A frantic day of action has concluded here in Day 2 of the PokerStars Open Main Event Malaga at Gran Madrid, Casino Torrequebrada, with only 82 players set to return for the penultimate day after ten levels of play, from a start of day field of 616 hopefuls.
Marciano Rodriguez of Spain (2,760,000) will start Day 3 with a significant lead over the field, after rivering a straight flush to crack quads in an epic cooler. He continued to stack chips from there, and is the only player over the two million mark.
Joel Haapio of Finland (1,670,000) is closest to Rodriguez, while Marios Zervoudis of Greece (1,520,000) of Greece completes the podium places.
All of the top three have recorded tournament results under $125,000 and will be eyeing career-best scores with a deep run here, with first place set to take the mouth-watering sum of €241,860.
Perhaps the player they should be most concerned about is two-time WSOP Europe bracelet winner Ermanno Di Nicola (980,000), with the Italian lurking just outside the top ten. Fellow Italian Simone Demasi (1,030,000) is arguably due a breakthrough result and is just ahead of Di Nicola.
PokerStars ambassador and Triton Million WSOP Bahamas winner Alejandro Lococo (245,000) is also still in the mix and will be a dangerous opponent.
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marciano Rodriguez | Spain | 2,760,000 | 230 |
| 2 | Joel Haapio | Finland | 1,670,000 | 139 |
| 3 | Marios Zervoudis | Greece | 1,520,000 | 127 |
| 4 | Linda Nguyen | Norway | 1,305,000 | 109 |
| 5 | Franklin Hincapie | Sweden | 1,275,000 | 106 |
| 6 | Giacomo Beneforti | Italy | 1,270,000 | 106 |
| 7 | Adem Agoudjil | France | 1,210,000 | 101 |
| 8 | Vasile-Voinita Soica | Romania | 1,100,000 | 92 |
| 9 | Teo Assuncao | Switzerland | 1,065,000 | 89 |
| 10 | Simone Demasi | Italy | 1,030,000 | 86 |
Day 2 Action
A flurry of Day 2 entrants brought the starting field to 616 players, and a record-breaking prize pool for an event at Casino Torrequebrada of €1,570,560 was created from a total of 1,636 entrants.
The top 239 players would be in the money, with a minimum cash worth €1,700, and the action was fast and furious as players quickly fell by the wayside without a boost to their bankroll, with Jason Tompkins and Yves Thalmann examples of players who had a frustratingly short Day 2.
Claudio Di Giacomo led the way at the first break, but would not make it until the finish line. A contender for hand of the year then propelled Bobby Simons towards the top of the standings. Simons rivered a royal flush against Krysztof Zapolski's aces full of kings and Ricardo Martos' kings full of jacks in a hand that seemed from another planet, and had almost the entire room reaching for their phones. Simons would not however make the Day 3 cut.
It wasn't long before the bubble was on the horizon, and there were a number of doubles to increase the tension in the room. Eventually, four players busted at once at different tables to split the minimum cash - Peter Jorgne, Marco Cipriani, Daniel Heredi and Constantin Otto.
Rodriguez subsequently binked the two-outer for the straight flush to crack quads in another hand that had the surrounding tables gasping, and the field continued to dwindle quickly as players exited with a minimum cash or a pay jump, with David Lappin, Ben Miller and Aidan Quinlan all falling into this category.
2025 PokerStars Open Malaga Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €241,860 | 14-15 | €12,100 | |
| 2 | €152,800 | 16-17 | €10,100 | |
| 3 | €109,200 | 18-20 | €8,880 | |
| 4 | €84,000 | 21-23 | €7,600 | |
| 5 | €64,600 | 24-27 | €6,600 | |
| 6 | €49,700 | 28-31 | €5,800 | |
| 7 | €38,200 | 32-39 | €5,000 | |
| 8 | €29,400 | 40-55 | €4,400 | |
| 9 | €22,600 | 56-71 | €3,800 | |
| 10-11 | €17,400 | 72-82 | €3,300 | |
| 12-13 | €14,500 |
The players will return at noon local time on June 21 to Level 21, with blinds of 10,000/15,000, with a 15,000 big blind ante, with the clock set to 60-minute levels. It is expected a minimum of ten levels will be played in Day 3.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of what is guaranteed to be an enthralling day of poker.
