French Players Dominate Day 1b of the €550 Grand Event
Day 1b of the 2022 Malta Poker Festival Spring €550 Grand Event has finished, with 35 players bagging and tagging after the dust settled.
The event saw 136 entries, which was 18 more than the previous starting flight. A further €68,000 has entered the prize pool as the tournament edges closer to hitting its €300,000 guarantee.
Nemo Israel ended today’s flight with the chip lead, amassing a tournament best stack of 667,000. Alexis Bouvier's late surge allowed him to finish with a stack of 397,000 while also knocking out Florian Guertler. Antoine Stackowiak is hot on his heels, ending the day with 391,000 in chips. Overall, the top five chip stacks all belong to players who hail from France.
Notable names who also made it over the first hurdle include Unibet Poker ambassador David Lappin, Dominick French and Daniel Stancer. However, players such as Steven Smith, Marek Ohnisko and Germany's Michael Strauch will have to try their luck in one of the four upcoming Day 1’s.
David Ash, who ran Kings into Aces in Day 1a, suffered another cruel exit after being on the wrong end of a set over set scenario. Cyprien Chassagne made one of the hero calls of the day against Corel Theuma but was also a late Day 1b casualty.
Ann-Roos Callens was another player to fall in the tail end of Day 1b after her ace-jack was unable to leapfrog her opponent’s pocket queens.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Stacks
| Place | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nemo Israel | France | 667,000 | 133 |
| 2 | Alexis Bouvier | France | 397,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Antoine Stackowiak | France | 391,000 | 78 |
| 4 | Tanguy Pellerin | France | 389,000 | 78 |
| 5 | Olivier Acquart | France | 315,000 | 63 |
| 6 | Pavel Heger | Czech Republic | 315,000 | 63 |
| 7 | Clement Kerrien | Malta | 306,000 | 61 |
| 8 | Christian Westermark | Sweden | 278,000 | 56 |
| 9 | Dov Friedland | Estonia | 276,000 | 55 |
| 10 | Marko Cosic | Serbia | 260,000 | 52 |
Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event Schedule
| DATE | TIME (CET) | BUY-IN | EVENT | Entries | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, 26 Apr | 2 p.m. | € 550 | MPF Grand Event Day 1A | 118 | 31 |
| Wed, 27 Apr | 2 p.m. | € 550 | MPF Grand Event Day 1B | 136 | 35 |
| Thurs, 28 Apr | 2 p.m. | € 550 | MPF Grand Event Day 1C | ||
| Fri, 29 Apr | 2 p.m. | € 550 | MPF Grand Event Day 1D | ||
| Sat, 30 Apr | 2 p.m. | € 550 | MPF Grand Event Day 1E | ||
| Sat, 30 Apr | 9 p.m. | € 550 | MPF Grand Event Day 1F | ||
| Sun, 1 May | 2 p.m. | - | MPF Grand Event Day 2 | ||
| Mon, 2 May | 2 p.m. | - | MPF Grand Event Day 3 |
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back to cover Day 1c on Thursday, April 28 at 2 p.m. local time.