€1,100 Main Event
Day 1ab Completed
€1,100 Main Event
Day 1ab Completed
Day 1a of the PokerStars Summer Festival Malta, running at the InterContinental Hotel, has now concluded. A total of 264 players entered the flight and, of those, 77 made it through to Day 2.
After ten levels of play, Tiago Luis of Portugal emerged as the chip leader with 340,000, which will be a stack of 266 big blinds when he sits back down for the second day.
Luis has $65,000 in recorded live cashes to his name, with all his major scores coming from tournaments in Las Vegas. He’s now on track for his first big win in Europe, too.
In close second was Maher Achour with 335,000 chips. He’s the only other player to finish the flight with over 300,000. The Tunisian player has $292,259 in recorded live cashes to his name, making him a serious contender in the tournament in terms of both chips and talent.
In third place is Lois Dufouleur, a French player who also has serious cashes which amount to $243,515. He bagged 281,000 chips.
Ercan Atmaca of the Netherlands and Florian Ahlmer of Germany round out the top five.
One of Italy's most successful players, Luca Moschitta is also in the top ten. Irish Open 2023 winner David Docherty has over double the starting stack with 109,000 chips and PokerStars Team Online pro Felix Schneiders is still in there with a short stack.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiago Luis | Portugal | 340,000 | 226 |
| 2 | Maher Achour | Tunisia | 335,500 | 223 |
| 3 | Lois Dufouleur | France | 281,000 | 187 |
| 4 | Ercan Atmaca | Germany | 276,000 | 184 |
| 5 | Florian Ahlmer | Germany | 258,500 | 172 |
| 6 | Antoine Talvard | France | 237,000 | 158 |
| 7 | Giovanni Agliozzo | Italy | 231,500 | 154 |
| 8 | [Removed:471] | France | 230,500 | 153 |
| 9 | Gaspare Sposato | Italy | 228,500 | 152 |
| 10 | Luca Moschitta | Italy | 200,500 | 133 |

Day 1b has also now concluded. The second flight attracted an additional 49 entries and, of those, 17 players made it through.
That brings the total number of entries across both flights up to 313, with 94 players locking up their seat in Day 2.
The Main Event will continue with Day 1c, the third of four starting flights, which commences tomorrow at 12 p.m. local time. Day 1d will also be running later on, starting at 7 p.m. local time.
PokerNews will be bringing you live updates of Day 1c straight from the tournament floor.

| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
340,000
340,000
|
340,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
335,500
335,500
|
335,500 |
|
|
281,000
71,000
|
71,000 |
|
|
276,000
276,000
|
276,000 |
|
|
258,500
258,500
|
258,500 |
|
|
237,000
237,000
|
237,000 |
|
|
231,500
178,500
|
178,500 |
|
|
230,500
230,500
|
230,500 |
|
|
228,500
228,500
|
228,500 |
|
|
200,500
10,500
|
10,500 |
|
|
198,500
198,500
|
198,500 |
|
|
177,500
177,500
|
177,500 |
|
|
177,000
79,000
|
79,000 |
|
|
176,500 | |
|
|
||
|
|
166,000 | |
|
|
155,500
155,500
|
155,500 |
|
|
153,500
153,500
|
153,500 |
|
|
153,000 | |
|
|
147,000
147,000
|
147,000 |
|
|
145,000
145,000
|
145,000 |
|
|
144,500 | |
|
|
132,000
132,000
|
132,000 |
|
|
126,500
126,500
|
126,500 |
|
|
126,000
126,000
|
126,000 |
|
|
122,000
122,000
|
122,000 |
Day 1a has now concluded. Standby for full chip counts and a recap of the day.
The tournament director has announced that there will be four more hands to be dealt at each table before the end of Day 1a of the Main Event.
Max Buschmann has had a decent run in the Main Event and has picked up coverage for several hands that he's played. His time, however, was about to be up.
Buschmann raised from the button and Luca Moschitta three-bet from the big blind. Buschmann four-bet all in for 84,700 and Moschitta made the call. The two players flipped over their cards, with Buschmann at risk.
Max Buschmann: 10♦10♥
Luca Moschitta: K♦K♠
Buschmann had pocket tens and Moschitta had pocket kings. The board ran out A♦3♥Q♠9♥Q♦ and Moshitta held up with his pocket kings. Buschmann was eliminated from the tournament with just minutes to go.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
190,000
190,000
|
190,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Frederico Silva raised from early position and Fabrizio Iannini moved all in with a short stack of around 16,000. Silva made the call and the two players flipped their cards.
Fabrizio Iannini: K♣K♥
Frederico Silva: A♠Q♦
Iannini found himself well ahead with pocket kings. The board ran out 9♠6♣3♣3♠3♥ to give Iannini a full house with kings full of threes. He tapped the table excitedly as he scooped over the chips for the double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
115,000
115,000
|
115,000 |
|
|
36,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
The final blind level of the night has now begun. A total of 265 players have entered so far and 93 players are remaining. Late registration remains open until level 12 on Day 2.
Over in Day 1b, 44 entries have been made so far and 28 players remain.
Level: 10
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 1,200

Following a middle position raise, Eftychios Georgiou reraised to 8,500 and Lois Dufouleur four-bet to 23,000. Georgiou made the call and two players went to the flop.
The flop came J♣4♣3♠. Georgiou checked and Dufouleur continued for 25,000, which Eftychios called.
The turn was the 7♥ and Georgiou moved all in for 96,500 effective, the rest of Dufouleur's stack. It didn't take long for Dufouleur to make the call.
Georgiou showed 7♠6♣ for a pair of sevens with a backdoor straight draw. Dufouleur showed K♠K♣ for pocket kings.
The river came a blank and Dufouleur's kings held to give him a huge double up, bringing his stack to above 200,000 and moving him into one of the top positions as the flight draws to a close.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
210,000
210,000
|
210,000 |
|
|
48,000
48,000
|
48,000 |