One thing we have not mentioned at all this week is the food culture in Madrid. Let’s start by saying that the oldest restaurant in the world is based here in the city. Sobrino de Botín has been in continuous operation since 1725 and specialises in Castilian cuisine, particularly roast suckling pig and lamb. On the other hand, one of the most famous traditions amongst “madrileños” is ending a night with churros and hot chocolate. Although none of those things were present at Casino Gran Via, the day and night were full of exciting stories, wins and overall “buen rollo” (the Spanish version of good vibes). So let’s have a look at what went on yesterday.

At midday, the last flight, Day 1D Hyper, of the Main Event was underway, attracting 63 entries. The final chance to qualify for Day 2, so of course the usual suspects decided to give it one last go, including PokerStars Team PRO David Lappin, PaddyPower Team PRO Dara O’Kearney, PartyPoker Tour team member Glenn Brown and PartyPoker Tour Leaderboard winner Alex “wishiper96” Georgiev.

20 players got through, with the top chip leaders of this flight being Pablo De Heredia Garcia with 370,000 chips, Jorge Ruiz with 369,000 chips and Chen Yi with 349,000 chips.

At 1pm, the NLH Faded Spade tournament kicked off. The tournament attracted a total of 43 players, generating a total prize pool of €5,375. PaddyPower PRO Dara O’Kearney was the unlucky bubble for this event, however a beautiful story unfolded.

Photo Credit: Nunzia Esposito

Angela Rogan, originally from Belfast and a regular at Rinty’s Club in Antrim, you can read more about her in this lovely article, came to Madrid with her son Rogan. After several hours of play, they found themselves in a heads-up battle and, in the end, Darach Rogan collected his first-ever live trophy, making mum and the whole of Antrim incredibly proud. Rogan lifted the trophy, took the glory and €1,985 in prize money. These are the types of stories that warm all the cockles. Well done Rogan, I am sure we can expect some great things from you.

At 3pm, Day 1B of the PLO Masters commenced. This flight attracted a total of 38 entries, with 8 players making it through to Day 2. The likes of newest PartyPoker Tour team member and overall poker legend Barny Boatman, who made it through to Day 2, PartyPoker Tour Sheffield Main Event winner Siddharth Sudunagunta, Irish poker legend Sia Browne, Poker.PRO Crazy Pineapple winner Grzegorz Adam Staniszewski and PokerStars Team PRO David Lappin all decided to try their luck.

The top chip leaders of this flight were Deniss Lebedevs with 577,000 chips, Marcis Zeltmatis with 473,000 chips and Paul Tinsley with 284,000 chips.

At 6pm, Day 2 of the €100,000 GTD Main Event started. In true Madrid style, the Main Event has once again broken its own record, bringing the overall number to a whopping 535 entries and generating a total prize pool of €238,075. First place will take home €45,000.

At the start of play, 138 players took their seats. Familiar faces who had made it through to Day 2 included PartyPoker Tour team members Barny Boatman, Niall Farrell, Natalie Bromley, Dani Garcia and Glenn Brown, alongside Iain Farrell, Ranveer Arora, PartyPoker Ambassador Jaime Staples, PartyPoker Tour London Grand Final winner Thomas Sanderson, Steffan Stroffek, PartyPoker Tour Manchester Main Event winner Deniz Orhan and Jonathan Rees.

At the same time, the livestream with our friends over at Poker Red was underway. Around 9pm, the bubble burst. You can read all the action through our fantasticoso Poker.PRO live reporter Christoffer Karlén here. 79 players were all in the money.

At the end of play, 18 players made it through to the final day and the top chip leaders going into Day 3 are Alexey Neofitov with 4.83 million chips, followed by Daniel Triana Ruiz with 2.78 million chips and finally Alejandro Rubio with 2.67 million chips. Still left in the mix is also PartyPoker Tour Manchester winner Deniz Orhan, who also had the craziest experience, read about it here.

At 6pm, the NLH KO began. The tournament attracted a total of 91 entries and generated a total prize pool of €10,465. PartyPoker Tour team members Rebecca Hardisty and Barbara Jimenez, as well as PartyPoker Ambassador Jaime Staples, were all at the tables. Jaime cashed and finished in 11th place, but it was Marcos Pitarch who took home the trophy, bragging rights and €3,090 in prize money.

At 9pm, the last flight of the PLO Masters got underway. This final flight attracted 27 entries, with 5 players making it through to Day 2. Taking one final shot were Poker.PRO Crazy Pineapple winner Grzegorz Adam Staniszewski, Steffan Stroffek, Ranveer Arora, PartyPoker Tour team member Barry Carter, who this time did not make the final day, and PokerStars Team PRO David Lappin, who is amongst the players that progressed to Day 2 and sits third in chips with 257,000.

The top two chip leaders are Guillermo Puerta Mallol with 331,000 chips and Ped Oliva Martinez with 327,000 chips.

Finally, at 10pm, the NLH Hyper – €1,000 High Roller Seat Added was in full swing, attracting 143 entries and generating a total prize pool of €3,575. Familiar faces included partners in crime and winners of several GPI Awards in 2025, PartyPoker Tour team member Barry Carter and PaddyPower PRO Dara O’Kearney, although unfortunately neither made it.

It was Edward Cherrie who took home the trophy, the prize money (€700), the glory and the €1,000 High Roller Seat, courtesy of partypoker.

As you can see, yesterday, in true Madrid style, was one big party, but the fun is not ending there and today is the final day, so let’s have a quick look at what’s going on.

We are back today with the final livestream of the festival, powered by our friends at Poker Red, which will commence at 3:00pm with a 30-minute delay.