“Let The Battle Begin.” With a name as promising as this, the €600 Battle of Malta Summer Edition Main Event was expected to attract a huge crowd to Casino Malta.
The players did not disappoint, with a massive field of 2,667 entries recorded across the seven starting flights. These included the regular Day 1s, which played from a 40,000 starting stacks down to the last 15% of the field, and the Turbo flights, where players paid a reduced €300 buy-in but had to survive a 20,000-chip stack down to the final 7.5% of the field to reach the money.
From this field, which generated a total prize pool of €1,186,962, only 358 players secured a minimum cash prize of €1,000 and qualified for Sunday’s Day 2. The field narrowed even further after six more 60-minute levels of play, leaving just 75 players remaining at the end of the day and heading into Day 3.
Detailed Entries
| Flight | Entries | Remaining |
|---|
| Day 1a | 214 | 32 |
| Day 1b | 71 | 5 |
| Day 1c | 441 | 66 |
| Day 1d | 188 | 14 |
| Day 1e | 991 | 149 |
| Day 1f | 288 | 22 |
| Day 1g | 452 | 68 |
| Day 1h* | 22 | 2 |
| Total | 2,667 | 75 |
*This flight took place on May 15 in Romania
After Day 2, the chip lead belongs to Denmark’s Kristian Holmgren, who multiplied his stack by 12 to end the day with 3,760,000 chips, good for almost 100 big blinds. Following closely behind are Dimitrios Stampoultzis (3,455,000) and Konstantinos Asgoudakis (3,055,000), the only two other players to surpass the 3,000,000-chip mark.
Local player Mark Vella bagged 2,310,000, enough for a place in the top ten, alongside Day 1e chip leader Ugnius Vestertas (2,125,000).
Just like him, Dimitrios Asgoudakis (1,500,000, Day 1d), Dimitrios Sarris (1,190,000, Day 1f), and poker reporter Florence Mazet (1,030,000, Day 1c) are also still in contention. They have already secured a package to the Battle of Malta Slovakia in September after finishing as chip leaders in their respective starting flights.
Giuseppe Rosa (1,610,000), Daniel Yerin (1,490,000), Erik Ostergaard (1,350,000), Houssem Meftahi (1,180,000), Sebastian Mortensen (1,090,000), Marko Cosic (910,000), Theodoros Ampelikiotis (635,000), Roar Aspas (275,000), and last-in-chips Szymon Politowski (66,000) are also in the mix and in the race for the first place prize of €176,070.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big blinds |
|---|
| 1 | Kristian Holmgren | Denmark | 3,760,000 | 94 |
| 2 | Dimitrios Stampoultzis | Greece | 3,455,000 | 86 |
| 3 | Konstantinos Asgoudakis | Greece | 3,055,000 | 76 |
| 4 | Erlend Kalstad | Norway | 2,840,000 | 71 |
| 5 | Angelo Censabella | Italy | 2,585,000 | 64 |
| 6 | Daniele Renzi | Italy | 2,320,000 | 57 |
| 7 | Mark Vella | Malta | 2,310,000 | 57 |
| 8 | Fredrick Bratein | Norway | 2,230,000 | 55 |
| 9 | Ugnius Vestertas | Lithuania | 2,125,000 | 53 |
| 10 | Jiri Novak | Czechia | 2,060,000 | 51 |
Day 3 kicks off at 4 p.m. local time, featuring blinds of 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante.
The tournament will continue on 60-minute levels until 24 players remain. So far, all remaining players have already guaranteed themselves at least €2,000.
Remaining payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|
| 1 | €176,070 | 14-15 | €9,910 |
| 2 | €101,910 | 16-17 | €8,720 |
| 3 | €69,480 | 18-20 | €7,530 |
| 4 | €52,660 | 21-23 | €6,340 |
| 5 | €43,900 | 24-27 | €5,200 |
| 6 | €35,600 | 28-31 | €4,430 |
| 7 | €27,050 | 32-39 | €3,680 |
| 8 | €19,350 | 40-55 | €3,000 |
| 9 | €14,690 | 56-71 | €2,370 |
| 10-11 | €12,340 | 72-75 | €2,000 |
| 12-13 | €11,110 | | |
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you updates all the way until a player lifts the coveted knight trophy!
Tags:
Angelo CensabellaDaniel YerinDaniele RenziDimitrios AsgoudakisDimitrios SarrisDimitrios StampoultzisErik OstergaardErlend KalstadFlorence MazetFredrick BrateinGiuseppe RosaHoussem MeftahiJiri NovakKonstantinos AsgoudakisKristian HolmgrenMark VellaMarko CosicRoar AspasSebastian MortensenSzymon PolitowskiTheodoros AmpelikiotisUgnius Vestertas
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