A pot of 200,000 had developed on a completed board of 10♣10♥2♥2♠4♦, in a hand between Giacomo Beneforti in middle position and Gianluca Speranza in the big blind.
Speranza led out with a bet of 26,000, but was faced with a jam from Beneforti for around 540,000, who had the covering stack.
Speranza went into the tank, and the clock was called, and he ultimately folded.
With around 50,000 in the middle on a flop of K♠8♠3♥, Franklin Hincapie check-raised from the big blind to 52,000, versus a bet of 16,000 from Karl Sandoff in early position. After some thought, Sandoff called.
The 6♠ turn was checked through to the 4♥ river, where Hincapie fired out a bet of 128,000.
After around 90 seconds of thought, Sandoff made the call, but mucked when Hincapie showed him 8♦3♦ for the flopped two pair.
A pot of around 80,000 had brewed on a flop of A♥K♣9♥, in a hand between Krysztof Zapolski in middle position and Karl Sandoff in the big blind.
Sandoff check-raised to 100,000 in the face of a continuation bet of 25,000 from Zapolski, who thought it through for quite a bit before three-bet jamming for 225,000 total. Sandoff made the quick call.
Krysztof Zapolski: A♠10♦
Karl Sandoff: K♥9♣
Sandoff had flopped two pair versus Zapolski's pair of aces. The 10♥ hit on the turn to give Zapolski a better two, but Sandoff made the one-card flush on the 3♥ river.
Zapolski had some left, but was seen leaving the tournament area shortly after.
Alejandro Lococo opened to 20,000 from the cutoff, and Istvan Varga defended the big blind.
On the 6♥4♥3♥ flop, Varga led out with a bet of 17,000, earning a quick call from Papo MC.
The A♠ hit on the turn, and as it did Varga smiled at Lococo and said "Bad card for me no?". Lococo smiled and said "We'll see, if it is I overbet turn and river, if not i check", laughing.
The turn was indeed checked to the Q♣ river. Varga led out again with a bet of 22,000, and Lococo responded by quickly verbally declaring a raise to 182,000.
Varga's cards were in the muck before Lococo even finished moving his chips forward. Lococo smiled, flashed the 7♣, and raked in the pot.
Darius-Valentin Neagoe had four bet preflop to 224,000 over a three-bet from Jorgen Andersen to 82,000, with Andersen deep in thought. He called, with Neagoe having around 60,000 behind, and Andersen playing close to a million.
The flop came A♣6♦2♣, and Andersen jammed with the covering stack. Neagoe stalled for a payjump, got it, and then made the call.
Around 190,000 was in the middle on a flop of 10♦6♣3♣, in a hand between Tobias Zobrist on the button and Aiguo Xu in the big blind.
Xu check-jammed to 320,000 over a bet of 50,000 from Zobrist, who went into the tank. After about two minutes of thought, he flicked in a calling chip.
Aiguo Xu: 6♠2♠
Tobias Zobrist: Q♥10♣
Zobrist had top pair versus Xu's second pair, but the 2♥ hit on the turn to put Xu in front with two pair, the 4♥ river completing the board.
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.
Marciano Rodriguez
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.
Bobby Simons
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.
