Shark Cage sensation Sara Chafak limped and so did Jorryt van Hoof on the button before the player on the big blind raised to 325. Both Chafak and the World Series of Poker Main Event third-place finisher called to see a flop of . The action was checked to the Dutchman and he won the pot with a bet of 1,025.
Joining the action on a three-way flop of , John O'Shea bet 700 and was called by one opponent while Robert Jan Hoogendoorn mucked his cards. O'Shea then check-called a bet of 1,100 on the turn before the river was checked through. O'Shea showed the but his opponent had made a better full house with the .
At the same table is also Ilkin Amirov with a huge stack and the second seat open thus far was Boutros Naim, so it is save to assume that the chips of the Lebanese went to Amirov.
With 1,275 in the pot and a flop of , the player in the big blind checked and an under-the-gun player bet 500. Jose Carlos Garcia then raised to 1,400 from early position, the big blind folded, and the bettor called to see the turn.
After his opponent checked, Garcia bet 1,575, which received a call. Action then went check-check on the river. The under-the-gun player tabled the for a pair of nines, and it was good as Garcia simply mucked.
According to a PokerStars Press release, more than 200 players are competing on Day 1a of the eagerly-awaited €5,300 EPT Malta Main Event. Some 275 players have qualified for the event online. Among those already in seats are Team PokerStars Pros Jan Heitmann and Marcin Horecki as well as Team Sports Star Fatima Moreira de Melo and PokerStars-sponsored players Miss Finland Sara Chafak and 2014 PCA champ Dominik Panka.
Along with Panka, there are several other EPT champs chasing a second title including Dimitar Danchev (PCA), Jannick Wrang (EPT Campione), Oleksii Khoroshenin (EPT Vienna), Ruben Visser (EPT London), Martin Finger (EPT Prague), Antonio Buonanno (EPT Grand Final) and Martin Schleich (EPT Barcelona).
Other big name who've turned up include World Series of Poker bracelet winner Barny Boatman, WSOP Main Event finalists Jorryt van Hoof and Martin Staszko, Stephen Chidwick, Shyam Srinivasan, Jeff Rossiter, Marc Etienne McLaughlin, Sam Chartier and EPT €25k High Roller finalist Nick Petrangelo, who won his EPT Main Event seat online on PokerStars. Joao Vieira is also amongst today's entries, the Portuguese player is chasing the EPT Player of the Year title, and currently in third position behind Davidi Kitai and Vladimir Troyanovskiy.
Here's a look at the Season 11 EPT Main Events so far:
After Lebanon's Boutros Naim became the second player eliminated from the EPT Malta Main Event (Ilkin Amirov did the deed), Poland's Jacek Korytko followed him out the door as the third player ousted.
We missed Korytko's elimination, but we do know he fell after getting his stack all in on a flop. Korytko held for top two pair, but it was dominated by an opponent's .
In the last hand of Level 1, World Poker Tour champ Paul Klann opened for 300 under the gun and received a call from Olov Matias Jansson. The UK's Simon Deadman then three-bet to 1,400 from the cutoff, the button and blinds all folded, and Klann made the call. The Jansson came along as well and three players saw a flop of .
Two checks saw Deadman continue for 2,700, only Klann called, and it was heads-up action to the turn. Klann checked for a second time, and then gave up on the hand when Deadman bet 5,800. Despite losing that hand, Klann is still up a bit from the starting stack.
With the board reading , Igor Pihela Jr bet 7,575 into a quite large pot and was eventually called by PokerStars qualifier Juan Benito Perez. The Spaniard scooped the pot with as Pihela Jr was bluffing with and fell below half the starting stack as a result.
Among the other notables to have joined the field were plenty of Germans, including EPT 8 Barcelona champion Martin Schleich and EPT 10 Grand Final third place finisher Malte Moennig. Hossein Ensan also finished third in the EPT 11 London, scooping a payday of €652,667.
Fatima Moreira De Melo has joined the table of Marcin Horecki not long ago and saw the Team PokerStars Pro from Poland check a heads-up flop of before over-betting the river for 2,000. His opponent quickly called and Horecki's for the bottom straight were no against the of his opponent.
. The action was checked to the Dutchman and he won the pot with a bet of 1,025.
, John O'Shea bet 700 and was called by one opponent while Robert Jan Hoogendoorn mucked his cards. O'Shea then check-called a bet of 1,100 on the 
turn before the 
river was checked through. O'Shea showed the 
but his opponent had made a better full house with the 
.
, the player in the big blind checked and an under-the-gun player bet 500. Jose Carlos Garcia then raised to 1,400 from early position, the big blind folded, and the bettor called to see the 
turn.
flop. Korytko held 
.
, Igor Pihela Jr bet 7,575 into a quite large pot and was eventually called by PokerStars qualifier Juan Benito Perez. The Spaniard scooped the pot with 
as Pihela Jr was bluffing with 
and fell below half the starting stack as a result.
river for 2,000. His opponent quickly called and Horecki's 
for the bottom straight were no against the 
