Eight Left in the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event with Dan Still in the Lead
A huge set up ensured that Day 3 of the €550 Grand Event ended halfway through the third level of play of the day to see the 1,324-strong field reduced to a mere 8 hopefuls who will play their final table in Club TwentyTwo on Monday, November 4 at 2 p.m. local time. With the bulk of the €642,140 prize pool still up for grabs, all eyes will be on that first-place prize of 150,000 and the charming The Malta Poker Festival trophy.
Dmitri Dan started the day with the chip lead and never let it go, in fact, he only added more to his stack as he finished the day with 14,015,000 in chips. He can claim four victims on Day 3 which started with 21 players. Jacopo Achille, Teijo Sinervo, Martyn Frey, and Michel Vat all saw their chips go into Dan’s stack before making their way to the payout desk. Dan only has two tournament cashes recorded to his name on The Hendon Mob and they both date back to more than two years ago and with the €14,000 each player has already secured, this will be his biggest cash ever.
Dan is followed in the chip counts by Leendert Marcus from the Netherlands with 9,330,000. Even though Dan had an impressive run today, Marcus had some of the more notable eliminations of the day. He was the first player to send someone else to the rail today. Domenico Tortomasi’s two pair couldn’t beat the flush Marcus had turned. Marcus also took out Nicolaj D’Antoni, who finished in third place last year, with a flush, this time he rivered it.
But Marcus won what could probably be called the biggest setup of the tournament at the most crucial moment. Mark Vella had shoved with pocket queens, Dario Marinelli over shoved with pocket kings, and Marcus called with pocket aces. The aces held to send Vella out of the Grand Event in ninth place and to leave Marinelli short when he returns to the final table on the final day.
Closing the podium in third place is Tomas Sujeta with 6,685,000 in chips. Sujeta eliminated Giovanni Piccione when his lower pocket pair turned into a set on the flop. After having first doubled Linda Nguyen up, he still took her out in tenth place when she held ace-jack and he had ace-nine. The flop came with a nine for Sujeta to pair up with to send Nguyen home with €7,000. Nguyen finished in 73rd place last year so has bettered that result but she will still be disappointed to have missed out on the final table.
The final table is completed with Oskar Wedde, Pasquale Gregorio, Peter de Bruin, and Craig Smith.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pasquale Gregorio | Italy | 2,615,000 | 26 |
| 2 | Dario Marinelli | Italy | 590,000 | 6 |
| 3 | Craig Smith | United Kingdom | 1,470,000 | 15 |
| 4 | Leendert Marcus | Netherlands | 9,330,000 | 93 |
| 5 | Tomas Sujeta | Lithuania | 6,685,000 | 67 |
| 6 | Peter de Bruin | Netherlands | 2,315,000 | 23 |
| 7 | Dmitri Dan | Israel | 14,015,000 | 140 |
| 8 | Oskar Wedde | Norway | 2,830,000 | 28 |
When the players return at 1:30 p.m. local time, they will be taken up to Club TwentyTwo which is on the 22nd level of the Portomaso Tower. All eight have secured €14,000 already and will continue to play the 32 minutes and 51 seconds that are left of Level 29 which has a small blind of 50,000, big blind of 100,000 and a button ante of 100,000. The final table will be live-streamed on Twitch with a 30-minute security delay as the hole cards will be shown.
This is what they are still playing for:
| Place | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|
| 1 | € 150,000 |
| 2 | € 82,000 |
| 3 | € 48,000 |
| 4 | € 38,000 |
| 5 | € 32,440 |
| 6 | € 26,000 |
| 7 | € 20,000 |
| 8 | € 14,000 |
The PokerNews live reporting team will be following along with the delay so the updates will start from 2:30 p.m. local time onwards. Make sure to keep reading or watching along until the winner has been crowned.
for the aces to hold which meant Vella was out in 9th place. The stack of Marcus was counted and confirmed to be 3,815,000. Marinelli had him covered but wasn't left with much.
for Sujeta to hit top pair immediately.
on the river. Nguyen was eliminated in tenth place and she was sent to the payout desk to collect €7,000.
for Dan to hold and claim another victim as Vat was eliminated in 11th place for €7,000.
for Dan to hit the wheel and the 
for Sinervo to be eliminated in 15th place for €5,000.
