris, Moolhuizen conquered the €1,100 FPS Main Event—the predecessor to the PSO Main Event—turning his buy-in into €470,830 after topping a 4,149-entry field. The Dutchman is now eyeing another deep run on the PokerStars stage, though it almost ended early on Day 2.
Facing Akira Takasugi, Moolhuizen found himself all in with a pair of jacks against his opponent’s pair of aces. The chips were in on the turn, and Moolhuizen was down to just five outs, until one of them hit the felt to give him trips and keep his title hopes alive. From there, he rarely looked back.
Moolhuizen carried that momentum into a huge clash with Daniele Degennaro, flopping a set of deuces on an ace-high board while Degennaro held ace-king. The resulting raising war sent a 1,470,000-chip pot to the Dutchman and vaulted him to the upper echelons of the chip counts.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claudio Coelho | Portugal | 1,775,000 | 118 |
| 2 | Thomas Muehloecker | Austria | 1,765,000 | 118 |
| 3 | Mateusz Moolhuizen | Netherlands | 1,535,000 | 102 |
| 4 | Modar Alsoud | Germany | 1,410,000 | 94 |
| 5 | Siarhei Sochneu | Belarus | 1,405,000 | 94 |
| 6 | Ioannis Oikonomidis | Greece | 1,380,000 | 92 |
| 7 | Fabian Bernhauser | Austria | 1,380,000 | 92 |
| 8 | Dario Pieruzzini | Italy | 1,320,000 | 88 |
| 9 | Marius Pertea | Romania | 1,280,000 | 85 |
| 10 | Ivan Martinez | Spain | 1,180,000 |
Among those joining the chip leaders for Day 3 are a trio of PokerStars Ambassadors. Kenny Hallaert continued his fine form, bagging 845,000, while French duo Julien Brecard (345,000) and Benjamin Bruneteaux (230,000) will also return with hopes of a deep run.
2024 EPT Paris Main Event champion Barny Boatman has also made it through to the penultimate day, alongside Ana Marquez and Yelizaveta Aktas, the last two women standing in the field.
However, not all stars survived. Ambassadors Fintan Hand, Julien Dupre, and Sebastien Huber all fell short of advancing, as did former EPT Main Event champions Tom Middleton and Aliaksei Boika, who won the last-ever EPT Malta Main Event in 2016.
Day 3 will get underway at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 5, with blinds resuming at 10,000/20,000 (20,000 big blind ante) on Level 22. Each of the 79 remaining players has secured at least €4,950, with the payouts jumping into five figures once just 27 contenders remain.
The plan for Day 3 is to play down until the final table is set, though the exact endpoint will be confirmed once cards are back in the air.
As always, stick with PokerNews for live updates, chip counts, and all the action from the PSO Main Event at EPT Malta.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,775,000
545,000
|
545,000 |
|
1,765,000
605,000
|
605,000 |
|
1,535,000
53,000
|
53,000 |
|
1,410,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
1,405,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
1,380,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
1,380,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
||
|
1,320,000
944,000
|
944,000 |
|
1,280,000
760,000
|
760,000 |
|
1,180,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
1,065,000
410,000
|
410,000 |
|
1,060,000
170,000
|
170,000 |
|
1,030,000
430,000
|
430,000 |
|
1,020,000
785,000
|
785,000 |
|
990,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
||
|
985,000
103,000
|
103,000 |
|
980,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
950,000
346,000
|
346,000 |
|
930,000
216,000
|
216,000 |
|
||
|
895,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
895,000
236,000
|
236,000 |
|
885,000
17,000
|
17,000 |
|
870,000
303,000
|
303,000 |
|
855,000
220,000
|
220,000 |
|
850,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Day 2 has come to an end, with the tournament clock saying that 79 players are remaining.
Chip counts and Day 2 recap to follow shortly.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
On the last deal of the afternoon, Modar Alsoud in the hijack and Luka Sorainen on the button had created a pot of more than 400,000 on the 7♣3♥9♦9♠ turn.
Alsoud then got his stack of 465,000 in the middle, and Sorainen looked him up with a covering stack.
Modar Alsoud: 9♣8♣ 
Luka Sorainen: A♦A♣
Sorainen's aces were no longer good against the turned trips of Alsoud, who locked up the pot on the 10♦ turn.
Alsoud was awarded the massive pot to end the night among the chipleaders, while Sorainen made Day 3 with three big blinds to his name.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,350,000
405,000
|
405,000 |
|
60,000
520,000
|
520,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Benjamin Bruneteaux jammed for 121,000 from middle position. Ilija Savevski looked him up from the big blind.
Benjamin Bruneteaux: K♦J♦
Ilija Savevski: A♣6♠
Bruneteaux doubled up after he was the only player to connect on the J♠10♠9♥5♣9♠ runout.
On another table, Rainer Kempe was all-in for his last 46,000 and was at risk to Andrew Dickinson.
Rainer Kempe: A♦Q♠
Andrew Dickinson: J♥9♦
Kempe's ace-held out for the double after the board ran out with the 7♦4♥3♠7♣5♣.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
880,000
395,000
|
395,000 |
|
|
||
|
490,000
42,000
|
42,000 |
|
267,000
167,000
|
167,000 |
|
||
|
117,000
71,000
|
71,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Huseyin Akgul in the big blind and Sebastian Mortensen in the cutoff were heads-up on a A♠5♦J♦ flop. With around 90,000 in the middle, Mortensen and Akgul got it all in, with Mortensen's stack of 312,000 being at risk.
Sebastian Mortensen: A♦5♠
Huseyin Akgul: 9♦8♦
Mortensen faded Akgul's flush draw as the Q♠8♥ runout provided no more diamonds. Mortensen raked in the double-up during the final few hands of Day 2, while Akgul was left with a short stack of four big blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
714,000
254,000
|
254,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
60,000
268,000
|
268,000 |
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
The floor has announced that five more hands will be played on each table before Day 2 concludes.
Level 21
: Blinds 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Mohamed-Said Taghla opened the action to 30,000 from the hijack. Small blind Rainer Kempe upped the ante to 100,000, which Taghla flat-called.
Kempe continued for 55,000 on the 7♦J♥K♥ flop, seeing Taghla call. The K♦ turn saw Kempe increase his sizing to 90,000, which prompted Taghla to move all in for 275,000.
Kempe asked the dealer to count the all-in as well as his own bet before he ultimately decided to call with a slightly covering stack.
Mohamed-Said Taghla: J♦J♣
Rainer Kempe: Q♠Q♦
The 5♦ river did not bail out Kempe's queens as Taghla's set of jacks held for a big double-up. Kempe, meanwhile, was left with just over three big blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,235,000
665,000
|
665,000 |
|
|
1,131,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
890,000
155,000
|
155,000 |
|
780,000
408,000
|
408,000 |
|
|
532,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
241,000
101,000
|
101,000 |
|
234,000
616,000
|
616,000 |
|
|
46,000
107,000
|
107,000 |
