Catch Me if Uzcan? Two Starting Flights for MPF Grand Event Today
The sun continues to shine in beautiful St Julian's, as we head into what is guaranteed to be a thrilling weekend of poker at the Malta Poker Festival, held at Portomaso Casino.
A total of 446 entrants have been obtained in Days 1a-1c of the €300,000 guaranteed €550 Grand Event, with 67 players finding a bag for Day 2 thus far.
There are two further opportunities today for players to punch a ticket for Day 2, with Day 1d starting at 1 p.m. local time, and turbo flight Day 1e kicking off at 7 p.m.
Players still seeking a Day 2 bag will have to produce a huge performance to catch current chip leader, Ludovic Uzan of France - who stormed to the top of the Day 1b standings, bagging a barely believable stack of 1,412,000.
Day 1c chip leader and home-grown player Justin Scicluna (1,066,000) is the only other player to breach the seven-figure mark so far, with Jan Jensen (917,000) of Denmark completing the current podium places.
Top Ten Chip Counts After Day 1c
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ludovic Uzan | France | 1,412,000 |
| 2 | Justin Scicluna | Malta | 1,066,000 |
| 3 | Jan Jensen | Denmark | 917,000 |
| 4 | Andrew Cutajar | Malta | 873,000 |
| 5 | Alessio Assennato | Italy | 754,000 |
| 6 | Boban Stevanovic | Serbia | 674,000 |
| 7 | Niccolo Cadoni | Italy | 647,000 |
| 8 | Jaime Lozano Diaz | Spain | 636,000 |
| 9 | Owen Sammut | Malta | 633,000 |
| 10 | Charles Eichner | France | 568,000 |
Day 1d will feature 40-minute levels, with late registration open until the start of Level 11. Players will start with 50,000 chips at blind level 100/200, with a 200 big blind ante. Players are permitted two reentries per flight, with play concluding when 15% of the field remains, all of whom will be in the money.
Day 1e features 20-minute levels, but otherwise follows the same structure as previous flights. The final starting flights then take place on Saturday, May 3 and will follow the same format as today - a standard flight at 1 p.m. and a turbo flight at 9 p.m.
Players who qualify for Day 2 will return on Sunday, May 4, at 1.pm., where blind levels will be increased to 50 minutes. The final day takes place at 1 p.m. Monday, 5 May, where play will continue until a champion is crowned.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for your coverage of all the action from the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event.