€5,300 Main Event Day 1a | 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta

03-23-2015 01:33 UTC+2

Greece's Evangelos Tsairis Bags Up the Chip Lead on Day 1a; Liviu & Torelli Not Far Behind

Chad Holloway

Level 8 : 300/600, 75 ante

While the final day of the inaugural Global Poker Masters was playing out at Portomaso Casino at the Hilton Hotel, the first-ever European Poker Tour stop in Malta was kicking off their €5,300 buy-in Main Event. Day 1a of the EPT Malta attracted 260 players, and after eight 75-minute levels of play only 142 would remain in contention.

Leading the pack with 180,300 is Greece's Evangelos Tsairis, who finished 18th in the EPT Deauville Main Event back in January for €22,160. Nipping at his heels are some accomplished players including online star Ignat "0Human0" Liviu (161,900), high-stakes pro Alec Torelli (133,100), and EPT10 Barcelona High Roller champ Thomas Muehloecker (121,200).

Day 1a got off to a fast start with former EPT champ Michael Tureniec bowing out in Level 1, making him the first elimination of the tournament. From there, the eliminations came at a steady pace and included EPT Vienna champ Oleksii Khoroshenin; last year's EPT Grand Final winner Antonio Buonanno; World Poker Tour champ Paul Klann; high rollers Stephen Chidwick, Paul Newey and Jeff Rossiter; Team PokerStars' Fatima Moreira De Melo and Liv Boeree; and Miss Finland, Sara Chafak.

Chafak actually fell in the last level of the night after she got her stack all in on a board reading holding the . Unfortunately for her, Thomas Berends held the for a better flush. Just like that Chafak was out while Berends went on to bag.

Others who survived Day 1a were John O'Shea (114,200), Simon Higgins (96,700), Fedor Holz (87,100), Jack Salter (73,600), Sam Chartier (67,000), Simon Ravnsbaek (47,000), Dimitar Danchev (40,600), and Ole Schemion (36,200), who jumped into the mix after Team Germany was eliminated from the Global Poker Masters. Likewise, Team PokerStars Pros Jan Heitmann (75,600), Marcin Horecki (66,400), and Theo Jorgensen (52,900), as well as PokerStars Sponsored Player Dominik Panka (66,700).

Day 1b will get underway at Noon local time on Monday. The plan is the same in that the field will play eight levels. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there every step of the way, so be sure to check back then. In the meantime, check out this video of Team Italy's victory in the Global Poker Masters:

Tags: Evangelos Tsairis

03-23-2015 01:09 UTC+2

Miss Finland Falls at End of Day 1a

Chad Holloway

Level 8 : 300/600, 75 ante

Just prior to players bagging for the night, Miss Finland, Sara Chafak, was eliminated from the EPT Malta Main Event.

Her elimination escaped us, but Alex Torelli was kind enough to fill us in on a few details. Thomas Berends had opened and received three callers to see a flop of , and after some bets and calls, three of them made it to the turn. Two checks saw Chafak shove her short stack in, and initial raiser Berends looked her up.

Chafak tabled the for a flush, but it was no good as the Dutchman held the for a better flush.

Player	Chips	Progress
Thomas Berends	120,000	10,000
Sara Chafak	Busted

Tags: Sara Chafak

03-22-2015 23:53 UTC+2

Ole Schemion: Always Feeling Good

MarcC

Level 8 : 300/600, 75 ante

You’re the highest-ranked poker player in the world, selected to represent your country and then chosen as the man to lead them into the final of the Global Poker Masters (GPM) World Cup, but you can’t finish the job off. Today, that man was Ole Schemion.

At just 22 years of age, the German is a superstar of the game having already amassed $7,785,084 in career earnings. As mentioned above, he’s the No. 1 ranked player in the world according to the Global Poker Index (GPI), and came first in the 2013 Player of the Year race before finishing second a year later. It’s safe to say that the last four years have gone pretty well, with little disappointment to worry about.

Germany came into the GPM as one of the favorites and stormed through the playoffs and quarterfinals. They were looking good to make the final and a confident team let Schemion take over from George Danzer in the semi-final six-max match. Schemion had a problem though — he had to get past Italy’s star of the completion, Giuliano Bendinelli. It was a step too far as the German player lost two races on the trot; both with pocket nines, and Germany was out.

Rather than get down on the defeat, Schemion decided to late-register the EPT Malta Main Event Day 1a that was taking place in another room and it was mildly amusing to see him get drawn to the left of German Team PokerStars Pro Jan Heitmann. Schemion was sideways on his chair, on his phone between hands, and chatting away to Heitmann on occasion.

PokerNews asked him if he’d ever lost two flips in a row before: “Of course I’ve lost two flips in a row before!”

“Not really important ones where there’s a lot of money to be won!” commented Heitmann.

“I ALWAYS feel good, man!” he said when asked how he was feeling now sat in the Main Event.

“What about me?” shot Heitmann. “He lost two flips for Team Germany and now he’s been sat to my left – that’s not fair! Actually it’s all good, I can learn something from him.”

Whilst we were watching the table, Schemion played two key hands in one orbit, both versus Niclas Adolfsson and something for Heitmann to study.

With the blinds at 200/400, 50 Schemion raised to 1,000 from under the gun and Adolfsson was the only caller from the small blind. The board ran out with Schemion emptying the clip with bets of 1,000, 1,900 and 3,250. Adolfsson check-called the first two bets fairly quickly, but he took his time before calling on the river with the . It was good as Schemion opened the .

Two hands later Schemion was in the big blind and defended after a raise from Adolfsson. The flop came and Schemion check-raised Adolfsson’s 900 continuation-bet up to 2,850. Adolfsson called before Schemion jammed for 10,025 on the turn. His Swedish opponent tanked and made the called with the but lost out to Schemion’s , confirmed after the board completed with the .

Schemion had a big smile on his face. Was he playing the two hands in a reckless way, with little care after his team’s defeat earlier? Or were we witnessing an aggressive hand where a lot of opponents would fold top pair (making it a profitable play in the log-run), and a hand where he managed to get a full double up with a thin value shove - a move a lot of lesser mortals would shy away from? Go back and read the second paragraph again and then make your own mind up.

At the time of publication, Schemion had dropped back to 22,000 and had a jersey on over his Team Germany top that was still on display earlier. PokerNews will be keeping a close eye – as ever – on his progress throughout this Main Event.

Tags: PokerNews Live Blog Feature George Danzer Jan Heitmann Niclas Adolfsso Ole Schemion

03-22-2015 22:59 UTC+2

Torelli & Hajiyev Tangle in Large Pot

Chad Holloway

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante

We happened upon a hand already in progress involving Ramin Hajiyev and Alec Torelli. There was already a considerable about in the pot when the former bet 17,100 on the turn and the latter called from the button.

When the completed the board on the river, Hajiyev thought for a solid minute before checking, and Torelli took an equal amount of time before moving all in for roughly 35,000.

Hajiyev hit the tank hard.

"You have jacks?" Torelli eventually asked.

"I do have jacks," Hajiyev replied, sounding a bit impressed. The man from Azerbaijan gave it about 30 seconds more thought, and then released his hand.

With that, Torelli chipped up to 86,400 while Hajiyev dropped to 41,300.

Tags: Alec Torelli Ramin Hajiyev

03-22-2015 20:46 UTC+2

Srinivasan Eliminated

Christian Zetzsche

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante

Serdar Demiroglu limped for 400 and Shyam Srinivasan raised to 1,400 from one seat over. Everyone else got out of the way and Demiroglu called to see a flop of . Demiroglu check-raised from 1,400 to 10,000 and called the shove of the Canadian for 28,700 with .

The PCA finalist turned over his for the nut straight but another ten on the turn immediately destroyed all his hopes for another deep run.

Player	Chips	Progress
Serdar Demiroglu	78,000
Shyam Srinivasan	Busted

Tags: Serdar Demiroglu Shyam Srinivasan

03-22-2015 19:27 UTC+2

CONVersation: Brewster’s Millions Quick-Fire Edition

MarcC

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante

We grabbed a moment with a few players and had them give answer to a fake scenario.

"PokerStars have added €100,000 to the first place prize here at EPT Malta but there’s a catch: you have 24 hours to spend it from the moment you win. What’s your plan?"

Team PokerStars Pro Theo Jorgensen: I’m going to invite all my friends and have a monster party. I’ll get some really good music so I'll need to hire a band. I’m really hooked on a Canadian band called Bare Naked Ladies or an English band called the Beautiful South – so I’d hire them if I could afford them and get them here in time.

Marvin Rettenmaier: Wow! This is not easy. I don’t really need a car, I actually don’t really need anything and I’d feel bad wasting that much money on a party or something. I would get you something! Whatever you want but maybe not for the whole hundred thousand. Ah, I know! I’d get some poker lessons with Ike [Haxton], I’ve heard they’re $3,000/hour.

Mustapha Kanit: Oh wow! I’d probably buy a car if I have 24 hours and I have to spend it. I’m a lazy guy so it’s easy to spend it all on a car. The funny thing is I don’t even have a license!

Dan Smith: I don’t know what Ibiza is like at this time of year but I’d charter a jet or helicopter there, depending on what’s more feasible, and I think we’d all have a party!

Ludovic Geilich: I’d play dice at the closest table I could find. I’d also give half to charity. So, fifty thousand to charity and gamble the other half. I’d hope to have some profit at the end of the 24 hours and I’d share all that between friends and myself.

Sorel Mizzi: Three words – hookers and blow! No, 100k in 24hours? I would buy gold, obviously, and convert it into cash later. That’s the ultimate answer but if I couldn’t find gold, hookers and blow.

John O’Shea: I’d punt it on a bet and hope to spin it up. What ever is on next Saturday, it’d all go on that. It’d be a quick way to spend the money and get rid of it in 24 hours.

Antoly Filatov: I’m going to buy everything I can find here in Malta and then take it all back to Russia and sell it for twice the price. Then I’d have €200,000 and that’s a plan, all tax-free too!

Tags: Dan Smith John O'Shea Marvin Rettenmaier Mustapha Kanit Sorel Mizzi Theo Jorgensen

03-22-2015 18:54 UTC+2

Show Some Respect To Malta’s Poker Mama

Chad Holloway

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante

She is friends to everyone who is anyone in the Maltese poker world, including Team PokerStars Online’s Ike Haxton. PokerStars Blog catches up with Jackie Cachia, affectionately known as “Poker Mama”. Click here to read all about it.

Tags: PokerStars Blog

03-22-2015 16:48 UTC+2

Shetta Busts Barbosa

Christian Zetzsche

Level 3 : 100/200, 0 ante

After the flop, Joao Barbosa ended up being all in for his last 18,000 chips after a raising war with Sami Shetta and had a huge draw in . Shetta held the for bottom set and the on the turn left Barbosa with two outs. The river was an ace but not of clubs, instead the meaningless .

Player	Chips	Progress
Sami Shetta	75,000	20,000
Joao Barbosa	Busted

Tags: Joao Barbosa Sami Shetta

03-22-2015 15:15 UTC+2

Poker and Malta Get On Very Well

MarcC

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Many of the Day 1A players just arrived yesterday, and a large proportion of them are visiting the island for the first time. They may not know what to do, but that Malta is a truly a brilliant place to play poker.

The Portomaso Casino (specifically) is attached to the huge Hilton Hotel, and they share a large conference space that’s perfect to host a modern European Poker Tour festival. If you’re unfortunate enough not to be staying in the Hilton then there’s a huge amount of other options within a five-minute radius. There's also great food options, the weather is amazing for nines months a year, and everyone you meet seems friendly. Basically it has everything one would want to host a poker tournament. One can't help but wonder why the EPT has taken so long to come.

Let’s forget the EPT for a minute though and look at the broader picture — the history the island has with poker. The EPT has been the first to do many things, but coming to Malta is not one of them.

The Portomaso Casino has been hosting poker events as far back as 2008 when the Malta Poker Tour held three €100,000 guaranteed events. Canadian’s Tommy Pavlicek has the honor of winning the first-ever event, taking home €30,000 in the process. The next 18 months saw similar festivals held, and then something special happened to the island, the Italian poker boom.

Malta is around 180 kilometers away from Sicily and less than an hour by plane from many major Italian cities. It’s also free from any regulatory restrictions, so Italian poker tournament organizers had found a great place to host events. It wasn’t long before PokerStars and Pagano Events took notice, bringing the Italian Poker Tour (IPT) to these shores for the first time in November 2010, during the tour’s second season. They held five events with a €2,200 Main Event won by Michal Polchlopek for €190,000. It was a success and the tour has been back many times since.

Almost every month, in the four and half years since that first IPT, the Portomaso casino has hosted poker events and not just those affiliated to online poker sites. The Finnish, Swedish and Israeli poker championships have all been here at least once, all leaving the tight regulatory restrictions of their own countries for the open arms of Malta.

Despite the fact that poker has a lot of skill to it, luck also plays a big part in the game. That means – for better or worse – there’s always been a crossover with the gaming industry. Back in 2011 the Maltese government introduced favorable corporate and gaming tax regimes in attempt to boost inward investment. It worked, as many start-ups and established companies – including PokerStars – flocked here and set up offices.

The gaming boom has continued to this day and the island is fast gaining a reputation as the gaming capital of Europe. The fact that the European economy is recovering fast as well means this could well be just the beginning of a very fruitful relationship between Malta, poker, gaming, PokerNews and hopefully you!

Tags: PokerNews Live Blog Feature Malta

03-22-2015 14:41 UTC+2

Main Event Underway with More than 200 Players Competing on Day 1a

Chad Holloway

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

According to a PokerStars Press release, more than 200 players are competing on Day 1a of the eagerly-awaited €5,300 EPT Malta Main Event. Some 275 players have qualified for the event online. Among those already in seats are Team PokerStars Pros Jan Heitmann and Marcin Horecki as well as Team Sports Star Fatima Moreira de Melo and PokerStars-sponsored players Miss Finland Sara Chafak and 2014 PCA champ Dominik Panka.

Along with Panka, there are several other EPT champs chasing a second title including Dimitar Danchev (PCA), Jannick Wrang (EPT Campione), Oleksii Khoroshenin (EPT Vienna), Ruben Visser (EPT London), Martin Finger (EPT Prague), Antonio Buonanno (EPT Grand Final) and Martin Schleich (EPT Barcelona).

Other big name who've turned up include World Series of Poker bracelet winner Barny Boatman, WSOP Main Event finalists Jorryt van Hoof and Martin Staszko, Stephen Chidwick, Shyam Srinivasan, Jeff Rossiter, Marc Etienne McLaughlin, Sam Chartier and EPT €25k High Roller finalist Nick Petrangelo, who won his EPT Main Event seat online on PokerStars. Joao Vieira is also amongst today's entries, the Portuguese player is chasing the EPT Player of the Year title, and currently in third position behind Davidi Kitai and Vladimir Troyanovskiy.

Here's a look at the Season 11 EPT Main Events so far:

Event	Players	Winner	Prize
Barcelona	1,496	Andre Lettau (Germany)	€794,058
London	675	Sebastian Pauli (Germany)	£499,700
Prague	1,107	Stephen Graner (USA)	€969,000
PCA	816	Kevin Schulz (USA)	$1,491,580
Deauville	592	Ognyan Dimov (Bulgaria)	€543,700