The tale's not quite a tragedy but both Billy Chattaway and Ryan Sptittles - who share a table- both lost pots with premium hands to slip a little.
Chattaway raised to 3,600 from under the gun and called after he was three-bet to 8,600 by Puglia Giampaolo in mid position. The flop fell and Chattaway check-raised his opponent's 7,500 c-bet up to 22,500. Giampaolo called and both players went on to check the turn and river through. Chattaway opened but lost out to Giampaolo's .
The very next hand Sptittles three-bet to 8,500 from the cutoff after Georgios Karakousis had opened to 3,200 from under the gun. Karakousis checked and then led for 10,000 on the turn after the flop was checked through. Spittles called and the final board read . Karakousis came out firing for 30,000 and Spittles said, "Hmmn" before folding what he told PokerNews was queens.
Ivan Soshnikov raised to 3,300 and called the three-bet of Sam Chartier from one seat over for 8,200 in total. On the flop, Soshnikov check-called a bet of 8,600 and checked again the on the turn.
Chartier tossed in three blue T-5,000 chips and announced to the dealer "14", meaning a bet of 14,000. Soshnikov took off his earphones for a second to confirm the amount and called, heading to the fell on the river.
Again the Russian checked and had put his earphones back in. Chartier moved all in and the red triangle flew in front of the Canadian. "All in?" Soshnikov asked and then called. Chartier flipped over and the Russian let out some curse words in his native language before flashing .
Ami Barer is among the short stacks and just raised from early position. The player in the big blind defended but quickly folded to the continuation bet of Barer on a flop.
Benny Spindler took a different line in order to win chips: He simply open-shoved and claimed the blinds and antes.
Sylvain Loosli opened for 3,200 from early position and got a call from the gentleman on the button, and the player in the big blind.
The big blind checked to Loosli on and the French November Niner made a continuation bet of 4,400. Just the button called, the big blind folded.
Loosli checked and then called a bet of 6,600 on the turn.
The river made Loosli check. After a long time his opponent asked if Loosli had checked. After the dealer confirmed, the button checked behind instantly.
Loosli tabled and after a second or three the button rolled over for a better pair. Loosli still sits comfortably with a stack of almost twice the average.
Earlier in the Main Event, we highlighted the history of poker in Malta, one that has invariably been altered with the introduction of the first-ever European Poker Tour festival, which is being held at the Portomaso Casino next to the Hilton Malta.
The property began hosting poker tournaments back in 2008 starting with three Malta Poker Tour €100,000 guaranteed events. Canada's Tommy Pavlicek won the first-ever event, and the €30,000 prize made him the Portomaso's biggest-ever winner. Of course that's changed over the last seven years, but the past week has rocked the rankings in a big way.
Check out the current top 10 winners here at the Portomaso Casino:
Dzmitry Urbanovich
Place
Player
Country
Prize Money
1
Dzmitry Urbanovich
Poland
$646,586
2
Connor Drinan
United States
$421,175
3
Michal Polchlopek
Poland
$322,658
4
Daniel Dvoress
Canada
$278,454
5
Matt Giannetti
United States
$276,457
6
Georgios Zisimopoulos
Greece
$234,197
7
Nicholas Petrangelo
United States
$217,998
8
Walter Treccarichi
Italy
$204,537
9
Fabrizio Rossi
Italy
$177,224
10
Alessio Isaia
Italy
$176,414
As you can see, the list is full of familiar faces. Take Poland's Dzmitry Urbanovich for example. The 19 year old wasn't even on the list last week, but thanks to three wins here at the EPT Malta, including $605,929 for taking down the €25,000 High Roller, he now sits as the all-time money winner playing tournaments in Malta. As a result of his unparalleled week, he now sits atop the EPT Season 11 Player of the Year leaderboard. It's also worth noting that not all of Urbanovich's results are counted in the above chart, which is courtesy of HendonMob.
Further examination of the list reveals that Connor Drinan (runner-up), Daniel Dvoress (3rd place), and Nick Petrangelo (4th place), all made the top seven thanks to their top-four finishes in the aforementioned €25,000 High Roller. That one event alone rocked the foundation of the Portomaso all-time money list, though it will be short lived as the Main Event is primed to shake things up.
Before the EPT came to town, Michal Polchlopek, who now sits third on the list, was the top dog after winning the 2010 Italian Poker Tour €2,000 Main Event for $266,502, so to say PokerStars has played a hand in shaping poker in Malta is an understatement.
Finally, one thing you don't see on the Portomaso list is someone from Malta, and that's because the game is relatively young on the island. The EPT Main Event saw just six Maltese enter the tournament, thought part of the reason is the casino requires Malta residents to be 25+ to play (foreigners only need to be 18).
As far as the Maltese go, Alan James Brincat sits atop the all-time money leader list thanks to a single cash – $134,225 for runner-up in the 2014 €500 buy-in Battle of Malta. That event, which took place back in November, attracted 1,447 entries and created a prize pool of €701,795 to crush the €500K guarantee. Bulgaria's Antoan Katsarov ended up winning that event for $153,623.
Sitting second on the list with $113,860 in winnings is Jean-Paul Helderman, who also cracked the leaderboard after a single score. Back in 2012, Helderman won the A$2,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship.
Another notable list regarding Malta is "Most Cashes," and one woman has distanced herself from the pack with 21 cashes. Jackie "Poker Mama" Cachia, who grew up just a few miles from the Portomaso Casino, has amassed $77,833 in winnings and has become an advocate for poker in Malta. The PokerStars Blog recently profiled Cachia, who played and busted this event on Day 1. Still, we recommend you check out that piece by clicking here.
"You should have seen this hand!" Griffin Benger said when walking over from his table. According to the Canadian there was a raise to 2,600 from early position and Benger three-bet to 6,100 with . Another player tanked for quite some time but then shoved with .
button in Safari
and Chattaway check-raised his opponent's 7,500 c-bet up to 22,500. Giampaolo called and both players went on to check the 
turn and river through. Chattaway opened 
but lost out to Giampaolo's 
.
. Karakousis came out firing for 30,000 and Spittles said, "Hmmn" before folding what he told PokerNews was queens.
flop, Soshnikov check-called a bet of 8,600 and checked again the 
fell on the river.
and the Russian let out some curse words in his native language before flashing 
.
and the French November Niner made a continuation bet of 4,400. Just the button called, the big blind folded.
made Loosli check. After a long time his opponent asked if Loosli had checked. After the dealer confirmed, the button checked behind instantly.
and after a second or three the button rolled over 
. Another player tanked for quite some time but then shoved with 
.
.
