Nicolas Boton opened to 50,000 from early position, and was met with a three-bet jam to 365,000 from Mo Xu in the cutoff. Action folded back to Boton, who made the quick call.
Mo Xu: A♦8♦
Nicolas Boton: A♠Q♣
Xu needed some help, and things looked bleak after the K♠3♦2♣ flop.
However the 4♦ turn gave Xu outs to the flush, and he got there with a pair of eights on the 8♣ river, much to Boton's disgust.
Ermanno Di Nicola opened to 60,000 from middle position, and was faced with a three-bet to 145,000 from Mehdi Rebai in the cutoff. Action folded back to Di Nicola, who called.
On the Q♣Q♦3♣ flop, Di Nicola check-raised to 115,000 in the face of a bet of 35,000 from Rebai, who called.
The 5♦ hit on the turn, and Di Nicola fired out a bet of 240,000. Rebai, who had around 805,000 behind, took some time to think, and made the call, saying "You always make me think, eh".
The J♠ river completed the board, and Di Nicola jammed with the covering stack. Rebai sighed, shook his head, and said "You always have it eh, this is fucking crazy".
Rebai went into the tank for a good two minutes, talking to himself, and eventually open-folded K♣K♠, to gasps from the table.
"You always have it" repeated Rebai. "You want to see one?" said Di Nicola, and Rebai nodded. Di Nicola turned over 3♦, and Rebai chuckled and said "House eh, you always have it."
We picked the action up with Verneri Hakkinen all-in from the cutoff, and having received calls from Simone Demasi on the button and Angel Sanchez in the big blind, with around 260,000 in the middle.
Demasi and Sanchez checked down the 9♣8♦8♥2♠9♦ runout until the river, where Sanchez check-folded in the face of a bet of 50,000 from Demasi.
Demasi tabled A♣A♥ for aces and nines, and Hakkinen had missed with Q♦10♣.
Adem Agoudjil opened to 35,000 from middle position, and was met with a three-bet to 100,000 from Dori Dakbash on the button.
Action folded back to Agoudjil , who produced a four-bet to 250,000. Dakbash thought it through for a moment, before five-bet jamming for around 700,000, and Agoudjil got his covering stack into the middle.
Dori Dakbash: A♣K♣
Adem Agoudjil: Q♥Q♦
It was the classic race, but the king was in the window on the K♥10♠9♦ flop. Agoudjil had additional outs to the straight, and he didn't have to wait long as the J♦ hit on the turn to put him in front.
Dakbash was now drawing to a queen, but the 8♣ river was a brick. He tapped the table and wished his opponents good luck.
Eugenio Peralta opened to 30,000 from the hijack, and was met with a three-bet to 85,000 from Morten Lie in the cutoff. Action folded back to Peralta, who took some time before pumping it up to 215,000. Lie made the call.
On the A♥7♣6♦ flop, Peralta continued with a bet of 80,000, and Lie stuck around for the Q♠ turn, which was checked through to the 7♠ river.
There, Peralta quickly check-folded versus a bet of 200,000 from Lie.
Henrik Veldhoen opened to 30,000 from the hijack, and received calls from Atilla Saracoglu in the cutoff and Aiguo Xu in the big blind.
The 10♥7♠2♠ flop and 4♠ turn were checked through to the 2♥ river, where Xu led out with a bet of 80,000. Veldhoen quickly folded, but Saracoglu asked for a count, and on being informed of the amount, quickly made the call.
Xu confidently tabled 8♠8♥ for a pair of eights, but Saracoglu had top pair tens with J♣10♣.
We are onto Day 3 of the sun-drenched PokerStars Open Main Event Malaga at Gran Madrid, Casino Torrequebrada, with only 82 players set to return from 1,636 runners for the penultimate day at noon local time, after an action-packed Day 2 saw 534 players fall by the wayside.
The podium places are currently filled by three players who will be dreaming of a career-first six-figure score - Spaniard Marciano Rodriguez (2,760,000), Finn Joel Haapio (1,670,000) and Marios Zervoudis of Greece (1,520,000).
Start of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Marciano Rodriguez
Spain
2,760,000
184
2
Joel Haapio
Finland
1,670,000
111
3
Marios Zervoudis
Greece
1,520,000
101
4
Linda Nguyen
Norway
1,305,000
87
5
Franklin Hincapie
Sweden
1,275,000
85
6
Giacomo Beneforti
Italy
1,270,00
84
7
Adem Agoudjil
France
1,210,000
80
8
Vasile-Voinita Soica
Romania
1,100,000
73
9
Teo Assuncao
Switzerland
1,065,000
71
10
Simone Demasi
Italy
1,030,000
68
Linda Nguyen
Rodriguez stormed to the top of the counts after hitting a straight flush to crack quads, and that was not the only dramatic cooler of the day, as Bobby Simons rivered the rarely seen royal flush, and was unbelievably up against two full houses. Simons would unfortunately fall towards the end of the day.
The €1,570,560 prize pool, a record for an event in Malaga, was to be split between 240 players, after four players busted simultaneously at separate tables on the bubble, with a minimum cash good for €1,700.
Plenty of other quality players are still in the hunt for the title, including PokerStars ambassador Alejandro Lococo (245,000), Gerard Cortes Rubiralta (845,000), Henrik Veldhoen (590,000), Irish Open champ Tero Laurila (585,000), and Gianluca Speranza (245,000).
Alejandro Lococo
The eye-catching sum of €241,860 awaits the winner, while a spot at the final table will guarantee a €22,600 payday. All players have locked up a €3,300 cash.
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 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 today.
Be sure to stick with us at PokerNews for all your coverage, as we see who can move into prime position to take the PokerStars Open Main Event Malaga 2025 title!
