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

04-30-2022 02:53 UTC+3

Luigi D'Alterio Leads the Pack of 65 in Day 1d of the MPF €550 Grand Event

Chris Bean

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

Day 1d of the Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event at Portomaso Casino, Malta is in the books with 65 players out of 252 entries advancing to Day 2 on Sunday, May 1.

The €300,000 guarantee has been smashed with two flights still to be played. The current prize pool has swelled to €334,560.

Italy's Luigi D'Alterio leads the way on 538,000 chips, whose stack was boosted by knocking out Paul Strangeways along the way.

The two other players who breached the half-million mark are Gregory Luttke-Grech (503,000) and Robert Lim (502,000).

Serdar Demircan advanced to Day 2 with a stack of 350,000 despite doubling up Christodoulos Adamou twice in the space of two hands.

Simone Lombardo made it to the next stage with 131,000 chips despite losing a massive pot with Nica Cosmin.

The Woman's Poker Association's Christina Read made a massive turnaround after falling to 15,000 chips early on. Read managed to regroup and finished the day with 277,000 to put her in contention on Sunday,

MPF Grand Event Top Ten Stacks

Place	Name	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Luigi D'Alterio	Italy	538,000	108
2	Gregory Luttke-Grech	France	503,000	101
3	Robert Lim	United Kingdom	502,000	100
4	Charif Akhoun	France	463,000	93
5	Simon Yili Ye	Sweden	459,000	92
6	Paul Morris	United Kingdom	451,000	90
7	Herbert Seitz	Germany	404,000	81
8	Pawel Zawadowicz	Poland	399,000	80
9	Serdar Demircan	Sweden	350,000	70
10	Stavros Tsakas	Greece	340,000	68

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	191	53
Fri, 29 Apr	2 p.m.	€ 550	MPF Grand Event Day 1D	252	65
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

PokerNews will be back at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 30 to bring you all the action from Day 1e of the MPF Grand Event.

04-30-2022 01:22 UTC+3

Death by Quads for Kourka

Chris Bean

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

On a flop of , Salvino Salvatore bet 8,000 from the big blind. Vlantouts Kourka moved all-in for 56,000 and was snap-called by Salvatore.

Vlantouts Kourka:
Salvino Salvatore:

Salvatore's set of threes was ahead of Kourka's two pair. The turn brought the to give the Romani-Greek a full house and left Salvatore with one out, the which hit on the river to give the experienced Italian quads and sent Kourka packing.

Player	Chips	Progress
Salvino Salvatore	180,000	180,000
Vlantouts Kourka	Busted

04-30-2022 01:10 UTC+3

Harry Among Top Stacks

Calum Grant

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

Malta's Antoine Degiorgio ripped in his 60,000 stack from middle position. Ulysse Harry moved all-in for 260,000 from the hijack and the remaining players mucked.

Antoine Degiorgio:
Ulysse Harry:

Neither player connected in the flop but Harry's ace-high was good to claim the pot and elimination.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ulysse Harry	320,000	150,000
Antoine Degiorgio	Busted

04-30-2022 00:45 UTC+3

River Gives Heggelmann Chip Lead

Calum Grant

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

Niko Heggelmann opened to 6,500 from the hijack before Koppany Balogh made it 18,000 on the button. Heggelmann four-bet to 56,000 and Balogh paused. He waited about 30 seconds before moving all-in for 137,500.

Heggelmann, who was the covering stack, asked for a count. He eventually slid in his chips to set up the all-in showdown.

Koppany Balogh:
Niko Heggelmann:

Balogh had his opponent drawing extremely thin on the flop and looked to scoop a massive double on the turn.

For some reason, Balogh called for a ten on the river. And that's exactly what came in the form of the river.

The table erupted and Balogh congratulated Heggelmann who let out a huge sigh of relief.

Player	Chips	Progress
Niko Heggelmann	301,500	121,500
Koppany Balogh	Busted

04-29-2022 23:35 UTC+3

Balogh Ousts Palma

Calum Grant

Level 11 : 1,500/2,500, 2,500 ante

Giovanni Palma had the last of his 70,000 chips in front of him in the small blind and was at risk of elimination after Koppany Balogh called his all-in from the big blind.

Giovanni Palma:
Koppany Balogh:

Palma was ejected from the tournament after the runout.

Player	Chips	Progress
Koppany Balogh	180,000	180,000
Giovanni Palma	Busted

04-29-2022 23:30 UTC+3

Read Making Moves

Calum Grant

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

Action picked up on the turn in a hand between Christina Read (middle position) and Wesley O'Neil (cutoff).

With 16,000 in the middle on the board, Read bet 10,000 before O'Neil made it 25,000.

Read moved all-in over the top as the covering stack. O'Neil pondered over his options and counted out his remaining 61,000. The clock was called which irked the Englishman.

He decided to fold and Read flipped over her pocket jacks to show her opponent that she had a set.

Player	Chips	Progress
Christina Read	221,000	156,000

04-29-2022 22:54 UTC+3

€15,000 Up Top in The Hendon Mob Championship

Calum Grant

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

The €220 buy-in Hendon Mob Championship is now down to just 97 players from an initial 327 entries. The final prizepool has been confirmed as €62,784 with 39 players making the money.

Those players will lock up a min-cash of €350 while a whopping €15,000 is for first-place.

The Hendon Mob Championship Final Table Payouts

Place	Prize
1	€15,000
2	€9,390
3	€7,000
4	€5,000
5	€3,600
6	€2,700
7	€2,100
8	€1,600
9	€1,200

04-29-2022 22:44 UTC+3

Triple Up for Cheung; Bruno Avoids Elimination

Calum Grant

Level 9 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Hans Nothofer limped from early position before Manduca Borg made it from 5,500 from middle position. Ho Cheung moved all-in for 15,000 from the small blind and then Massimo Bruno jammed for 54,500.

Nothofer eventually folded after two minutes and Borg called as the covering stack.

Ho Cheung:
Massimo Bruno:
Manduca Borg:

Nothofer claimed he folded jacks and he would live to regret his decision as the flop came down with the . Cheung was on course for a triple up while Bruno had one hand on the side pot.

The turn was a safe card for both at-risk players and the completed the board.

Player	Chips	Progress
Manduca Borg	85,000	85,000
Massimo Bruno	72,000	72,000
Ho Tien Cheung	72,000

04-29-2022 22:15 UTC+3

Late Registration Closes in Day 1d; Guarantee SMASHED!

Calum Grant

Level 9 : 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Registration has closed for the fourth starting flight of The Malta Poker Festival Spring €550 Main Event, today's action has seen 252 entries and 162 players remain in the tournament.

The €300,000 guarantee for the event has also been eclipsed, with the current prizepool at €334,560. With two more starting flights to play out tomorrow, there is every chance that the event could obliterate the €400,000 threshold.

If you are in Malta or nearby, you should be doing everything you can to get to the Portomaso Casino for a slice of the massive prize kitty.

04-29-2022 21:00 UTC+3

Lombardo Busts Majtyka to Take Chip Lead

Chris Bean

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

On a board of , Michal Majtyka moved all-in for 74,000 and was called by Simone Lombardo.

Simone Lombardo:
Michal Majtyka:

A favorable flop for Majtyka gave him top pair and a flush draw, but he was behind to Lombardo's ladies. The turn and river was no help and Lombardo takes a commanding chip lead in this flight.

Player	Chips	Progress
Simone Lombardo	260,000	130,000
Michal Majtyka	Busted