€550 Grand Event
Day 1a Completed
2019 The Malta Poker Festival
€550 Grand Event
Day: 1a
Mor, Sebastiani, and Marinelli Finish in Top 3 of Day 1a of the €550 Grand Event at The Malta Poker Festival
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The first starting flight of the €550 Grand Event at The Malta Poker Festival has come to an end after 14 levels of 45 minutes each were played at the Portmaso Casino. The €500,000 guaranteed prize pool attracted 205 players to the first of four Day 1s and a mere 38 of them made it through to Day 2 which will take place on Saturday, November 2.
Claiming the Day 1a chip lead is Eviatar Mor with 441,500 in chips. Mor has four tournament cashes according to The Hendon Mob but there was a six-year gap in his resume with his last two cashes taking place in the last seven months. The last cash before that took place in 2013. Mor is followed closely by someone that might sound a bit more familiar: Luca Sebastiani. Sebastiani bagged 400,000 in chips at the end of the night. The Italian poker pro was near the top of the chip counts throughout most of the day and stayed there.
Another Italian poker player is closing out the podium, Dario Marinelli finished third in the chip counts with 361,500. Rounding out the top five are Linda Nguyen (337,000) and Thomas Lind with 303,000. The latter is actually a Maltese resident from Swedish origin but a big part of the Malta Poker community also known as the Malta Poker Fish group on Facebook.
Also through to Day 2 are Borge Dypvik who finished in seventh place in the 2018 edition of the Malta Poker Festival, Mats Karlsson, Frank Koopmann, Domenico Gala, and Sarah Herzali. Not everyone was that fortunate though, Clint Sammut, Bas de Laat, Serdar Demircan, Luca Beretta, Jacqueline Cachia, Barny Boatman, Andreas Klatt, Daragh Davey, Romain Nardin, and David Lappin are some of the many who fell throughout the day.
But they can all try again as Day 1b is set to start at 2 p.m. local time on Thursday, October 31 with the exact same structure as Day 1a. Registration will remain open for the first eight 45-minute levels and one reentry is permitted per flight. The PokerNews live reporting team will be there too to bring to all the latest as more players battle their way into Day 2.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
441,500 | 74,500 |
|
400,000 | -10,000 |
|
361,500 | 18,500 |
|
337,000 | 37,000 |
|
303,000 | 3,000 |
|
279,500 | -60,500 |
|
233,500 | 121,500 |
|
225,000 | 34,000 |
|
225,000 | 59,500 |
|
224,000 | 157,000 |
|
213,000 | 9,000 |
|
201,000 | 64,000 |
|
|
199,000 | 119,000 |
|
190,500 | 39,500 |
|
176,000 | 96,000 |
|
175,000 | -67,000 |
|
|
149,000 | 10,000 |
|
143,000 | 35,000 |
|
136,500 | 6,500 |
|
131,500 | -18,500 |
|
119,500 | -50,500 |
|
|
106,500 | -63,500 |
|
106,000 | -11,000 |
|
101,000 | -4,500 |
|
|
99,500 | -12,500 |
Play Ended
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The 38 remaining players have bagged and tagged their chips.
The full chip counts and a recap of today are to follow.
Lind Rivers a Wheel
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The board read 
with over 70,000 in the middle already.
Thomas Lind bet 70,000 from the cutoff and David Rapenne had dived deep into the tank. After a while, Rapenne opted to make the call but mucked and sighed when Lind tabled 
for the rivered wheel.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
300,000 | 182,000 |
|
37,000 | -68,000 |
Three More Hands
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused and the players need to play three more hands before they can bag up their chips for Day 2 on Saturday, November 2.
Martinsson Doubles Through Spampinato
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Alf Martinsson was all-in and at risk for his last 49,000 from the cutoff as he was called and covered by Giulio Spampinato on the button.
Alf Martinsson: 
Giulio Spampinato: 
The board ran out 
for Martinsson to flop two pair and stay ahead throughout the rest of the board to double up and stay alive.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
170,000 | -58,000 |
|
|
105,500 | 54,500 |
More for Mor
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Giulio Spampinato raised to 7,000 from the middle position and was called by both Alexandros Bantzelatze in the hijack and Eviatar Mor in the big blind.
The flop came [kc2ctc, Mor bet 13,000 only Spampinato made the call.
The turn brought them the 
for Mor to bet 25,000 and Spampinato to give up on the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
410,000 | 20,000 |
|
|
367,000 | 72,000 |
|
|
228,000 | -142,000 |
|
|
151,000 | 17,000 |
|
|
139,000 | 17,000 |
|
125,000 | -16,000 |
|
|
65,000 | 6,000 |
|
|
51,000 | 8,000 |
Latest Eliminations
Level 14
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Level: 14
Blinds: 1,500/3,000
Ante: 3,000