€5,300 Main Event
Day 5 Completed
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 5
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
Alen Bilic Leads Final Six in EPT12 Malta Main Event
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
Day 5 of the 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta Main Event – a tournament that attracted 651 players and created a prize pool of €3,157,350 – saw the surviving 16 players return to battle down to the final six.
Leading the pack with 7,635,000 in chips is 26-year-old online pro Alen Bilic, who currently sits #4 in the Bosnia & Herzegovina all time money list. PocketFives currently has Bilic ranked as his country’s #1 online tournament player with a string of amazing results on PokerStars and more than $2 million in lifetime cashes. His results include winning the Sunday 500 last year for nearly $80k, back-to-back wins in the Big $162, and winning the PokerStars Sunday 500 for $71,000 in March last year.
Others still in contention for the €602,400 first-place prize are Niall Farrell (5,115,000), Jaroslaw Sikora (2,455,000), Rainer Kempe (1,505,000), Sam Greenwood (1,615,000), and Giulio Spampinato (1,180,000).
The day kicked off with an elimination in the very first hand of play when Kitty Kuo, the last woman in the field, got her short stack all in preflop holding the 
and found herself racing against the 
of Bjorn Geissert. The 
flop was disaster for Kuo, and she watched helplessly as the 
blanked on the turn followed by the 
river. Kuo took home €27,120 for her 16th-place finish.
From there, Apostolos Bechrakis (15th - €30,280), Darrell Goh (14th - €30,280), Geissert (13th - €33,440), Akim Aouine (12th - €33,440), Gianluca Escobar (11th - €40,410), and Antonio Chemi (10th - €40,410) all hit the rail to set up the unofficial final table of nine.
At that point, in Level 27 (25,000/50,000/5,000), Bilic opened for 100,000 from the cutoff and Alexander Ivarsson, who began the day as chip leader, three-bet to 250,000 from the button. Both blinds folded, Bilic four-bet to 625,000 and the pressure was back on Ivarsson. The Swede tanked for a fair bit before moving in for 2,065,000, and Bilic called.
Bilic: 
Ivarsson: 
It was a huge flip, but not after the flop came 
to give Bilic the lead. The 
on the turn was a blank, leaving Ivarsson two outs. He didn't hit either one of them as the hit and Ivarsson hit the rail in ninth place for €49,560.
After the dinner break, a short-stacked Nabil Cardoso, who was looking to become just the second player from Spain to win an EPT Main Event, shoved his last 490,000 from the small blind holding the 
and Sikora called from the big with the 
. The board ran out 
, and Cardoso was ousted in eighth place for €62,570.
Not long after, Daniel Dvoress four-bet all for 1.62 million in holding the 
and found himself dominated by the of Farrell. Dvoress was dominated, and wound up drawing dead by the turn after the board ran out 
. Dvoress' exit in seventh place for €91,550 meant the final six were set.
Here's how things stack up:
| Seat | Player | Country | Count | BBs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niall Farrell | United Kingdom | 5,115,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 1,515,000 | 25 |
| 3 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 1,605,000 | 26 |
| 4 | Giulio Spampinato | Italy | 1,180,000 | 19 |
| 5 | Alen Bilic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 7,635,000 | 127 |
| 6 | Jaroslaw Sikora | Poland | 2,455,000 | 40 |
Day 6 will commence at 1 p.m. local time, though our coverage will be on a one-hour delay to coincide with the live stream. While you wait, check out this video with finalist Niall Farrell:
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
7,635,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
||
|
5,115,000 | 1,465,000 |
 |
||
|
2,455,000 | -25,000 |
|
|
||
|
1,605,000 | -40,000 |
|
|
||
|
1,515,000 | -80,000 |
|
|
||
|
1,180,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
||
Daniel Dvoress Eliminated in 7th Place (€91,550)
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
Action folded to Daniel Dvoress on the button and he raised to 135,000. Niall Farrell, who was in the small blind, responded by three-betting to 390,000, and when action was back on Dvoress he thought for a few moments before moving all in for 1.62 million. Farrell snap-called.
Farrell:
Dvoress:
Dvoress was in dire straits, and things got even worse when the flop delivered Farrell trips. Dvoress needed to catch running straight cards, but the turn took away any chance of that happening. The meaningless was put out on the river, and Dvoress exited the EPT12 Malta Main Event in seventh place for €91,550.
With that, the final six players are set and play has been halted for the night. Stay tuned for a full recap of the Day 6 action.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
Sikora Pushes Off Dvoress
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
Action folded to Jaroslaw Sikora in the small blind and he limped. Daniel Dvoress checked his option from the big and the two watched the flop come down 
. Sikora led out for 60,000, Dvoress raised to 180,000, and Sikora took his time before three-betting to 370,000.
Dvoress gave it some thought but ultimately folded only to see Sikora flash the .
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,480,000 | 305,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,320,000 | -245,000 |
|
|
||
Nabil Cardoso Eliminated in 8th Place (€62,570)
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
Action folded to Nabil Cardoso in the small blind and he shoved for 490,000. Jaroslaw Sikora called from the big blind after getting confirmation on how much it was.
Jaroslaw Sikora:
Nabil Cardoso:
The flop came , changing nothing much. The on the turn was a blank as well and so was the on the river.
Nabil Cardoso cashed €62,570 for his 8th place finish. The remaining 8 players are guaranteed €91,550.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,665,000 | -50,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,650,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,175,000 | 550,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,645,000 | 210,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,595,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,565,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,210,000 | -20,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
The Short Get Shorter
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
Sam Greenwood in the cutoff opened to 120,000. Nabil Cardoso in the big blind counted out his stack (630,000) and called. The flop came 
and Cardoso checked. Greenwood bet 100,000 into the 350,000 pot and Cardoso folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
490,000 | -140,000 |
|
|
||
Updated Chip Counts
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,715,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
3,670,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,625,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
1,615,000 | -60,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,585,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,435,000 | -685,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,230,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
630,000 | -30,000 |
|
|
||
Bilic Extends Chip Lead By Taking Big Pot Off Sikora
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
Jaroslaw Sikora opened for 125,000 from early position and Alen Bilic defended from the big blind. The flop saw Bilic check and Sikora bet 125,000. Bilic woke up with a check-raise to 350,000, Sikora called and the appeared on the turn.
Bilic led out for 450,000, Sikora called, and the completed the board on the river. Bilic thought long and hard and then bet 750,000. Sikora snap-called with the for a flopped two pair, but it was no good as Bilic had flopped an even bigger two pair with the .
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,715,000 | 1,755,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,625,000 | -1,535,000 |
|
|
||
Giulio Spampinato Doubles
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
Action folded to Sam Greenwood in the small blind and he moved all in to put the pressure on Spapinato. The Italian player in the big blind instantly called for his last 595,000.
Giulio Spampinato: 
Sam Greenwood: 
The flop came 
and Greenwood jumped into the lead. The hit the turn, giving Spampinato a diamond draw. The on the river was the card Spampinato was waiting for, and he jumped up celebrating his double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,200,000 | 585,000 |
|
|
||
A New Chip In Town
Level 28
: 30,000/60,000, 10,000 ante
The 100,000 chips have been introduced. They are black and they are awesome. Nicknamed "Black Mass".