€550 Grand Event Day 1c | 2018 Malta Poker Festival

11-04-2018 04:30 UTC+2

Laurens Van De Sype Secures the Day 1C Chip Lead in the MPF Grand Event

Shirley Ang

Level 14 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante

The final starting day of the €550 Grand Event of the Malta Poker Festival was the busiest flight of all with 613 entries collected during the first eight levels of the day. After a bit more than 13 hours, 118 players have made it through to Day 2, Sunday, November 4 which starts at 1 PM local time at the Portomaso casino.

Claiming the Day 1C chip lead is Belgium’s Laurens Van De Sype with 334,500 in chips. Van De Sype is trailed by Vytenis Salickas (289,000), Timothy O’Keefe (255,500), Nicolas Proust (255,000), and Andy Hills with 254,000.

Other notable players overcoming the Day 1C hurdles include Jona Wilmsmann (226,000), Murat Tulek (216,000), Mark Vella (114,500), Katharine Arnsby (114,000), and many others.

In total, 1,366 entries were attracted to the Grand Event which had a guaranteed prize pool of €500,000 and that number was easily surpassed before the day had even started. Day 2 will see the surviving players of Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 1C come together at 1 PM local time to battle it out to make it into the money stages. The full prize pool details should be announced when Day 2 starts.

Grand Event Schedule

Day	Date	Starting Time	Late Reg	Entries	Survivors	Further Information
1A	Thursday, November 1	14:00	~21:30	302	64	75 minute-dinner break after Level 6
1B	Friday, November 2	14:00	~21:30	451	78	75 minute-dinner break after Level 6
1C	Saturday, November 3	14:00	~21:30	613	118	75 minute-dinner break after Level 6
2	Sunday, November 4	13:00	N/A	1,366	262	20-minute breaks and 75-minute dinner break after Level 23
3	Monday, November 5	14:00	N/A	-	-	20-minute breaks and 75-minute dinner break after Level 35
4	Tuesday, November 6	14:00	N/A	tba	-	Play down to a champion

The full chip counts and seat draw for Day 2 will be posted once PokerNews receives them from the organization.

Make sure to come back at 1 PM local time to see who will make the money as the PokerNews live reporting team will be there, as usual, to bring you all the updates!

Tags: Andy Hills Jona Wilmsmann Katharine Arnsby Mark Vella Murat Tulek Nicolas Proust

11-03-2018 17:15 UTC+2

My Stack App Activated

Shirley Ang

Level 3 : 100/200, 25 ante

PokerNews has activated the My Stack App for this event, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting blog using your iPhone or Android phone.

You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.

Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android.

11-03-2018 14:00 UTC+2

The Final Starting Day of the MPF Grand Event Starts at 2 PM

Shirley Ang

The final starting day of the €550 Grand Event of the Malta Poker Festival is set to start at 2 PM local time and is expected to be the busiest starting flight of all of the earlier starting flights. Day 1A attracted 302 entries and Day 1B collect 451 buy-ins making it a total of 753 participants with 142 players who have made it through to Day 2 already.

With the guaranteed prize pool set at €500,000, this will easily be surpassed at the start of the day already. The day will start with a gravity-defying opening ceremony and the shuffle up and deal will be announced by the MPF official host, Cat Winch-Johnson, and the MPF Tournament Director, Danilo De Berardinis.

Still leading into Day 2 is Ondrej Jakubcik with 462,000 in chips which were collected on Day 1A. He is followed by Domenica Gala (329,000), Emanuele Napolitano (320,500), Claudio Pagano (317,000), and Serdar Demircan (300,000). Some of the players expected to try again today include David Lappin, Andy Hills, Ronni Borg, Andrew Hedley, Niko Koop, Fabrice Soulier, Ivo Donev, Leo Worthington-Leese, Anton Morgenstern, and Jon Kyte.

The players entering the final starting flight will start with 25,000 in chips and play 14 levels of 45 minutes each are on the schedule. A 15-minute break will take place after Level 3, 9, and 12 with a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6 or Level 7 depending on which table the player is seated. There is a cap of a maximum of 700 players to be seated at the same time and play will start 9-handed but could change to 10-handed if necessary.

Grand Event Day 1 Structure

Level	Duration	Small Blind	Big Blind	Ante
1	45	50	100	-
2	45	75	150	-
3	45	100	200	25
Break	15
4	45	150	300	25
5	45	200	400	50
6	45	250	500	50
Break	75	Group 1
7	45	300	600	100
Break	75	Group 2
8	45	400	800	100
9	45	500	1,000	100
Break	15
10	45	600	1,200	200
11	45	800	1,600	200
12	45	1,000	2,000	300
Break	15
13	45	1,200	2,400	300
14	45	1,500	3,000	400

Today it’s also time for the MPF Ladies Event at 4 PM with a buy-in of €100. The €1,320 Grandmaster High-Roller is also set to start at 8 PM. Both tournaments can be reentered once and have a capacity of 100 and 150 respectively. The Ladies Event is a one-day event and the High-Roller is set to last two days. But what some players have been looking out for all week, or maybe even started warming up for, is the MPF VIP Player Party at Club Level 22 which is free to attend for all package holders. The club is located in the same building as the Portomaso Casino but has a different entrance and is located on the 22nd floor as the name might have given away already.

Grand Event Schedule

Day	Date	Starting Time	Late Reg	Entries	Survivors	Further Information
1A	Thursday, November 1	14:00	~21:30	302	64	75 minute-dinner break after Level 6
1B	Friday, November 2	14:00	~21:30	451	80	75 minute-dinner break after Level 6
1C	Saturday, November 3	14:00	~21:30	-	-	75 minute-dinner break after Level 6
2	Sunday, November 4	13:00	N/A	-	-	20-minute breaks and 75-minute dinner break after Level 23
3	Monday, November 5	14:00	N/A	-	-	20-minute breaks and 75-minute dinner break after Level 35
4	Tuesday, November 6	14:00	N/A	tba	-	Play down to a champion