€5,300 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€4,340,750
Entries
895
Level
38
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
100,000
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
While the final day of the inaugural Global Poker Masters was playing out at Portomaso Casino at the Hilton Hotel, the first-ever European Poker Tour stop in Malta was kicking off their €5,300 buy-in Main Event. Day 1a of the EPT Malta attracted 260 players, and after eight 75-minute levels of play only 142 would remain in contention.
Leading the pack with 180,300 is Greece's Evangelos Tsairis, who finished 18th in the EPT Deauville Main Event back in January for €22,160. Nipping at his heels are some accomplished players including online star Ignat "0Human0" Liviu (161,900), high-stakes pro Alec Torelli (133,100), and EPT10 Barcelona High Roller champ Thomas Muehloecker (121,200).
Day 1a got off to a fast start with former EPT champ Michael Tureniec bowing out in Level 1, making him the first elimination of the tournament. From there, the eliminations came at a steady pace and included EPT Vienna champ Oleksii Khoroshenin; last year's EPT Grand Final winner Antonio Buonanno; World Poker Tour champ Paul Klann; high rollers Stephen Chidwick, Paul Newey and Jeff Rossiter; Team PokerStars' Fatima Moreira De Melo and Liv Boeree; and Miss Finland, Sara Chafak.
Chafak actually fell in the last level of the night after she got her stack all in on a board reading 
holding the 
. Unfortunately for her, Thomas Berends held the 
for a better flush. Just like that Chafak was out while Berends went on to bag.
Others who survived Day 1a were John O'Shea (114,200), Simon Higgins (96,700), Fedor Holz (87,100), Jack Salter (73,600), Sam Chartier (67,000), Simon Ravnsbaek (47,000), Dimitar Danchev (40,600), and Ole Schemion (36,200), who jumped into the mix after Team Germany was eliminated from the Global Poker Masters. Likewise, Team PokerStars Pros Jan Heitmann (75,600), Marcin Horecki (66,400), and Theo Jorgensen (52,900), as well as PokerStars Sponsored Player Dominik Panka (66,700).
Day 1b will get underway at Noon local time on Monday. The plan is the same in that the field will play eight levels. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there every step of the way, so be sure to check back then. In the meantime, check out this video of Team Italy's victory in the Global Poker Masters:
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
180,300
80,300
|
80,300 |
|
161,900
-3,100
|
-3,100 |
|
144,200
24,200
|
24,200 |
|
138,300
-16,700
|
-16,700 |
|
133,100
25
|
25 |
|
||
|
121,200
105,200
|
105,200 |
|
116,000
79,800
|
79,800 |
|
114,200
6,200
|
6,200 |
|
110,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
|
106,900
8,900
|
8,900 |
|
106,000
-14,000
|
-14,000 |
|
105,600
-34,400
|
-34,400 |
|
104,400
-8,600
|
-8,600 |
|
98,600
8,600
|
8,600 |
|
96,800
96,800
|
96,800 |
|
96,700
26,700
|
26,700 |
|
89,300
89,300
|
89,300 |
|
88,500
88,500
|
88,500 |
|
87,400
87,400
|
87,400 |
|
87,100
22,100
|
22,100 |
|
||
|
|
86,600
1,600
|
1,600 |
|
86,200
86,200
|
86,200 |
|
86,200
86,200
|
86,200 |
|
86,100
86,100
|
86,100 |
|
84,400
84,400
|
84,400 |
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Just prior to players bagging for the night, Miss Finland, Sara Chafak, was eliminated from the EPT Malta Main Event.
Her elimination escaped us, but Alex Torelli was kind enough to fill us in on a few details. Thomas Berends had opened and received three callers to see a flop of , and after some bets and calls, three of them made it to the turn. Two checks saw Chafak shove her short stack in, and initial raiser Berends looked her up.
Chafak tabled the for a flush, but it was no good as the Dutchman held the for a better flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
120,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
The tournament staff just announced that the remaining players will play five more hands before bagging and tagging for the night.
We're headed out to grab some notable chip counts. Stay tuned for those as well as a full recap of the Day 1a action.
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
With 4,275 in the pot and a board reading 
, Simon Ravnsbaek bet 1,625 from the big blind only to have Miss Finland, Sara Chafak, raised to 3,300 from the under-the-gun position. Not to be outdone, Ravnsbaek three-bet to 7,250, Chafak called, and it was off to the 
river.
Ravnsbaek was first to act and bet 8,175, which prompted Chafak to quickly fold her hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
50,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
19,100
-14,900
|
-14,900 |
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Eros Nastasi moved all in for 7,500 chips from late position and Joao Ribeiro asked for a count out of the big blind. Once that was confirmed he pushed the stack forward and flipped over 
. Nastasi had two over cards with 
but was drawing dead after the turn of a 
board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
32,000
-22,000
|
-22,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
It was a coin flip that decided over the double up or nothing for Ole Schemion who was at risk for his last 12,450 chips. The 
of the German flipped against Celil Iyidogan's 
and the board ran out 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
25,500
-9,500
|
-9,500 |