Second Break 4 Nov 18:31 by Jason Glatzer

Level 27: 20,000/50,000 (50,000)
Entries: 113/5,799

Players are on a 25-minute break. Blinds will increase to 20,000/50,000 with a 50,000 big blind ante when the action resumes.

What’s Going On? 4 Nov 18:25 by Jonathan Raab

Yes, there’s a lot going on at the Battle of Malta today, currently there are five other events in play. in addition to the Main. Here’s a roundup of the state of play in each of them at the moment.

High Roller

  • Current Level: 14
  • Players Left/Entries: 285/540
  • Registration Closed

Full Tilt Catania Bounty

  • Current Level: 16
  • Players Left/Entries: 120/535
  • Registration Closed

IPC Deepstack

  • Current Level: 15
  • Players Left/Entries: 35/96
  • Registration Closed

Ladies Event

  • Current Level: 7
  • Players Left/Entries: 82/102
  • Registration Still Open

IPF €10k GTD

  • Current Level: 4
  • Players Left/Entries: 152/170
  • Registration Still Open

Radomski Erupts in Laughter as He Stays Alive 4 Nov 18:18 by Jason Glatzer

Level 26: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 114/5,799

Wojciech Radmonski jammed for his short stack of 185,000 from under the gun before Salvatore La Vardera three-bet jammed over the top for 1.1 million. Joshua Novock, who had 1 million at the time, went into the tank for four minutes before someone at the table called the clock. Novock folded shortly after, as did the rest of the table.

Wojciech Radmonski: A2
Salvatore La Vardera: 99

It was looking like Radmonski was heading to the shower until he erupted in laughter after the river saved him on the 3KJ5A board.

Salvatore La Vardera – 900,000
Wojciech Radmonski – 470,000

More Heads Tumble in the Main Event 4 Nov 18:16 by Jonathan Raab

Level 26: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 119/5,799

The latest spate of executions has now been completed and the following players have all had their tournament heads chopped off. This fresh batch of victims secured €3,580 paydays, with the exception of three players, who won a little more, thanks to winning starting day big stack bonuses. The next players to be booted out of the tournament will walk with €3,920.

Position Player Payout (€)
120 Bartosz Jablonski €5,580*
121 Linda Nguyen €3,580
122 Domenico D’Isanto €3,580
123 Leslie Lamnea €3,580
124 Emmanouil Zacharakis €3,580
125 Antonios Kandilas €3,580
126 Ben Miller €3,580
127 Konstantin Faerber €6,580*
128 Reinhard Meusburger €3,580
129 Andrea Geraci €3,580
130 Grigorios Archontakis €3,580
131 Janos Attila Pergel €3,580
132 Ioannis Diamantopoulos €6,580*
133 Marko Luksa €3,580
134 Argo Garamaga €3,580
135 Alessio Scire’ €3,580
136 Kaidar Viikman €3,580
137 Vasileios Tsaknis €3,580
138 Juan Velasco Farre €3,580
139 Gerrit Jan Blanckaert €3,580
140 Dimitrios Manekas €3,580
141 Itzhak Dagmi €3,580
142 Sebastian Kos €3,580
143 Charles Wilson €3,580

*Included bonus prize for Day 1 big stack

Konstantin Faerber

 

Ace-Queen Does the Trick for Jarefjall 4 Nov 18:01 by Jason Glatzer

Level 26: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 121/5,799

There was around 800,000 in the pot with the 58A2 on the board after the turn when Michael Kim Falcon bet 420,000. Nils Jarefjall paused for about 30 seconds before he called.

Both players checked the 3 river. Jarefjall turned over the AQ and his top pair and queen kicker did the job as Falcon mucked his cards face down.

Nils Jarefjall – 4.5 million
Michael Kim Falcon – 3.2 million

Michael Kim Falcon

High Roller Prize Pool Tops €500,000! 4 Nov 18:00 by Jonathan Raab

The Full Tilt Catania High Roller is now in level 13 and all the alternates have been seated. The final number of entries was 540, creating a prize pool of €513,000! First prize is €100,000 and in total 79 players will be paid. It is scheduled to finish today, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it is extended until Tuesday, as there are still close to 300 players left in.

Procner Doubles Through Luciani 4 Nov 17:23 by Jason Glatzer

Level 26: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 133/5,799

Michal Procner opened from the button before Alexander Luciani three-bet shoved from the big blind. Procner called off his stack of 535,000 and the cards were tabled.

Michal Procner: JJ
Alexander Luciani: AT

Procner earned a double after his opponent bricked the low 73469 runout. Meanwhile, despite the dent in his stack, Luciani has already earned more than many in the event after adding a €5,000 second-place bonus prize on his impressive Day 1g performance.

Alexander Luciani – 1.5 million
Michal Procner – 1.2 million

Day 1g second place Alexander Luciani

Olop Misclicks Before Effectively Doubling With Big Slick 4 Nov 17:14 by Jason Glatzer

Level 26: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 136/5,799

Last time this year, Estonia’s Herli Olop advanced to the final table in the Main Event before bowing out in eighth place for €11,240. He is hoping for an even better run this time around and he shared that he recently gained a bit of breathing room with blinds still at 15,000/30,000 along with a 30,000 big blind ante.

According to Olop, Vincent Smith opened for a min-raise before Olop did a live misclick with a three-bet to 130,000.

“I thought I was raising 155,000,” shared Olop. “I didn’t realize I was missing a 25K chip.”

Olop’s opponent check-called bets of 155,000 on the AJ9X flop and for 205,000 on the AX turn. Smith then fired out for 200,000 on the 8X river with no flush coming to the board. Olop had 300,000 left in his stack and called.

Smith turned over the KXJX but this proved to be no match for Olop’s trips, who won the hand after tabling the AXKX.

Herli Olop – 1.7 million
Vincent Smith – 1.2 million

Herli Olop

They Came, They Saw, They Failed to Conquer! 4 Nov 17:10 by Jonathan Raab

Level 25: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 143/5,799

The following players participation in the Battle of Malta Autumn Edition Main Event has now come to an end. This latest batch of rail recruits includes Humberto Galindo, the Day 1a chip leader. Apart from Humberto, Michael Howard and Nikolaos Oikonomou, whp also scored  opening day bonus payouts, all these players cashed for €3,260. The next players to depart will collect €3,580.

Position Player Payout (€)
144 Daniel Heredi €3,260
145 Marco Leonzio €3,260
146 Humberto Galindo €13,260*
147 Gino Tolone €3,260
148 Michael Howard €8,260*
149 Giulio Di Salvo €3,260
150 Matija Grgic €3,260
151 Ioannis Triantafyllakis €3,260
152 Tomasz Kardas €3,260
153 Ioan Guramulta €3,260
154 Antonio Villadiego €3,260
155 Massimiliano Mauceri €3,260
156 Luca Sebastiani €3,260
157 Nikolaos Oikonomou €6,260*
158 Bogdan Jontulovic €3,260
159 Pavel Heger €3,260
160 Dimitrios Dimitros €3,260
161 Dan Sfarlea €3,260
162 Roberto Iannetti €3,260
163 Andrea Savasto €3,260
164 Marko Cosic €3,260
165 Jussi Julkunen €3,260
166 Kostadin Mihaylov €3,260
167 Fabio Motta €3,260

*Includes starting day chip leaders bonus

Day 1a Chip Leader Humberto Galindo, out in 146th

Cowboys Hold for Aahlund 4 Nov 17:07 by Jason Glatzer

Level 25: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 146/5,799

We caught up in a hand where Daniel Heredi had his last 445,000 in the middle, as did Niklas Aahlund with his 1,010,000 stack. Nils Jarefjall was also involved and had both players covered.

Daniel Heredi: AQ
Niklas Aahlund: KK
Nils Jarefjall: AQ

Kings were good for Aahlund to double through Jarefjall and eliminate Heredi after the 75T48 ran out on the board.

Niklas Aahlund – 2.6 million
Nils Jarefsjall – 2.3 million
Daniel Heredi – 0

Ladies Event Begins 4 Nov 16:57 by Jonathan Raab

The €150 FLIP (Fantastic Ladies in Poker) event has just begun in the Eden Arena, with 45 players seated when the clock was started. There were initially not enough tables to accommodate all the ladies who wanted to play and at least twenty were left waiting for more space to become available. After just a few minutes of play, further dealers were scrambled into place and further tables were opened. 

The number of entrants has now risen to 78, including the runner up in April’s ladies event, including the Battle of Malta host Patrisha Rimfire. Daiva Byrne, who is the ambassador of sponsor Fantastic Ladies in Poker is also here, as is Swedish cowgirl Gia Carnestrom. Other notable players in the field include Emzy Oliver, June Jenkins and Ann-Roos Callens.

  • Buy-In: €150 (€135+€15)
  • Tournament Began: 4pm
  • Starting Stack: 20,000
  • Blind levels: 20 mins
  • Play Ends: When we have a winner!

Patrisha Rimfire

 

Brutal Ending for Decesare 4 Nov 16:33 by Jason Glatzer

Level 25: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 165/5,799

Shaun Decesare shared his brutal ending during the break. Decesare, who began the hand with 20 big blinds, broke down the betting action as follows:

Decesare called a min-raise from the small blind with 7X7X and flopped a full house on the 788 flop. His opponent bet two big blinds and Decesare called.

The K turn proved to be fatal as for a spoiler, Decesare’s opponent held KXKX. Decesare bet 4.5 big blinds and his opponent tank-called. The rest of Decesare’s stack went in with the all-in triangle on the T river. His opponent quickly called and Decesare’s Main Event run ended on a cooler he will likely remember for awhile.

Sean Decesare

Adios, Aurevoir, Auf Wiedersehen, Tot Ziens, Addiju! 4 Nov 16:30 by Jonathan Raab

Level 25: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 167/5,799

More players have now become former participants of the Main Event, this next consignment, finishing 168th-199th all collect €2,950. The players who bust next (144th-167th) will receive €3,260

Position Player Payout (€)
168 James Paris €2,950
169 Domenico Fazio €2,950
170 Ashley Scott €2,950
171 Claudio Barone €2,950
172 Rinaldo Filho €2,950
173 Petr Kubenka €2,950
174 Pantelis Pavlis €2,950
175 Romain Nardin €2,950
176 Alfio Motta €2,950
177 Salvatore Chillemi €2,950
178 Zhenghao Zhou €2,950
179 Ioannis Logothetis €2,950
180 Christos Arfanis €2,950
181 Patrick Koppitz €2,950
182 Artur Kulanurk €2,950
183 Alberto De Barberiis €2,950
184 Jozsef Dobos €2,950
185 Sokratis Papavramidis €2,950
186 Manish Rawal €2,950
187 Cristoforo Pascale €2,950
188 Paul Lyons €2,950
189 Maria Koutsouki €2,950
190 Michele Pieri €2,950
191 Johan Vallgren €2,950
192 Meden Roberto €2,950
193 Carl Frejd €2,950
194 Chuc Gia Khuu €2,950
195 Salvatore Salvino €2,950
196 Robin Winship €2,950
197 Natale Albanese €2,950
198 Prokopios Mountrichas €2,950
199 Jennifer Jordi €2,950

 

Shearing Busy Cheering on the Turn 4 Nov 16:27 by Jason Glatzer

Level 25: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 167/5,799

Tens proved to be fatal for Claudio Barone moments ago and tens just cost Ivan Furniet Martinez a chunk as he doubled up Robert Shearing as follows.

Martinez opened to 60,000 from under the gun before Shearing three-bet jammed for 605,000 from middle position. Dawid Bartosz tanked for about a minute before he folded from the big blind. Martinez then asked for a count before calling soon after.

Robert Shearing: AJ
Ivan Furniet Martinez: TT

Shearing was cheering on the turn after his ace connected on the 7Q6A3 runout and was busy stacking chips instead of hitting the rail.

Ivan Furniet Martinez – 2.3 million
Robert Shearing – 1.3 million

Robert Shearing

Barone Runs Tens Into Norvock’s Jacks 4 Nov 16:15 by Jason Glatzer

Level 25: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 169/5,799

James Norvock started the day with one of the shorter stacks of 195,000 and has recently become a chip millionaire while sending Claudio Barone to the rail as follows:

Norvock three-bet jammed for 680,000. Barone paused for less than a minute before he called off his stack of around 15 big blinds.

Claudio Barone: TT
James Norvock: JJ

Norvock’s jacks held to eliminate Barone after the 37AA5 ran out on the board.

James Norvock – 1.1 million
Claudio Barone – 0

Claudio Barone

Defending Champ Zisis Among Chip Leaders at Break 4 Nov 15:55 by Jason Glatzer

Level 25: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 174/5,799

We could have history in the making as the defending Battle of Malta Main Event champion Vaselios Zisis is among the chip leader on break. Could we see a back-to-back performance. It is way to early to tell with 174 players still remaining and three days of action still to go.

Check out some of the bigger stacks from around the room at the break with blinds about to increase to 15,000/30,000 along with a 30,000 big blind ante.

Player Chips Big Blinds
Krzysztof Mielnik 3,725,000 124
Vasileios Zisis 3,000,000 100
Nikolaos Mourotis 2,800,000 93
Phanishsarn Tanapatr 2,800,000 93
Alessio Vanni 2,785,000 93
Cosme Martinez 2,500,000 83
Ivan Furniet Martinez 2,300,000 77
Alexander Luciani 2,000,000 67
Viktor Waal 1,930,000 64
Davide Iannaco 1,900,000 63
Marius Iftimia 1,845,000 62
Parminder Kandola 1,800,000 60
Emmanouil Zacharakis 1,800,000 60
Main Event on Break 4 Nov 15:42 by Jonathan Raab

First Break: 25 Mins
Entries: 174/5,799

The first two levels of the day have now been completed and the players are on a 25-minute break. When they returnm the blinds will increase to 15,00/30,000 (30,000).

No Phones On The Table! 4 Nov 15:32 by Jonathan Raab

The no phone on the table is being announced by the tournament floor before every event, but why is that so? The answer is that it is the result of new rules that the TDA (Tournament Directors’ Association) brought in recently, which is a measure being taken to improve game security. 

There have been recent advances in technology that make it necessary to protect hole card security by taking this measure. Devices on the table potentially could make the game vulnerable to cheats who could use phone cameras to record card values when dealers are pitching cards. Keep them in your pockets, not next to your stack!

No Phones On The Table

Jooijer Delivers Bad Beat to Dobos 4 Nov 15:21 by Jason Glatzer

Level 24: 10,000/25,000 (25,000)
Entries: 183/5,799

Jozeph Dobos got his 10+ big blinds in good against Berend Jooijer.

Jozeph Dobos: KK
Berend Jooijer: AK

Dobos’s cowboys were cracked and his stack headed over to Jooijer to his dismay after an ace showed it face on the 228AJ runout.

Berend Jooijer – 1.6 million
Jozeph Dobos – 0

Berend Jan Hooijer

Main Event Down to Under 200 Players 4 Nov 15:02 by Jonathan Raab

Level 24: 10,000/25,000 (25,000)
Entries: 199/5,799

The number of survivors in the tournament has now dipped under 200 and the payouts have jumped once again. Those who finish from 168th-199th will stagger away from the battlefield with €2,950. Those who recently departed in 200th-231st got €2,640, apart from Iason Filippidis in 210th, who receives €12,640, the extra €10,000 due to him receiving a bonus for being his starting day chip leader.

Position Player Payout (€)
200 Jorris Neron €7,640*
201 Anthony Loots €7,640*
202 Andreas Froehli €2,640
203 Fabio Ratto €2,640
204 Amiel Gamliel €2,640
205 Gabriel Dinu €2,640
206 Adrian Siewiera €2,640
207 Loris Invito €2,640
208 Darko Svesko €2,640
209 Iraklis Manikaros €2,640
210 Iason Filippidis €12,640*
211 Francesco Natale €2,640
212 Domenico Pediglieri €2,640
213 Stein Naerland €2,640
214 Malvin Catania €2,640
215 Robert Anscombe €2,640
216 Malte Harff €2,640
217 Pawel Spyra €2,640
218 Luca Catalin €2,640
219 Plamen Yordanov €2,640
220 Michele Ditarano €2,640
221 Karl Cooper €2,640
222 Jen-Yue Chiang €2,640
223 Shaun Decesare €2,640
224 Francisco Gordillo Moreno €2,640
225 Vincenzo Popolo €2,640
226 Hussein Abdulsamad €2,640
227 Giuseppe Azzaro €2,640
228 Gianluca Fichera €2,640
229 Cristian-Ilie Visoiu €2,640
230 Vito Burgio €2,640
231 Silvio La Rosa €2,640

*Includes starting day chip leaders bonus

Day 1g chip leader Iason Filippidis, out in 210th

Iakovidis Doubles With Ace-Queen 4 Nov 15:00 by Jason Glatzer

Level 24: 10,000/25,000 (25,000)
Entries: 199/5,799

Nikolaos Iakovidis opened for 70,000 from the cutoff before Viorel-Gabriel Gavrila three-bet jammed for 610,000 from the small blind. Iakovidis called off his stack of 565,000 and was ahead when the two players tabled their hands.

Nikolaos Iakovidis: AQ
Viorel-Gabriel Gavrila: AT

Ace-queen held strong on the J4833 runout for Iakovidis to double and leave Gavrila with crumbs in his stack.

Nikolaos Iakovidis – 1,180,000
Viorel-Gabriel Gavrila – 75,000

High Roller Day 2 News 4 Nov 14:50 by Jonathan Raab

Today’s High Roller begins its second day at 3pm and due to its regressive structure registration remains open for the first three levels of play. Registration is temporarily closed until the tournament restarts, when it will re-open. There is also an adjustment to the structure, as after registration closes, level 11 will be a repeat of the blinds for level ten. This is to ensure that all players who are registered before the cut off can be seated before the blinds progress beyond 500/1,000 (1,000).

Main Event Prize Pool Calculations 4 Nov 14:49 by Jason Glatzer

There have been some questions as to how the €2,578,172 prize pool was derived. Below is all the info from the opening flights.

There were 1,357 total players playing the half-priced flight. For these players they started with a 20,000 starting stack (half of the 40,000 in the €600 full priced opening flights) and played down to 7.5% (instead of 15% in the €600 full priced opening flights).

Below are the calculations from the opening flights:

Flight Entries Survivors Prizes
Catania (300 EUR) 111 8 €27,944
Day 1a 362 54 €182,267
Day 1b (300 EUR) 133 10 €33,483
Day 1c 533 80 €268,366
Day 1d (300 EUR) 274 21 €68,980
Day 1e 939 141 €472,787
Day 1f (300 EUR) 417 31 €104,980
Day 1g 1759 259 €885,657
Day 1h (300 EUR) 422 32 €106,239
Day 1i 849 126 €427,472
Total 5799 762 €2,578,172

 

Moreno Runs Out of Gas 4 Nov 14:31 by Jason Glatzer

Level 24: 10,000/25,000 (25,000)
Entries: 219/5,799

Francisco Moreno three-bet jammed the button for 300,000 and was called by Daniel Mendoza, who originally opened from the hijack.

Francisco Moreno: A2
Daniel Mendoza: AQ

Moreno was drawing dead on the turn after the  83Q62 rolled out on the board.

Daniel Mendoza – 1 million
Francisco Moreno – 0

Daniel Jose Romero Mendoza

More Early Exits on Day 3 4 Nov 14:24 by Jonathan Raab

Level 23: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 231/5,799

The next batch of former participants have now been ejected from the tournament, all picking up €2,380 for making it this far. It’s never nice to be dusted out of a big event, but I guess €2,380 is better than a kick in the nuts. The payouts have now jumped and the next player out will get €2,640.

Position Player Payout (€)
232 Timothee Rey €2,380
233 Christos Katis €2,380
234 Bruno Pacelli €2,380
235 Francesco Blasio €2,380
236 Marcus Borg €2,380
237 Daniel Yerin €2,380
238 Vincenzo Merola €2,380
239 Min Guk Kim €2,380
240 Jordi Ruiz Ribatallada €2,380
241 Alexandros Tasoulis €2,380
242 James Macpherson €2,380
243 Jake Caldwell €2,380
244 Anthony Counsell €2,380
245 Vladan Blagojevic €2,380
246 Marco Persico €2,380
247 Simon Davidson €2,380
248 Elia Salerno €2,380
249 Stefano Boi €2,380
250 Marc Schulze €2,380
251 Nazareno Calvo €2,380
252 Mathias Jordi €2,380
253 Angelo Patane’ €2,380
254 Salvatore Pardo €2,380
255 Cameron Sinclair €2,380

 

Jordi Ruiz Ribatallada, out in 240th

Faerber Snags Pacelli’s Short Stack 4 Nov 14:09 by Jason Glatzer

Level 23: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 233/5,799

Konstantin Faerber raised enough from the small blind to cover the half a dozen blinds left in Bruno Pacelli’s stack. Pacelli called and seemed to find a good spot to double and get back into the mix after the cards were tabled.

Bruno Pacelli: AK
Konstantin Faerber: A7

Pacelli shook his head in frustration after a seven paired up Faerber on the 764 flop. Pacelli was standing up as the T turn and T river completed the board and waiting for the floor to hand him his payout slip before heading to the cashier.

Konstantin Faerber – 1.2 million
Bruno Pacelli – 0

Konstantin Faerber

First Eliminations of the Day 4 Nov 14:02 by Jonathan Raab

The third day of the Battle of Malta Autumn Edition Main Event started in the same vein as the end of Day 2, with players continuing to bust at a fast rate. The following players have now hung up their armour and headed to the payout desk.

Position Player Payout (€)
256 Nicola Sasso €2,110
257 Giuseppe D’agnese €2,110
258 Gabriella Carollo €2,110
259 Angelos Valilis €2,110
260 Yinchian Liu €2,110
261 Dimitrios Glymakopulos €2,110
262 Antal Roth €2,110
263 Federico Fulciniti €2,110
264 Neculai Macovei €2,110
265 Alexandros Papadopulos €2,110
266 Tomas Dusanek €2,110
267 Vincenzo Mangiapane €2,110
268 Calum Bagnall €2,110
269 Alex Montgomery €2,110
270 Valerio Mascolo €2,110
271 Ben Miller €2,110
272 Stefan Gheorghe €2,110
273 Paul-Calin Ciaca €2,110
274 Kenneth Greaney €2,110
275 Boban Stevanovic €2,110
276 Lucia Antunes €2,110
277 Tomi Arponen €2,110
278 Iulian Rautu €2,110
279 Quentin Balique €2,110
280 Nicos Sotiriou €2,110
281 Peter Kamaras €2,110
282 Antonis Poulengeris €2,110
283 Nicolai Ejstrud €2,110
284 Gorjan Jakimovski €2,110
285 Javier Moreno €2,110
286 Palina Mankevich €2,110
287 Marios Zervoudis €2,110
288 Madis Ormisson €2,110
289 Luigi D’alterio €2,110
290 Ilie-Ionut Ababei €2,110

 

Queen on Flop Saves Chillemi 4 Nov 13:55 by Jason Glatzer

Level 23: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 244/5,799

Ivan Furniet Martinez jammed from early position before Salvatore Chillemi called off his short stack from middle position.

Salvatore Chillemi: AQ
Ivan Furniet Martinez: AK

Martinez was ahead but Chillemi instantly turned the tables after his queen connected on the TQ3 flop. Neither the 4 turn nor the 4 river changed the outcome for Chillemi to double through Martinez instead of hitting the rail.

Salvatore Chillemi

Good River for Prior 4 Nov 13:17 by Jason Glatzer

Level 23: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 277/5,799

A total of 13 players hit the rail in the first 15 minutes on Day 3. Daniel Prior nearly joined this crew but a fortuitous river saved the day. Prior jammed for 225,000 from late position and was looked up by Luca Sebastiani.

Daniel Prior: AJ
Luca Sebastiani: 99

Nines were ahead until the river on the 8266A runout for Prior to secure his double.

Daniel Prior – 500,000
Luca Sebastiani – 275,000

Daniel Sergej Prior

Catalin Flops a Set 4 Nov 13:10 by Jason Glatzer

Level 23: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 287/5,799

Luca Catalin jammed his stack of 285,000 from the cutoff and was looked up by Mathias Jordi from the button.

Luca Catalin: 99
Mathias Jordi: AK

Both players would normally see the 79K flop as a good one. However, despite flopping top pair, Jordi needed a pair of runners to eliminate Jordi who flopped the middle set.

Catalin’s double was secure with Jordi drawing dead on the Q turn and the double-up was official after the J river completed the board.

Meanwhile, Madis Ormisson, Luigi D’Alterio, and Ilie-Ionut Ababei all hit the rail in the opening moments.

Luca Catalin – 620,000
Mathias Jordi – 360,000

Luca Catalin

Day 3 Begins 4 Nov 13:01 by Jason Glatzer

Level 23: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 290/5,799

Day 3 just began with many eager players in their seats and ready to position themselves for Wednesday’s €300,800 top prize in the 2024 Battle of Malta Autumn Edition Main Event. Players have already locked up €2,110 in prizes, with some already earning more due to the leaderboard bonuses during the 10 opening flights.

The structure today is the sooner of reaching 24 players or playing through Level 31. Due to the amount of chips in play, it seems likely that the action will continue until the end of Level 31 at around 2:45 a.m.

Best of luck to all of the players and check out today’s Day 3 structure below:

 

Level Small Blind Big Blind Ante Duration
23 10,000 20,000 20,000 75 min.
24 10,000 25,000 25,000 75 min.
Break 25 min
25 15,000 30,000 30,000 75 min.
26 20,000 40,000 40,000 75 min.
Break 25 min
27 20,000 50,000 50,000 75 min.
28 30,000 60,000 60,000 75 min.
Dinner Break 75 min.
29 40,000 80,000 80,000 75 min.
30 50,000 100,000 100,000 75 min.
Break 25 min
31 60,000 120,000 120,000 75 min.

 

Records Smashed on Sunday at Battle of Malta 4 Nov 12:07 by Jonathan Raab

Sunday at the Battle of Malta at Casino Malta and the Eden Arena at the Intercontinental Hotel saw the Main Event complete its last starting day. It was a turbo flight with a full price buy in and by the time late registration had closed, 849 players had entered. This brought the total number of entries in the Main Event up to 5,799, an all-time record for the Battle of Malta. The prize pool also reached new heights, exceeding €2.5m for the first time, ending up at a staggering €2,578,172. When the winner emerges on Wednesday afternoon, they will not only claim the trophy and title, but also €300,800 the biggest first prize awarded in the event’s history. This is almost twice the size of the entire prize pool that was generated way back at the very first Battle of Malta in 2012.

Anthony Ouillon Bags Main Event Day 1i €10,000 Bonus

Day 1i was the final starting flight of the Main Event and was played on 20-minute clock, but with a full price buy-in of €600. It began at 10am and despite the early start over 300 players had bought in by the time the cards were in the air. This was the last chance for players to secure their continued existence in the tournament.

Anthony Ouillon headed into Day 2 €10,000 richer thanks to bagging the overall Day 1i lead with a stack of 1,077,000 chips. Michael Howard may not be a chip millionaire with 999,000 but he also earned a healthy €5,000 bonus for the second most chips on Day 1i while Domenico Candido banked €3,000 for bagging up the third place stack of 879,000 in chips. These were the top ten chip counts for Day 1i.

Player Chips
Anthony Ouillon 1,077,000
Michael Howard 999,000
Domenico Candido 879,000
Hendrik Blokdijk 808,000
Michal Grzegorz Procner 655,000
Adrien Di Grande 652,000
Richard Msall 632,000
Paul Michael Lyons 631,000
Salvatore Merendino 619,000
Michele Ditarano 577,000

Main Event Day 2

After four levels of one hour each, the 2024 Battle of Malta Main Event witnessed the 760 players that advanced with at least a €800 min-cash wiggle down to just 290 hopefuls in hunt for the €300,800 top prize.

Hendrik Blokdijk had a heck of a day as he catapulted his 16th place stack of 808,000 into 2,485,000 to end Day 2 in the chip lead. Cosme Martinez (2,145,000) and Darko Svesko (2,025,000) also ended the day with at least 2 million.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Battle of Malta Spring Edition Main Event champion Vasileios Zisis has placed himself in an amazing position in his attempt to go back-to-back He ended the day with 1,920,000, just behind Viktor Waal (1,930,000) to complete the top five on the leaderboard.

Four players who won chip leader bonuses in the opening flights failed to progress to Day 3. Thid included Giampiero Arena (360th – €2,000 bonus + €1,590 = €3,590), Cecilia Pascaglini (366th – €10,000 bonus + €1,590 = €11,590), Francesco Tino (372nd – €5,000 bonus + €1,590 = €6,590), and Krystian Nalepka (522nd – €5,000 + €1,210 = €6,210).

The action will resume at 1 p.m. on Monday with blinds at 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante. These are the top ten chip counts going into Day 3. For the full ending chip counts from Day 2, check out this earlier blog post.

Position Name Chips Big Blinds
1 Hendrik Blokdijk 2,485,000 124
2 Cosme Martinez 2,145,000 107
3 Darko Svesko 2,025,000 101
4 Viktor Waal 1,930,000 97
5 Vasileios Zisis 1,920,000 96
6 Gabriele Nuzzo 1,840,000 92
7 Vincenzo Mangiapane 1,825,000 91
8 Parminder Kandola 1,800,000 90
9 Daniel Heredi 1,765,000 88
10 Antonios Kandilas 1,765,000 88

Vasileios Zisis

Quigioco High Roller Day 1

The €1,100 Quigioco High Roller’s first day saw 233 players take their seats, from which 137 survived. The €300,000 guaranteed tournament has a regressive structure, which means that the blinds are rolled back three levels when play begins on Day, with registration open for a further three levels of play. 

Gilbert Black is the chip leader from with 330,00. These are the top ten chip counts from the day.

Position Player Name Chips
1 Gilbert Black 330,000
2 Evgeny Sirotenko 267,300
3 Lorenzo Pannunzi 234,900
4 Nadav Barash 215,800
5 Erik Haugland 205,000
6 Michael Stewart 189,400
7 Lorenzo Di Blasi 187,500
8 Michele Nizzardelli 180,000
9 Francesco Caramazza 176,600
10 Max Gerritsen 176,500

Side Event News

Sadly some of Sunday’s side events had to be canceled, due to the ongoing high demand for the Main Event. The 8-Game, HyperTurbo and the 9pm High Roller satellite were all delisted from the schedule. The side events that did run were well attended.

The Rebet360 €330 NLH began at 3pm and saw 72 entrants fight it out for the top prize. It was won by Raf de Wever for €4,080. This was the only side event to reach its conclusion on Sunday as the €300 Full Tilt Catania Bounty is a two day event. As per the High Roller, it has a regressive structure, with registration open for a further three levels of play at the start of Day 2.

The first day of this €70,000 guaranteed bounty event had 398 entries, 156 of whom still had stacks by the end of the day. The overnight chip leader is Kevin Remelie from the UK whose 667,000 stack is 2.5x bigger than that of his nearest challenger, Neven Damjanovic who has 273,000, a lead of almost 400,000. Play resumes at 3pm on Monday.

Raf de Wever

Monday’s Schedule at the Battle of Malta Autumn Edition 2024

With the Main Event now down to under 300 players, it is no longer dominating the available table space, which should mean that there are no further disruptions to the advertised schedule. It’s the busiest day of the festival in terms of side events, with seven different options for players, plus two satellites.

The first event of the day is the last High Roller satellite, which has had its start time rescheduled to 12pm, having originally been slated to start at 11am. 

Most of the other tournaments today are sponsored side events Two that began on Sunday are the Quigiuoco High Roller and the Full Tilt Catania Bounty, which restart at 2pm an 3pm respectively.

The first side event of the day is the €400 (€360+€40) NLH IPC Deepstack at 1pm. At 4pm, the FLIP (Fantastic Ladies in Poker) Ladies Event begins, hosted by Daiva Byrne. It has a €150 (€135+€15) buy in and a €5,000 guarantee. There’s absolutely no truth in the rumour that Asif ‘The Poker Tourist’ Warris is planning to don a frock to try and sneak into the tournament this time, as he has done at least once in the past.

The €200 NLH IPF NLH with a €10,000 guarantee begins at 5pm and this evening there are two further side events to choose from plus a satellite into Tuesday’s Super High Roller.

Time Event Description Buy-in Fee Starting Stack Level Duration
12:00 NLH Satellite One Shot – QUIGIOCO – HIGH ROLLER €300.000 GTD €110 €20 10K 20 min
13:00 BOM Day3 €1,500,000 GTD 75 min
13:00 NLH IPC Deep Stack €360 €40 40K 20 min
14:00 NLH QUIGIOCO – HIGH ROLLER €300.000 GTD – Day2 €1,000 €100 50K 30/40 min
15:00 NLH FULL TILT CATANIA Bounty €70.000 GTD €110+€150 €40 30K 20 min
16:00 NLH Ladies Event €5000 GTD €135 €15 20K 20 min
17:00 NLH IPF €10,000 GTD €160 €40 30K 20 min
20:00 NLH Novibet Ultradeep PKO €150+€150 €30 100K 20 min
21:00 NLH SUPER HIGH ROLLER Satellite Accumulator €300 €30 20K 20 min
22:00 NLH HYPERTURBO €130 €20 20K 10 min

 

Party Time at the Eden Arena

Last night was also the player party, which was held at The Eden Superbowl, which has recently been refurbished and upgraded. Bowling, darts, scary nuns and evil clowns awaited those who made it there, plus nibbles and an open bar.

Day 3 Seat Draw 4 Nov 04:23 by Jason Glatzer
Table Seat Name Chips Big Blinds
1 1 Maria Koutsouki 950,000 48
1 2 Vincenzo Popolo 505,000 25
1 3 Vasileios Tsaknis 950,000 48
1 4 Cristoforo Pascale 320,000 16
1 5 Andreas Putz 1,365,000 68
1 6 Krzysztof Mielnik 1,100,000 55
1 7 Jorris Neron 760,000 38
1 8 Kaidar Viikman 385,000 19
1 9 Min Guk Kim 410,000 21
2 1 Panagiotis Petrou 390,000 20
2 2 Paul Fisher 440,000 22
2 3 Grigorios Thanos 1,055,000 53
2 4 Manish Rawal 766,000 38
2 5 Ivaylo Eftimov 1,010,000 51
2 6 Stefano Boi 620,000 31
2 7 Nikolaos Mourotis 1,390,000 70
2 8 Pawel Spyra 265,000 13
2 9 Vladan Blagojevic 250,000 13
3 1 Yinchian Liu 630,000 32
3 2 Grigorios Archontakis 350,000 18
3 3 Dario Berisa 470,000 24
3 4 Pantelis Pavlis 485,000 24
3 5 Marko Luksa 1,290,000 65
3 6 Marius Iftimia 445,000 22
3 7 Neculai Macovei 95,000 5
3 8 Adrien Di Grande 1,000,000 50
3 9 Nikolaos Oikonomou 870,000 44
4 1 Ben Miller 385,000 19
4 2 Gustav Andersson 650,000 33
4 3 Humberto Galindo 1,750,000 88
4 4 Amiel Gamliel 710,000 36
4 5 Angelo Onorato 610,000 31
4 6 Fabio Ratto 185,000 9
4 7 Madis Ormisson 70,000 4
4 8 Javier Moreno 115,000 6
4 9 Miguel Branco 450,000 23
5 1 Yarin Matan 985,000 49
5 2 Giuseppe Chiaia 1,025,000 51
5 3 Andreas Froehli 405,000 20
5 4 Stein Naerland 540,000 27
5 5 Markus Kentzler 640,000 32
5 6 Ioannis Diamantopoulos 745,000 37
5 7 Lorenzo Arduini 640,000 32
5 8 Patrick Koppitz 185,000 9
5 9 Cosmin-Ionut Nica 785,000 39
6 1 Michael Kim Falcon 1,510,000 76
6 2 Daniel Heredi 1,765,000 88
6 3 Juan Farre 790,000 40
6 4 Malte Harff 695,000 35
6 5 Paul Lyons 705,000 35
6 6 Christos Katis 690,000 35
6 7 Nils Jall 910,000 46
6 8 Vito Burgio 360,000 18
6 9 Sergidis Philippos 575,000 29
7 1 Vincent Smith 755,000 38
7 2 Fabio Motta 925,000 46
7 3 Michal Procner 500,000 25
7 4 Alessio Scarano 1,035,000 52
7 5 Pavel Heger 1,050,000 53
7 6 Nicos Sotiriou 420,000 21
7 7 Herli Olop 845,000 42
7 8 Timothee Rey 525,000 26
7 9 Alfred Holzer 460,000 23
8 1 Antonios Kandilas 1,765,000 88
8 2 Michele Ditarano 910,000 46
8 3 Wojciech Radomski 445,000 22
8 4 Claudio Barone 405,000 20
8 5 Jordi Ruiz Ribatallada 345,000 17
8 6 Francesco Blasio 1,105,000 55
8 7 Joshua Norvock 195,000 10
8 8 Loris Invito 670,000 34
8 9 Konstantinos Karkanidis 1,315,000 66
9 1 Falko Grath 200,000 10
9 2 Iulian Rautu 315,000 16
9 3 Danas Dambrauskas 360,000 18
9 4 Ben Miller 360,000 18
9 5 Angelo Patane’ 280,000 14
9 6 Marko Cosic 855,000 43
9 7 Marco Persico 270,000 14
9 8 Gabriele Pischedda 975,000 49
9 9 Niccolo’ Cadoni 1,385,000 69
10 1 Alfio Motta 690,000 35
10 2 Michael Koran 240,000 12
10 3 Luka Lerga 1,110,000 56
10 4 Calum Bagnall 320,000 16
10 5 Daniel Yerin 435,000 22
10 6 Vincenzo Merola 510,000 26
10 7 Quentin Balique 455,000 23
10 8 Romain Nardin 890,000 45
10 9 Jake Caldwell 365,000 18
11 1 Rain Moelderkivi 435,000 22
11 2 Plamen Yordanov 725,000 36
11 3 Nikolaos Iakovidis 505,000 25
11 4 Kostadin Mihaylov 755,000 38
11 5 Hussein Abdulsamad 460,000 23
11 6 Argo Garamaga 1,560,000 78
11 7 Viorel-Gabriel Gavrila 700,000 35
11 8 Lin Wang 225,000 11
11 9 Bogdan Jontulovic 640,000 32
12 1 Roberto Iannetti 942,000 47
12 2 Georgian Georgescu 950,000 48
12 3 Vincenzo Mangiapane 1,825,000 91
12 4 Sokratis Oikonomou 1,370,000 69
12 5 Ionut Arvatu 1,175,000 59
12 6 Marco Leonzio 245,000 12
12 7 Andrea Savasto 810,000 41
12 8 Antonio Villadiego 330,000 17
12 9 Federico Fulciniti 290,000 15
13 1 Radek Castka 710,000 36
13 2 Iason Filippidis 985,000 49
13 3 Stephen Dallaire 265,000 13
13 4 Jen-Yue Chiang 240,000 12
13 5 Antonio Mirabile 890,000 45
13 6 Nicolai Ejstrud 520,000 26
13 7 Jussi Julkunen 1,040,000 52
13 8 Luigi Rieti 715,000 36
13 9 Jennifer Jordi 260,000 13
14 1 Gino Tolone 980,000 49
14 2 Valerio Mascolo 240,000 12
14 3 Reinhard Meusburger 1,365,000 68
14 4 Natale Chiocchetti 245,000 12
14 5 Prokopios Mountrichas 575,000 29
14 6 Mitja Rudolf 785,000 39
14 7 Leslie Lamnea 430,000 22
14 8 Paul-Calin Ciaca 140,000 7
14 9 Christos Arfanis 495,000 25
15 1 Bruno Pacelli 270,000 14
15 2 Pasquale Gregorio 755,000 38
15 3 Ashley Scott 467,000 23
15 4 Pawel Wakuluk 1,623,000 81
15 5 Lucia Antunes 890,000 45
15 6 Kyriakos Papadopoulos 1,210,000 61
15 7 Ugo Gasparini 1,120,000 56
15 8 Adrien Bodenheimer 1,110,000 56
15 9 Konstantin Faerber 1,200,000 60
16 1 Ivane Khazaradze 1,140,000 57
16 2 Simon Davidson 465,000 23
16 3 Vladyslav Sidikhin 335,000 17
16 4 Parminder Kandola 1,800,000 90
16 5 Daniel Mendoza 475,000 24
16 6 Giuseppe Nacci 595,000 30
16 7 Peter Kamaras 150,000 8
16 8 Nico Frenn 1,410,000 71
16 9 Ilija Savevski 265,000 13
17 1 Ilie-Ionut Ababei 135,000 7
17 2 Giuseppe D’agnese 50,000 3
17 3 Benoit Kuhn 660,000 33
17 4 Richard De Freitas 695,000 35
17 5 Dimitrios Glymakopulos 275,000 14
17 6 Palina Mankevich 180,000 9
17 7 Marton Lugosi 1,500,000 75
17 8 Giulio Di Salvo 960,000 48
17 9 Jozsef Dobos 930,000 47
18 1 Luigi D’alterio 130,000 7
18 2 Phanishsarn Tanapatr 740,000 37
18 3 Ivan Furniet Martinez 730,000 37
18 4 Alessio Scire’ 455,000 23
18 5 Salvatore Chillemi 635,000 32
18 6 Christou Christos 380,000 19
18 7 Johan Vallgren 520,000 26
18 8 Ioannios Logothetis 1,095,000 55
18 9 Salvatore Salvino 765,000 38
19 1 Robin Winship 725,000 36
19 2 Alexandros Tasoulis 205,000 10
19 3 Cosme Martinez 2,145,000 107
19 4 Shervin Ghassemlou 540,000 27
19 5 James Paris 1,400,000 70
19 6 Emmanouil Zacharakis 1,285,000 64
19 7 Tomi Arponen 475,000 24
19 8 Rinaldo Filho 500,000 25
19 9 Giuseppe Azzaro 465,000 23
20 1 Domenico D`Isanto 320,000 16
20 2 Natale Albanese 345,000 17
20 3 Chuc Khuu 365,000 18
20 4 Nicola Sasso 355,000 18
20 5 Max Wielander 810,000 41
20 6 Robert Anscombe 280,000 14
20 7 Alexander Luciani 1,205,000 60
20 8 Iraklis Manikaros 565,000 28
20 9 John Basta 375,000 19
21 1 Jozsef Harsing 570,000 29
21 2 Alexandros Papadopulos 375,000 19
21 3 Valentin Oberhauser 1,085,000 54
21 4 Sokratis Papavramidis 855,000 43
21 5 Adrian Siewiera 1,010,000 51
21 6 Kevin Campbell 1,370,000 69
21 7 Dan Sfarlea 710,000 36
21 8 Emmanouil Zografakis 540,000 27
21 9 Sebastian Kos 1,180,000 59
22 1 Marcus Borg 305,000 15
22 2 Ioannis Triantafyllakis 580,000 29
22 3 Tayfun Rodoplu 555,000 28
22 4 Domenico Pediglieri 415,000 21
22 5 Malvin Catania 700,000 35
22 6 Vasileios Zisis 1,920,000 96
22 7 Michele Pieri 100,000 5
22 8 Hendrik Blokdijk 2,485,000 124
22 9 Aristeidis Giannatos 965,000 48
23 1 Ioan Guramulta 770,000 39
23 2 Manuel Persico 635,000 32
23 3 Daniel Prior 225,000 11
23 4 Robert Shearing 835,000 42
23 5 Kenneth Greaney 260,000 13
23 6 Luca Sebastiani 445,000 22
23 7 Massimo Vullo 400,000 20
23 8 Marco Basta 825,000 41
23 9 Marco Arcodia 1,060,000 53
24 1 Cristian Mihu 1,340,000 67
24 2 Alberto De Barberiis 630,000 32
24 3 Daniele De Vita 820,000 41
24 4 Nicusor Matei 205,000 10
24 5 Francesco Vitale 160,000 8
24 6 Marc Meden 380,000 19
24 7 Janos Pergel 1,080,000 54
24 8 Gabriele Nuzzo 1,840,000 92
24 9 Alfonso Amendola 1,250,000 63
25 1 Dimitrios Katsikas 425,000 21
25 2 Domenico Candido 1,750,000 88
25 3 Maurizio Cristaldi 875,000 44
25 4 James Macpherson 585,000 29
25 5 Francesco Natale 495,000 25
25 6 Mario Menicanin 1,095,000 55
25 7 Matteo Kerbaol 755,000 38
25 8 Lieven Van Hoof 645,000 32
25 9 Petr Kubenka 565,000 28
26 1 Stefan Drusca 280,000 14
26 2 Darko Svesko 2,025,000 101
26 3 Marios Zervoudis 690,000 35
26 4 Zhenghao Zhou 1,755,000 88
26 5 Gorjan Jakimovski 250,000 13
26 6 Sebastian Pabian 275,000 14
26 7 Nazareno Calvo 255,000 13
26 8 Alessio Vanni 1,010,000 51
26 9 Salvatore Pardo 275,000 14
27 1 Luca Catalin 285,000 14
27 2 Mathias Jordi 645,000 32
27 3 Anthony Counsell 145,000 7
27 5 Domenico Ruggero 1,230,000 62
27 6 Carl Frejd 625,000 31
27 7 Viktor Waal 1,930,000 97
27 8 Domenico Fazio 195,000 10
27 9 Gerrit Blanckaert 1,265,000 63
28 1 Anthony Loots 695,000 35
28 2 Alexandru Farcasanu 460,000 23
28 4 Artur Kulanurk 350,000 18
28 5 Berend Hooijer 445,000 22
28 6 Dimitrios Dimitros 880,000 44
28 7 Charles Wilson 1,010,000 51
28 8 Cristian-Ilie Visoiu 640,000 32
28 9 Massimiliano Mauceri 810,000 41
29 1 Niklas Aahlund 1,430,000 72
29 2 Karl Cooper 190,000 10
29 4 Cameron Sinclair 350,000 18
29 5 Clement Kerrien 635,000 32
29 6 Dimitrios Manekas 1,455,000 73
29 7 Salvatore La Vardera 635,000 32
29 8 Manuel Licata 1,300,000 65
29 9 Silvio La Rosa 385,000 19
30 2 Antal Roth 450,000 23
30 3 Tomasz Kardas 525,000 26
30 4 Gianluca Fichera 125,000 6
30 5 Angelos Valilis 1,005,000 50
30 6 Boban Stevanovic 265,000 13
30 7 Anthony Ouillon 1,670,000 84
30 8 Itzhak Dagmi 655,000 33
30 9 Alex Montgomery 325,000 16
31 1 David Torgeman 915,000 46
31 2 Stefan Gheorghe 210,000 11
31 3 Linda Nguyen 1,280,000 64
31 5 Antonis Poulengeris 635,000 32
31 6 Alessandro Siena 555,000 28
31 7 Andrea Geraci 690,000 35
31 8 Michael Howard 870,000 44
31 9 Salvatore Merendino 985,000 49
32 2 Gabriella Carollo 200,000 10
32 3 Davide Ingegnere 495,000 25
32 4 Francisco Moreno 795,000 40
32 5 Tomas Dusanek 450,000 23
32 6 Maruen Zormati 255,000 13
32 7 Miguel Aguilar 850,000 43
32 8 Sergio Somma 690,000 35
32 9 Elia Salerno 125,000 6
33 1 Shaun Decesare 915,000 46
33 2 Bartosz Jablonski 610,000 31
33 3 Davide Iannaco 325,000 16
33 4 Matija Grgic 235,000 12
33 5 Gabriel Ionut Dinu 780,000 39
33 6 Marc Schulze 250,000 13
33 7 Biagio Torrisi 52,000 3
33 9 Giovanni D’alia 1,120,000 56