€5,300 Main Event
Day 3 Completed
€5,300 Main Event
Day 3 Completed
Seeing Aliaksei Boika win the 2025 PokerStars European Poker Tour Malta €5,300 Main Event nine years after his 2016 success seemed like an impossible dream when he first arrived at Casino Malta. But out of a field of 898 entries, this dream became increasingly plausible as the field narrowed.
The Belarusian player ended Day 3 second in chips with 1,987,000, as 36 players qualified for Day 4. Only Tom-Aksel Bedell managed to bag a bigger stack with 2,718,000 chips after spending the last levels at the feature table. Third in chips is the chip leader at the start of the day, Roman Stoica, who seemed to have a decent run to end the day with 1,734,000.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom-Aksel Bedell | Norway | 2,718,000 | 272 |
| 2 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | 1,987,000 | 199 |
| 3 | Roman Stoica | Moldova, Republic of | 1,734,000 | 173 |
| 4 | Jiaming Zhao | China | 1,279,000 | 128 |
| 5 | Juan Pardo | Spain | 1,256,000 | 126 |
| 6 | Maxime Chilaud | France | 1,168,000 | 117 |
| 7 | Luis Faria | Portugal | 1,150,000 | 115 |
| 8 | Joao Tomas | Portugal | 1,057,000 | 106 |
| 9 | Tom Vogelsang | Netherlands | 1,051,000 | 105 |
| 10 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 1,038,000 | 104 |
The two generals of the Spanish army, Juan Pardo (1,256,000) and Adrian Mateos (1,038,000), are both still in contention with more than a million chips. They are followed by lieutenants Adria Calonge (980,000) and Gerard Rubiralta, who sent PokerStars Team Pro Kenny Hallaert out as the first player eliminated of the day (108th - €9,650).
Among the other millionaires are Jiaming Zhao (1,279,000), Maxime Chilaud (1,168,000), Portugal’s Luis Faria (1,150,000), and Joao Tomas (1,057,000), as well as Tom Vogelsang (1,051,000), who hit a full house to eliminate Enrico Camosci (88th).
While Dominik Panka (106th), Monika Hrabec (101st), Cesar Garcia (95th), Tom Middleton (87th), Daniel Rezaei (81st), and Ognyan Dimov (37th) were all eliminated during Day 3, the tournament continues for players like Grzegorz Kozieja (1,033,000), Ben Heath (625,000), Petre Ionescu (492,000), and Toni Kaukua (226,000).
Italy’s Luca Guglielmoni (99,000) and Alessandro Barone (72,000) trail at the bottom as the only two players with fewer than ten big blinds.
Play is set to resume Friday, October 10, at 12 p.m. local time with the same plan as today, to play four 90-minute levels, which should bring the field close to the final two or three tables. Day 4 seating remains the same as it was at the end of the day, and all 36 remaining players have already secured a minimum cash prize of €16,800.
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €760,000 | 10-11 | €56,050 |
| 2 | €474,650 | 12-13 | €46,750 |
| 3 | €339,000 | 14-15 | €38,950 |
| 4 | €260,750 | 16-17 | €33,850 |
| 5 | €200,550 | 18-20 | €29,450 |
| 6 | €154,250 | 21-23 | €25,600 |
| 7 | €118,650 | 24-27 | €22,250 |
| 8 | €91,250 | 28-31 | €19,350 |
| 9 | €70,250 | 32-36 | €16,800 |
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action until a winner is crowned!
For the complete seat draw to this and all EPT Malta events, be sure to get the PokerStars LIVE App.
Download it now on Android or iOS.
EPT event seat draws can also be found online here.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,718,000
648,000
|
648,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,987,000
67,000
|
67,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,734,000
244,000
|
244,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,279,000
94,000
|
94,000 |
|
|
1,256,000
276,000
|
276,000 |
|
|
1,168,000
118,000
|
118,000 |
|
|
1,150,000
300,000
|
300,000 |
|
|
1,057,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
1,051,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
|
1,038,000
318,000
|
318,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,033,000
67,000
|
67,000 |
|
|
980,000
618,000
|
618,000 |
|
|
932,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
750,000
160,000
|
160,000 |
|
|
694,000
177,000
|
177,000 |
|
|
657,000
79,000
|
79,000 |
|
|
652,000
302,000
|
302,000 |
|
|
625,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
|
600,000
420,000
|
420,000 |
|
|
533,000
138,000
|
138,000 |
|
|
531,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
515,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
492,000
127,000
|
127,000 |
|
|
444,000
274,000
|
274,000 |
|
|
423,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
Day 3 of the EPT Malta Main Event has come to a close.
The remaining 36 players are bagging their chips and will return for Day 4 tomorrow afternoon.
Stay tuned for updated chip counts and a recap of the action on Day 3.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
The action was picked up on a board of 6♦2♣2♥7♠9♣ with more than 220,000 already in the pot.
Markus Bonus in the small blind jammed for 95,000, and Mykhailo Ostash went deep into the tank. In front of the cameras, Ostash eventually made the call with 6♣5♣ for two pair. Bonus had the same hand with 6♥5♠, so they split the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
465,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
228,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
Tomasz Doktor in middle position and hijack Giorgos Onisiforou got all their chips in preflop, with Onisiforou's stack of 246,000 at risk.
Giorgos Onisiforou: K♠K♦
Tomasz Doktor: Q♠Q♥
The J♣9♠A♠9♣3♣ board brought no surprises. Onisiforou doubled up, leaving Doktor with 24,000 chips.
The next hand, Doktor committed his last chips from early position. It folded to Toni Kaukua in the big blind, who obliged with a call.
Tomasz Doktor: Q♦2♦
Toni Kaukua: Q♣10♣
Kaukua turned Broadway on J♥A♠7♣K♦, and the 3♣ river solidified Doktor's elimination.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
517,000
266,000
|
266,000 |
|
|
260,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Seeing a raise to 20,000 from the under the gun player ahead of them, both Tom Vogelsang and Adrian Mateos made the call from the small and big blind, respectively.
The original raiser continued with a bet of 22,000 on the J♣4♣2♦ flop, which Vogelsang called before Mateos raised to 80,000. The original raiser folded, but Vogelsang called again.
Action checked through on the Q♣ turn, prompting Vogelsang to take over the betting lead on the Q♠ river. He put out a bet of 75,000, and, after using a time extension, Mateos chose to fold.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,060,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
|
720,000
27,000
|
27,000 |
|
|
||
Jianwei Lin moved all in for 124,000 from the hijack and was called by Pierre Chevalier from the cutoff.
Jianwei Lin: A♦8♦
Pierre Chevalier: K♦Q♦
Lin was ahead and had the diamonds covered but Chevalier secured the knockout after the Q♣10♥5♥10♠9♠ runout.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
556,000
174,000
|
174,000 |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||