Live Blog – Day 1C

Day 1c of the MPF Grand Event powered by the Unibet DeepStack Open was a roaring success from the start at Portomaso Casino with the €300,000 guarantee smashed before the start of the day with still Day 1d and the turbo-charged Day 1e running tomorrow.

The third opening flight attracted 330 players to bring the field up to 799 entries and counting. Meanwhile, the prize pool will continue to grow but is already at €383,520 and counting.

Maik Buss (pictured above) had a substantial chip lead heading into the final break of the day and cruised along to end the day with the biggest stack among the 97 survivors in the room with 618,000 in chips. As of now, Buss will head into Day 2 in third place among the 214 players to find a bag only behind Day 1a chip leader Marko Luksa (687,000) and Day 1b chip leader Shaun Halliday (656,000).

Johannes Grootelaar (423,000), Lorenzo Di Blasi (419,000), and Ulf Andersson (410,000) all bagged more than 400,000 with James Thrody (390,000), Andrei Mjagkov (384,000), Kjetil Hanstedt (374,000), and Koen Meustege (372,000) all just behind.

The formidable Katie Swift, who is here with her mother Sue O’Connor and also hosted the Ladies First! event last autumn, bagged the most chips of the many women in the Grand Event today with 308,000 in chips. Swift had a big hand just before the final break where her cowboys were good against ace-queen and king-queen to send two players packing.

Final Day 1c Chip Counts

Player	Chips	Big Blinds
Maik Buss	618,000	124
Johannes Grootelaar	423,000	85
Lorenzo Di Blasi	419,000	84
Ulf Andersson	410,000	82
James Thody	390,000	78
Andrei Mjagkov	384,000	77
Kjetil Hanstvedt	374,000	75
Koen Meustege	372,000	74
Joaquim Ferriera	319,000	64
Giovanni Nava	319,000	64
Sasa Drca	315,000	63
Katie Swift	308,000	62
Benjamin Rensen	304,000	61
Daniele Degennaro	295,000	59
Humberto Galido	286,000	57
Mark Vella	281,000	56
Sirin Ongorur	280,000	56
Rob Van Embden	257,000	51
Davide Iannaco	255,000	51
Erik Ostergaard	255,000	51
Presiyan Tsvetanov	253,000	51
Peter Miskei	249,000	50
Jonathan Therme	244,000	49
Boris Zismanov	241,000	48
Cedric Offner	236,000	47
Paolo Rando	236,000	47
Thomas Hofmann	233,000	47
Karl Heinz Zimmer	232,000	46
Colin Cooper	228,000	46
Alessandro Furneri	219,000	44
Samuel Dray	218,000	44
Stepan Brychta	207,000	41
Daniel Toffel	202,000	40
Ashley Wilson	193,000	39
Carl Holmes	192,000	38
Dror Krici	190,000	38
Giuseppe Signorelli	185,000	37
Frank Bastow	183,000	37
Oliver Said	176,000	35
Simon Dunevein	171,000	34
Grant Pirie	170,000	34
Mirko Mostaccio	167,000	33
Raoul Van Wersch	159,000	32
Giuseppe Florio	156,000	31
Erik Lindqwist	152,000	30
Arno Kungl	138,000	28
Samuel Biland	133,000	27
Angelo Mirabella	129,000	26
Roberto Zuggo	128,000	26
Albert Coppens	127,000	25
Michal Kulesza	127,000	25
Mike Blomvall	123,000	25
Corentin Viaud	123,000	25
Per Moller	119,000	24
Julian Capone	111,000	22
Robert Teunissen	111,000	22
Domenico Zappia	110,000	22
Jan Swan	109,000	22
Luke Pace	105,000	21
Edward Hodge	104,000	21
Daniel Kalinowski	102,000	20
Manoel Filho	99,000	20
Per Gaassand	99,000	20
Hans Nothofer	96,000	19
Thomas Jakobsen	95,000	19
Bakir Saranovic	93,000	19
Alessandro Forleo	91,000	18
Antonin Hays	90,000	18
Patrick Mateos	89,000	18
Nicky Molmans	86,000	17
Voitk Andero	84,000	17
Daoud Abu	82,000	16
Steven Goose	81,000	16
Dario Barone	80,000	16
Manuela Hartmann	80,000	16
Dewi James	80,000	16
Moses Moshi	79,000	16
Fabio Berti	78,000	16
Daniel Pereira Henriques	77,000	15
Pierre Jeffredo	74,000	15
Paul Fisher	73,000	15
Frank Robotka	73,000	15
Susan Williamson	69,000	14
John Sadler	68,000	14
Thomas Petit	66,000	13
Ivan Picavet	66,000	13
Anastasios Apostolou	64,000	13
Thomas Noske	64,000	13
Miro Kaarna	58,000	12
Oliver Mihajlovski	58,000	12
Marius Jankauskas	55,000	11
Ruben Perez	55,000	11
Giuseppe Simeone	55,000	11
Marton Lugosi	53,000	11
Ilana Belsky	51,000	10
Mathias Scharbatke	48,000	10
Soren Wagner	47,000	9

Tons of Action at Portomaso Casino on Saturday

Saturday will be another busy day at Portomaso Casino. We will be covering Day 1d similar to the other opening flights starting at 2 p.m. while providing just the final chip counts of the turbo Day 1e kicking off at 9 p.m. The turbo flight will work a little different as instead of playing 13 blind levels of 40 minutes each, players will play down the average stack from the first three opening flights with much faster 20-minute blind levels.

There will also be tons of exciting side events with many of the female players in attendance looking forward to the €150 Ladies First! powered by Chris Read at 4 p.m. Before that, men and women are invited to join in on a Valetta City tour at 10:45 a.m. Players and guests alike can purchase their tickets to the tour for just €35 on our landing page. Meanwhile, at 1 p.m. AJ Rudolph will be representing Poker Power with an interactive poker seminar for ladies only. You can read more about that and learn a bit about Rudolph’s history in poker and with Poker Power in an article written before the event at MPF’s Official Travel Partner Main Event Travel.

Also taking place tomorrow will be the second and final day of the €230 The Hendon Mob Championship at 1 p.m., the first of two days of the €120 APAT Maltese Championship at 5 p.m., and the €250 MPF Seniors Event powered by Jackie “Poker Mama” Cachia at 8 p.m.

While the Grand Event satellites are in the books, there will be a €150 satellite to the two-day €1,100 MPF High Roller also taking place tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Come drop by to say hi to this reporter if you are in town. Otherwise, we wish you the best from wherever you are tuning in from. Have a good night and see you again when cards are back in the air for Day 1d of the MPF Grand Event starting at 2 p.m.

Level 13: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Entries: 101/330

The floor has announced the final three hands for Day 1c. We quickly witnessed a hand where Lydia Cugudda got her short stack in with king-high and didn’t get there against a player with ace-rag.

This might be the end of Cugudda’s Main Event run as tomorrow not only features the final two opening flights of the Grand Event but also the much-anticipated €150 Ladies First! at 4 p.m.

Best of luck to all the Day 1c players in the final few hands.

We will update with the final Day 1c chip counts along with a short recap in less than an hour.

Level 13: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Entries: 104/330

There was more than 100,000 already in the pot with the K♣7♣Q♠4♠7♦ on the board when we caught up to the hand.

Joaquim Ferriera checked. Nicky Molmans was chatting a little out loud before he bet 50,000. Ferriera quickly called.

“You couldn’t get away from your queen,” Molmans said to Ferriera.

Ferriera signaled for Molmans to turn over his cards and he showed the 4♣3♣.

Ferriera didn’t have the queen but something a little better as he turned over the K♦J♣ for the top pair.

“Nice hand,” Molmans said to Ferriera. “What can I do? I am here to play poker.”

Joaquim Ferriera – 275,000
Nicky Molmans – 250,000

Level 13: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Entries: 109/330

Giulio Di Salvo was down to 17,500 in chips and was about to be in the big blind the next hand when he jammed his stack from under the gun. Thomas Jakobsen called from one seat over and the rest of the table folded.

Giulio Di Salvo: K♥5♠
Thomas Jakobsen: 8♦8♣

Di Salvo had a live king and other opportunities to improve. However, most of his hope went away after Jakobsen improved to a set on the 2♥8♠3♥ flop. Di Salvo got out of his seat after he was drawing dead on the 7♥ turn and was officially eliminated after the Q♥ river completed the board.

Local hero Mark Vella continues to shine and is the table captain with 200,000 in chips.

Meanwhile, we also just lost WPA advocate Chris Read at another table.

Mark Vella – 200,000
Thomas Jakobsen – 120,000
Giulio Di Salvo – 0
Chris Read – 0

Several ladies are running deep on Day 1c. Here is a look at some of the photos of some of the ladies remaining.

Level 13: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Entries: 113/330

The final blind level of Day 1c has just kicked off with blinds at 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 big blind ante.

The clock will stop near the end of the blind level, at which point a random amount of hands will be drawn to be played at each table. After these tables, surviving players will be asked to bag chips with one small exception.

Players that have a starting stack of 50,000 or less can opt to forfeit their stack instead of bagging it. If they forfeit they can try for a bigger stack in tomorrow’s final two opening flights in Day 1d or Day 1e.

Level 12: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Entries: 121/330

Sirin Ongorur was among the chip leaders at the last break. Level 12 hasn’t been his blind level as he doubled up three players to get back down to a slightly above-average stack.

We caught the third double-up while passing by the table and it went down as follows:

Lydia Cugudda jammed from late position for 35,000 and was called by Ongorur.

Lydia Cugudda: A♣7♣
Sirin Ongorur: A♥5♦

This hand very often would end with a chop pot but Cugudda’s seven-kicker came into play after the 8♠9♠4♣9♦6♠ ran out on the board. Cugudda now had some breathing room after previously losing a chunk of her once-healthy stack.

This author would like to thank Ongorur for his hard work and for his time in helping set up the technical bits of our blog and wish him the best of luck in growing his stack back up again.

Sirin Ongorur – 163,000
Lydia Cugguda – 74,500

Level 12: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Entries: 126/330

We caught up with the action with Mattia Gentile with 14,000 out in front of him from the button and facing a raise by Sasa Drca from the small blind to 35,000.

Gentile tanked for a few moments before he jammed for 70,000. Drca snapped him off and the cards were turned over.

Mattia Gentile: A♦K♠
Sasa Drca: K♥K♣

Gentile was unable to get his big slick ahead of cowboys on the 3♠2♠6♣7♣4♥ board and was eliminated by Drca.

Sasa Drca – 250,000
Mattia Gentile – 0

Player	Chips	Big Blinds
Maik Buss	495,000	165
Sirin Ongorur	337,000	112
Katie Swift	310,000	103
Ulf Andersson	305,000	102
Kjetil Hanstvedt	305,000	102
Thomas Hofman	303,000	101
Andrei Mjagkov	300,000	100

Players are on their final break of Day 1c. The blinds will increase to 1,500/3,000 with a 3,000 big blind ante. The final blind level with blinds at 2,000/4,000 with a 4,000 big blind ante will follow. After these two blind levels, surviving players will bag their stacks into Sunday’s Day 2.

Level 10: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 131/330

Albert Coppens limped from early position. Ilana Belsky limped behind from the button before Nikola Minovic jammed from the blinds.

Coppens called and a few moments later Belsky folded.

“Let’s gamble!” said Coppens with excitement as the cards were turned over.

Nikola Minovic: A♣3♣
Albert Coppens: 7♦7♥

Minovic was unable to get ahead of his opponent’s sevens on the 9♠Q♦8♦7♠6♥ and was on the rail.

“I really love my sevens,” Coppens commented to the table after the hand. “That’s the fourth time I have had them.”

Meanwhile, last Autumn’s MPF Grand Event champion Mirko Mostaccio is at the same table. He is off to a good start in his quest to defend his title with a stack of 150,000.

Albert Coppens – 250,000
Mirko Mostaccio – 150,000
Ilana Belsky – 145,000
Nikola Minovic – 0

Level 11: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)
Entries: 142/330

Katie Swift, who was the host of the Ladies First! event last autumn, possess a healthy stack on Day 1c after she just took out two players.

Swift opened for 5,500 from early position. Per Moller three-bet jammed his short stack of 8,500 from one seat over before Stavros Andreadis three-bet jammed for about 85,000 one seat next to Moller. Swift called and she was putting two players at risk.

Per Moller: K♥Q♠
Stavros Andreadis: A♦Q♠
Katie Swift: K♠K♦

Swift’s cowboys held strong on the 3♣2♥8♠3♥4♥ board to eliminate both Andreadis and Moller.

Katie Swift – 230,000
Per Moller – 0
Stavros Andreadis – 0

Level 10: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 165/330

Giuseppe Florio limped from early position before Arno Kungl raised to 8,000 from middle position. Diego Grisiglione three-bet jammed for less than 15 big blinds. Florio folded before Kungl tossed a chip into the pot to call.

Diego Grisiglione: A♥K♥
Arno Kungl: A♠A♣

The K♦9♣8♦Q♦4♥ board did connect with Grisiglione’s king. But that was all it did and Grisiglione’s stack belonged to Kugl after the hand.

Arno Kugl – 120,000
Diego Grisglione – 0

Level 10: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 168/330

Erik Lindqwist opened for 4,500 from early position before Karl Gialanze three-bet jammed for 40,000 from one seat over. Lindqwist snap-called after the action folded back around to him.

Karl Gialanze: 4♠4♥
Erik Lindqwist: A♦A♠

It was bad timing for Gialanze and he lost his stack to Lindqwist after the 8♣7♦9♠3♣8♥ runout was of no help.

Meanwhile, Friend of PokerStars at The Hippodrome Lydia Cugudda also is plugging away at the same table and has a healthy stack of nearly three times the starting stack.

Erik Lindqwist – 190,000
Lydia Cugudda – 140,000
Karl Gialanze – 0

Level 10: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 180/330

Dutch players Vester Vergeest and Kynan Brugts were short on chips when the duo saw the 3♠3♣2♠ flop. Vergeest jammed for 20,500 and Brugts called.

Vester Vergeest: Q♥9♠
Kynan Brugts: A♠10♦

Neither player connected with the board thus far but Vergeest was the one who needed help to survive with the lower cards in his hand. Neither the K♣ turn nor the 6♠ river helped Vergeest and he was one of the latest batch of Day 1c players to hit the rail since the dinner break.

Kynan Brugts – 85,000
Vester Vergeest – 0

We briefly caught up with poker streamer and photographer Mairo Toom during the dinner break. Unfortunately, he shared with us that his dinner break was as long as he would like.

He shared that before the dinner break he three-bet squeezed for about 35 big blinds against an opener and caller with cowboys and was up against a player with aces.

Toom was unable to get ahead and that was the end of his Day 1c run.

Level 9: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 199/330

Philip Pearson opened for 3,500 from middle position. Tomas Molcan called from the button before Bjorn Sperling squeezed his entire stack of 22,500 from the big blind.

Pearson thought for a moment before he called while Molcan opted to quickly fold.

Bjorn Sperling: A♦K♣
Philip Pearson: 2♥2♠

Sperling was unable to improve his hand on the 9♣7♥4♠5♦3♣ runout and was eliminated by Pearson’s ducks.

“Good luck,” Sperling said as he quickly left the table.

“I was priced in after you called,” Pearson told Molcan while piling his new chips in preparation for the next hand.

Philip Pearson – 137,000
Tomas Molcan – 56,000
Bjorn Sperling – 0

Level 9: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 207/330

There wasn’t much in the pot when a raising war took place between Daniel Kalinowski and Philip Joyce.

Kalinowski bet 2,000 into a small pot after the 10♣2♠Q♠ came on the flop. Joyce jacked it up to 7,000. Kalinowski three-bet to 17,000 before Joyce jammed it in for about 24,000. Kalinowski called and the players showed their hands.

Philip Joyce: K♠10♠
Daniel Kalinowski: Q♦9♦

It was more or less a coin flip with Kalinowski holding the top pair and Joyce holding both the middle pair and a flush draw. Both players also held different open-ended straight draws after the [jc] followed on the turn.

The [kd] river improved Joyce to two pair. However, this completed Kalinowski’s straight to send Joyce to the rail.

Daniel Kalinowski – 120,000
Philip Joyce – 0

Level 9: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 213/330

Players are back from dinner break. This means late registration is now closed for Day 1c. The Day 1c field attracted 330 entries. This brings the total up to 799 entries when factoring in the 215 entries on Day 1a and the 254 entries on Day 1b.

The prize pool stood at a whopping €387,360 to already smash the €300,000 guarantee on the 2023 MPF Spring Edition €550 Grand Event powered by the Unibet DeepStack Open.

This is just the start as many more entries will come tomorrow’s final two opening flights in Day 1d and the turbo-charged Day 1e.

Place	Chip Counts	Big Blinds
Presiyan Tsvetanov	250,000	167
Luke Pace	240,000	160
Maik Buss	240,000	160
Alessandro Funeri	235,000	157
Ferreira D’Assuncao	230,000	153
Giovanni Priviti	220,000	147

Players are now on a 75-minute dinner break. Late registration for Day 1c will be closed after the break.

We will update with some of the biggest stacks from around the room during the latter part of the break. Enjoy your dinner!

Level 8: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 211/320

There was 40,000 in the pot with the 9♣A♦Q♠7♠ on the board after the turn when we caught up to the hand. Franck Meucci checked. Nikolaos Vryonis fired out for 20,000. Meucci tanked for more than a minute before he called.

Both players checked the 6♠ river. Meucci flashed his cards to Vyronis. Vryonis turned over the 9♥9♠ for a set of nines.

“Show one, show all,” said someone at the table.

Meucci turned over his J♣10♣ before he hit the table with a little more than a tap out of frustration about the hand.

Nikolaos Vryonis – 135,000
Franck Meucci – 60,000

Nizar Abudaoud bet 6,000 into a pot of around 15,000 after the 8♣9♣J♥ appeared on the flop. Seamus McGilligan raised to 30,000, which was more than the two other players had in their hand. Stephen Goose got out of the way while Abudaoud snap-called.

Nizar Abudaoud: Q♦J♣
Seamus McGilligan: A♣7♣

Abudaoud had to sweat a flush draw with his top pair, which improved to two pair on the Q♥ turn. The 8♦ river completed the board to secure Abudaoud’s double-up.

“Yes!” shouted Abudaoud. “I’m back in it! Come on!”

Seamus McGilligan – 80,000
Nizar Abudaoud – 70,000

Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 217/311

Steven Goose checked with about 40,000 in the pot and the 4♦3♦Q♠2♥J♠ on the board after the river. Callum Gordon fired out for 20,000. Goose tanked for a few moments before he called.

Gordon turned over the K♠K♣ and Goose tossed his hand into the muck.

Callum Gordon – 140,000
Steven Goose – 28,000

Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 225/303

Giuseppe Marrone bet 2,000 into a pot of more than triple that after the 10♠2♦Q♠ appeared on the flop. Mathias Scharbatke called before Humberto Lopes Galindo jammed for 49,700. Marrone rejammed for much more and Scharbatke got out of the way.

Humberto Lopes Galindo: Q♥J♥
Giuseppe Marrone: A♥K♠

Galindo was ahead but he had a sweat with his opponent’s card both live and a jack improving him to Broadway. Marrone got nowhere on either the 10♣ turn or the [pcn3h[/pcn] river and he doubled up Marrone.

“I also had ace-king,” Scharbatke said after the hand. “Good thing I folded.”

Humberto Lopes Galindo – 120,000
Mathias Scharbatke – 75,000
Giuseppe Marrone – 60,000

Here is a look at most if not all of the biggest stacks from around the room on the second break of Day 1c.

Player	Chips	Big Blinds
Giovanni Previti	235,000	235
Patrick Mateos	186,000	186
Domenico Zappia	165,000	165
Giovanni Nava	152,000	152
Albert Sapiano	150,000	150
Luke Pace	138,000	138
Sirin Ongorur	137,000	137
Presiyan Tsvetanov	136,000	136
Benjamin Rensen	132,000	132
Giuseppe Gignorelli	132,000	132
Marton Lugosi	131,000	131
Ian Swan	118,000	118
Roberto Zuffo	116,000	116
Alain Pujol	116,000	116
Karin Gerritsen	103,000	103

Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 223/300

The action has resumed for the Grand Event. The Day 1c field has reached 300 entries with still two more levels of late registration available along with the dinner break.

We will update some of the bigger stacks at the break shortly.

Players are on their second short break of the day. Players will play two more blind levels before a 75-minute dinner break takes place.

Blinds will increase to 500/1,000 with a big blind ante of 1,000 when the action resumes.

Level 6: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 223/293

Erik Ostergaard checked the 10♥Q♠4♠ flop before Marek Janiszewski bet 4,500 into a pot of around 10,000. Paul Maguire jacked it up to 10,000 before Moses Moshi jammed for 20,500. Janiszewski came in over the top for near a starting stack. Maguire tanked before he called.

Marek Janiszewski: 4♥4♦
Moses Moshi: J♣9♣
Paul Maguire: K♥K♣

Janiszewski was ahead and Maguire had some of Moshi’s outs blocked. The 5♣ turn gave Moshi a flush draw but he completed his straight while Maguire improved to a set after the K♠ river completed the board.

“Boom!” shouted Maguire.

“I won the main pot,” Moshi told Maguire who didn’t notice at first. “I wanted to re-enter but this is OK.”

Moses Moshi – 75,000
Paul Maguire – 40,000
Marek Janiszewski – 10,000

Level 6: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 231/289

Mahmod Sayehban opened for 1,800 from middle position. Marton Lugosi three-bet to 6,000 from the cutoff before Richard Rich cold-called from the big blind. Sayehban got out of the way before the 2♣2♦4♦ hit the flop.

Rich checked before Lugosi bet 5,000. Rich jammed for about a starting stack and Lugosi called off for a little less.

Marton Lugosi: K♠K♣
Richard Rich: 7♥7♣

Rich was far behind and his stack became poor (pun intended) after the A♠ turn and Q♦ river completed the board.

Meanwhile, Renato Messina, who ran deep in the HORSE event earlier this week, is at the table and off to a decent start with nearly double a starting stack.

Marton Lugosi – 100,000
Renato Messina – 95,000
Mahmod Sayehban – 50,000
Richard Rich – 8,000

Level 5: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 231/284

Frank Bastow opened to 1,600 from late position and was called by Luciano Di Domenico from one seat over.

Bastow continued on the 10♠3♠J♦ flop before Di Domenico jammed. Bastow had around 20,000 or so in his stack and opted to call.

Frank Bastow: Q♣J♣
Luciano Di Domenico: Q♠8♠

Bastow was ahead with his top pair and his equity increased further after the 7♥ turn. The tables turned after 7♠ completed the board on the river as Di Domenico improved to a flush to win the hand and send Bastow to the rail.

Luciano Di Domenico – 70,000
Frank Bastow – 0

Level 5: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 233/277

Stepan Brychta four-bet to 12,400 and was called by Michael Stampe, who originally cold three-bet from late position.

Brychta continued for 8,500 on the 5♣9♣8♦ flop. Stampe jammed for a little more than 20,000 and Brychta snap-called.

Michael Stampe: K♠7♠
Stepan Brychta: A♥A♣

Stampe got out of his chair and looked ready to go when the reality set in that he was down to just four outs to complete a gutshot straight draw or a pair of runners for a random two pair or trips.

The 9♠ turn and 5♠ river double-paired that board. Neither of these cards helped Stampe pull ahead of Brychta’s rockets and he will have to re-enter if he wishes a chance for a bag into Sunday’s Day 2.

Stepan Brychta – 90,000
Michael Stampe – 0

We went downstairs to check out how the €230 The Hendon Mob Championship was going and it was a packed house with 243 entries already in the mix. A handful of players were already on the rail before the first break with 228 players remaining.

We were pleased to bump into Global Poker Index & The Hendon Mob President Eric Danis who is making a star appearance in the event. The Hendon Mob’s Roland Boothby is also in the mix.

Meanwhile, Main Event Travel’s Kelly Saxby also managed to squeeze some time in. She has been busy all week with assisting players primarily from the United Kingdom and we wish her the best of luck. Also at her table we noticed Markku Tammisto, Dmitri Dudakov (who bagged chips on yesterday’s Day 1b), Matthew Micallef, and Ioannis Aslanidis.

Best of luck to all The Hendon Mob Championship players. We will share some photos later in the coverage from this two-day event.

Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 229/259

Daniel Schwarzkopf was down to just 7,800 when he jammed from early position.

“How much?” asked Erik Ostergaard from one seat over.

He tanked for a few moments more before he raised to 17,000. The rest of the table folded and the cards were turned over.

Daniel Schwarzkopf: 6♠6♣
Erik Ostergaard: K♠K♥

It appeared to be over before it began for Schwarzkopf after Ostergaard improved to a set of cowboys on the 3♥K♦4♥ flop. The table made some noise after the 6♦ turn with Schwartzkopf now having an open-ended straight draw.

None of those eight outs came. Instead, the Q♣ river completed the board and Schwartzkopf was eliminated at least for now.

“Good luck,” Schwartzkopf told the table before leaving.

Erik Ostergaard – 80,000
Daniel Schwarzkopf – 0

Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 232/257

Day 1c has grown to 257 entries making it bigger than the 215 entries on Day 1a and 254 entries on Day 1b with still more than four levels of late registration to go!

This brings the total field size up to 726 entries with still two big opening flights on Saturday!

Flight	Entries	Survivors	Survivor %
Day 1a	215	59	27%
Day 1b	254	58	23%
Day 1c	257+	?
Day 1d	?	?
Day 1e	?	?
Total	726+	117+

Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 225/248

Eduardo Terrivel just hit the rail after suffering a terrible river card. The hand went down as follows:

Tung Ly bet 2,000 into a pot of around 10,000 after the J♠Q♥9♥ landed on the flop. Giovanni Nava jacked it up to 10,000 before Terrivel jammed for about 28,000.

Poker streamer Mairo “EstonianWeirdo” Toom folded before the action paused on Ly.

“How much?” Ly asked.

“It’s 28,000, plus this chip,” replied Terrivel with a smile referring to the one chip he was using as a card protector.

Ly folded shortly after and Nava wasted no time in finding a call.

Eduardo Terrivel: 9♣9♦
Giovanni Nava: K♥J♥

Terrivel flopped a set but wasn’t out of the water yet to win the hand with Nava holding both a flush draw and a gut-shot straight draw.

The blank 2♠ turn didn’t change anything. However, the 10♠ river improved Nava to a straight and Terrivel was on the rail.

Giovanni Nava – 85,000
Mairo Toom – 75,000
Tung Ly – 50,000
Eduardo Terrivel – 0

Players are on their first 15-minute break. The blinds will increase to 200/400 with a 400 big blind ante when the action resumes.

Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 205/218

A player limped from under the gun before Fabio Botti raised to 1,200 from the hijack. Kanan Farzaliyev three-bet to 4,000 from the cutoff and only Botti called.

Botti check-called a bet of 6,000 by Farzaliyev on the J♠9♠3♥ flop before leading out for 12,000 on the 7♠ turn. Farzaliyev called and the Q♥ river brought even more action.

Botti fired out for 15,000 with just 6,000 behind. Farzaliyev put him in for the rest. Botti called and turned over 9♣9♥ for a set of nines. Farzaliyev showed the A♠K♠ to win the hand with a flush while sending Botti to the rail.

Kanan Farzaliyev – 100,000
Fabio Botti – 0

Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 204/214

Chris Quirijnen and Daniel Kalinowski both checked before Albert Sapiano jammed 20,300 into a pot of around 10,000 with the 2♦10♣2♣Q♠A♣ on the board after the river.

Quirijnen folded before Kalinowski quickly called.

“You have a flush, don’t you?” Sapiano questioned.

Kalinowski immediately turned over the 8♣6♣ for the flush.

Sapiano turned over the A♦9♥ and had one more comment for the table before heading off to re-enter for his second Day 1c bullet.

“This always happens to me,” said Sapiano.

Meanwhile, Karen Arthur, who traveled from the United Kingdom with many other ladies, is also at the table with a starting stack.

Daniel Kalinowski – 75,000
Chris Quirijnen – 60,000
Albert Sapiano – 50,000
Karen Arthur – 50,000

Level 2: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 191/197

We caught up to the hand with exactly 4,300 in the pot and the 9♦A♣5♠Q♣ on the board after the turn. Marius Jankauskas checked and Samuel Dray fired out for 1,100. Thorsten Runge raised to 3,000. Thierry Faure folded before Jankauskas called.

Dray folded before both Jankauskas and Runge checked down the 5♣ river. Runge turned over A♠Q♦ for top two pair. This could have won in many spots but was not near enough this time with Jankauskas waking up with 5♥5♦ to win the hand.

Jankauskas traveled out from Lithuania, where this reporter also lives. We got to meet several Lithuanian players that we previously didn’t know during the Malta Poker Festival. One was on the rail during that hand to quickly say hi to Jankauskas.

“Only quads,” Jankauskas’s friend said with a big smile to us.

Level 2: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 184/189

A few more players hit the rail during Level 2 including Caroline Cove and Chris Read. Cove immediately got back into the action with her second Day 1b bullet.

We haven’t seen Read pop back in yet but she has plenty of time if she chooses to do so with each opening flight allowing for up to two re-entries during the eight-level late-registration period.

Read will have a busy day tomorrow as she will be the host of the €150 Ladies First! event at 4 p.m. We expect a banner field in that event with tons of ladies traveling from around the globe for the Malta Poker Festival.

Level 2: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 174/175

Luke Pace bet 2,000 into a pot of a bit more with the 4♣7♦4♥A♥5♥ on the board. Robert Teunissen jammed for less than a starting stack and Pace called.

Pace turned over the K♥9♥ for a rivered flush. However, he hit the rail with Teunissen flopping a set with 5♠5♣ only to improve further to a full house on the river.

Pace immediately hopped back into the Day 1c field so he was also the first player to re-enter today.

Robert Teunissen – 80,000
Luke Pace – 50,000

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 165/165

Poker Power’s AJ Rudolph will be hosting a poker training seminar tomorrow at 1 p.m. It is a ladies-only affair and players could put what they learn to the test with the €150 Ladies First! hosted by Chris Read kicking off shortly after at 4 p.m.

Rudolph is among the players battling it out today on Day 1c of the Grand Event. Other players we noticed around the room were Lisa Roberts, Albert Sapiano, Mairo Toom, Daniel Sahlin, 2018 MPF Grand Event champion Emanuele Onnis, Petter Redemo, Katie Swift, Caroline Cove, Unibet Poker’s Kat Arnsby, and Lee Colfer, otherwise known as the “Lord of the Pies” after he met the Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie challenge issues by Totti Lind during Day 1a.

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 162/162

There was about 10,000 in the pot with the 3♥J♠5♥5♣Q♠ on the board on the river when Keith Ellis checked. Eduardo Terrivel fired out for 5,200. Ellis paused for a few moments before he called.

Terrivel turned over the Q♥8♥.

“Your good,” Ellis said while shaking his head in a way that could be interpreted that he was ahead until the river.

Eduardo Terrivel – 60,000
Keith Ellis – 40,000

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 159/159

Franck Meucci limped from early position before Simon Dunevein raised to 700 from the hijack. Manish Rawal three-bet the button to 2,700 and Meucci folded. Dunevein four-bet to 7,700 and Rawal called.

Dunevein continued for 8,000 on the 4♥5♣3♦ flop. Rawal called and both players checked the Q♦ turn. Dunevein bet 7,000 after the 5♥ river completed the board.

Dunevein turned over J♦J♥. Rawal had something better and turned over K♥K♣ to take down the pot.

Manish Rawal – 75,000
Simon Dunevein – 25,000

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 139/139

While pots have mostly been small in the early going, an early pot developed on Table 18 in a hand between Robert Teunissen and Jan Jensen.

There was already around 10,000 in the pot with the 5♥2♦7♦3♣A♣ on the board when Robert Teunissen check-called a bet of 6,600 by Jensen.

Teunissen turned over A♦2♥ for a rivered two pair. However, the river also gave Jensen a wheel as he turned over 4♦4♠ to win the hand.

Also seated at Table 18 are Petter Redemo, Luke Pace, Jean-Pierre Menant, Cedric Offner, and Karin Gerritsen.

Jan Jensen – 60,000
Robert Teunissen – 40,000

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 132/132

Cards are in the air after some announcements by MPF founder Ivonne Montealegre and Ludos Academy CEO Danilo de Berardinis.

Day 1c has attracted 132 entries to bring the total field up to 601 entries! This means that the €300,000 guarantee has been already surpassed and now we will see how big the MPF Grand Event can get!

Best of luck to all of the players on Day 1c.

Welcome back to our coverage of the 2023 Malta Poker Festival (MPF) €550 Grand Event at the luxurious Portomaso Casino.

Today will feature the third of five opening flights with Day 1c kicking off today at 2 p.m. The first four opening flights, including Day 1c, feature an identical structure with players starting with 50,000 in chips (500 big blinds) and battling it out for 13 blind levels of 40 minutes each. Players re-enter twice per opening flight until late registration closes before the start of Level 9.

Saturday evening’s Day 1e is a turbo-charged affair with 20-minute blind levels. Otherwise, the structure is the same.

The field has thus far attracted 469 entries including 215 on Day 1a and 254 on Day 1b. We don’t want to jinx ourselves too much but it should be safe to say that the lofty €300,000 guarantee slapped on this event will be smashed at some point today. Now it is just a question of really of how big the Grand Event will become.

Thus far there are a total of 117 players finding a bag into Sunday’s Day 2 with 59 players coming through on Day 1a and another 58 players advancing on Day 1b.

Day 1a chip leader Marko Luksa is currently on the top of the pack heading into Day 2 with 687,000 followed by Day 1b chip leader Shaun Halliday with 656,000 in chips.

The only other players thus far to advance with at least 500,000 were Michal Gavurnik (577,000) and Chris Da Silva (500,000).

In addition to the Grand Event, the much-anticipated two-day The Hendon Mob €230 Championship begins today at 4 p.m. Meanwhile, tonight will feature the final €70 Grand Event satellite at 6 p.m. and the €250 Friday Shark Deepstack powered by Hibet at 8 p.m.

Our coverage will begin when cards are in the air shortly at a few minutes past 2 p.m. after announcements are made by MPF founder Ivonne Montealegre and Ludos Academy CEO Danilo de Berardinis.