€550 Grand Event Day 1b | 2022 Malta Poker Festival Spring

04-28-2022 02:25 UTC+3

French Players Dominate Day 1b of the €550 Grand Event

Calum Grant

Level 13 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante

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.

04-28-2022 00:56 UTC+3

Callens Ousted By Cosic

Calum Grant

Level 12 : 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante

Marko Cosic opened to 7,500 from under the gun before Ann-Roos Callens moved all-in for 48,500 from middle position. Cosic called.

Ann-Roos Callens:
Marko Cosic:

Callens increased her immediate outs following the flop however, the took away some of her straight possibilities. The hit the river to give Cosic the straight as well as the bust out.

Player	Chips	Progress
Marko Cosic	300,000	70,000
Ann-Roos Callens	Busted

04-27-2022 23:09 UTC+3

Smith Caught Speeding

Calum Grant

Level 10 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

With the board showing the and 35,000 in the middle, Steven Smith bet 11,000 from the big blind. Wouter Schuurbiers called from the cutoff and Tanguy Pellerin called from the button.

Smith continued for 26,500 on the river and Schuurbiers snap-called before Pellerin folded.

Smith turned over his for bottom pair and his opponent scooped holding the for a pair of sixes.

Player	Chips	Progress
Steven Smith	280,000	45,000
Tanguy Pellerin	245,000	66,000
Wouter Schuurbiers	210,000	210,000

04-27-2022 21:02 UTC+3

Ash Left With Little After Set Over Set

Calum Grant

Level 8 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Corentin Alves opened to 2,800 from early position and was called by Steven Smith on the button and David Ash in the big blind.

Action checked to Smith on the flop and he bet 3,600. Both players called. The turn checked through to the river.

Ash bet 11,000 before Alves moved all-in for around 30,000. Smith got out of the way and Ash made a quick call.

Alves turned over his for a set of kings while Ash exposed his for a flopped middle set. The table erupted as Alves raked in a needed double.

Player	Chips	Progress
Steven Smith	175,000	175,000
Corentin Alves	75,000	75,000
David Ash	5,000	5,000

04-27-2022 18:51 UTC+3

A Gift for Theuma Gets Returned

Calum Grant

Level 6 : 400/800, 800 ante

With around 30,000 in the middle on a full board showing the , Cyprien Chassagne checked in the hijack before Corel Theuma moved all-in for 20,500 on his immediate left.

Chassagne sighed and called while saying "a gift for you."

"Good call," replied Theuma and he turned over his for king high.

Chassange rolled over his for a full house and scooped the pot to the amazement of the table. Christopher Funari exclaimed "I'm never bluffing you!"

Player	Chips	Progress
Cyprien Chassagne	120,000	120,000
Corel Theuma	Busted

04-27-2022 18:28 UTC+3

Steimer Ousts Wayne

Calum Grant

Level 5 : 300/600, 600 ante

Kerrien Clement opened to 1,500 from under the gun and was called by Benjamin Hammann and Theodor Steimer from middle position and the button respectively. Carolyn Wayne three-bet to 6,300 from the small blind and only Steimer called.

Wayne jammed for 25,000 on the flop and Steimer called as the covering stack.

Carolyn Wayne:
Theodor Steimer:

Wayne picked up some straight outs to go with her overcards on the turn but was unable to improve on the river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Theodor Steimer	77,500
Carolyn Wayne	Busted

04-27-2022 16:01 UTC+3

Azulay First Elimination of the Day; Lappin Enters

Calum Grant

Level 2 : 100/100, 200 ante

Eden Azulay had quite the tough time on his table in the early goings and found himself all-in and at risk versus big blind Pavel Heger.

Eden Azulay:
Pavel Heger:

Heger's pocket-kings remained ahead following the runout.

Azulay headed out the door but soon quickly returned with a fresh starting stack. Followed behind him was Unibet Poker ambassador David Lappin, who has just taken his seat in the tournament room.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pavel Heger	67,000	67,000
Eden Azulay	50,000	11,000
David Lappin	50,000	50,000

04-27-2022 13:57 UTC+3

Day 1b of 2022 Malta Poker Festival Spring Kicks Off at 2 P.M. CET

Calum Grant

After a fantastic opening day of the 2022 Malta Poker Festival Spring's €550 Grand Event, Day 1b kicks off soon at 2 p.m. CET inside the wonderful Portomaso Casino.

The first day of play saw 118 entries, exceeding expectations, and after 13 levels of action just 31 players advanced to the next stage of the event. The tournament has a €300,000 guarantee and thanks to yesterday's impressive attendance, €54,000 has already been contributed to the prizepool with five more starting flights still to play.

Victor Fryda was the player atop of the pack after his stack was boosted following a double elimination late on the in Day 1a.

Bart Kuiper enjoyed a fruitful Day 1a and was chip leader several times. His stack of 512,000 was good enough to be second in chips. France's Jordan Dumas assembled the third biggest chip stack and busted the likes of Paul Monaghan, Ian Morris and Joacim Blom.

Hand of the day came courtesy of Bora Uludag, who made a Royal Flush in a multi-way pot.

Notable names to not make it through Day 1a included Jacqueline Cachia, Konrad Abela and Flaviano Cammisuli but expect them to be back in action throughout the week as there are still plenty of avenues to make Day 2 of the €550 Grand Event.

Day 1b gets underway at 2 p.m. local time and players receive a starting stack of 50,000. Starting flights will close after 13 levels of action, all of which last 40-minutes. Late registration is open until the end of the break that follows Level 8 and each participant is permitted two re-entries per flight.

Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event Day 1 Structure

LEVEL	Duration	Small Blind	Big blind	ANTE
1	40	100	100	100
2	40	100	200	200
3	40	200	300	300
		15 minute break
4	40	200	400	400
5	40	300	600	600
6	40	400	800	800
		75 minute dinner break
7	40	500	1000	1000
8	40	600	1200	1200
9	40	1000	1500	1500
		15 minute break
10	40	1000	2000	2000
11	40	1500	2500	2500
12	40	1500	3000	3000
13	40	2000	4000	4000

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
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

As always, keep it locked in with PokerNews to follow all the action from the 2022 Malta Poker Festival Spring.