Jorgen Andersen opened to 250,000 from the cutoff and Mateusz Jablonski three-bet jammed for around 2,000,000 from the big blind, with Andersen making the snap-call.
Mateusz Jablonski: A♥Q♦
Jorgen Andersen: A♦5♦
Jablonski had Andersen dominated, but the flop came 10♣5♣2♣, and Jablonski threw his hands up in disgust, particularly with no club in his hand.
The 9♦ turn and 2♠ river did not save him, and he looked absolutely ashen-faced, distraught at the cruelty of the poker gods as he walked away to the back of the room shaking his head.
A pot of 2,100,000 had brewed, in a hand between Linda Nguyen under the gun and Joel Haapio in the cutoff, with the completed board reading 10♣8♥5♣Q♦7♣.
Nguyen jammed with the covering stack, and Haapio, who had around 2,000,000 behind, went into the tank. After around a minute, he folded, sending a chunky pot to Nguyen.
Ermanno Di Nicola raised from the small blind to 325,000, and Manuel Ferrari defended.
On the A♥9♥5♥ flop, Di Nicola continued with a bet of 450,000, which failed to throw a spanner in Ferrari's plans to see the turn.
The 9♠ turn was checked to the 4♥ river, where Di Nicola fired out a bet of 800,000. After a great deal of deliberation Ferrari called, and was delighted to see his A♣3♣ for two pair was good versus Di Nicola's 10♠5♣ for the worse two pair.
Morten Lie opened to 200,000 from early position and Simone Demasi three-bet jammed from the cutoff for around 2,100,000. Action back to Lie, who thought for a brief moment before making the call.
Simone Demasi: 9♥9♠
Morten Lie: A♠K♣
It was a race, but the ace was first out on the A♣10♥4♠ flop, the 10♠ turn and J♠ river failing to alter matters, much to the delight of the other players, who have now made the final table.
Play has therefore concluded in Day 3, with 30 seconds left in Level 29. Stay tuned to PokerNews for updated chip counts and a recap of the day.
Another day of thrilling action has come to a close here at Gran Madrid, Casino Torrequebrada, with the final table of the €1,570,560 prize pool PokerStars Open Main Event Malaga set after nine levels of play.
Jorgen Dhyrberg of Denmark (11,235,000) holds a significant lead over Norwegian Linda Nguyen (8,815,000) going into the final day, both of whom played fearless poker, appearing in lots of pots at the business end of proceedings.
Two-time WSOP bracelet winner Ermanno Di Nicola of Italy (7,280,000) completes the top three, and he was also attempting to force the pace all day.
End of Day 3 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Jorgen Dhyrberg
Denmark
11,235,000
94
2
Linda Nguyen
Norway
8,185,000
68
3
Ermanno Di Nicola
Italy
7,280,000
61
4
Morten Lie
Norway
6,160,000
51
5
Manuel Ferrari
Italy
4,920,000
41
6
Joel Haapio
Finland
3,445,000
29
7
Davis Harari
United States
3,310,000
28
8
Fernando Quintana
Spain
2,750,000
23
9
Ignacio Cuesta
Spain
1,760,000
15
Day 3 Action
Dhyrberg appears to be the definition of an enthusiastic amateur. With recorded tournament cashes of under $10,000, the amiable Dane has already obliterated his best score, and was thoroughly enjoying himself all day, oblivious to any pressure. Of course it doesn't hurt to also run well, and Dyhrberg woke up with cowboys to crack Manuel Ledesma, and then hit quads to bust Constantin Erhan.
Dhyrberg was the beneficiary of one of the most dramatic moments of the day, as he overcame the better ace of Mateusz Jablonski, who looked absolutely heartbroken by the bad beat.
Could the man from the land of Hans Christian Andersen spin an epic tale of underdog glory on the final day? If today's evidence is anything to go by, he'll be a tough man to stop with chips, but with €241,860 for first place, the stage and difficult opponents ensure nothing is certain.
Nguyen put in another strong performance, seemingly the aggressor in most pots she appeared in, after coming into the day in the top five. She proceeded to finish the day in style as she busted start of day chip leader Marciano Rodriguez. Nguyen has already secured a career-best score, with all players having locked up a €22,600 payday.
Linda Nguyen
Di Nicola was also a player who fully intended on going for the jugular if he could, bluffing Nguyen and managing to persuade Mehdi Rebai that he "always had it".
Ermanno Di Nicola
Morten Lie of Norway (6,160,000) sits fourth, and he caught some heat towards the end of the day, including busting Simone Demasi on the final table bubble. Spain still has hopes of a home-grown victor, as Ignacio Cuesta (1,760,000) and Fernando Quintana (2,765,000) come into the final table as the relative short-stacks, but still with plenty of room for maneuver.
Plenty of notable names began the day, but could not find a spot in the end game, including Alejandro Lococo, Gianluca Speranza and Eugenio Peralta.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
€241,860
2
€152,800
3
€109,200
4
€84,000
5
€64,600
6
€49,700
7
€38,200
8
€29,400
9
€22,600
The players will return on June 22 at 12.30 p.m. local time, to Level 30, 60,000/120,000, with a 120,000 big blind ante. The final table will be played on a hands-per-level structure, and that number was announced today to the players to be 24.
The action will also be streamed on PokerStars Spain's Youtube and Twitch channels, on a 30-minute delay. Our coverage here will be delayed to match the stream, and will commence at approximately 1 p.m.
Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of the final table, as we see who can emerge as champion in the PokerStars Open Main Event Malaga 2025.
