€550 Grand Event
Day 2 Completed
2019 The Malta Poker Festival
€550 Grand Event
Day: 2
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Twelve levels of 50 minutes were played on Day 2 of the €550 Grand Event at The Malta Poker Festival. In what proved to be a hectic day from the start, the 274 survivors out of 1,324 entries were reduced to a mere 21 hopefuls left to battle it out for the lion share of the amazing €642,140 prize pool. The winner will eventually walk away with the first-place prize of €150,000 and the pretty MPF trophy.
The eliminations were coming in hot and heavy from the start as the announcement came in that 143 players would be in the money for at least €1,000. By the time the first break came around, more than 120 players had already busted from the tournament.
Shortly after the break, the tournament clock had been paused for what proved to be a long bubble with two players left to bust. During several rounds of hand-for-hand, nine times the all-in player doubled up. Valter Affatato finished in 145th place when he had flopped top pair and the chips went in on the turn. Unfortunately for him, Barny Boatman was ahead from the start as he had flopped the nut flush.
One more player doubled up before Stuart Bell, Frederick Field, and Marcus Larsson were all eliminated. As the bubble boy would get a special prize, a package to the Golden Series Cyprus, they had to play an all-in flip for it. In the end, it would be Bell who would walk away with a trip to another sunny island while both Field and Larsson pocketed a €1,000 min-cash.
The bubble lasted almost 90 minutes and when it had burst, the eliminations came in at a rapid pace. Almost 50 players were knocked out during one level and when it was time for the second break, only 75 players were left. And another three levels further, the field was reduced to almost half of that again. At the end of the day, Dmitri Dan managed to collect the most chips as he put 6,410,000 into a bag for Day 3.
Dan had a late surge and eliminated Shawn Morales and Simone Lombardo in the last two levels of the day. With more than 100 big blinds, Dan is going into Day 3 with a very comfortable chip lead. Dan is followed by Leendert Marcus also known as Paul by his friends. Marcus bagged 3,500,000 and was steadily building up his stack all day long. Third in the chip counts is Oskar Wedde who was doing the same and will take 3,195,000 with him on Day 3.
Tomas Sujeta, Michel Vat, Dario Marinelli, and Teijo Sinervo have all bagged an above-average stack. Linda Nguyen couldn’t participate in the Ladies Event as she is running deep in the Grand Event and was near the top of the chip counts for quite a large part of the day but lost a few pots at the end to bag 1,510,000 for Day 3.
Mark Vella scored a big double up but lost a big pot against Mario Manara just before the final three tables redraw. Nicolaj D’Antoni finished in third place last year and will be trying to better that result but he’s got some stiff competition with the remaining players left in the field.
Day 3 will start at 2 p.m. local time here in the Portomaso Casino with Level 27 which features a small blind of 30,000, big blind of 60,000, and a button ante of 60,000. Play will continue until there are nine or eight players left and level duration will increase to 60 minutes. The PokerNews live reporting team will be around as the players play down to the final table so make sure to return when it gets down to the nitty-gritty.
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Martyn Frey | 1,100,000 | 18 |
| 1 | 2 | Peter de Bruin | 785,000 | 13 |
| 1 | 3 | Dario Marinelli | 2,315,000 | 39 |
| 1 | 4 | Salvatore Cultraro | 590,000 | 10 |
| 1 | 5 | Giovanni Piccione | 1,450,000 | 24 |
| 1 | 6 | Quentin Lecomte | 1,255,000 | 21 |
| 1 | 8 | Mario Manara | 1,825,000 | 30 |
| 2 | 1 | Samuel Quesada | 1,050,000 | 18 |
| 2 | 2 | Domenico Tortomasi | 1,365,000 | 23 |
| 2 | 3 | Craig Smith | 1,125,000 | 19 |
| 2 | 5 | Leendert Marcus | 3,500,000 | 58 |
| 2 | 6 | Nicolaj D'Antoni | 1,000,000 | 17 |
| 2 | 7 | Teijo Sinervo | 2,185,000 | 36 |
| 2 | 8 | Oskar Wedde | 3,195,000 | 53 |
| 3 | 2 | Tomas Sujeta | 2,855,000 | 48 |
| 3 | 3 | Dmitri Dan | 6,410,000 | 107 |
| 3 | 4 | Mark Vella | 1,465,000 | 24 |
| 3 | 5 | Michel Vat | 2,500,000 | 42 |
| 3 | 6 | Pasquale Gregorio | 1,510,000 | 25 |
| 3 | 7 | Jacopo Achille | 870,000 | 15 |
| 3 | 8 | Linda Nguyen | 1,510,000 | 25 |
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
6,410,000
235,000
|
235,000 |
|
||
|
3,500,000
390,000
|
390,000 |
|
3,195,000
695,000
|
695,000 |
|
2,855,000
555,000
|
555,000 |
|
2,500,000
-500,000
|
-500,000 |
|
2,315,000
755,000
|
755,000 |
|
2,185,000
-315,000
|
-315,000 |
|
1,825,000
645,000
|
645,000 |
|
1,510,000
-215,000
|
-215,000 |
|
1,510,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
1,465,000
-1,355,000
|
-1,355,000 |
|
1,450,000
-350,000
|
-350,000 |
|
1,365,000
-135,000
|
-135,000 |
|
1,255,000
365,000
|
365,000 |
|
1,125,000
325,000
|
325,000 |
|
1,100,000
480,000
|
480,000 |
|
1,050,000
-450,000
|
-450,000 |
|
1,000,000
18,000
|
18,000 |
|
870,000
-185,000
|
-185,000 |
|
||
|
785,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
590,000
-110,000
|
-110,000 |
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The 21 remaining players have bagged and will return at 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, November 3 for Day 3.
The full chips, Day 3 seat draw, and a recap are to follow.
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused and the players need to play three more hands before they can bag and tag their chips for Day 3,
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Michel Vat raised to 110,000 from the button and Dmitri Dan three-bet to 340,000 in the small blind. Simone Lombardo shoved in the big blind for 1,530,000 and Vat quickly folded while Dan made the call.
Simone Lombardo: 
Dmitri Dan: 
The board ran out 
for Dan to hold with the jacks and send Lombardo to the rail in 22nd place for €2,900.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,175,000
1,835,000
|
1,835,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
in the first hand after the redraw, Teijo Sinervo raised to 100,000 and Dario Barone shoved his last 300,000 or so in which Sinervo called.
Dario Barone: 
Teijo Sinervo: 
The board ran out 
for Sinervo to hit the straight on the river to eliminate Barone.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,500,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 26
: 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
| Seat | Table #1 | Table #2 | Table #3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Quesada | Leendert Marcus | Dario Barone |
| 2 | Salvatore Cultraro | Jacopo Achille | Michel Vat |
| 3 | Peter de Bruin | Oskar Wedde | Dmitri Dan |
| 4 | Martyn Frey | Domenico Tortomasi | Simone Lombardo |
| 5 | Tomas Sujeta | Quentin Lecomte | Teijo Sinervo |
| 6 | Giovanni Piccione | Nicolaj D'Antoni | |
| 7 | Craig Smith | Linda Nguyen | Mario Manara |
| 8 | Pasquale Gregorio | Dario Marinelli | Mark Vella |
Level: 26
Blinds: 25,000/50,000
Ante: 50,000
Level 25
: 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The board read 
and Edoardo Mancinelli was seen walking away from the table. Leendert Marcus had taken him out with 
while Mancinelli had 
.
The final 23 players have now been redrawn to the final three tables.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,110,000
1,060,000
|
1,060,000 |
|
Busted |