€5,300 Main Event Day 1a | 2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta

10-23-2016 10:11 UTC+2

Welcome to Day 1a of the 2016 EPT Malta Main Event

DBLLpoker

The Main Event is here! In about two hours, at 12 p.m. local time, the €5,300 2016 PokerStars.com EPT Malta Main Event starts. It's the third and final edition of this event as the EPT stops are about to be renamed next year.

Last year, the EPT visited this Meditteranean island twice. At the end of season 11, it was Jean Montury who took home the victory. In October 2015, it was Niall Farrell who became the latest EPT Malta champion. The Brit lifted the trophy and took home €534,330 for being the strongest in a field of 651 players.

The defending champion has been spotted in the €25,750 High Roller Event, which concludes today, and he probably is here to extend his reign in the Main Event.

Season	Winner	Entrants	Prize in €	Prize in $
11	Jean Montury	895	€687,400	$743,585
12	Niall Farrell	651	€534,330	$588,592

A lot of notable players are expected to either enter today's day 1a or tomorrow on day 1b. We'll have to wait and see who shows up for today's eight 75-minute levels. There will be a 20-minute break after each two levels of play and a 75-minute dinner break at the end of level 6. Which means play will conclude around midnight local time.

Stay tuned here on PokerNews.com for all the latest action.

Tags: Jean Montury Niall Farrell

10-23-2016 14:00 UTC+2

Kozlov Halts Rasheed, Doubles

Christian Zetzsche

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

On the five-way flop of , the action checked to Mahmood Rasheed and he bet 1,750. Martin Kozlov raised to 4,800 from the cutoff and the other players including Stephen Zesinger folded, Rasheed called.

On the turn, Rasheed checked and Kozlov bet 7,500, Rasheed check-raised to 35,000 and Kozlov called all in.

Kozlov:
Rasheed:

The Irishman had been running over the table previously and also made quads, but this time he would see the same fate against him, as the river made Kozlov quads. The Aussie, who won a bracelet at the 2016 World Series of Poker, doubled for 26,900 and put a major dent into Rasheed's stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Martin Kozlov	66,000 36,000	36,000
Mahmood Rasheed	38,000 -28,000	-28,000

Tags: Mahmood Rasheed Martin Kozlov

10-23-2016 15:40 UTC+2

Hall and Kamatakis Eliminated

Christian Zetzsche

Level 3 : 100/200, 25 ante

The latest two casualties on Day 1a include Caitlin Hall and Iliodoros Kamatakis.

The latter has had a tough first few levels, but bounced back to get to 15,000. However, his pocket kings were cracked as Dmitry Yurasov flopped a straight and held up to send the Greek to the rail.

As for Hall, she was down to just 7,500 chips and raised to 525 from the button. Michael Ho called in the small blind and Vladimir Troyanovskiy three-bet to 2,050 from the big blind. Hall shoved and Ho folded, Troyanovskiy called.

Hall:
Troyanovskiy:

The board came and the Russian made a straight, Troyanovskiy remained below starting stack though.

Played my heart out today and left it all on the field, but busted EPT main about 10 minutes into level 3. 10k tomorrow.
— Cate Hall (@catehall)

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitry Yurasov	30,000 3,000	3,000
Vladimir Troyanovskiy	25,000 11,000	11,000
Michael Ho	20,500 -4,500	-4,500
Cate Hall	Busted
Iliodoros Kamatakis	Busted

Tags: Caitlin Hall Dmitry Yurasov Iliodoros Kamatakis Michael Ho

10-23-2016 16:55 UTC+2

Finger Arrives, Gets Short, Busts, Cracks Up

Christian Zetzsche

Level 4 : 150/300, 50 ante

Martin Finger was already kind of needled by fellow Germans [Removed:172] and Ismael Bojang on the rail, because he sat down, played a few hands and lost most of his stack.

Then, Finger was all in preflop for his last 5,400 and Luca Granieri looked him up.

Finger:
Granieri:

The flop of let the entire table including Finger and his friends on the rail crack up, while the turn and river were already meaningless.

Player	Chips	Progress
Luca Granieri	36,000 36,000	36,000
Martin Finger	Busted

Tags: Luca Granieri Martin Finger

10-23-2016 17:00 UTC+2

A day to Forget for van Hoof

Christian Zetzsche

Level 4 : 150/300, 50 ante

It had been a day to forget for Jorryt van Hoof and his stack consistently dwindled until there were just 3,500 left. In the small blind, he got it in with the and Tobias Ziegler in the big blind called with the . The board came and that was it for the former November Niner.

Player	Chips	Progress
Tobias Ziegler	34,000 34,000	34,000
Jorryt van Hoof	Busted

Tags: Jorryt van Hoof Tobias Ziegler

10-23-2016 18:13 UTC+2

Death by Quads - Moreira de Melo Out

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

On the three-way flop of , with plenty of chips already in the middle, action checked to Fatima Moreira de Melo and she bet 5,025. Anatoly Korochenskiy called and Konstantinos Nanos folded. On the turn, Moreira de Melo moved all in.

"What is this? All in?" Korochenskiy said and stood up from his chair, then followed up with a "I am sorry girl," and called, turned over for quads ... . Moreira de Melo was drawing dead with and shipped over her last 12,100 with a dry smile on the face, walked over to Theo Jorgensen to briefly explain what happened.

Player	Chips	Progress
Anatoly Korochenskiy	52,000 52,000	52,000
Fatima Moreira de Melo	Busted

Tags: Anatoly Korochenskiy Fatima Moreira De Melo Konstantinos Nanos Theo Jorgensen

10-23-2016 19:02 UTC+2

Sormunen Knocks Out Silver and Zesiger

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

Pasi Sormunen raised to 1,100 from under the gun and Max Silver shoved his last 2,950 from the cutoff. Stephan Zesiger just called in the big blind and Sormunen came along.

On the , Zesiger bet 4,000 and Sormunen called. On the turn, the Swiss bet 5,000 with little behind and Sormunen called after some consideration. Silver had already grabbed his belongings and was ready to leave, but the dealer told him to stay where he is. The then fell on the river and Zesiger shoved for his last 7,700 and Sormunen quickly called.

Zesiger:
Silver:
Sormunen:

The Finn had made a straight to knock out both opponents, claiming the current lead.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pasi Sormunen	115,000 28,000	28,000
Stephan Zesiger	Busted
Max Silver	Busted

Tags: Max Silver Pasi Sormunen Stephan Zesiger

10-23-2016 20:00 UTC+2

Big Setback for Marsh as Shak Doubles

Christian Zetzsche

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

Dan Shak opened quite big to 2,000 from the button and Luke Marsh three-bet to 4,800 out of the big blind. On the flop , Marsh bet 3,600 and Shak raised to 15,000 only for Marsh to quickly move all in. Shak called to put his last 41,900 in total on the line and the cards were tabled.

Shak:
Marsh:

The was a blank, but gave Shak an additional gutshot on top. It was then the on the river that improved him and Marsh lost two third of his stack.

Player	Chips	Progress
Dan Shak	94,000 56,000	56,000
Luke Marsh	22,000 -36,000	-36,000

Tags: Dan Shak Luke Marsh

10-23-2016 20:17 UTC+2

Dinner Break on Day 1a with Sormunen in the Lead

Christian Zetzsche

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

Six out of the eight scheduled 75-minute levels are done and the players have been sent into a 75-minute dinner break.

Day 1a started with an insane rush for Ireland's Mahmood Rasheed, as he first had a full house with eights over kings against an inferior full house, followed by quads kings and boosted his stack to more than 65,000. Soon after, Martin Kozlov made quads nines against his jacks and Rasheed was cut back down before eventually departing in level six. Kozlov himself has last been spotted with around 20,000 while Pasi Sormunen on the same table tore apart his opponents.

Sormunen sent Dario Sammartino and Rasheed to the rail and also took care of Max Silver and Stephan Zesiger. Silver shoved short with pocket fours, Zesiger just called with kings and Sormunen saw a flop with the . Ultimately, the open-ender of the Finn got there on the river to crack two sets and Sormunen went on to accumulate 174,000 by now.

Other big stacks include Sergey Sergeev (130,000), Graydon Kowal (102,000), Dan Shak (83,000), Paul McCartney (80,000), Dmitry Yurasov (80,000), Thomas Mjeldheim (78,000) and Jakub Michalak (74,000). Sergeev got lucky early on to crack the pocket kings of Jens Luebbe with pocket queens, then steam-rolled up his stack. Shak got it in with a jack-high flush draw against Luke Marsh's ace-queen and hit a jack on the river for a massive double.

Early casualties included Caitlin Hall, EPT12 Dublin 5th place finisher Iliodoros Kamatakis and Jorryt van Hoof. Fatima Moreira de Melo had her aces cracked when Anatoly Korochenskiy turned quads tens and the German High Roller regulars Philipp Gruissem and Martin Finger lasted less than half an hour each before also joining the rail.

Other notables still in include Ole Schemion (49,000), Adrian Mateos (45,000), Juha Helppi (42,000), Charlie Carrel (33,000) and Connor Drinan (19,000). They will all return at approximately 9.30 p.m. local time and play another two levels, bagging and tagging then takes place around midnight. In the meanwhile, you can also read up on [Removed:17]'s victory in the €25,750 Super High Roller.

Tags: Pasi Sormunen

10-23-2016 23:23 UTC+2

Jensen Doubles Through Sormunen

Christian Zetzsche

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante

Pasi Sormunen just enforced a fold from two opponents on the turn of a jack-high board and then raised to 1,800 from the hijack just one hand later. Frederik Jensen three-bet to 5,200 on the button and Sormunen called. On the flop of , Sormunen bet 10,000 and Jensen raised to 31,600, leaving just 100 behind. Sormunen pushed and Jensen called.