Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000) Entries: 129/799 In a rather unusual hand, we saw Nikolaos Zacharakis fold Ace King before the flop. The hand began with him raising from middle position. Behind him Johan Guilbert re-raised and the action was back on Zacharakis. He made it 55k. Without skipping a beat Guilbert moved all-in for 142.5k.…
Level 15: 2,000/4,000 (4,000) Entries: 144/799 The blinds are high, the stacks are shallow, and the actions sometimes are forced. One of those virtually forced actions was Desmond Farrell’s all-in with and 4.5 big blinds behind. Leonardo Romeo went along for the ride but had Farrell crushed with . Lady luck had other plans than…
Level 14: 1,500/3,000 (3,000) Entries: 172/799 Alvaro Da Silva opened to 6.5k from the button and behind him, Alaa Ganem moved all-in from the small blind for 115k. In the big blind Kevin Karenius thought for a little while and moved all-in as well. Da Silva quickly let go of his steal attempt and we…
At the Battle of Malta, one of the exciting side events that concluded yesterday was the Mystery Bounty. This thrilling tournament attracted a total of 430 entries, making it a fiercely competitive affair. As the event unfolded, tension filled the air, with players vying for the opportunity to claim their share of the €76,100 prize…
We counted some more chips during the break. Currently, Cyril Vieira & Lior Sahar lead the pack. Name Chips Big Blinds Table Seat Cyril Vieira 405,000 135 3 5 Lior Sahar 390,000 130 23 7 Albert Keuftedjian 340,000 113 25 3 Ugo Gasparini 310,000 103 2 9 Christos Paparistodemou 310,000 103 14 9 Michal Anzulewicz…
Level 13: 1,000/2,000 (2,000) Entries: 213/799 Some hands just play themselves without much strategy and thinking. One of those hands is aces versus kings. One of those hands we just witnessed over at Table 10. It began with Alaa Ganem raising and Hassan Nima reraising. Gaspare Sposato was caught in the middle and caught the…
Level 12: 1,000/1,500 (1,500) Entries: 235/799 With the blinds ever increasing, the action becomes faster and faster and we are seeing all-ins virtually every minute. Yigal Shafian just eliminated his countryman Assaf Cabra in one of those all-ins. Both had all their chips in the middle before the flop with Assaf Cabra being minimally ahead…
Level 12: 1,000/1,500 (1,500) Entries: 252/799 Watching poker and playing poker doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. Over at Table 13, Marco Labate spent most of the day watching poker episodes on his phone. We just witnessed him increase his stack significantly while watching other people play poker on his phone. We arrived at his…
The most important people in the casino are the dealers. Without a skilled and motivated team of dealers, no cash game and no tournament can run. Patrisha Rimfire met up with Marcello Caloro. He’s the senior Dealer Coordinator here at the Battle of Malta and shares his insights into running successful poker tournaments. Learn how…