The Malta Poker Festival has been a roaring success and has thrown its hat in the ring as the premier poker festival in all of Malta, There have been 1,003 entries across six starting flights, and registration is still open in Day 1f.
The prizepool now stands at €480,000, a far cry away from the €300,000 guarantee.
Day 1e will play two more 40-minute levels and then will close.
With the completed board showing the 
, Sebastian Larsen checked from middle position. Koppany Balogh took a few moments before deciding to put his opponent all-in for his remaining 73,000.
Larsen made the snap-call.
Balogh rolled over his 
for top pair but Larsen had flopped quads with his 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
261,000
261,000
|
261,000 |
|
70,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
Women's Poker Association advocate and professional poker player Christina Read has won the Ladies First! event for €1,700. She beat Malta Poker Festival founder Ivonne Montealegre in heads-up play.
Montealegre claimed €1,300 for the second-place prize and Suzanne Franklin finished in third for €1,300.
The original plan was €2,100 for first, €1,300 for second and €900 for third, but the final three players came to a deal to even out the remaining prizes.
| Place | Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christina Read | United States | €1,700* |
| 2 | Ivonne Montealegre | Costa Rica | €1,300* |
| 3 | Suzanne Franklin | United Kingdom | €1,300* |
| 4 | Ilana Belsky | United Kingdom | €700 |
| 5 | Pia Pless | Denmark | €510 |
| 6 | Carolyn Wayne | United States | €380 |
| 7 | Tracey Dunn | United Kingdom | €250 |
| 8 | Britanny Law | Ireland | €190 |
| 9 | Julie Hansen | Estonia | €150 |
*Indicates three-way deal
The penultimate starting flight of the 2022 Malta Poker Festival Spring €550 Grand Event has wrapped up at the fantastic Portomaso Casino. Day 1e saw 248 entries with 71 more players booking their place into Day 2, which kicks off at 2 p.m. CEST on Sunday, May 1.
Ridvan Kilincaslan bagged best, ending the day with a stack of 423,000. Norbert Bundik and Jasper van Moorsel rounded out the top three chip counts and will be looking to put in a deep run in the MPF's crown jewel event.
Ho Tien Cheung, Paul Monaghan and reigning and defending champion Tomas Sujeta also bagged and tagged their stacks for Day 2.
There were some impressive hands throughout the flight, but none better than Sebastian Larsen's flopped quads against a later eliminated Koppany Balogh. Tempers began to get heated at one stage on table 10 with Soner Vanelderen and Marco Carravieri letting each other know what they thought of each other.
Familiar faces who failed to make it through Day 1e included the likes of Alexandra O'Brien, Marek Ohnisko and Flaviano Cammisuli.
Elsewhere at the MPF, Jan Hoogendijk captured The Hendon Mob Championship, following a heads-up deal with Austrias Andreas Blaskov. Women's Poker Association advocate Christina Read took down the Ladies First! event, defeating MPF founder Ivonne Montealegre for €2,100.
| Place | Name | County | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ridvan Kilincaslan | Sweden | 423,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Norbert Bundik | Hungary | 420,000 | 84 |
| 3 | Jasper van Moorsel | Netherlands | 368,000 | 74 |
| 4 | Eden Azulay | Israel | 362,000 | 72 |
| 5 | Paul Monaghan | United Kingdom | 345,000 | 69 |
| 6 | Massimo Chierchia | Italy | 333,000 | 67 |
| 7 | Fabio Aprile | Italy | 322,000 | 64 |
| 8 | Sebastian Larsen | Denmark | 308,000 | 62 |
| 9 | Tsvetelina Pavlova | Bulgaria | 296,000 | 59 |
| 10 | Mariano Bucca | Italy | 294,000 | 59 |
| 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 | 248 | 71 |
| 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 Sunday, May 1 to bring you all the action from Day 2 of the MPF Grand Event.
