Per Gaassand was all-in for around 220,000, as was Dario Marinelli for slightly less, while Magrane Esteve had them both covered in a three-way all-in scenario.
Per Gaassand: A♥Q♣
Dario Marinelli: A♦J♦
Magrane Esteve: 10♦10♥
Esteve looked in good shape to claim a double knockout, and remained ahead after the8♣7♣5♦ flop. However the Q♦ hit on the turn, and it was followed by a brick 2♣ river to send Gaassand a lifeline.
"Nice pot" said a table mate - "I needed it!" responded Gaassand.
A pot of at least 500,000 had developed on a completed board of K♦Q♠J♥J♣6♥ - in a hand between Jared Louali on the button and Martijn Rendering in the big blind.
Rendering jammed for 375,000, and Louali, who just covered him, went into the tank.
After about two minutes Louali made the call, and said "Wow" when he saw Rendering held A♦10♥ for the flopped nut straight, while Louali had 10♣9♣ for the flopped lower straight.
Ludovic Uzan opened to 25,000 from early position, and was met with a three-bet to 65,000 from Pavle Pecelj. Colin Lovelock was in the big blind, and he cold four-bet jammed for 153,000.
Uzan got out of the way, but Pecelj made the call after asking for a count.
Colin Lovelock: A♠Q♣
Pavle Pecelj: A♣J♥
Lovelock had Pecelj pipped, and he took the pot after the Q♦9♥2♦6♣6♦ runout gave him top pair queens.
A pot of 150,000 had brewed by the river on a completed board of K♠9♣5♦3♥J♦, in a hand between Erik Lindqwist on the button and Charles Eichner in the big blind.
Eichner fired out a bet of 107,000, and Lindqwist went deep into thought. After about two minutes, he made the call.
Eicher tabled K♥4♦ for top pair kings, and that was enough for the pot as Lindqwist mucked.
Arican Sukru opened to 35,000 from early position, and was faced with a three-bet to 60,000 by Antonio Scala in the next seat. Action folded back to Sukru, who called.
On the K♣9♦2♠ flop, Sukru check-called versus a bet of 30,000 from Scala.
The 9♣ turn was checked through to the 10♠ river. Sukru checked, and after some thought, Scala fired out an overbet of 475,000.
Sukru went into the tank, but was ultimately forced to fold.
After the dust has settled on seven starting flights, a total of 180 players have progressed to Day 2 of the Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event from a total of 1,202 entries, with the players set to return to Portomaso Casino at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 4 to attempt to book a spot in the final day.
Those figures created a €555,940 prize pool, an astonishing figure for a €550 buy-in event.
No-one could catch Day 1c chip leader, Ludovic Uzan of France, in subsequent flights - he leads the way on 1,412,000, closely followed by Day 1f chip leader Carsten Mawick of Germany (1,190,000) and Giacomo Comitini of Italy (1,146,000).
Start of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Ludovic Uzan
France
1,412,000
141
2
Carsten Mawick
Germany
1,190,000
119
3
Giacomo Comitini
Italy
1,146,000
114
4
Justin Scicluna
Malta
1,066,000
106
5
Gustav Andersson
Sweden
955,000
95
6
Jan Jensen
Denmark
917,000
91
7
Andrew Cutajar
Malta
873,000
87
8
Antonio Scala
Italy
870,000
87
9
Joni Ryhanen
Finland
828,000
82
10
Christoforos Chrysochoidis
Greece
816,000
81
Defending champion Domenico Lando and PokerNews ambassador Lukas Robinson (432,000) have also navigated there way to Day 2.
Domenico Lando
The players will return to 50-minute blind levels at Level 15, with blinds of 5,000/10,000, with a 10,000 big blind ante. The format of the day will be confirmed as soon as it is confirmed by tournament staff.
Players who qualify for the final day will return on Monday, May 5 at 1 p.m. to do battle for the trophy. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of what is sure to be a thrilling day of poker.
