€550 Grand Event
Day 3 Started
2019 The Malta Poker Festival
€550 Grand Event
Day: 3
Who Will Reach the Final Table of the MPF Grand Event?
A 2 p.m. local time kick-off is planned for Day 3 of the €550 Grand Event at The Malta Poker Festival. Only 21 players will return to battle it out for their share of the €642,140 prize pool and the winner will eventually walk away with the first-place prize of €150,000 plus MPF trophy when the final table has been played in Level 22.
Dmitri Dan is coming into the day as the chip leader with 6,410,000 in chips. Dan is followed by Leendert Marcus who collected 3,500,000 in chips on Day 2. Third in the counts is Oskar Wedde with 3,195,000. Tomas Sujeta, Michel Vat, Dario Marinelli, and Teijo Sinervo have all also bagged an above average stack.
Day 3 will start at 2 p.m. local time here in the Portomaso Casino with Level 27 which features a small blind of 30,000, big blind of 60,000, and a button ante of 60,000. Play will continue until there are nine or eight players left and level duration will increase to 60 minutes. A 15-minute break will take place after every two levels.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here as the players play down to the final table so make sure to keep sticking around for the latest news.
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Martyn Frey | 1,100,000 | 18 |
| 1 | 2 | Peter de Bruin | 785,000 | 13 |
| 1 | 3 | Dario Marinelli | 2,315,000 | 39 |
| 1 | 4 | Salvatore Cultraro | 590,000 | 10 |
| 1 | 5 | Giovanni Piccione | 1,450,000 | 24 |
| 1 | 6 | Quentin Lecomte | 1,255,000 | 21 |
| 1 | 8 | Mario Manara | 1,825,000 | 30 |
| 2 | 1 | Samuel Quesada | 1,050,000 | 18 |
| 2 | 2 | Domenico Tortomasi | 1,365,000 | 23 |
| 2 | 3 | Craig Smith | 1,125,000 | 19 |
| 2 | 5 | Leendert Marcus | 3,500,000 | 58 |
| 2 | 6 | Nicolaj D'Antoni | 1,000,000 | 17 |
| 2 | 7 | Teijo Sinervo | 2,185,000 | 36 |
| 2 | 8 | Oskar Wedde | 3,195,000 | 53 |
| 3 | 2 | Tomas Sujeta | 2,855,000 | 48 |
| 3 | 3 | Dmitri Dan | 6,410,000 | 107 |
| 3 | 4 | Mark Vella | 1,465,000 | 24 |
| 3 | 5 | Michel Vat | 2,500,000 | 42 |
| 3 | 6 | Pasquale Gregorio | 1,510,000 | 25 |
| 3 | 7 | Jacopo Achille | 870,000 | 15 |
| 3 | 8 | Linda Nguyen | 1,510,000 | 25 |
Level: 27
Blinds: 30,000/60,000
Ante: 60,000
Shuffle Up and Deal
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
The 21 remaining players have returned to the felt, the dealers have been instructed to shuffle up and deal with the button in Seat 6.
Domenico Tortomasi Eliminated in 21st Place (€2,900)
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Domenico Tortomasi raised to 125,000 from under the gun and was called by Leendert Marcus in the hijack.
The flop came 
, Tortomasi continued with a bet which Marcus called.
The turn was the 
and Tortomasi bet again which Marcus called.
The river completed the board with the 
and Tortomasi shoved. Marcus called with the bigger stack holding 
for the flush. Tortomasi held 
for two pair and was eliminated as the first player of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,900,000 | 1,400,000 |
|
Busted |
Salvatore Cultraro Eliminated in 20th Place (€2,900)
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Salvatore Cultraro shoved from the hijack and action folded to Martyn Frey in the big blind who asked for a count. The dealer confirmed Cultraro had 585,000 behind. Frey dived deep into the tank and made the call after about 3 minutes.
Salvatore Cultraro: 
Martyn Frey: 
The board ran out 
to not bring any help to Cultraro as he was the second player of the day to be sent to the rail for €2,900.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,600,000 | 500,000 |
|
Busted |
Nicolaj D'Antoni Eliminated in 19th Place (€2,900)
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
The flop read 
and Nicolaj D'Antoni was all-in from the big blind for his last 450,000 and called and covered by Leendert Marcus in the small blind.
Nicolaj D'Antoni: 
Leendert Marcus: 
D'Antoni had flopped a pair of eights and Marcus picked up the flush draw.
The turn was the 
which didn't change things but the 
on the river gave Marcus the flush indeed to send the third-place finisher of 2018 to the rail in 19th place for €2,900.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,670,000 | 770,000 |
|
Busted |
Jacopo Achille Eliminated in 18th Place (€3,500)
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
The flop read 
when Jacopo Achille's chips were all in from the big blind for around 850,000. He was called by Dmitri Dan in the hijack with the bigger stack.
Jacopo Achille:
Dmitri Dan: 
Achille had flopped top pair but Dan had hit a set of sixes.
The turn was the 
to keep Dan ahead and the river completed the board with the 
to seal the deal for Achille as he picked up a pay jump to €3,500 for his efforts over the past days.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
8,115,000 | 1,705,000 |
|
Busted |
Samuel Quesada Eliminated in 17th Place (€3,500)
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Oskar Wedde raised to 130,000 from the cutoff and Samuel Quesada shoved from the button for 880,000. The blinds folded and Wedde made the call.
Samuel Quesada: 
Oskar Wedde: 
The board ran out 
for Wedde to hold and send Quesada to the payout desk in 17th place for €3,500.
The 16 remaining players will now be redrawn to the final two tables.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,215,000 | 2,020,000 |
|
Busted |
Final Two Tables
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
With ten minutes left in the level, the players have resumed play after haven taken their new seats.
| Table | Seat | Player |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Dario Marinelli |
| 1 | 2 | Pasquale Gregorio |
| 1 | 3 | Dmitri Dan |
| 1 | 4 | Teijo Sinervo |
| 1 | 5 | Martyn Frey |
| 1 | 6 | Leendert Marcus |
| 1 | 7 | Michel Vat |
| 1 | 8 | Quentin Lecomte |
| 2 | 1 | Linda Nguyen |
| 2 | 2 | Oskar Wedde |
| 2 | 3 | Peter de Bruin |
| 2 | 4 | Mark Vella |
| 2 | 5 | Mario Manara |
| 2 | 6 | Tomas Sujeta |
| 2 | 7 | Craig Smith |
| 2 | 8 | Giovanni Piccione |