€550 Grand Event
Day 1de Started
2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring
€550 Grand Event
Day: 1de
Event Info
2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1de
Buy-in
€550
Prize Pool
€555,940
Entries
1,202
Level
32
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Entries
258
Players Left
39
Players Left 1 / 1,202
Filter
(1)
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.
Domenico Lando brought balance to the felt at the 2024 Malta Poker Festival Grand Event, navigating his way through a talented final table to emerge victorious and claim the title, trophy and €140,000 prize.
Lando picked his spots wisely in the final stages en route to topping the record-breaking 2,045 entry field, where the €941,568 prize pool was paid out to the top 306 players. Lando's triumph in the biggest MPF Grand Event was somewhat of an underdog story. The Italian player had only $13,400 in live earnings before registering for the event, with a best cash of just $6,077.
Lando toppled Nikolaos Konstas in heads-up play, after the latter appeared to have one hand on the winner's spoils, but as is ever with poker, someone's fortune can change completely with a turn of a card.
2024 MPF Grand Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domenico Lando | Italy | €140,000 |
| 2 | Nikolaos Konstas | Greece | €93,000 |
| 3 | Theodoros Ampelikiotis | Greece | €66,000 |
| 4 | Charles Eichner | France | €49,068 |
| 5 | Jaroslaw Falkowski | Poland | €39,000 |
| 6 | Andre Grech | Malta | €30,000 |
| 7 | Antonio Alba | Italy | €23,000 |
| 8 | Salih Kaya | Denmark | €17,500 |
| 9 | Angelo Vietti | Italy | €13,400 |
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 200
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
Play is underway here in Day 1d with 60 players registered. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of the action.
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 | |
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50,000 |
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
A pot of 2,900 had developed by the river on a completed board of K♥Q♦3♥6♦A♣, in a hand between Darren Smith and Matthew Barnett.
Barnett led out with a bet of 2,400, and Smith responded with a raise to 6,700. Barnett thought it through for a bit and let it go.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
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55,300
5,300
|
5,300 |
|
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44,700
5,300
|
5,300 |
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
A big pot of 12,000 had brewed on a completed board of 8♣5♥2♦10♦A♠, in a hand between Willy Flora in the cutoff, and William Brandwell and Jostein Groedum in the blinds.
Action checked to Flora, who fired out a big bet of 11,500. Brandwell quickly folded but Jostein Groedum went into the tank.
Around two minutes passed before Flora, in a rather spicy move for a 100 big blind pot in Level 1, called the clock on his opponent.
Groedum took another 15 seconds before making the call, and his 9♥9♠ for third pair was good versus Flora's 6♦5♦, for a pair of fives and busted turned flush draw.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
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67,500
67,500
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67,500 |
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48,000
48,000
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48,000 |
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34,500
34,500
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34,500 |
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
A huge pot of 32,000 had developed on a completed board of A♥10♠7♠2♦Q♠, in a hand between Padraic O'Connor on the button and Mark Hayes in the small blind.
Hayes had jammed for 34,000, and the players were engaged in debate about who was happier at the poker table. "I'm always happy, win or lose" said Hayes. "Everyone's smiling, you're the only one who's not" replied O'Connor, all said in good humour.
Eventually O'Connor said "Ok, it's yours, show the bluff", and folded.
"No bluff" said Hayes, and he was about to send his cards to the muck, before he took a straw poll of the table as to whether he was bluffing - the unison reply was flush. Hayes then tabled Q♣Q♦ for the rivered set of queens.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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66,400
66,400
|
66,400 |
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34,000
16,000
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16,000 |
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
Philip Fenech opened to 500 from the cutoff, and was met with a three-bet to 1,500 from Tobias Lundgren on the button. Action folded back to Fenech, who called.
On the 7♥6♣2♦ flop, Fenech check-called versus a continuation bet of 1,300 from Lundgren.
The pattern continued on the A♣ turn, this time in respect of a 3,300 bet from Lundgren.
The 8♣ river was checked through, and Lundgren mucked when Fenech tabled A♥Q♥ for the turned pair of aces.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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78,000
28,000
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28,000 |
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48,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
