€5,300 Main Event
Day 1b Started
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€3,157,350
Entries
651
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
MyStack App Available for EPT12 Malta Main Event
The PokerNews MyStack App is available for players here in the EPT12 Malta Main Event, allowing players to directly update their chip count on the PokerNews Live Reporting page for their friends and family to see.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
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Day 1b of EPT12 Malta Main Event Set to Begin
Welcome back to the EPT12 Malta Main Event!
Yesterday, Day 1a of this tournament attracted 184 runners, but by the end of the night only 108 remained with Italy's Carmelo Crucitti and his stack of 163,000 leading the way. Others who bagged big stacks were Mikko Turtiainen (136,400), Noah Vaillancourt (125,800), and Ferdinand Le Pichon (117,500). Today, a whole new field of players will look to join those who advanced to Day 2.
The EPT first visited Portomaso Casino back in March for what turned out to be a Season 11 highlight. That stop saw the emergence of Dzmitry Urbanovich, who won four side events — including the €25,000 High Roller – on his way to becoming the EPT11 Player of the Year; David Peters walked away with €597,000 after winning the €10,000 High Roller; and 41-year-old former pool champ, Jean Montury, made history by becoming the first-ever EPT Malta champ by topping a field of 895 players to win a €687,400 first-place prize.
In addition, there will be a slew of players who won their way in last night via two super satellites. Among the 16 who won their €5,300 seats in the €750 satellite were EPT London champion Sebastian Pauli, Lebanese player Makram Saber, Remi Wyrzykiewicz – who finished seventh at EPT Malta last March, Flipout winner David Vedral and Estrellas High Roller finalist Matti Konttinen. A further ten players won seats in the second super satellite of the evening, a €500 One Rebuy/One add-on tourney. They included Dutch pro Tobias Peters, who won the Eureka High Roller in Hamburg in May, and Lithuania’s Matas Cimbolas, who finished eighth at EPT Deauville last season.
Day 1b of the EPT12 Main Event will kick off at Noon local time, which is about an hour from now. The plan for the day is to play eight 75-minute levels, meaning players, who'll each start with 30,000 in chips, is in store for a 12-hour day.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there every step of the way, so be sure to stay tuned for updates straight from the floor of the EPT Malta Main Event.
Notables already registered
Polish rap star Wojciech Lozowski (won seat in live satellite), Team PokerStars Pro Matthias De Meulder, Andre Akkari and Pier Paolo Fabretti (won his seat in a live satellite), Dutch veteran Govert Metaal – who was runner-up in the IPT Malta Main Event yesterday, EPT Copenhagen champion Michael Tureniec, Peter Eichhardt, Jonathan Little, Simon Trumper, Simon Deadman (recently married Shola Akindele who was runner-up in €2k IPT High Roller last night), EPT Deauville runner-up Walid Bou Habib, Rumen Nanev, Simeon Naydenov, Petr Jelinek, Ludovic Riehl, APPT Macau champion Dermot Blain, Italian IPT Nova Gorica champion Claudio di Giacomo.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
JC Alvarado Talks About Accepting Olivier Busquet's MMA Challenge
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
When Olivier Busquet took to Twitter looking for a six-figure MMA-style fight – which he hoped to use as training motivation – JC Alvarado answered the call. Given the latter's kickboxing experience, and the former's current lack of fighting proficiency, the two agreed on a bet that will see Busquet put up $120,000 to Alvarado's $150,000, meaning they are essentially fighting for $270,000
While Busuqet hasn't been spotted here at the EPT12 Malta, Alvarado played and survived Day 1a of the Main Event, which is when Sarah Herring caught up with him to talk about the fight.
"We have to figure out the venue, the judges, and the ref," Alvarado recently told PokerNews. "He wanted six months to change, so we're shooting right before Monaco, SCOOP, and WSOP, which is like a busy period. Before that there's kind of nothing going on. We figured we'd train six months and then fight right around the end of April."
While the specifics have yet to be determined, Alvarado said the duo have agreed to a best of five-round fight (Busquet's idea), of 4-5 minutes each.
"I think most people are kind of thinking I'm like some badass MMA fight, which I'm not," said Alvarado. "I've been training for a while, but it's been so sporadic that I teeter between barely making it to blue belt level in jujitsu and then not train six months and go back to being white belt level. I'm not that good. Who knows how athletic Olivier is."
The fight has garnered quite a bit of attention in the poker world with several players, including Jason Mo and Martin Jacobson, looking to bet on the fight. While neither Busquet, who cites his recent divorce as a motivating factor for the fight, nor Alvarado plan to take side action on the match, side bets are sure to abound between other players.
The fight is schedule to take place in April 2016, giving both competitors a solid six months to train. At the time of the fight, Alvarado must weigh in at 165 lbs., while Busquet will need to come in at 187.5 lbs.
The Busquet vs. Alvarado bout follows in the footsteps of the famed 2011 "Elky vs. RaSZi" match, which saw Lex Veldhuis defeat Bertrand Grospellier. As experienced poker-player-turned-MMA-fighter Terrence Chan pointed out, with a $150,000 top prize, the winner of the latest match is slated to take home more than the winners of most UFC bouts.
"Then there's the fact that if I do get head-kicked KO'ed like ElkY did, I have to show up to poker tournaments and be that guy forever," Alvarado admitted. "That's another factor that's in the back of your head the whole time."
Watch Alvarado's full interview from the EPT12 Malta below:
A First Round of Players
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
Early Battle Between Team PokerStars Pros
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
We missed the action unfold, but stumbled upon a hand with roughly 12,000 in the pot and a board reading 
. As we'd learn after the fact, Luca Pagano had led the flop, Marcin Horecki raised, and Pagano called. The action repeated itself on the turn, and then Pagano, who was in the small blind, check-called a bet of 7,500 on the river.
Horecki tabled the 
for a flopped set, and it was good as Pagano sent his cards to the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
49,000 | 19,000 |
|
|
11,500 | -18,500 |
Blain Raises the River
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Dermot Blain opened from first position on his five handed table to 250. The big blind was the only caller and they were heads up to the flop.
The big blind checked on 
and Blain made a continuation bet of 250. The big blind called.
Both players checked the 
on the turn and the 
hit the river. The big blind bet out 400 and Blain didn't hesitate long before raising to 1,300. The big blind tanked for a bit but called in the end. Blain showed 
for a turned two pair that he had checked behind on that street. The big blind mucked and Blain started stacking.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
37,000 | 7,000 |
Malec Shoves on Plesuv
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
With 2,150 in the pot and a flop of 
, Pavel Plesuv bet 1,200 from the small blind only to have Sebastian Malec raise to 3,400 from the cutoff. A call was made, the dealer burned and turned the 
, and Plesuv check-called a bet of 5,800.
When the completed the board on the river, Plesuv checked for a second time and then snap-folded when Malec moved all in for 13,700.
"Nine-eight spades?" Plesuv asked.
Malec just smiled.