€550 Grand Event Day 1de | 2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring

05-02-2025 17:51 UTC+1

Novak Cracks Cowboys to Double

Richard Hayes

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Jesper Svare opened to 3,500 from early position, and was met with a three-bet to 10,000 from Jiri Novak in middle position. Sebastian Mortensen was in the small blind, and he produced a cold four-bet to 25,000.

Svare folded, but Novak five-bet jammed for 59,000 after a bit of thought. Mortensen snapped with the covering stack.

Jiri Novak: Q♦Q♥ All in
Sebastian Mortensen: K♦K♥

Novak was crushed in a cooler, but the queen was in the window on the Q♠6♠6♥ flop. The A♠ turn and 2♣ river failed to alter matters.

Player	Chips	Progress
Jiri Novak	126,000
Sebastian Mortensen	27,000

Tags: Jesper Svare Jiri Novak Sebastian Mortensen

05-02-2025 17:58 UTC+1

Di Bella Busts Badami

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Richard Hayes

Level 8 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Riyaz Badami was all-in for 11,500 and at risk versus Giuseppe Di Bella.

Riyaz Badami: A♣10♠ All in
Giuseppe Di Bella: 4♠4♣

It was off to the race, and although Badami flopped a gutshot, he could not connect with the K♦Q♣6♥8♦7♣ runout.

Player	Chips	Progress
Giuseppe Di Bella	110,000 110,000	110,000
Riyaz Badami	Busted

Tags: Di Bella Giuseppe Di Bella

Level: 9

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

05-02-2025 18:08 UTC+1

Scala Takes a Hit as Montgomery Gets There

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Richard Hayes

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Alex Montgomery had three-bet to around 35,000, leaving himself about 10,000 behind, over a 4,000 open from chip leader Antonio Scala. Action folded back to Scala who quickly four-bet jammed, and Montgomery got the rest of it in.

Alex Montgomery: A♠5♠ All in
Antonio Scala: J♦J♠

Montgomery was in trouble with a single overcard, but the K♠8♠8♥ flop brought hope in the flush draw.

Montgomery binked it on the 7♠ turn, and Scala could not find a two-outer on the 6♣ river.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alex Montgomery	95,000
Antonio Scala	32,000 198,000	198,000

Tags: Alex Montgomery Antonio Scala

05-02-2025 18:13 UTC+1

Bjertrup Doubles via O'Connor

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Richard Hayes

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Mikael Bjertrup jammed from early position for 20,000, and found a customer in Padraic O'Connor on the button.

Mikael Bjertrup: K♦Q♥ All in
Padraic O'Connor: K♣J♠

"Apologies in advance", the amiable Irishman said to Bjertrup, who smiled.

Bjertrup hit top pair on the Q♣4♣3♠ flop, but the A♥ turn gave O'Connor outs to the straight.

"Ten" requested O'Connor as the players awaited the river, which was the J♦.

"Almost" said O'Connor. "I thought you got there" said table mate Daniel Mountford - "So did I!" quipped Bjertrup laughing, as did O'Connor.

Player	Chips	Progress
Padraic O'Connor	150,000 30,000	30,000
Mikael Bjertrup	45,000 45,000	45,000

Tags: Daniel Mountford Mikael Bjertrup Padraic O'Connor

05-02-2025 18:17 UTC+1

Guarantee Broken

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Richard Hayes

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

The €300,000 guarantee for the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event has been exceeded, with three starting flights still to come. 654 entries have created a current prize pool of €304,665, and that figure is only set to grow over the coming days.

05-02-2025 18:19 UTC+1

Day 1e Underway

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Richard Hayes

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Turbo flight Day 1e is underway, with 14 players currently seated. The flight features 20-minute levels, but otherwise follows the same structure as all previous flights.

Late registration is open until the start of Level 11, with players permitted two reentries per flight.

Our coverage will remained focused on Day 1d, but final chip counts and general updates will be provided for Day 1e in due course.

05-02-2025 18:33 UTC+1

Hewston Makes a Horlicks

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Richard Hayes

Level 9 : Blinds 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante

Jonathan Hewston opened to 4,000 from early position, and called a three-bet to 15,000 from Domenico La Ferla in middle position.

On the J♦J♥4♠ flop, Hewston jammed with the covering stack. La Ferla, who had around 55,000 behind, thought it through for a bit and made the call.

"I've made a right mess here" said Hewston sheepishly.

Domenico La Ferla: A♦Q♠ All in
Jonathan Hewston: 7♣6♣

La Ferla's ace-high was good against Hewston's seven-high, and no surprises were in store on the K♣5♣ runout, La Ferla giving the table a smack in celebration as the river hit.