€550 Grand Event
Day 1a Started
2019 The Malta Poker Festival
€550 Grand Event
Day: 1a
The 2nd Edition of the Malta Poker Festival €550 Grand Event is Set to Start at 2 PM at Portomaso Casino
Welcome back to the second edition of The Malta Poker Festival at the Portomaso Casino where the PokerNews live reporting team will be covering the entire €550 Grand Event which features an amazing guaranteed prize pool of €500,000. The first of four starting flights is Day 1a which is set to kick off at 2 p.m. local time.
The 2018 edition was won by Emanuele Onnis who took home €150,000, the inaugural title, and the first every MPF Grand Event trophy. Onnis defeated a 1,366-strong field and had to best Fabian Gumz heads-up. Onnis has already confirmed that he will be back to defend his title but Gumz will be missing in action.
Last year’s final table also featured Nicolaj D’Antoni, Henning Andre, Giovanni Salvatore, Espen Jorstad, Borge Dypvik, and Steven Iglesias. Other notable players who made it into the money were players like Jona Wilmsmann, Eyal Bensimhon, Colin Lovelock, Clint Sammut, Serdar Demircan, Mark Vella, Katharine Arnsby, Andy Hills, Muhamet Perati, and Daragh Davey as a whopping 151 players cashed.
Who knows how many players will flock to the poker tables this year as the format has changed a bit compared to last year. Players will start with 30,000 chips in their stack, fourteen levels of 40 minutes each have been scheduled for each day 1 with Day 1d being a turbo flight. A 15-minute break has been scheduled after every three levels with a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6. Players can only reenter once per flight with registration open for the first eight levels.
Keep following along with the updates right here from the first shuffle up and deal!
Day 1 Structure
| *Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Button Ante |
| 1 | 45 | 100 | 100 | |
| 2 | 45 | 100 | 200 | |
| 3 | 45 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 15-minute Break | ||||
| 4 | 45 | 200 | 300 | 300 |
| 5 | 45 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 6 | 45 | 300 | 500 | 500 |
| 75-minute Dinner Break | ||||
| 7 | 45 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 8 | 45 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 9 | 45 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 15-minute Break | ||||
| 10 | 45 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
| 11 | 45 | 800 | 1,600 | 1,600 |
| 12 | 45 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 15-minute Break | ||||
| 13 | 45 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 14 | 45 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 0
Shuffle Up and Deal
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
The tournament organizers have welcomed the players to the Portomaso Casino and instructed the dealers to shuffle up and deal with 85 entries showing on the tournament clock.
First Familiar Faces
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
My Stack App Activated
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 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.
Theuma Turns the Straight
Level 1
: 100/100, 0 ante
Antonios Kotsoulakis raised to 300 from under the gun and was called by Corel Theuma in the hijack. Andrew Tregoning three-bet to 1,300 from the button which Martina Pellegrini called in the big blind. Kotsoulakis folded and Theuma called.
The flop came 
, both Pellegrini and Theuma checked. Tregoning continued with a bet of 2,500 which only Theuma called.
They both checked through the 
on the turn and the 
on the river. Tregoning tabled 
first for the higher two pair than on the board and then Theuma showed 
for the turned straight to scoop the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
27,000 | |
|
|
26,000 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
Demircan Takes One Out Already
Level 2
: 100/200, 0 ante
Serdar Demircan was sporting a bigger stack than the starting stack already and was kind enough to tell the PokerNews live reporting team that he already eliminated an opponent.
The board read 
, his opponent had 
while Demircan held for the higher two pair than his opponent. The opponent bet 2,000 on the river and Demircan shoved and was called.
Ernie Miccalef was eliminated from that table earlier so it's possible it was him but with 4 eliminations already, this has not been confirmed.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
60,000 | 30,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
More Familiar Faces in the Field
Level 2
: 100/200, 0 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |