Jacob Mulhern Leads Day 2 of €1,650 PokerStars Open as EPT Returns to Malta
After a hiatus of nine years, the PokerStars European Poker Tour Malta is back on the calendar. Hosted at Casino Malta, the most prestigious poker tour on European soil is already well underway on the Mediterranean island, as the opening flights of the $1,650 PokerStars Open have been completed and Day 2 of the event is set to kick off at 11 a.m. local time.
Across the eight starting days, a total of 1,845 players entered. With 15 percent of each flight making it to the money, Day 2 will see 277 players return to the tables, all hopeful for a big slice of the €2,656,800 prize pool.
Leading the field is Jacob Mulhern from the United Kingdom, who amassed 892,000 on Day 1c to grab the overall chip lead. Being the only player to return with a stack over 200 big blinds deep, Mulhern will be looking to improve on his fourth-place finish at UKIPT Blackpool in 2023, the only PokerStars Live final table on his resume. Moldova's Tudor Zapsa is Mulhern's nearest contender with a stack of 712,000, while 2013 WCOOP Main Event champion and 2024 EPT Paris runner-up David Kaufmann is aiming for more PokerStars success as he completes the podium with 644,000 in chips.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Mulhern | United Kingdom | 892,000 | 223 |
| 2 | Tudor Zapsa | Moldova, Republic of | 712,000 | 178 |
| 3 | David Kaufmann | Germany | 644,000 | 161 |
| 4 | Hugo De La Fouchardiere | France | 644,000 | 161 |
| 5 | Carlo Wolters | Netherlands | 632,000 | 158 |
| 6 | Modar Alsoud | Germany | 628,000 | 157 |
| 7 | Nuno Ferro | Portugal | 600,000 | 150 |
| 8 | Thomas Muehloecker | Austria | 584,000 | 146 |
| 9 | Leo Worthington-Leese | United Kingdom | 553,000 | 138 |
| 10 | Mike Alonso | France | 547,000 | 137 |
Plenty of PokerStars Ambassadors took a shot at glory as well, with Kenny Hallaert (233,000), Benjamin Bruneteaux (221,000), Julien Dupre (160,000), Sebastian Huber (148,000), Fintan Hand (138,000), and Julien Brecard (113,000) all making it through to Day 2.
Day 2 picks up with five minutes remaining in Level 15, which has blinds of 2,000/4,000 and a 4,000 big blind ante. Blinds then increase to 2,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante, from which point all levels will be 60 minutes long. Day 2 is already in the money, and the official payouts and plan for the day are expected to be announced shortly after the start of play.
Stay tuned as PokerNews provides live updates of the PokerStars Open during EPT Malta's exciting return.