2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta

€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a10
Prize
€687,400
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€4,340,750
Entries
895
Level Info
Level
38
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
100,000

Tough Going for Soulier

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Three players each put in 400 preflop and took a flop of {a-Hearts}{5-Spades}{a-Diamonds}. A player in early position checked, Fabrice Souluer bet 600 from middle position, and Hossein Ensan min-raised to 1,200 from the button. The early-position player folded, Soulier called, and the {8-Hearts} appeared on the turn.

Soulier checked, and that opened the door for Ensan to bet 1,800. That proved enough to get Soulier off his hand. It wasn't a monster, but it was indicative of Soulier's day thus far. He is down to 18,725.

Player Chips Progress
Fabrice Soulier fr
Fabrice Soulier
18,725

Tags: Fabrice Soulier

Prague Finalist on Board

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Ruben Visser shares a table with fellow Dutchman Clyde Tjauw Foe and in seat 7 is Anton Bertilsson, who made the final table in Prague this past December. The Swede finished runner-up to Stephen Graner for € 582,720 and is looking for yet another deep run in the European Poker Tour.

Player Chips Progress
Clyde Tjauw Foe nl
Clyde Tjauw Foe
30,000
Anton Bertilsson se
Anton Bertilsson
30,000

Tags: Clyde Tjauw FoeRuben VisserStephen GranerAnton Bertilsson

No Action Yet on Warrington's Table

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

Eli Heath limped from under the gun and so did Sami Shetta from one seat over. Ben Warrington checked his option in the big blind and the three of them checked until the {8-Spades} {J-Spades} {10-Diamonds} {3-Hearts} {6-Diamonds} river. Shetta then bet 500 and both opponents from the UK quickly folded. Another familiar face on the same table is Grudi Grudev from Bulgaria.

Player Chips Progress
Ben Warrington gb
Ben Warrington
32,000
Eli Heath gb
Eli Heath
31,000 1,000
Grudi Grudev bg
Grudi Grudev
29,000

Tags: Grudi GrudevSami ShettaBen WarringtonEli Heath

Yan Arrives

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

[Removed:17] has just arrived on table 19 after late-regging the Main Event. He was part of a four-way flop of {6-Hearts} {K-Hearts} {3-Diamonds} that got checked through. On the {7-Spades} turn, the initial raiser from under the gun bet 1,000 and that scared off everyone else including Yan and Albert Daher. The latter was down early on but is back above starting stack now.

Also in: Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree

Player Chips Progress
Albert Daher lb
Albert Daher
31,000 17,000
Liv Boeree gb
Liv Boeree
30,000
[Removed:17] nz
[Removed:17]
29,500

Tags: Albert DaherLiv Boeree

Poker and Malta Get On Very Well

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante
EPT Malta Tournament Venue
EPT Malta Tournament Venue

Many of the Day 1A players just arrived yesterday, and a large proportion of them are visiting the island for the first time. They may not know what to do, but that Malta is a truly a brilliant place to play poker.

The Portomaso Casino (specifically) is attached to the huge Hilton Hotel, and they share a large conference space that’s perfect to host a modern European Poker Tour festival. If you’re unfortunate enough not to be staying in the Hilton then there’s a huge amount of other options within a five-minute radius. There's also great food options, the weather is amazing for nines months a year, and everyone you meet seems friendly. Basically it has everything one would want to host a poker tournament. One can't help but wonder why the EPT has taken so long to come.

Let’s forget the EPT for a minute though and look at the broader picture — the history the island has with poker. The EPT has been the first to do many things, but coming to Malta is not one of them.

The Portomaso Casino has been hosting poker events as far back as 2008 when the Malta Poker Tour held three €100,000 guaranteed events. Canadian’s Tommy Pavlicek has the honor of winning the first-ever event, taking home €30,000 in the process. The next 18 months saw similar festivals held, and then something special happened to the island, the Italian poker boom.

Malta is around 180 kilometers away from Sicily and less than an hour by plane from many major Italian cities. It’s also free from any regulatory restrictions, so Italian poker tournament organizers had found a great place to host events. It wasn’t long before PokerStars and Pagano Events took notice, bringing the Italian Poker Tour (IPT) to these shores for the first time in November 2010, during the tour’s second season. They held five events with a €2,200 Main Event won by Michal Polchlopek for €190,000. It was a success and the tour has been back many times since.

Almost every month, in the four and half years since that first IPT, the Portomaso casino has hosted poker events and not just those affiliated to online poker sites. The Finnish, Swedish and Israeli poker championships have all been here at least once, all leaving the tight regulatory restrictions of their own countries for the open arms of Malta.

Despite the fact that poker has a lot of skill to it, luck also plays a big part in the game. That means – for better or worse – there’s always been a crossover with the gaming industry. Back in 2011 the Maltese government introduced favorable corporate and gaming tax regimes in attempt to boost inward investment. It worked, as many start-ups and established companies – including PokerStars – flocked here and set up offices.

The gaming boom has continued to this day and the island is fast gaining a reputation as the gaming capital of Europe. The fact that the European economy is recovering fast as well means this could well be just the beginning of a very fruitful relationship between Malta, poker, gaming, PokerNews and hopefully you!

Tags: PokerNews Live Blog FeatureMalta

One for Miss Finland

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

With 1,400 in the pot and a flop of {j-Clubs}{q-Spades}{q-Clubs}, an under-the-gun player checked and Miss Finland Sara Chafak bet 600 from early position. Jorryt van Hoof called from the hijack, the under-the-gun player folded, and the two remaining players saw a turn of {4-Clubs}, which they both checked.

When the {K-Spades} completed the board on the river, Chafak fired out 2,300, and it did the trick as Van Hoof released his hand.

Player Chips Progress
Jorryt van Hoof nl
Jorryt van Hoof
29,800 -1,200
Sara Chafak fi
Sara Chafak
29,000 1,000

Tags: Jorryt van HoofSara Chafak

Dobrovolskii Puts Eiler to the Test

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

With around 11,000 already in the pot and a board reading {q-Clubs}{8-Hearts}{3-Hearts}{k-Clubs}{4-Clubs}, Andreas Eiler bet 6,500 only to have Vladimir Dobrovolskii raise all in from the button. Eiler had 19,675 behind, and he'd have to commit it all if he wanted to see his opponent's cards. Eiler thought long and hard, but ultimately conceded the hand.

Meanwhile, Jaroslav Peter has been eliminated from the tournament.

Player Chips Progress
Vladimir Dobrovolskii ru
Vladimir Dobrovolskii
50,000
Andreas Eiler de
Andreas Eiler
19,675 -10,325
Jaroslav Peter cz
Jaroslav Peter
Busted

Tags: Vladimir DobrovolskiiAndreas Eiler

Gabel Has "Only the Ten"

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

After the {7-Diamonds} {9-Diamonds} {10-Diamonds} {7-Spades} turn, Vincent Gabel checked out of the small blind and called a bet of 1,050 by Joao Ribeiro to see the {4-Clubs} on the river. Both Gabel as well as Ribeiro checked and the Belgian announced "only the ten" before flipping over his {J-Clubs} {10-Clubs}. Ribeiro had that beat with {9-Spades} {10-Spades} and Gabel tapped the table.

Ribeiro inquired after the hand if his opponent would have called a bet of 1,800 and Gabel replied "I think so. I liked the seven."

Player Chips Progress
Vincent Gabel be
Vincent Gabel
32,200 2,200

Tags: Vincent GabelJoao Ribeiro

Chartier Shoves the River

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante

After a three-way turn on the {3-Diamonds} {10-Clubs} {Q-Hearts} {4-Spades} board, Samuel Chartier bet 6,800 into a pot of what looked like 9,000 out of the big blind and was called only by Milos Lalovic in the small blind. The {4-Clubs} river saw a check by Lalovic with around 21,000 in chips and Chartier moved all in immediately for just shy of that amount. Lalovic quickly folded and Chartier dragged in the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Samuel Chartier ca
Samuel Chartier
40,000

Tags: Samuel ChartierMilos Lalovic