Around 120,000 was in the middle on a board of 10♥3♥4♥A♥, in a three-way hand involving start of day chip-leader Sebastian Mortensen in the big blind, a player in middle position, and Terje Bremseth in the cutoff.
Action checked to Bremseth, who fired out a bet of 36,000, which only Mortensen called.
The 2♥ river brought a flush on the board, and was checked through. Mortensen's 6♥4♦ was good versus Bremseth's A♠J♦.
Massimo Bruno was getting up out of his chair looking stunned, and the reason became clear after his Q♣Q♠ was cracked by Mark Vella's 8♥7♥ on the river on the A♥6♠5♣Q♦4♣ runout, Bruno turning a set and Vella rivering a straight.
A completed board of A♥10♦4♦5♠7♠ had led to a pot of 245,000. Daniele Degennaro checked from the big blind to Rony Mourad in the cutoff, and he fired out a bet of 95,000.
Degennaro took a bit of time, but ultimately folded.
The €150,000 prize pool is to be split between the 60 Day 2 players (with Ashley Scott receiving two minimum cashes after bagging twice), and the winner is set to take home the chunky sum of €28,500, a significant return on a €400 buy-in event.
A spot at the final table will secure a €3,000 payday, and a minimum cash is worth €600.
Please see the payouts tab above for full payout details.
After a slight delay while SiGMA representatives thank the players for their support and wish them luck, play is underway here in Day 2 of the SPT Malta Main Event, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of the action.
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After six starting flights here in the Sigma Poker Tour Malta Main Event, only 60 players will return to Portomaso Casino at 2:00 p.m. today, September 7, with their sights firmly set on lifting the Sigma Poker Tour Malta Main Event trophy.
The €400 buy-in, €150,000 guaranteed event, mixed with a hugely successful iGaming conference, attracted 411 entrants, and it is Day 1b chip leader Sebastian Mortensen of Denmark (1,029,000) who will start the day in pole position, after being the only player to reach seven-figures.
He is followed by WSOP Online bracelet winner Jonathan Therme of France (849,000), and Argentinian Micaela Arcusin (813,000), while Tomasz Brzezinski (714,000) lies fourth, fresh off his fourth-place finish in the EPT Barcelona Main Event.
Tomasz Brzezinski
Mortensen has recorded career cashes of just under $200,000, his biggest score being a runner-up finish in the 2024 Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition for €63,300 here in St Julian's, and he'll be hoping to go one better this time.
Therme boasts just over $1,000,000 in recorded earnings, and snagged a WSOP bracelet by winning the $315 Superstack Turbo Bounty online on GGPoker in 2022 for $36,600. His biggest recorded cash is a 77th place finish in the 2023 WSOP Main Event for $109,400.
Arcusin has just under $130,000 in recorded cashes, and her biggest payday is a runner-up spot in a tournament in Uruguay in 2023 for $45,005 (all figures courtesy of The Hendon Mob).
Micaela Arcusin
Start of Day 2 SPT Malta Main Event Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Sebastian Mortensen
Denmark
1,029,000
103
2
Jonathan Therme
France
849,000
85
3
Micaela Arcusin
Argentina
813,000
81
4
Tomasz Brzezinski
Poland
714,000
71
5
Jon Persent
Norway
646,000
65
6
Salvatore Incardona
Italy
588,000
59
7
Romain Gachet
France
560,000
56
8
Lukasz Fraczek
Poland
549,000
55
9
Vincenzo Popolo
Italy
537,000
54
10
Erwin Vaesen
Belgium
535,000
54
The players, all of whom have secured a €600 payday, will return to six minutes left in Level 15, with blinds of 5,000/10,000, with a 10,000 big blind ante.
The clock will be set to 40-minute levels, and play will continue until a winner is crowed. Prize pool and payout information will be confirmed as soon as the details are available.
The final table will be streamed on delay on SiGMA ambassador Lukas Robinson's YouTube channel, with commentary from David Lappin and Lukas, and a link to the stream will be available here when it is live. Our coverage of the final table will also be on delay to match the stream.
Be sure to stick with us at PokerNews as we see who can make a tilt at the SPT Malta Main Event title.
