Day 1b

Level 16: 2,500/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 47/310

Day 1b is now in the books after two players were eliminated on the same hand. Meanwhile, Bastian Rebscher got a bit of a chip up in one of the final hands of the night after Rasmus Eriksson opened the button to 12k and both blinds called. All three players checked the T♥2♦6♦ flop but after a check from Alessandro Barone on 4♣ turn, Bastian Rebscher bet 12k. That pushed Eriksson out, but Barone raised it to 26k.

Rebscher called to the T♠ river where Barone bet 25k. Rebscher and his queen-six was a pip ahead of the pocket fives for Barone. Stay tuned for the end-of-day chip counts for Day 1b qualifiers.

Bastian Rebscher – 180,000
Alessandro Barone – 430,000

Level 15: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Entries: 59/310

Daniel Pereira Henriques opened to 9,000 from the cutoff and button Bogdan Codreanu called to the flop of J♦Q♣T♣. Henriques bet 8,000 and got the call from Codreanu and he fired again for 23k on the 2♠ turn. Codreanu again called to see 7♣ on the river. Henriques checked this time before Codreanu bet 52k. After a few seconds of thought, Henriques called.

Both players hit the flop, but the ace-queen for hit it harder than the ace-ten for Henriques.

Daniel Pereira Henriques – 60,000
Bogdan Codreanu – 250,000

Bogdan Codreanu

The final table has been reached and players are in the money in the €350 NLH Freezeout after more than eight hours of play. The top 11 players locked up at least a €710 payout with the final nine all securing a little more with at least a €810 payout.

Zdenek Zizka, Thomas Harnes, Amteusz Piwowarczyk, Pedro Faustino, Paolo Di Girolamo, Giovanni Grella, Krystian Nalepka, Marcin Jaworski, and Craig Watson are among the players competing for the title and the healthy €7,870 top prize. Best of luck to the final nine!

€350 NLH Freezeout Final Table

Level 14: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Entries: 64/310

There were just a lot of chips moving across Table 40. I arrived after all the action was done and dusted and Luciano Capossela was counting out a huge double for Bastian Rebscher on a board that read Q♦8♣T♦7♣J♦. Capossela got it in with two pair holding queen-ten, but the jack-nine for Rebscher hit the straight for a huge double. The hand left Capossela nearly felted and he was on the rail shortly after.

Bastian Rebscher – 400,000
Luciano Capossela – 0

Bastian Rebscher

Level 14: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Entries: 69/310

Bogdan-Adrian Codreanu opened for 7,500 from early position before Salvatore Motta three-bet shoved for 54,000. Codreanu asked for a count before he found a call.

Salvatore Motta: K♣Q♦
Bogdan-Adrian Codreanu: A♣T♠

Motta pulled out ahead after his queen connected on the J♠3♦Q♠ flop. However, the A♥ turn pushed Codreanu back ahead as he paired up his ace. The blank 8♣ river didn’t save Motta and he will need to try again during one of the other four opening flights for a chance to advance to Day 2.

Bogdan-Adrian Codreanu – 250,000
Salvatore Motta – 0

Level 14: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Entries: 72/310

Players are on their fifth break of Day 1b. The blinds will increase to 1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 big blind ante when the action resumes.

Break

Level 13: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 77/310

Tebege Samuel tried to raise to 3,300, but Sergejs Korobovs pointed out the the raise had to be 4k. Samuel made it 4k only to face a raise to 12k from Korobovs. He called to see 5♣T♥9♦ on the flop, but he check-folded to a bet of 11k from Korobovs.

Sergejs Korobovs – 200,000
Tebege Samuel – 170,000

Lyle Bateman joined our reporting team at the Battle of Malta for the first time. He traveled quite far to get here from Western Canada and thus far has been enjoying his experience.

Learn more about Lyle in his interview with Battle of Malta host Patricia Rimfire.

Level 13: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 78/310

Thibault Thevenet bet 10,000 into a pot of a bit more with the 5♠9♣7♣7♥ on the board after the turn. Martin Stoev raised to 22,000. Thevenet jammed over the top and Stoev quickly called for around 42,000 in total.

Martin Stoev: A♣3♣
Thibault Thevenet: K♠7♠

Thevenet was ahead with his trips but needed to fade a club. A big smile came on his face after he eliminated Stoev with the blank 4♦ river completing the board.

Thibault Thevenet – 300,000
Martin Stoev – 0

Level 12: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 86/310

There were just two hands involving the table big stack at Table 31, Loris Fabbri. In the first hand, Marco Regonaschi raised to 3,500 and got called in two spots, including Fabbri on the button. On the 5♦J♦A♣ flop the big blind checked to Regonaschi who fired 2,000. Fabbri called while the big blind got out of the way.

On the 6♣ turn, Regonaschi check-called for 4,500 and both players checked the 6♥ river. Regonaschi showed jack-nine and took the pot when Fabbri mucked.

On the next hand, Geert Vanoppen shoved 33,300 over the open from Fabbri and got the call. Vanoppen was dominating Fabbri with ace-queen over king-queen-queen and he held to get a double.

Loris Fabbri – 90,000
Marco Regonaschi – 55,000
Geert Vanoppen – 70,000

Marco Regonaschi

Geert Vanoppen

Aladin Mrkaljevic

Aladin Mrkaljevic just pulled off some magic from Aladdin’s lamp. The €450 Mystery Siege of Malta Bounty is down to a final table of nine players. Telly Bartolo and Patricia Rimfire hosted a ceremony for those who didn’t select their envelopes from the tumbula.

Mrkaljevic held three tokens. The first one awarded him €1,000. He seemed rather pleased with this but the second one was for free Battle of Malta merchandise along with the chance to select one more envelope.

The next envelope generated tons of emotions as he nailed down the top €15,000 bounty Just like magic!

Finally, he selected a €1,000 envelope for a total haul thus far of €17,000 in mystery bounties and counting.

Meanwhile, local player Andre Grech collected the second biggest bounty an hour or two ago of €10,000. Another amazing haul and a nice reward for a player who comes out for every Battle of Malta.

Aladin Mrkaljevic

Level 11: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 94/310

Yassine Jennane opened the betting to 2,500 from the cutoff and table big-stack Giacomo Evangelista called from the big blind. He check-called for 3,200 on the 3♥T♠J♣ flop, but then check folded to a bet of 5,400 on the 2♣ turn. Evangelista still has more than 200k while Jannane has chipped up to more than 50k.

Giacomo Evangelista – 215,000
Yassine Jennane – 56,000

Yassine Jennane

Level 11: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 97/310

Scotland’s Andrew Hedley, known to old-school online grinders as “Picasso” is in the house. The experienced poker pro and commentator was off to a hot start off the dinner break and painted a picture on the river in the following hand.

Vincenzo Popolo bet 15,000 into a pot of a little more with the K♠A♠A♥J♦ on the board after the turn. Hedley paused for a few moments before he called. The T♣ river completed the board and Popolo checked moments later. Hedley fired out for 20,000. Popolo paused for a few moments before he gave up on the hand.

A few hands later, Hedley snagged a few more chips from Popolo and grew his stack to around 100,000.

Andrew Hedley – 100,000
Vincenzo Popolo – 50,000

Andrew Hedley painting like Bob Ross

Day 1b officially attracted 310 entries. A total of 47 players are scheduled to advance from the flight for a balanced bubble as all Day 1b players will be in the money.

This figure might be less for two reasons. First, Day 1b may witness two or more players hit the rail at the same time on the bubble. The second scenario is that players can also choose to forfeit their stack. This isn’t a likely scenario as players would also be forfeiting the min-cash for not officially advancing to Day 2.

Best of luck to the remaining players on Day 1b!

Level 11: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 104/310

Action opened with Xi Tran raising the button to 2,500 and Daniel Schwensen called from the big blind. Both players checked the 8♥6♥9♦ flop and Schwensen check-called for 3,000 on the Q♦ turn. Both players went back to checking on the 7♠ river but they chopped the pot up as both players showed ace-deuce.

Level 11: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 107/311

Entries are now closed for Day 1b of the Battle of Malta Main Event. There are 311 entries on the board at the start of Level 11, but tournament staff are still counting the numbers to make sure it all matches up. It’s unclear right now if they’ll play down to 46 or 47 tonight and we’ll update as soon as it’s certain.

Meanwhile, Daniel Schwensen still looks to be the chip leader as he approaches 300k. Domenico Gala and Giacomo Evangelista also both have more than 200k.

Players are on a 75-minute dinner break. Late registration will be closed after the break and we will know how many players the flight will play down to as each opening flight ends when the field is down to 15% with each player in the money before the start of Day 2.

There will be a repeat of the 600/1,200 (1,200) blind level when the action resumes before the blinds begin to increase once again.

Enjoy dinner and best of luck to all of the Day 1b players.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 110/303

Sergejs Korobovs raised the button to 2,500 and Martin Stoev made the call from the big blind. Stoev check-called for 2,600 on the Q♥8♥6♠ flop and then led out for 4,900 on the Q♣ turn.

Stoev went back to a check on the 7♥ river and then called when Korobovs bet 5,200. Korobovs mucked as soon as Stoev made the call, and the pot was slid to the big blind without showdown.

Sergejs Korobovs – 38,000
Martin Stoev – 120,000

Martin Stoev

Day 1b just reached 300 entries with 114 players still remaining nearly halfway through Level 10. This is nearly double the 154 entries attracted during yesterday’s Day 1a field which featured 154 entrants and 23 survivors.

Late registration will not only be open until the end of Level 10 but also during the 75-minute dinner break. After the dinner break, we will know how many players are slated to advance to the Day 2 field via Day 1b.

Level 9: 500/1000 (1000)
Entries: 130/295

Wim De Leeuw opened with a limp from the middle and three other players came along to the flop of 4♥5♠7♥. After a check from Luca Capostagno in the small blind, big blind Leendert Nederlof bet 2,000. De Leeuw and Alfredo Cuti folded but Capostagno called. They both checked through the 6♠Q♥ turn and river and Nederlof took it down with five-four for two pair on the flop.

Wim De Leeuw – 30,000
Leendert Nederlof – 82,000
Luca Capostagno – 90,000
Alfredo Cuti – 65,000

Leendert Nederlof

Level 9: 500/1000 (1000)
Entries: 142/293

Arthur Israel raised to 2,000 from early position before Irina Monastirscaia tank-shoved a slightly smaller stack than Israel after getting a count. Israel called early and it was a cooler between the ace-king for Israel and ace-queen for Monastirscaia. Israel found a king on the flop to jump to a massive lead and held to send Monastirscaia to the rail.

Arthur Israel – 30,000
Irina Monastirscaia – 0

Arthur Israel

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 140/291

Killian Desnos opened for 2,300 from under the gun before Luciano Capossela three-bet to 6,200 from the hijack. Desnos quickly called for the duo to see the 6♣Q♦3♦ flop.

Desnos checked. Capossela fired out for 6,200 and Desnos snap-called. Both players checked after a third diamond found its way to the board on the T♦ turn before Desnos fired out a sizeable 15,000 bet on the 8♥ river. Capossela paused for a few moments and called off a good portion of his stack. Desnos turned over the J♣7♣ and his air was easily beat by Capossela who tabled the K♥Q♥ to win the hand with the top pair.

Luciano Capossela – 80,000
Killian Desnos – 35,000

Luciano Capossela

Level 9: 500/1000 (1000)
Entries: 155/288

Daniel Schwensen looks to be the only player with more than 200k in chips, and he looks to be about 80k ahead of the next biggest stack.

Players are on their third break of Day 1b. Blinds will increase to 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante followed by 600/1,200 with a 1,200 big blind ante when the action resumes.

The 75-minute dinner break is scheduled after these two blinds levels with late registration closing on Day 1b after the action resumes. The day will end when the field is down to approximately just 15% with those advancing to Day 2 already securing at least a min-cash with the amount to be announced in the coming days.

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 167/286

Four players saw the 3♥3♦5♣ flop. Two of those players checked before Kristian Holden fired out for 3,000. Martin Stoev was the only of the three other players to call before both players checked the 9♦ turn.

Stoev jammed for about 13,500 the A♣ river. Holden quickly folded before a little fun on the table took place.

“Two pair,” Stoev said with a smile.

He held onto his cards for a little longer before turning over the 3♣3♠ for quad treys.

Just about the entire table had a good laugh as Stoev piled up his chips.

Kristian Holden – 55,000
Martin Stoev – 25,000

Martin Stoev

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 181/275

It was a three-way limp to the flop of K♠7♣K♣ after Giacomo Evangelista limped the button and both blinds followed suit. It checked to Evangelista on the flop and he fired 1,400.

Only small blind Jose Esteves called to the 6♥ turn, and both players checked it as well as the river 4♦. Esteves showed queen-nine, but Evangelista flopped a seven with nine-seven to take it down.

Giacomo Evangelista – 120,000
Jose Esteves – 50,000

Giacomo Evangelista

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 181/275

Pasquale Braco opened from the hijack to 1,300 and got calls from Wim De Leeuw in the cutoff as well as big blind Miguel Fernandez. It checked to De Leeuw on the 9♣4♠K♠ flop and he bet 2,600.

Only Braco called to the Q♥ and both players checked. They checked again on the A♦ river and De Leeuw showed jack-nine for the flopped pair of nines, but the pocket tens for Braco were good.

Pasquale Braco – 39,000
Wim De Leeuw – 32,000

Pasquale Braco

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 192/266

Paolo Bucci looks to be leading after the second break of the day with about 100k while Davide Iannaco isn’t far behind.

The €250 PL Sviten Special has kicked off with a tidy field of 13 players. This is a fun game that combines both pot-limit Omaha and five-card draw into the same game. The rules are as follows:

Players are dealt five cards. A round of betting takes place before a flop is dealt. Another round of betting then also takes place.

So far so good? Thinking this is just like 5-card Omaha? Well, it is a bit different.

From here, players can opt to exchange cards. They can also stand pat or take as many as five new cards. Those who ask for just one card will receive it face-up and if they do not like the card they will receive another card face-down. The rest of the exchanges are always face down.

A turn is dealt followed by a third round a betting with the final round of betting taking place after the river. The best five-card draw hand wins half the pot and the best five-card Omaha hand wins the other.

Sviten Special author Martin Smith, last night’s PLO winner Andrea Tucci, Niklas Nyman, Totti Lind, Allan Arjut, Mati Pirn, Soner Vanelderen, Matteo Crapanzano, Harald Redl, Patrick Stranqvist, Igor Narajczyk, Pasquale Vinci, and Karl Gialanze are among those in action.

Niklas Nyman & Totti Lind

Players are on their second break of Day 1b. Blinds will increase to 300/600 with a 600 big blind ante when the action resumes in 20 minutes. We will update some of the bigger stacks from around the room during the break.

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 190/245

Christian Gurr opened from the cutoff with a limp, and both blinds came along for the ride to a flop of 4♠A♠9♦. It checked to Gurr and he bet 700 with Arthur Navellou getting out of the way from the small blind, but big blind Sasa Lalos calling to see K♠ on the turn. Lalos check-called for 2,300 and when the river came 9♠ he check-called again for 5,500 this time.

Gurr initially showed only the four of spades for a baby flush, but Lalos said: “Show the rest,” to see his other card. He flipped over a red queen before Lalos showed K♣J♠ for the second nut spades.

Arthur Navellou – 24,000
Christian Gurr – 40,000
Sasa Lalos – 45,000

Sasa Lalos

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 190/245

Indre Stanaityte opened to 1,100 from the hijack and she was called by both Jordi Ruiz & Antoine Stackowiak in the blinds. It checked to Stanaityte on the 3♥9♣A♥ flop and she bet 1,300. Only big blind Stackowiak called to the K♣ turn, but that was as far as the hand would get as he check-folded to a bet of 1,600 on the turn.

Jordi Ruiz – 45,000
Antoine Stackowiak – 20,000
Indre Stanaityte – 30,000

Indre Stanaityte

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 190/249

Szymon Kuczerski three-bet jammed for about 15,000 from the small blind and was looked up by Alfonso Simone, who originally opened the action from the hijack.

Szymon Kuczerski: T♠T♥
Alfonso Simone: Q♦Q♣

Simone’s queens were more than good on the 4♦3♦A♠3♣5♦ board to beat tens to win the pot and send Kuczerski to the rail.

Alfonso Simone – 55,000
Szymon Kuczerski – 0

Alfonso Simone

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 189/237

Giacomo Evangelista is up to 125k now and he got a few of those chips in a recent hand from the small blind. The action opened with a raise from Ulf Andersson from the late middle, and he was called by both players in the blinds.

The flop was A♣J♠7♦ and it checked around. The turn was T♠ and Evangelista led out from the small blind for 2,100 and both big blind Jose Esteves and Andersson mucked their hands.

Ulf Andersson – 19,000
Giacomo Evangelista – 125,000
Jose Esteves – 25,000

Giacomo Evangelista

The €350 NLH Freezeout brings poker back to its core with no re-entries available even during the 10 levels of late registration. The event kicked off and already has 45 players with 43 of them still in their seats during Level 2.

Players start off with a massive stack of 30,000, good for 300 big blinds to those that entered close to on time with blinds increasing every 20 minutes until a winner is crowned.

Charles Akadari, Luca Beretta, Kristo Erala, Martin Greizinger, and Albert Sapiano are all in the mix. Greizinger and Sapiano just both busted the Main Event and are hoping for better luck in this event.

This strategy worked out decently for Sapiano yesterday as he fired five bullets into Day 1a before giving up and went on instead to take runner-up in the €350 PLO 4 & 5 Cards. Today, Sapiano was in for only two bullets before pivoting to a side event.

Best of luck to all of the players in the €350 NLH Freezeout.

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 190/235

Tanios Kanaan checked the river with the 6♣3♥A♦7♥9♣ on the board before Dmitrios Koultoukis bet 6,500 into a pot of nearly 15,000. Kanaan paused for a moment before he made the call.

Koultoukis turned over the A♥3♦ for a flopped two pair which got the job done to win the pot after Koultkoukis mucked his cards.

Dmitrios Koultoukis – 25,000
Tanios Kanaan – 11,000

Dmitrios Koultoukis

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 187/218

Ivane Kharadze was one of the chip leaders at the last break, but he just gave some chips back to his tablemate Ludek Safranek. I picked up the action on the checked turn with the board reading Q♦9♠4♠K♣ and the river T♦ was being dealt. Kharadze check-called for 3,000 but mucked when Safranek showed two pair with queen-ten.

Ivane Kharadze – 68,000
Ludek Safranek – 53,000

Ludek Safranek

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 185/205

Luca Quilchini limped from the hijack and both blinds came along to the flop of 9♥2♣T♠. It checked to Quilchini who bet 900 and only small blind Richard Kremer called to the A♣ turn. Kremer led for 2,000 and got the call to see A♥ on the river. He led again for 3,000 this time and Quilchini called again.

Kremer showed nine-eight for aces and nines but Quilchini had ten-nine for aces and tens to take it down.

Richard Kremer – 5,000
Luca Quilchini – 13,000

Luca Quilchini

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 183/202

Day 1b is rocking the Eden Arena with more than 200 entries in the mix already. Martin Greizinger will be one of the players who will need to re-enter the event after just losing his stack on the following cooler.

Two players checked before Greizinger fired out for 2,800 into a pot of around 8,000 on the 2♦3♠5♦K♦ board after the turn. Wim De Leeuw called while Miguel Cuevas Fernandez folded. The 9♣ river completed the board. De Leeuw went into the tank for close to a minute before tossing out a bet of 9,500. Greizinger paused for a moment before putting the rest of his 11,000 chip stack in the middle. De Leeuw snap-called and turned over the A♦6♦ for the nut flush.

Greizinger also held a flush after he tabled the T♦7♦ but this wasn’t good enough to win the hand.

Wim De Leeux – 60,000
Martin Greizinger – 0

Martin Greizinger

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 184/200

Here is a look at some of the bigger stacks as collected at the last break.

Players are on their first 20-minute break of Day 1b. Blinds will increase to 100/300 with a 300 big blind ante when the action resumes. We will update a few of the bigger stacks from around the room during the break.

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 165/180

Martin Greizinger raised to 600 early but small blind Mariusz Kwasniewicz raised it to 2,100. Greizinger made the call and they both saw a flop of 5♣6♠J♦. Kwasniewicz led out for 1,700 and got a call, and then they both checked through the K♣ turn and 3♣ river. Kwasniewicz showed pocket nines and Greizinger mucked.

Martin Greizinger – 24,000
Mariusz Kwasniewicz – 18,000

Mariusz Jacek Kwasniewicz – 18,000

The €150 NLH White Knight proved to be popular yesterday and thus far has already attracted 55 entries in the opening moments for today’s version.

Players are battling it out with a starting stack of 15,000 with blinds increasing every 20 minutes until a winner is crowned. Late registration will be open for quite some time with players allowed to get into the action or re-enter until their hearts are content for the first 10 blind levels of the day.

One player who won’t be making the money today is Jonathan Raab.

“Well that was fast,” Raab said with a smile. “I got my ace-queen against queen-jack and he hit his two pair. It was my fault, but it wasn’t really my fault. I probably should have isolated preflop from the small blind.”

Jonathan Raab

The €350 PLO 4 & 5 Cards attracted 37 Omaha enthusiasts on Wednesday to create a €11,070 prize pool. The top five players collected at least triple the buy-in.

Italy’s Andrea Tucci won the trophy after defeating United Kingdom’s Albert Sapiano heads-up for the title and the €4,100 top prize. Sapiano didn’t have much luck during the Main Event, unsuccessfully firing five bullets early on Day 1a before hopping into the PLO affair and making up for it with a healthy runner-up prize of €2,820. Check out all of the payouts of the €350 PLO 4 & 5 Cards below:

Jack Bonara interviewed Tucci after his victory in Italian. Check it out below:

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 152/162

Antonio Ieraci limped in from the middle, then called when button Andrea Capannoli raised it to 700. Both players checked the 9♠8♠9♦ flop, but Ieraci led for 600 on the J♦ turn. Capannoli raised to 2,500 and got the fold.

Andrea Capannoli – 12,000
Antonio Ieraci – 20,000

Andrea Capannoli

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 150/159

Day 1b already blossomed to 159 entries near the start of Level 3 with 150 players remaining. This makes it already bigger than the 154 entries attracted during yesterday’s Day 1a and the flight hasn’t even reached its first break of the day!

We reported hands involving Benjamin Dunevein and Killian Desnos who were among the nine players to hit the rail. Meanwhile, Salvatore Caruso already hit the rail twice today. Perhaps the third time will be the charm as it was for yesterday’s Day 1a chip leader Tayfun Rodoplu who bagged up a whopping 900,000 in chips from his 25,000 starting stack on his third bullet of the day.

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 146/152

The action was picked up on the flop with the board reading 7♠2♦5♦ and after a check from both blinds, Holdhus Egon bet 200. Small blind Antonio La Rana called while the big blind folded.

The turn came 3♠ and La Rana check-called for 300. The river was 6♥ and La Rana check-called once again, this time for 700. Egon rolled over A♦4♦ for the wheel straight and La Rana mucked his hand

Antonio La Rana – 27,000
Holdhus Egon – 32,000

Holdhus Egon

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 140/146

Thevenet Mael jammed a big stack into a pot of around 15,000 with the 3♥K♥J♦7♣8♠ on the board. Amjad Nader, who hit the rail on his first bullet in the Main Event during Level 7 on Day 1a, snap-called off his stack of 12,300.

Mael turned over the K♣J♠ for the top two pair. He was good until the river with Nader doubling his stack with T♥9♣ for a straight.

Amjad Nader – 40,000
Thevenet Mael – 20,000

Roberto Cilia and Amjad Nader

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 126/129

Sally Stephens opened from the middle to 300, and Shane Dempsey called from her left to see K♠2♣2♠ on the flop. Both players checked to the 5♥ turn where Stephens fired out a bet of 1,200.

Dempsey flatted to see K♥ on the river and Stephens led out again, this time for 3,500. After a few seconds in the tank, Dempsey slid out 9,000 and Stephens mucked her hand.

Shane Dempsey – 29,000
Sally Stephens – 17,000

Shane Dempsey

Ukraine’s Vasyl Laba won the first trophy of the 2023 Battle of Malta Autumn Edition on Wednesday after agreeing to a heads-up deal with Croaita’s Kristian Previsic in the €150 NLH White Knight.

The event attracted 87 entries for a healthy €10,740 prize pool with the top 11 players claiming at least a €270 min-cash for nearly double the buy-in. Check out all of the payouts of the €150 NLH White Knight below:

*Reflects heads-up deal.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 112/113

The century mark of entries has already been achieved on Day 1b, making it likely it will surpass the 154 entries attracted during yesterday’s Day 1a.

Loris Fabbri was the first Day 1b player to hit the rail and re-entered. Bogdan-Adrian Codreanu put his stack at risk shortly after but his fortunes turned out to be better.

Killian Desnos opened the action with a raise to 500 from under the gun before Codreanu three-bet to 2,000 from the button. Mark Attard cold-called from the small blind before Desnos called to complete the action.

The action checked over to Codreanu who instantly jammed for 9,000 after the all-heart 8♥J♥A♥ flop. Attard quickly folded before Desnos went into the tank for a couple of minutes. He was chatting with Codreanu before he eventually opted to call.

Bogdan-Adrian Codreanu: A♠T♦
Killian Desnos: K♠8♠

Codreanu was ahead and had a small sweat despite Desnos holding no hearts for a flush draw. However, the A♣ paired the board on the turn and Desnos was drawing dead. The 4♦ river made things official and Codreanu was back in business instead of needing to re-enter for a chance of advancing to Day 2 and beyond.

Killian Desnos – 30,000
Bogdan-Adrian Codreanu – 25,000

All In at the Battle of Malta

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 81/81

Benjamin Dunevein and Calum Bagnall both checked the 2♠4♣9♥ flop before Yordy Bakker fired out for 1,700 into a pot of approximately 5,000. Both Dunevein and Bagnall called to see the A♥ turn.

Dunevein quickly checked before Bagnall paused for about 10 seconds before doing the same. Bakker continued with his aggression with a bet of 4,500. Dunevein called about 20 seconds later before the action paused on Bagnall.

Bagnall reached for some chips before he decided on a raise to 15,500. Bakker tanked for about a minute and shook his head in what appeared to be frustration before letting go of his hand. Dunevein also gave up to the big raise for Bagnall to bag an early pot.

Calum Bagnall – 40,000
Benjamin Dunevein – 20,000
Yordy Bakker – 20,000

Calum Bagnall

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 71/71

The second starting flight for the Battle of Malta is now underway. After an opening ceremony that saw staff escorted into the poker room by medieval soldiers, followed by some announcements from the tournament directors, cards are now in the air for Level 1 play.

There will be 10 levels of late entry for today’s flight, and as was the case yesterday, they’ll play down to 15% of the starting field before the surviving players bag their chips for the night.

Welcome back to the coverage of the 2023 Battle of Malta Autumn Edition at the luxurious Casino Malta and the adjoining Eden Arena at the Intercontinental Malta. History will be made this week with the biggest guaranteed event on the island in the €1.5 million guaranteed Battle of Malta €600 Main Event.

The sun is shining and the birds are singing on the outside and we expect today’s poker action to be also heating up with not only Day 1b of the Main Event but also Day 1b and Day 2 of the €450 Mystery Siege of Malta Bounty already surpassing its €100,000 guarantee on Day 1a alone with more to come on Day 1b before players begin opening envelopes on today’s Day 2.

The Main Event will continue to be the main focus of our coverage. The event boasts six opening flights from Oct. 18-22 with each flight playing down to just 15 percent of the field with the surviving players already in the money. Players will enjoy a deep-stacked affair with 25,000 in opening chips good for 250 big blinds for those getting into the battle early on during the first two blind levels. The first four opening flights, including today’s Day 1b, boasts 40-minute blind levels with breaks every two hours allowing players to enjoy the action and build up their stacks with the final two opening flights featuring quicker 20-minute blind levels.

Late registration remains open until the dinner break, ensuring that even those who are fashionably late can still join in the thrilling action. With several hundred players expected to grace the tables today, the competition promises to be fierce, with each participant vying for what promises to be a massive prize pool.

The mark was set high with Tayfun Rodoplu turning his third Day 1a bullet into a massive pile of 900,000 in chips to end the day for exactly 36 times the starting stack. Meanwhile, 2018 Battle of Malta Main Event champion Julien Stropoli also found a big bag of 483,000 in his quest to become the first two-time Battle of Malta Main Event champion.

Players surviving any of the opening flights will merge to battle for the title for four more days of play from Oct. 22-25 until the latest Battle of Malta Main Event champion is crowned.

Tayfun Rodoplu