button in SafariFinal 24 Set in Battle of Malta Main Event
Day 3 of the €600 Battle of Malta Autumn Edition Main Event at Casino Malta saw the field reduced from 158 returning players to the final 24. After a busy day of action, the remaining contenders secured their spots for Day 4, with the tournament now getting closer to crowning its champion.
The event attracted a massive field of 5,368 entries across nine starting flights, comfortably surpassing its €1.5 million guarantee and generating a total prize pool of €2,413,281. The eventual champion will take home €227,835.
Anton Makejev leads the way heading into Day 4 with 14,000,000, followed closely by Marios Kapiris (13,950,000) and Jakub Skurzynski (13,000,000).
Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anton Makejev | Estonia | 14,000,000 | 70 |
| 2 | Marios Kapiris | Brazil | 13,950,000 | 70 |
| 3 | Jakub Skurzynski | Poland | 13,000,000 | 65 |
| 4 | Tereza Vernerova | Czechia | 12,050,000 | 60 |
| 5 | Ryan Sweeney | United Kingdom | 11,500,000 | 58 |
| 6 | Alessandro De Michele | Italy | 11,275,000 | 56 |
| 7 | James Malatynski | United Kingdom | 10,975,000 | 55 |
| 8 | Marco Lopez Coronado | Spain | 10,400,000 | 52 |
| 9 | Ofer Tadmor | Israel | 9,650,000 | 48 |
| 10 | Emmanouil Chalkiotis | Greece | 9,600,000 | 48 |
One of the biggest movers of the day was Marco Lopez Coronado, who started with just 1,090,000 chips but managed to turn that into 10,400,000 by the end of play. He made an early move up the counts, reaching 6,200,000 after taking down a pot against Lulei Hu. However, he later lost a sizeable pot to Marios Kapiris, dropping to 3,000,000. Coronado fought his way back, first recovering some chips by eliminating Lorenzo Angeletti with ace-king, before winning an even bigger pot against Jon Kyte with trip kings. Despite being a newcomer to the live poker scene, with his first recorded results on The Hendon Mob dating back to this year, Coronado has already made a strong impression.
Ryan Sweeney also enjoyed a strong day, picking up a big pot with a straight against Maicol D'Arrigo before later holding pocket aces against Giuseppe Signorelli to send him to the rail.
The day also saw the departure of Ivan Sposato, who had started Day 3 as the chip leader after bagging 3,440,000 on Day 2. He ran into Yuri Cornello's ace-king and was unable to improve with ace-queen, ending his run before the final 24.
Play resumes Tuesday, November 3, at 2 p.m. local time for Day 4. It was also announced that the live stream will begin on Day 4, one day earlier than originally planned for the final table. Blind levels will be extended to 90 minutes, with the remaining 24 minutes of Level 30 played before the blinds increase to 100,000/250,000, with a 250,000 big blind ante.
All 24 players have locked up at least €8,950, while the eventual champion will walk away with €227,835 and the Battle of Malta trophy.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | € 227,835 | 9 | € 18,900 |
| 2 | € 141,250 | 10 – 11 | € 16,750 |
| 3 | € 92,550 | 12-13 | € 14,950 |
| 4 | € 62,150 | 14-15 | € 13,350 |
| 5 | € 43,400 | 16-17 | € 12,000 |
| 6 | € 32,000 | 18-20 | € 10,800 |
| 7 | € 25,150 | 21-23 | € 9,800 |
| 8 | € 21,150 | 24 | € 8,950 |
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage as the Battle of Malta Main Event moves closer to crowning its champion!