The heads-up contest was set to be a €89,060 match, and with the players pretty evenly stacked, after some discussions during the break, the all-Italian duo have elected to flatten out the variance.
Chip leader Ferrari will take home €197,300, while Ermanno Di Nicola will bank €188,360. The players will play on for €9,000 and the trophy.
Jean-Vincent Lehut of France emerged as a well-deserved champion of the PokerStars Open Main Event Namur, defeating Slovakian Jozef Cibicek heads-up to conquer a 1,572 entry field and take the huge €238,000 first-place prize.
Lehut, a high-stakes online cash game specialist, obliterated his previous career-best tournament score of €30,200 after flying under the radar for most of the tournament, producing a dominant final table performance when it mattered most.
PokerStars Open Namur Main Event 2025 Final Table Results
Morten Lie opened to 600,000 from the button, and was faced with a three-bet to 1,600,000 from Ermanno Di Nicola in the small blind.
Action back to Lie, who wasted little time before four-bet jamming for 8,250,000.
Di Nicola took his glasses off, looked over at Lie, counted out his chips, and made the call.
Morten Lie: A♠9♥
Ermanno Di Nicola: K♣Q♥
Lie was ahead, and remained so after the 10♠9♦7♠ flop gave him second pair.
However the Q♣ hit on the turn, and Lie could not find an ace or nine on the 8♠ river. Lie gave both his opponents a hug before heading to the payout desk.
A first six-figure score for Lie. We are now heads-up, with the players taking a short break before play begins.
Jorgen Dyhrberg jammed from under the gun for 6,325,000 and was looked up by Manuel Ferrari in the small blind.
Jorgen Dyhrberg: A♣7♦
Manuel Ferrari: A♦Q♠
Dyhrberg was dominated, and the poker gods decided that was the end of the road for him on the J♥6♣5♠3♦10♣ runout, with Ferrari unable to watch the runout.
A huge career-best score for the Dane with previous recorded cashes of less than $10,000.
Morten Lie opened to 500,000 under the gun with A♠K♠, and Manuel Ferrari defended the big blind with 9♣8♦.
On the 7♣5♠4♣ flop, Ferrari led out with a bet of 375,000 and Lie called.
The A♣ hit on the turn to give Lie a pair, and Ferrari check-raised to 2,400,000 in the face of a bet of 1,000,000 from Lie. Lie called after some thought.
The 10♥ river completed the board, giving Lie the check mark, and Ferrari decided to go for the bluff with no showdown value, firing out a bet of 7,500,000.
Lie had 10,950,000 behind, and went deep into the tank, clasping his hands together over his face, and thinking through the hand.
He completely unblocked the flush, and that may have ultimately been the reason he decided to send top pair to the muck. An epic bluff from Ferrari.
Ermanno Di Nicola opened to 500,000 from under the gun, and short-stack Fernando Quintana jammed from the big blind, for 1,950,000, with Di Nicola making the quick call.
Fernando Quintana: A♣J♦
Ermanno Di Nicola: A♦K♠
Quintana was crushed, and he could not find an unlikely escape on the 8♥7♠6♣9♣Q♣ runout, Di Nicola's king kicker playing with ace-high.
Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 29th episode, Connor talks with actress and high-stakes poker player Jennifer Tilly about the 20th anniversary of her World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet win, high-stakes cash games, the recent cancellation of Chucky, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, voicing Bonnie Swanson on Family Guy, dating poker pro Phil Laak, and her goal of getting into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Tilly also revealed that she tried to stop her ex-husband, Sam Simon, from creating The Simpsons and told the story of how she was nearly the voice of Marge Simpson.
Morten Lie opened to 500,000 under the gun with A♦K♦, and received a call from Ermanno Di Nicola in the small blind with 9♣8♣, before Manuel Ferrari produced a three-bet to 2,500,000 from the big blind with A♣5♦.
Lie didn't think long before piling his stack into the middle, and both of his opponents quickly got out of the way.
Manuel Ferrari opened to 500,000 from the cutoff with A♠10♥, and was met with a three-bet to 1,300,000 from Morten Lie on the button with A♥6♦. Action folded back to Ferrari, who called.
On the K♥Q♦8♠ flop, Ferrari check-called versus a bet of 800,000 from Lie.
The 2♣ hit on the turn, and was checked through to the 3♦ river, where no further action took place, with Ferrari's ace-ten high taking the pot.