The action was picked up on a board of 6♦2♣2♥7♠9♣ with more than 220,000 already in the pot.
Markus Bonus in the small blind jammed for 95,000, and Mykhailo Ostash went deep into the tank. In front of the cameras, Ostash eventually made the call with 6♣5♣ for two pair. Bonus had the same hand with 6♥5♠, so they split the pot.
Seeing Aliaksei Boika win the 2025 PokerStars European Poker Tour Malta €5,300 Main Event nine years after his 2016 success seemed like an impossible dream when he first arrived at Casino Malta. But out of a field of 898 entries, this dream became increasingly plausible as the field narrowed.
The Belarusian player ended Day 3 second in chips with 1,987,000, as 36 players qualified for Day 4. Only Tom-Aksel Bedell managed to bag a bigger stack with 2,718,000 chips after spending the last levels at the feature table. Third in chips is the chip leader at the start of the day, Roman Stoica, who seemed to have a decent run to end the day with 1,734,000.
Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Tom-Aksel Bedell
Norway
2,718,000
272
2
Aliaksei Boika
Belarus
1,987,000
199
3
Roman Stoica
Moldova, Republic of
1,734,000
173
4
Jiaming Zhao
China
1,279,000
128
5
Juan Pardo
Spain
1,256,000
126
6
Maxime Chilaud
France
1,168,000
117
7
Luis Faria
Portugal
1,150,000
115
8
Joao Tomas
Portugal
1,057,000
106
9
Tom Vogelsang
Netherlands
1,051,000
105
10
Adrian Mateos
Spain
1,038,000
104
Aliaksei Boika
The two generals of the Spanish army, Juan Pardo (1,256,000) and Adrian Mateos (1,038,000), are both still in contention with more than a million chips. They are followed by lieutenants Adria Calonge (980,000) and Gerard Rubiralta, who sent PokerStars Team Pro Kenny Hallaertout as the first player eliminated of the day (108th - €9,650).
Among the other millionaires are Jiaming Zhao (1,279,000), Maxime Chilaud (1,168,000), Portugal’s Luis Faria (1,150,000), and Joao Tomas (1,057,000), as well as Tom Vogelsang (1,051,000), who hit a full house to eliminate Enrico Camosci (88th).
While Dominik Panka (106th), Monika Hrabec (101st), Cesar Garcia (95th), Tom Middleton (87th), Daniel Rezaei (81st), and Ognyan Dimov (37th) were all eliminated during Day 3, the tournament continues for players like Grzegorz Kozieja (1,033,000), Ben Heath (625,000), Petre Ionescu (492,000), and Toni Kaukua (226,000).
Italy’s Luca Guglielmoni (99,000) and Alessandro Barone (72,000) trail at the bottom as the only two players with fewer than ten big blinds.
Juan Pardo
Play is set to resume Friday, October 10, at 12 p.m. local time with the same plan as today, to play four 90-minute levels, which should bring the field close to the final two or three tables. Day 4 seating remains the same as it was at the end of the day, and all 36 remaining players have already secured a minimum cash prize of €16,800.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€760,000
10-11
€56,050
2
€474,650
12-13
€46,750
3
€339,000
14-15
€38,950
4
€260,750
16-17
€33,850
5
€200,550
18-20
€29,450
6
€154,250
21-23
€25,600
7
€118,650
24-27
€22,250
8
€91,250
28-31
€19,350
9
€70,250
32-36
€16,800
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action until a winner is crowned!
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