button in SafariErik Ostergaard Leads 12 Qualifiers into Record-Breaking Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event Final
A total of 202 players returned to Portomaso Casino today for Day 2 of the €600 Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event, which proved to be a record-breaker for the tournament, after it logged 1,451 entrants, creating a huge €684,390 prize pool.
The champion is set to bank €141,900, and Erik Ostergaard of Denmark (11,500,000) is in pole position to do just that, after topping the standings at the end of ten 50-minute levels of play.
Ostergaard leads 12 remaining combatants, with French duo Giuseppe Mazza-Boussemart (9,250,000) and Thibaut Thevenet (8,400,000) hot on his heels.
Ostergaard is chasing a second career six-figure score, while victory here would be Mazza-Boussemart's first. Thevenet has already beaten his career-best live tournament result with this run, figures courtesy of The Hendon Mob.
In reality, the title is completely up for grabs, with Italian pair Riccardo Saraniero (1,925,000) and Federico Petruzzelli (2,850,000) the relative short-stacks, but certainly not out of the picture.
The rest of the field are all within a double-up of challenging Ostergaard, and an intriguing battle is expected. Quality players abound, in particular another Italian duo, Davide Raschella (7,850,000) and Dario Barone (6,825,000), Denmark's Sebastian Mortensen (7,500,000) and the United Kingdom's Robert McAdam (7,975,000).
End of Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erik Ostergaard | Denmark | 11,500,000 | 58 |
| 2 | Giuseppe Mazza-Boussemart | France | 9,250,000 | 46 |
| 3 | Thibaut Thevenet | France | 8,400,000 | 42 |
| 4 | Robert McAdam | United Kingdom | 7,975,000 | 40 |
| 5 | Davide Raschella | Italy | 7,850,000 | 39 |
| 6 | Sebastian Mortensen | Denmark | 7,500,000 | 38 |
| 7 | Abdellah Baali | Algeria | 7,200,000 | 36 |
| 8 | Dario Barone | Italy | 6,825,000 | 34 |
| 9 | Pascal Inkert | Austria | 5,575,000 | 28 |
| 10 | Vito Romei | Italy | 4,400,000 | 22 |
The 12 players have all guaranteed a €6,580 payday, with a spot at the final table worth €10,260.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €141,900 | 7 | €17.980 |
| 2 | €80,920 | 8 | €13,840 |
| 3 | €53,980 | 9 | €10,260 |
| 4 | €41,050 | 10-11 | €7,840 |
| 5 | €30,040 | 12 | €6,580 |
| 6 | €23,080 |
Day 2 Action
The knockouts came at a rapid pace at the start of the day, and by the first break nearly half the field was gone.
McAdam got off to a hot start when he picked up cowboys to double, while Ostergaard actually had a difficult start to the day, but got things moving in the right direction when he busted Chen Keren.
McAdam proceeded to be among the chip leaders for a large part of the day, after being on the right side of a flopped set versus two pair blind on blind scenario.
By dinner break, Raschella was streaks ahead of the field after getting aces against fellow big stack Tadej Zalokar.
Raschella and Mazza-Boussemart then spent the rest of the day engaged in almost constant battle, and that will definitely be an interesting contest to watch tomorrow.
When the field was reduced to 24 players, Barone got moving by knocking out two opponents with ace-king, and a flurry of knockouts followed. McAdam was sitting pretty at this stage at the top of the standings but took a huge hit versus Mazza-Boussemart in a flush versus full house cooler, and the Brit did well to recover from there.
Thevenet spiked the the turn to make a set in a huge three-way all-in, and Andre Winkler and Mathieu Ikhlef both claimed scalps, before falling themselves.
Ostergaard wasn't involved in any significant knockout hands from the three-table redraw and built his stack through steadily applying pressure as the day drew to a close. The day ended with McAdam busting Ikhlef in the classic race and Thevenet ending Maciej Makoladra's run with a turned flush versus queens.
The players will return to Portomaso Casino at 1 p.m. April 27 for the final, where the clock will be set to 75-minute levels, and play will continue until a champion is crowned.
The final table action will also be streamed on Malta Poker Festival's social media channels, with full details and a link to follow tomorrow. Our coverage will match the stream in terms of delay.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of what is sure to be a thrilling final day of the Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event.