2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta

€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
€355,700
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€2,269,800
Entries
468
Level Info
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000

Bitar Jams into Altman

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

In the last hand before dinner, Brian Altman raised to 1,200. Ghassan Bitar three-bet to 4,300 on the button and Aliaksei Boika called in the small blind. Altman took his time before four-betting to 15,000 and Bitar checked his stack carefully before moving all in. Boika snap-folded, as did Altman.

"If you fold, I would have moved all in," Boika said to Bitar as they headed out of the tournament area.

Player Chips Progress
Ghassan Bitar mc
Ghassan Bitar
66,000
Brian Altman us
Brian Altman
66,000 -10,000
Aliaksei Boika by
Aliaksei Boika
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
62,900 -10,100

Tags: Ghassan BitarBrian AltmanAliaksei Boika

Chip Counts

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante
Player Chips Progress
Pasi Sormunen fi
Pasi Sormunen
174,000 16,000
Sergey Sergeev ru
Sergey Sergeev
130,000 25,000
Graydon Kowal ca
Graydon Kowal
102,000 27,000
Dan Shak us
Dan Shak
95,000 1,000
Paul McCartney gb
Paul McCartney
85,000 85,000
Thomas Mjeldheim no
Thomas Mjeldheim
78,000 78,000
Ole Schemion de
Ole Schemion
49,000 -15,000
Adrian Mateos es
Adrian Mateos
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Winamax
45,000 26,700
Juha Helppi fi
Juha Helppi
42,000 -3,000
Charlie Carrel gb
Charlie Carrel
33,000 9,000
Martin Kozlov au
Martin Kozlov
25,000 -2,000
Connor Drinan us
Connor Drinan
19,000 1,500
Mahmood Rasheed ie
Mahmood Rasheed
Busted

Nanos is Done for the Day

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

Konstantinos Nanos started very well and quickly drove his stack all the way up to 65,000, but since then a lot has changed and he was on less than starting stack. Nanos got involved into a raising war with table neighbor James Akenhead and faced a three-bet to 3,700. Nanos four-bet to 7,650 and Akenhead shoved, Nanos called all in for 18,650.

Nanos: {9-Hearts}{9-Spades}
Akenhead: {K-Clubs}{K-Spades}

The board ran out {J-Hearts}{8-Hearts}{8-Spades}{7-Clubs}{A-Clubs} and that was it for Nanos, while Akenhead recovered from previous losses.

Player Chips Progress
James Akenhead gb
James Akenhead
43,000 23,000
Konstantinos Nanos gr
Konstantinos Nanos
Busted

Tags: James AkenheadKonstantinos Nanos

Big Setback for Marsh as Shak Doubles

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante
Dan Shak
Dan Shak

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 {7-Hearts}{3-Diamonds}{2-Hearts}, 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: {J-Hearts}{10-Hearts}
Marsh: {A-Clubs}{Q-Hearts}

The {9-Clubs} was a blank, but gave Shak an additional gutshot on top. It was then the {J-Diamonds} on the river that improved him and Marsh lost two third of his stack.

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

Tags: Dan ShakLuke Marsh

Larquemin Crippled; then Doubles and Triples

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

First, Christophe Larquemin doubled up Ben Heath. The Brit was all in for 11,900 and the board ran out {10-Hearts}{3-Hearts}{9-Diamonds}{A-Clubs}{8-Spades}. Heath tabled {10-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds} for two pair. Larquemin had {8-}{J-} and was left with only 2,500 chips.

Two hands later, he moved all in from the button for 2,100. From the big blind Karzan Hamarash made the call and Larquemin was in big trouble.

His {10-Diamonds}{9-Hearts} was way behind the {10-Spades}{10-Clubs} of his opponent. The {9-Spades}{5-Hearts}{Q-Spades} at least gave him some outs. The {3-Clubs} turn wasn't the help he wanted but the {9-Diamonds} fell on the river and gave him the lucky double up.

A couple of hands later, Ben Heath raised to 1,300 and Larquemin maid the call with 3,600 behind. Hamarash called as did Thomas Mjeldheim and Pratyush Buddiga.

All checked the {3-Diamonds}{8-Hearts}{K-Clubs} flop. The turn was the {6-Hearts} and Heath slid out a bet of 850. Larquemin moved all in and Hamarash called. Mjeldheim and Buddiga folded but Heath made the call as well.

The two active players checked the {K-Diamonds} that fell on the river. Larquemin stood up and had his cigarettes in his hand but had to sit down after he tabled his {A-Hearts}{8-Spades}.

To his own surprise, he won the hand against Heath's {7-Clubs}{7-Hearts} and Hamarash's {5-Diamonds}{4-Spades}.

Player Chips Progress
Ben Heath gb
Ben Heath
24,000 -32,000
Christophe Larquemin fr
Christophe Larquemin
16,000 2,500

Tags: Ben HeathChristophe LarqueminPratyush Buddiga

Petrangelo Flops Well; Busts

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

According to Dan Shak, Roman Ermakov had accidently posted the big blind while being under the gun and Nick Petrangelo was in the big blind. Petrangelo checked, Ermakov raised and Petrangelo called to see the flop come {5-Spades}{4-Spades}{3-Spades}. Petrangelo shoved for his last 5,750 with the {4-Hearts}{3-Hearts} and Ermakov called with {K-Diamonds}{K-Hearts}.

The {A-Spades} turn gave some chops odds, but the {K-Clubs} on the river improved Ermakov and sent Petrangelo out of the tournament.

Player Chips Progress
Roman Ermakov ru
Roman Ermakov
45,000
Nick Petrangelo us
Nick Petrangelo
Busted

Tags: Dan ShakNick PetrangeloRoman Ermakov

Pagano Busts to Khoroshenin

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante
Luca Pagano
Luca Pagano

Luca Pagano was spotted leaving the tournament area and a quick glance at the previous table revealed a big stack for Oleksii Khoroshenin. It was indeed the Ukrainian that had knocked out Pagano, and Khoroshenin explained what happened.

After an under-the-gun raise, Pagano three-bet to 2,500 and Khoroshenin called from one seat over on the button, the initial raiser also called. On the {Q-Spades}{9-Spades}{3-Clubs} flop, Pagano bet 4,500 and Khoroshenin moved all in, the third player in the hand folded. Pagano called with the {A-}{Q-} for top pair and Khoroshenin had a huge draw with {K-Spades}{10-Spades}. It was no spade but a king on the river that sent Pagano out.

Player Chips Progress
Oleksii Khoroshenin ua
Oleksii Khoroshenin
EPT 1X Winner
58,000 23,000
Luca Pagano it
Luca Pagano
Busted

Tags: Luca PaganoOleksii Khoroshenin

Boika's Two Pair Are Good

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

On the three-way flop of {K-Spades}{10-Diamonds}{7-Clubs}, Aliaksei Boika checked in the small blind and Yigit Aktulga in the big blind checked. Ghassan Bitar bet 3,800 on the button and just Boika called. After the {A-Clubs} turn both players checked and the {3-Spades} fell on the river.

Boika bet 4,000 and Bitar called after brief consideration, then mucked when Boika flashed the {K-Hearts}{10-Hearts} for two pair.

Player Chips Progress
Aliaksei Boika by
Aliaksei Boika
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
73,000 73,000

Tags: Aliaksei BoikaGhassan Bitar

Popovic Puts Chips to Use

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

In a previous hand, Marko Popovic had forced a fold from Viatcheslav Buldygin in a pretty big pot and he put the chips to use just now. Popovic raised to 1,200 and Paul Newey called in the small blind. Andrew Christoforou three-bet to 3,500 in the big blind and just Popovic called.

On the {A-Spades}{K-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds} flop, Christoforou bet 3,000 and was called before the {A-Diamonds} turn brought no action. On the {5-Clubs} river, Christoforou checked. Popovic bet 11,000 and Christoforou wasn't as happy, he asked the dealer to spread the pot to see how much was in there, and then called after some further consideration. Popovic showed the {A-Clubs}{9-Clubs} for trips aces and won the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Marko Popovic bg
Marko Popovic
47,000 22,000
Viatcheslav Buldygin ru
Viatcheslav Buldygin
47,000 -8,000
Paul Newey gb
Paul Newey
32,000
Andrew Christoforou gb
Andrew Christoforou
31,000

Tags: Marko PopovicPaul NeweyViatcheslav BuldyginAndrew Christoforou