Manuel Ferrari Continues Breakout Year with Victory in PokerStars Open Main Event Malaga 2025 (*€206,300 - after heads-up deal)
After a rapid final day, Manuel Ferrari of Italy has battled through a tough final table to take victory in the PokerStars Open Main Event Malaga 2025, securing a huge career-best €206,300 payday after a heads-up deal with his fellow countryman, Ermanno Di Nicola.
Ferrari came into heads-up play with a slight lead, and he banked €197,300 in the deal to Di Nicola's €188,360, with play continuing for €9,000 and the trophy. Both players fought extremely hard for the win despite the deal, and after around 90 minutes of combat, Ferrari ground down his opponent and eventually prevailed with a pair of kings.
Ferrari had navigated to heads-up after starting the day in the middle of the pack as a result of some fearless, play-to-win poker. He pulled off a huge bluff against Morten Lie, forcing the Norwegian to fold top pair ace-king with his nine-high, and then jammed on Di Nicola on the river with air, again with a missed draw, although his opponent did not have quite as strong a holding as Lie on this occasion.
He celebrated a milestone win with vigour with his own Tifosi, a large rail backing him throughout, as he continues to rack up results in a breakout year that already included his previous biggest score of €60,000, banked at the Skill Poker Masters in Nova Gorica in February.
2025 PokerStars Open Malaga Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manuel Ferrari | Italy | €206,300* |
| 2 | Ermanno Di Nicola | Italy | €188,360* |
| 3 | Morten Lie | Norway | €109,200 |
| 4 | Jorgen Dyhrberg | Denmark | €84,000 |
| 5 | Fernando Quintana | Spain | €64,600 |
| 6 | Linda Nguyen | Norway | €49,700 |
| 7 | Davis Harari | United States | €38,200 |
| 8 | Joel Haapio | Finland | €29,400 |
| 9 | Ignacio Cuesta | Spain | €22,600 |
*denotes heads-up deal
Winner's Reaction
Ferrari, from the Dolomite Mountains area of northern Italy, has been playing since 2010, and credited a relatively recent awakening to the importance of studying the technical aspects of the game, and a good support group of friends and family, for his sterling 2025.
"Super happy, I've put in a lot of work the last couple of years, and its starting to pay off this year. My confidence is at a new level, I just have to keep working. It would be nothing without my friends, my study group, my family, and I am really enjoying this moment.
I'm not so young now, I've played poker since 2010, I felt my exploitative game was good. But my GTO knowledge needed work, and I've really started working hard on that, on ICM, it's so important for tournaments. I don't think its a coincidence, last couple of years online has been good as well."
On how likely he felt this outcome was starting the day in the middle of the pack, Ferrari smiled and said "In my mind zero doubts, I'm always optimistic, I know my skills are improving all the time. It's a one-man game this one, so you have to believe in yourself and be confident or they'll run over you. There was never any doubt in my friends' minds either" he said, laughing, "They always believe in me. I started with 40 bigs so knew there was room to play and showcase my skills."
On the big bluff against Lie, PokerNews informed Ferrari Lie had folded ace-king on the ace-high board, and he said "I figured it was a single pair hand, definitely very important. I figured I'm not deep enough to check-call out of position, so I check-raised to turn it into a bluff, with some safety net when the flush or straight comes, or some showdown value with a nine or eight. When he just called I'm pretty sure he just has an ace, I have the perfect combo to block straights, and I just had to go for it on the river."
On the bluff heads-up against Di Nicola, "Yea he gave it some really good thought, I thought he was going to pull the trigger, but luckily he didn't. I have many value combos there I play like that so I need some bluffs, that's the perfect combo."
On his final opponent, Di Nicola, "I didn't know him personally before this week but I knew of his accomplishments, so I was really happy to beat him, it makes it a bit more special. I think we will be close friends from now on, we made a deal heads-up, we battled, we're Italian, so it was nice."
On where we can see him next, "Definitely the EPT's, Barcelona, Malta, Prague, I really want an EPT title. Probably a little holiday in Sardinia and a trip home first!"
Final Day Action
The final table of nine players returned to Gran Madrid, Casino Torrequebrada in Malaga, all dreaming of the life-changing money up top for the win. Jorgen Dyhrberg came into the day with the chip lead, and one of the interesting plot lines of the day would be how the apparent recreational would perform under the pressure of the bright lights.
A brief but accurate summary of the day would be that Ferrari and Di Nicola chopped up their final table rivals between them. Short-stack Ignacio Cuesta was the first to exit when he three-bet jammed into Di Nicola's overpair, and the Italian would also claim the scalp of Joel Haapio as he got off to a strong start to the final day.
Ferrari got in on the action when his better jack held to send Davis Harari packing in seventh. Morten Lie was gifted a full double-up after an ambitious bluff attempt from Dyhrberg backfired, and Lie then eliminated Linda Nguyen in sixth with snowmen to top the standings for a period.
Di Nicola claimed yet another knockout to send Fernando Quintana tumbling out in fifth with a dominating ace.
Dyhrberg never recovered from the failed bluff, and Ferrari picked him off when the Dane jammed under the gun with a mediocre ace and was dominated by the eventual winner.
Lie, Ferrari and Di Nicola competed three-handed for a while, but the Norwegian's run came to an end in third despite getting it in good against Di Nicola.
Ferrari had a 26 to 21 million chip lead at the start of heads-up play, and the deal was agreed during the break. The players fought on for a further 90 minutes for the coveted trophy and final $9,000 of the prize pool, and Ferrari's relentless pressure ultimately paid off.
That concludes our coverage of this event, but be sure to join us for the next stop of the PokerStars Open in Manchester from 20-26 October, and to check out PokerNews coverage of tournaments from around the world.