2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta

€25,750 High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info

2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q10
Prize
€465,800
Event Info
Buy-in
€25,000
Prize Pool
€1,592,500
Entries
65
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
12,000 / 24,000
Ante
4,000

Dietrich Fast Wins the PokerStars EPT Malta €10,300 High Roller (€174,600)

Dietrich Fast
Dietrich Fast

He was chip leader after Day 1, his name was on top of the list after Day 2, he predicted it before the final table began, and last night he lifted the trophy and posed for winner photos. German bracelet winner Dietrich Fast has won the 3-day opening High Roller event in the last ever PokerStars EPT Malta, banking €174,600 and taking home his seventh career trophy.

PositionPlayerCountryPrize
1Dietrich FastGermany€174,600
2Viacheslav BuldyginRussia€126,300
3Dario SammartinoItaly€81,480
4Pratyush BuddigaUnited States€61,690
5Ramin HajiyevAzerbaijan€47,720
6Davidi KitaiBelgium€37,250
7Vladimir TroyanovskiyRussia€29,680
8Orpen KisacikogluTurkey€23,280

The final day of play started with just 6 players remaining from the field of 60 entries, including 12 re-entries. With Orpen Kisacikoglu and Vladimir Troyanovskiy already gone on the penultimate day and probably registered in other tournaments, the remaining 6 players were guaranteed €37,250. All of them, of course, were gunning for that first place prize of €174,600.

Things got off to a good start for Viacheslav Buldygin as he busted Davidi Kitai and Ramin Hajiyev. Kitai ran ace-jack into Buldygin's queens and the Belgian Triple Crown champion made his way to the exit in 6th place (€37,250). Buldygin found queens again and once more a player pushed all-in. This time it was Ramin Hajiyev with ace-queen. Hajiyev did not improve and a 5th-place finish was what he had to settle for (€47,720).

While the two knockouts had propelled Buldygin to the role of big stack, he still had Fast in front of him at this point. That would change soon as the German bracelet winner lost lots of chips to Italian high roller Dario Sammartino.

Pratyush Buddiga was next to go, hitting the rail in 4th place (€61,690). Again it was Buldygin doing the dirty work, eliminating the American high roller with king-queen suited against pocket sevens.

With just 3 players remaining, Fast battled back and now Buldygin was slipping while Dario Sammartino had plenty. The Italian, however, was the next one to go. A set up of kings versus the aces of Fast set Sammartino back tremendously and he departed soon after losing the flip with pocket fours to Fast's ace-seven suited (€81,480).

Fast started with a 7-to-1 chip lead but found a tough opponent in online heads-up specialist Viacheslav Buldygin. The latter doubled to get a shot at the title, but would eventually have to leave the honors to his German opponent. In the last hand, Fast moved in to put Buldygin to the test for his last 12 big blinds. Buldygin had an easy decision with pocket sixes and was well in front against the ace-three suited of Fast. The ace on the flop, however, favored Fast and the tournament ended with a bad beat for Buldygin.

Dietrich Fast didn't go out partying, he had been multi-tabling the High Roller final table with the IPT Main Event, which he eventually busted just before play wrapped up. With now over $2 million in earnings, we imagine the disappointment was soon forgotten. Fast has the option to enter the €25,750 High Roller that kicks off at 12:30pm local time. PokerNews will be on site to cover that event, and all the other big buy-ins from Malta this week.

Tags: Dario SammartinoDavidi KitaiDietrich FastEPTEuropean Poker TourOrpen KisacikogluPokerStarsPratyush BuddigaRamin HajiyevViacheslav BuldyginVladimir Troyanovskiy

High Roller Time in Malta, Cards in the Air at 12:30!

EPT Malta
EPT Malta

The PokerStars EPT Malta is in full swing, with several events already in the books and multiple trophies already lifted. The biggest one so far, was a cheque worth €174,600, going to Dietrich Fast who won the €10,300 high roller.

Today, the real big action kicks off with the start of the €25,750 High Roller. PokerNews will be on the floor to cover the event, followed by coverage of all the other big events this last ever PokerStars EPT Malta has in store for us. The event starts at 12:30 pm local time (2.5 hours from now), and players will start with 50,000 in chips. The plan is to play 10 levels of 60 minutes each.

PokerStars EPT Malta History

In the year 2015, the European Poker Tour visited the little island of Malta not once but twice. One time as part of the second half of Season 11, once at the start of Season 12. This year, in Season 13, the EPT only visits once. So players better make the best of it, as there will be no second chance. In fact, the European Poker Tour is down to it's next to last event ever, as after the event in Prague the world's biggest poker tour will relinquish its name. Whether a stop on Malta will return as a PokerStars Championship or PokerStars Festival remains to be seen, while it should be noted the latter is the more obvious choice if one were a betting man.

Here are the results for the previous big EPT events at the island of Malta:

Event EntriesWinnerPrize in €Prize in $
EPT March 2015Main Event895Jean Montury€687,400$743,585
 €10k High Roller304David Peters€597,000$653,552
 €25k High Roller88Dzmitry Urbanovich€572,300$605,929
      
EPT October 2015Main Event651Niall Farrell€534,330$588,592
 €10k Single Day High Roller134Steve O'Dwyer€327,030$360,241
 €10k High Roller210Byron Kaverman€430,800$475,355
 €25k High Roller74Mike McDonald€498,575$561,623

PokerStars EPT Malta Stats

While there have been just 2 PokerStars EPT festivals on Malta so far, a look at the stats for this event can still be interesting.

There's no doubt who's the most successful player on the island as Dzmitry Urbanovich tops both the list with most cashes (7) and most money won (€745,605). Urbanovich shares the position of the most amount of cashes with 4 other players. His lead in the most money won category is not as big, but still impressive:

PlayerCashesWinnings
Dzmitry Urbanovich7€745,605
Alessandro Borsa7€87,820
Remi Wyrzykiewicz7€84,325
Jose Quintas7€72,300
[Removed:59]7€11,425
Daniel Dvoress6€396,080
Steve O'Dwyer6€394,095
Georgios Zisimopoulos6€175,345
Kiryl Radzivonau6€39,785
34 players5 
PlayerCashesWinnings
Dzmitry Urbanovich7€745,605
Jean Montury4€693,595
David Peters2€624,090
Valentin Messina2€617,920
Byron Kaverman3€604,710
Nick Petrangelo4€594,895
Mike McDonald3€568,515
Niall Farrell1€534,330
Alen Bilic2€444,820
Connor Drinan5€438,145

Italy, by far, has the most amount of cashes with 406 registered Italians walking to the payout desk in 2015. While the Italians have cashes the most amount of times, it has been players from the United States walking away with the most money from the island.

CountryCashesWinnings
Italy406€1,988,945
Germany199€2,636,422
France176€2,489,987
United Kingdom146€1,470,491
Poland115€2,382,103
United States114€4,845,631
Russia100€948,273
Canada95€2,100,517
Netherlands92€617,003
Sweden90€840,002
CountryCashesWinnings
United States114€4,845,631
Germany199€2,636,422
France176€2,489,987
Poland115€2,382,103
Canada95€2,100,517
Italy406€1,988,945
United Kingdom146€1,470,491
Finland67€1,274,142
Russia100€948,273
Sweden90€840,002

"I Would've Called Any Amount"

Level 1 : 100/200, 25 ante
Behzad Ahadpour
Behzad Ahadpour

As we walked up to the table, both blinds had just checked on a flop of {5-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}{5-Clubs}. Behzad Ahadpour bet 1,500 and Ben Heath on the button folded. Orpen Kisacikoglu called from the small blind, Max Silver over called from the big blind.

The {6-Clubs} hit the turn and both Kisacikoglu and Silver checked again. Ahadpour bet 8,100 and Kisacikoglu was quick to fold. It took Silver a bit longer to come to the same conclusion as he mucked after about 15 seconds or so.

Silver showed the {7-Diamonds} and said something to the effect that he was planning on calling just about any amount. Well, not 8,100, as he did fold.

The two, both with a big smile, talked some about the hand. The atmosphere is great in the High Roller, as per usual one might say.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Behzad Ahadpour ir
Behzad Ahadpour
58,000
8,000
8,000

Tags: Behzad AhadpourMax SilverOrpen Kisacikoglu

Thorel's Out-Of-Turn Journey Pays Off

Level 1 : 100/200, 25 ante
Jean-Noel Thorel
Jean-Noel Thorel

Jean-Noel Thorel limped in from the hijack. Ali Reza Fatehi raised to 750 from the cutoff. Sanan called in the small blind and Max Silver defended his big blind. Thorel didn't elect to close the action, instead opting for a raise to 3,500. All the other players called to see a potentially spicy flop.

The flop was {3-Diamonds}{J-Diamonds}{4-Hearts}. Sanan checked, and before Silver could act Thorel fired 6,000. Silver, seeing the action behind him already, elected to check, meaning Thorel's bet would stand. Fatehi called and Sanan called as well, Silver folded.

The {j-Hearts} came on the turn and Thorel instantly checked. The dealer gave him a friendly reminding that it wasn't his turn to act yet. Sanan checked, Thorel's check was now binding, and Fatehi checked as well.

On the {6-Spades} river, Thorel instantly checked out of turn again! The dealer once again reminded the Frenchman that in poker, the small blind acts first on all postflop streets. Sanan checked, Thorel automatically checked and Ali Fatehi took a stab at the sizable pot. He cut out a bet of 10,500, which prompted a quick fold from Sanan.

Thorel however, holding {Q-Spades}{Q-Clubs}, didn't give up and flicked in a speedy call. Fatehi couldn't muster up more than {A-Hearts}{Q-Hearts} for ace-high and had to surrender the pot to the French wizard.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jean-Noel Thorel fr
Jean-Noel Thorel
75,000
25,000
25,000
Profile photo of Ali Reza Fatehi ir
Ali Reza Fatehi
16,000
-19,000
-19,000

Tags: Ali Reza FatehiJean-Noel Thorel

Fatehi First Casualty

Level 2 : 100/200, 25 ante
Ali Reza Fatehi
Ali Reza Fatehi

The cards were already rushed away, but Martin Finger confirmed what had happened. Ali Reza Fatehi, who had previously lost a lot of chips to Jean-Noel Thorel, raised to 550 and picked up one caller. Finger in the small blind reraised to 2,600 and just Fatehi called to see a flop of {9-Diamonds}{8-Spades}{6-Diamonds}.

Finger bet 4,500 and Fatehi moved all in for just over 13,000 with the {9-Clubs}{6-Clubs}. Finger looked him up with {10-Spades}{10-Clubs} and the {10-Hearts} on the turn left Fatehi drawing dead.

He bought straight back in, getting a crisp 50,000-stack to give it another go.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Martin Finger de
Martin Finger
70,000
20,000
20,000
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Ali Reza Fatehi ir
Ali Reza Fatehi
Busted

Tags: Ali Reza FatehiJean-Noel ThorelMartin Finger

Silver Makes a Big Call Against Seiver

Level 3 : 150/300, 50 ante
Scott Seiver - Max Silver
Scott Seiver - Max Silver

Satish Sanan limped in from the button and small blind Scott Seiver bumped it up to 1,300. Big blind Max Silver had even bigger plans and three-bet to 5,300. Sanan had seen enough and got out of the way. Action was back on Seiver and he four-bet to 13,000. Silver tanked for a bit before he called.

The flop came {5-Clubs}{5-Spades}{3-Diamonds} and Seiver slid forward a big tower of 5,000-chips to put Silver all in.

Silver, with 27,375 behind, said "Too gross!"

Seiver, calm as ever, answered "Aces versus kings usually is."

The two exchanged some words, mostly debating who had the aces and who had the kings in supposed classic set-up, before Silver went back into thinking-mode.

After 4 minutes or so, Silver made the call. It wasn't aces versus kings.

Scott Seiver: {9-Hearts}{9-Clubs}
Max Silver: {10-Spades}{10-Clubs}

The {2-Clubs} on the turn and {8-Clubs} on the river were both blanks and Silver doubled up to 81,850.

He lost some of that the following hand, check-calling both the {2-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{4-Diamonds}-flop and {6-Hearts}-turn before check-folding the {7-Diamonds}-river against Oleksii Khoroshenin.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Max Silver gb
Max Silver
74,250
34,250
34,250
Profile photo of Scott Seiver us
Scott Seiver
53,000
-37,000
-37,000

Tags: Max SilverOleksii KhorosheninScott Seiver

Seiver Stacks Shak

Level 4 : 200/400, 50 ante
Dan Shak
Dan Shak

Scott Seiver raised to 700 and got a call from Jean-Noel Thorel. On the button, Dan Shak moved in for 11,375. Seiver flicked in a 1,000 chip to indicate a call, and Thorel got out of the way.

Scott Seiver: {10-Spades}{10-Clubs}
Dan Shak: {A-Clubs}{Q-Clubs}

Shak didn't improve on {K-Spades}{2-Clubs}{3-Diamonds}{6-Hearts}{6-Clubs} and was forced to the rail. The American didn't linger around for long though, as he quickly bought himself a fresh new stack of 50,000.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Scott Seiver us
Scott Seiver
52,000
-1,000
-1,000
Profile photo of Dan Shak us
Dan Shak
50,000
35,000
35,000

Tags: Dan ShakScott Seiver

Jean-Noel Thorel Eliminated

Level 6 : 300/600, 100 ante
Jean-Noel Thorel
Jean-Noel Thorel

It has been an eventful day for Jean-Noel Thorel, but just like that the Frenchman met his demise in a massive clash with [Removed:17]. It was Thorel who opened to 1,500 from under the gun. Ole Schemion called from middle position and action got folded to [Removed:17] in the big blind. The Kiwi three-bet to 6,700, Thorel called, and Schemion folded.

The flop came {J-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds} and Yan kept firing with a bet of 6,500. Without much ado, Thorel shoved all in for 35,000 and Yan snap-called it off.

Jean-Noel Thorel: {A-Diamonds}{Q-Diamonds}
[Removed:17]: {K-Diamonds}{K-Hearts}

Needing an ace, diamond or running cards, the founder of Bioderma suddenly found himself at risk for his tournament life. Neither the {8-Hearts} on the turn nor the {9-Spades} on the river were one of Thorel outs, and he was eliminated. With Thorel's chips, Yan is now the new chipleader.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of [Removed:17] nz
[Removed:17]
145,000
13,000
13,000
Profile photo of Jean-Noel Thorel fr
Jean-Noel Thorel
Busted

Tags: Jean-Noel Thorel

Dinner Break After Level Six

Level 6 : 300/600, 100 ante
Patrick Leonard
Patrick Leonard

The first six levels scheduled for Day 1 of the €25,750 Super High Roller at the Portomaso Casino are done and dusted. So far there have been 43 unique players and seven of them took advantage of the single re-entry option to create a field of 50 entries. Among those on their second bullet were Andras Nemeth, 2016 WSOP bracelet winner Martin Kozlov, Juha Helppi, Scott Seiver, Ali Reza Fatehi, Dan Shak and [Removed:17], yet Shak (92,000) and Yan (132,000) are now among the biggest stacks.

Yan lost most of his stack in a four-bet pot with {Q-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds} against the kings of Shak, after the latter got his stack in on a queen-high flop. Yan bought back in, forced a fold from Jean-Noel Thorel to boost his stack and then even knocked out the Frenchman to take over the lead. The online whizard from New Zealand has 134,000 thus far and only trails Patrick Leonard with 148,000.

Charlie Carrel (131,000) dominated his table to build a decent stack thus far, while Scott Seiver (118,000) and Adrian Mateos (98,800) are also among the big stacks. Nick Petrangelo's flip with {A-Spades}{K-Spades} against the pocket tens of Pratyush Buddiga was among the biggest pots played and the EPT13 Barcelona Single-Day High Roller champion was left short, Petrangelo accumulated 81,000 thus far.

Once the players return from dinner at approximately 8.45 p.m., they will play another four levels of 60 minutes each to wrap up around 1 a.m. local time and registration remains open until 15 minutes prior to the start of Day 2 tomorrow.

Tags: Ali Reza FatehiAndras NemethCharlie CarrelDan ShakJean-Noel ThorelJuha HelppiMartin KozlovNick PetrangeloOleksii KhorosheninPratyush BuddigaScott Seiver

Frederik Jensen Doubles Through Connor Drinan

Level 7 : 400/800, 100 ante
Frederik Jensen
Frederik Jensen

From the cutoff, Connor Drinan opened the action with a raise to 2,000. On the button, it was Frederik Jensen who three-bet to 6,300. Drinan wasn't done yet, however, as he cut out a four-bet to 11,700. Jensen, getting solid odds, committed the extra chips to peel a flop in position.

The flop came {6-Hearts}{5-Clubs}{2-Diamonds} and Drinan continued with a bet of 7,900, which got a call from Jensen. The {K-Clubs} on the turn followed the same recipe: Drinan bet another 7,900, and Jensen once again slid in calling chips.

The {A-Clubs} on the river made things interesting, as it was Drinan moved all in. It was effectively 32,700 to Jensen, who snap-called the remainder of his stack off.

Connor Drinan: {A-Hearts}{Q-Spades}
Frederik Jensen: {6-Clubs}{4-Clubs}

Postflop, Jensen held the best hand on each street, eventually improving to a runner-runner flush to secure the double-up.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Frederik Jensen dk
Frederik Jensen
130,000
61,000
61,000
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Connor Drinan us
Connor Drinan
40,000
-52,400
-52,400

Tags: Connor DrinanFrederik Jensen