€550 Grand Event
Day 1c Started
2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring
€550 Grand Event
Day: 1c
Event Info
2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1c
Buy-in
€550
Prize Pool
€555,940
Entries
1,202
Level
32
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Entries
206
Players Left
31
Players Left 1 / 1,202
Filter
(1)
The sun is continuing to shine in St Julian's, with the Malta Poker Festival now in full swing, hosted at the stunning Portomaso Casino.
Day 1c of the €300,000 guaranteed €550 Grand Event is due to kick off today, Thursday, May 1, at 1 p.m. local time. The tournament has already obtained a total of 240 entries over the first two flights, with 36 players securing a seat for Day 2 and a minimum cash at worst.
Players in Day 1c will have to put on a stellar performance to come close to catching current chip leader Ludovic Uzan of France, who bagged an astonishing 1,412,000 in Day 1b - almost 30 starting stacks.
Uzan holds a huge lead over Day 1a chip leader Andrew Cutajar of Malta (873,000) in second, while Serbian Boban Stevanovic (674,000) completes the podium places.
Overall Top Ten Counts After Day 1b
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ludovic Uzan | France | 1,412,000 |
| 2 | Andrew Cutajar | Malta | 873,000 |
| 3 | Boban Stevanovic | Serbia | 674,000 |
| 4 | Charles Eichner | France | 568,000 |
| 5 | Sergei Cutajar | Malta | 518,000 |
| 6 | Egon Holdhus | Norway | 486,000 |
| 7 | Erik Lindqwist | Sweden | 482,000 |
| 8 | Alexander Maskell | United Kingdom | 477,000 |
| 9 | Cahit Basbug | Turkey | 428,000 |
| 10 | Jorgji Kotorri | Albania | 398,000 |
Day 1c 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. A 45-minute dinner break will take place after Level 10.
Players who are unable to play today should not fret, with four more starting flights to come on May 2-3 - two of which are turbo flights featuring 20-minute levels.
PokerNews will be on the floor from cards in the air until Day 1c concludes, so stay with us for your coverage of all the action.
Have you heard about MyStack by PokerNews? It is a free-to-use tool built into the PokerNews website that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. MyStack directly connects you to PokerNews' live reporting pages, making you an even bigger part of the action in the events you play.
MyStack is a free poker tool and PokerNews activates MyStack for every event it is live reporting from, regardless of that tournament's buy-in. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000
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50,000
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
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50,000
50,000
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50,000 |
Life Outside Poker is a podcast for PokerNews hosted by Connor Richards that seeks to pull back the curtain on poker players and allow viewers and listeners to get to know them on a personal level.
In the 26th episode, Connor speaks with chess streamer and GGPoker ambassador Alexandra Botez about learning chess and poker from her dad, getting into streaming at Stanford, dealing with online trolls, creating content with her sister Andrea Botez and the similarities between chess and poker.
Botez also talked about winning $456,900 in a legendary 2022 Hustler Casino Live stream that included Phil Hellmuth, Mr. Beast and Ninja, as well as signing on as a GGPoker ambassador and securing two career-high cashes at World Series of Poker (WSOP) Paradise (she finished 60th in the $10,000 GGMillion$ Championship for $22,190 before finishing 187th in the $25,000 Super Main Event for $67,300).
The Life Outside Poker podcast is available on major streaming platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud and iHeartRadio. You can also watch the interview with Alexandra Botez by heading to the PokerNews YouTube channel.
Be sure to follow Alexandra Botez and Connor Richards on X.
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 200
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
Play is underway in Day 1c, with 55 players already seated. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of what is sure to be a day of poker thrills and spills.
Level 1
: 100/200, 200 ante
Jan Jensen opened to 500 from early position, and received a call from Martin Svoboda in the small blind.
On the A♣8♦3♣ flop, Svoboda check-called versus a bet of 500 from Jensen.
The same pattern followed on the 5♦ turn, this time in respect of a bet f 1,200 from Jensen.
The 10♥ river was checked through. Jensen tabled A♦9♦ for a pair of aces, which was good versus Svoboda's 4♥4♠ for a pair of fours.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
54,900 | |
|
|
45,100
4,900
|
4,900 |
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
Action folded to Ed Oakes in the small blind, who raised to 500. Mikael Johansson was in the big blind, and he responded with a three-bet to 2,200, with Oakes making the call.
The 8♠3♦2♦ flop seemed innocuous enough, but fireworks were about to ensue. Oakes responded to a continuation bet of 2,200 from Johansson with a check-raise to 6,000.
Johansson thought it through for a moment, before three-betting to 19,200. Oakes took a bit of time, but it wasn't that long before he announced all-in for 50,000.
Johansson grimaced, sighed and sat back in his chair - apparently regretting getting involved in a potential 500 big blind pot in Level 1.
He may have been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, as with half his stack already in the middle, he sighed again and folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
71,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
26,500
26,500
|
26,500 |
Level 1
: 100/200, 200 ante
Matthias Kribben opened to 600 from the cutoff and Hannes Praks defended in the big blind.
The A♠4♥2♣ flop was checked through to the 5♦ turn, where Praks led out with a bet of 600, which failed to shake off Kribben.
The K♠ river completed the board. Praks fired out a bet of 2,000 and Kribben made the quick call. Praks tabled 9♣3♦ for a big blind special turned straight, and Kribben mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
61,500 | |
|
58,000 |
