Final Day Seat Draw
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 1:57 am
Table | Seat | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 1 | Fabio Aprile | 3,700,000 | 31 |
3 | 2 | Lasse Jacobsen | 1,060,000 | 9 |
3 | 3 | La Sengphet | 3,400,000 | 28 |
3 | 4 | Martynas Brazdzionis | 11,695,000 | 97 |
3 | 6 | Raoul Van Wersch | 4,035,000 | 34 |
3 | 7 | Vlad Ardeleanu | 3,785,000 | 32 |
4 | 1 | Arnaud Cressent | 2,510,000 | 21 |
4 | 2 | Jozsef Hegyi | 4,655,000 | 39 |
4 | 4 | Chris Da Silva | 1,100,000 | 9 |
4 | 6 | Lewis Coffin | 2,485,000 | 21 |
4 | 7 | Oliver Said | 2,800,000 | 23 |
4 | 8 | Maik Buss | 1,960,000 | 16 |
8 | 1 | Tomasz Caba | 2,500,000 | 21 |
8 | 3 | Michal Gavurnik | 1,080,000 | 9 |
8 | 5 | Kjetil Hanstvedt | 1,850,000 | 15 |
8 | 6 | Paolo Aleo | 4,125,000 | 34 |
8 | 7 | Salvtore Ritrovato | 2,765,000 | 23 |
8 | 8 | Angelo Patane | 5,915,000 | 49 |
2023 MPF Spring Edition Grand Event Payouts
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 1:54 am
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | €100,600 | |
2 | €75,690 | |
3 | €55,420 | |
4 | €37,400 | |
5 | €20,150 | |
6 | €14,850 | |
7 | €11,400 | |
8 | €9,050 | |
9 | €7,550 | |
10 | €6,150 | |
11 | €6,150 | |
12 | €5,050 | |
13 | €4,150 | |
14 | €4,150 | |
15 | €4,150 | |
16 | €3,350 | |
17 | €3,350 | |
18 | €3,350 | |
19 | Shaun Halliday | €3,350 |
20 | Alessandro Furneri | €3,350 |
21 | Lars Eriksson | €2,820 |
22 | Serguei Skrypnikov Laviolle | €2,820 |
23 | Humberto Galindo | €2,820 |
24 | Bogdan Juc | €2,820 |
25 | William McMurray | €2,820 |
26 | Jostein Groedum | €2,820 |
27 | Alex Montgomery | €2,470 |
28 | Antonino Karman | €2,470 |
29 | Michal Kulesza | €2,470 |
30 | Marko Luksa | €2,470 |
31 | Jonathan Therme | €2,470 |
32 | Vincenzo Scarcella | €2,470 |
33 | Scott Roberts | €2,470 |
34 | Louis Le Boisselier | €2,470 |
35 | Ulf Andersson | €2,470 |
36 | Lucien Jouanneau | €2,170 |
37 | Cedric Offner | €2,170 |
38 | Christopher Collins | €2,170 |
39 | Joaquim Ferriera | €2,170 |
40 | Koen Meutstege | €2,170 |
41 | Mikael Bjertrup | €2,170 |
42 | Fabrizio Nobile | €2,170 |
43 | Antonio Chille | €2,170 |
44 | Erik Lindqwist | €2,170 |
45 | Andrei Mjagkov | €1,920 |
46 | Manoj Navani | €1,920 |
47 | Paul Young | €1,920 |
48 | Noel Studer | €1,920 |
49 | Rauno Kiviloo | €1,920 |
50 | Giovanni Nava | €1,920 |
51 | Chen Keren | €1,920 |
52 | Robert Boon | €1,920 |
53 | Daniel Toffel | €1,920 |
54 | Kerryjane Craigie | €1,720 |
55 | Georgios Georgiou | €1,720 |
56 | Ian Gascoigne | €1,720 |
57 | Peter Kaspar | €1,720 |
58 | Thomas Hofmann | €1,720 |
59 | Damir Savio | €1,720 |
60 | Thomas Petit | €1,720 |
61 | Torben Krogh | €1,720 |
62 | Olga Liscsinzky | €1,720 |
63 | Presiyan Tsvetanov | €1,720 |
64 | Kevin Houghton | €1,720 |
65 | Salvatore Incardona | €1,720 |
66 | Guiseppe Loreto | €1,720 |
67 | Daniel Spavin-Haigh | €1,720 |
68 | Simon Taylor | €1,720 |
69 | Theo Schmitt | €1,720 |
70 | Corentin Viaud | €1,720 |
71 | Serdar Demircan | €1,720 |
72 | Dost Ghrabie | €1,520 |
73 | Johannes Grootelaar | €1,520 |
74 | Edward Chun Ho Yam | €1,520 |
75 | Paul Maguire | €1,520 |
76 | Daro Berisa | €1,520 |
77 | Jemery Bametz | €1,520 |
78 | Emil Karhu | €1,520 |
79 | Zaheer Zeb | €1,520 |
80 | Stepan Brychta | €1,520 |
81 | Roland Boothby | €1,520 |
82 | Erik Ostergaard | €1,520 |
83 | James Thody | €1,520 |
84 | Attila Kassitzky | €1,520 |
85 | Maciej Toma | €1,520 |
86 | Daniele Staropoli | €1,520 |
87 | Benjamin Rensen | €1,520 |
88 | Ertan Cicekdemir | €1,520 |
89 | David Ozmen | €1,520 |
90 | Sjoerd Nikkels | €1,320 |
91 | Santaluna Baldassare | €1,320 |
92 | Daoud Abu | €1,320 |
93 | Kaspar Schmid | €1,320 |
94 | Liwei Wang | €1,320 |
95 | Fabio Coppola | €1,320 |
96 | Amber Glasby | €1,320 |
97 | Per Moller | €1,320 |
98 | Aurelien Giard | €1,320 |
99 | Katie Swift | €1,320 |
100 | Pieter Koedijk | €1,320 |
101 | Philip Roberts | €1,320 |
102 | Fabio Sturba | €1,320 |
103 | Thomas Lowter | €1,320 |
104 | Marian Ivanov | €1,320 |
105 | Pavle Pecelj | €1,320 |
106 | Yannick Rohrbach | €1,320 |
107 | Eduardo Terrivel | €1,320 |
108 | Leon Campbell | €1,320 |
109 | Fabian Fleischmann | €1,320 |
110 | Antonios Onourfriou | €1,320 |
111 | Luke Pace | €1,320 |
112 | Robert Teunissen | €1,320 |
113 | Anastasios Apostolou | €1,320 |
114 | Firat Cankaya | €1,320 |
115 | Dejan Dabetic | €1,320 |
116 | Grant Pirie | €1,120 |
117 | Robrecht Winterink | €1,120 |
118 | Arn Kungl | €1,120 |
119 | Ashley Wilson | €1,120 |
120 | Callum Gordon | €1,120 |
121 | Torsten Riedl | €1,120 |
122 | Kaloyan Kirov | €1,120 |
123 | Anthony Whalley | €1,120 |
124 | Massimo Bruno | €1,120 |
125 | Mantas Petrauskas | €1,120 |
126 | Michael Frost | €1,120 |
127 | Fraser Mackenze | €1,120 |
128 | Paolo Rando | €1,120 |
129 | Andrew Cutajar | €1,120 |
130 | Giulio Spaminato | €1,120 |
131 | Rob van Embden | €1,120 |
132 | Jonathan Schuman | €1,120 |
133 | Anton Shroter | €1,120 |
134 | Matthew Adams | €1,120 |
135 | Ian Swan | €1,120 |
136 | Boris Zismanov | €1,120 |
137 | Julien Gadanho | €1,120 |
138 | Nicky Molmans | €1,120 |
139 | Thomas Steedman | €1,120 |
140 | Giuseppe Signorelli | €1,120 |
141 | Oscar Arezzo | €1,120 |
142 | Samuel Biland | €1,120 |
143 | Olav Kok | €1,120 |
144 | Raimondo Marcello | €1,120 |
145 | Thibault Branly | €1,120 |
146 | Andrei Musat | €1,120 |
147 | Nauseda Grazvydas | €1,120 |
148 | Daniel Kuhlmann | €1,120 |
149 | Lars Halkier | €1,120 |
150 | Joseph East | €1,120 |
151 | Ivan Picavet | €1,120 |
Final Day 2 Chip Counts
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 1:53 am

Lithuania’s Martynas Brazdzionis will be in the captain’s chair on the final day of the 2023 Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition Grand Event with more than double the chips of his nearest competitor. Here is a look at the chip counts for the players that advanced to the final day:
Place | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Martynas Brazdzionis | 11,695,000 | 97 |
2 | Angelo Patane | 5,915,000 | 49 |
3 | Jozsef Hegyi | 4,655,000 | 39 |
4 | Paolo Aleo | 4,125,000 | 34 |
5 | Raoul Van Wersch | 4,035,000 | 34 |
6 | Vlad Ardeleanu | 3,785,000 | 32 |
7 | Fabio Aprile | 3,700,000 | 31 |
8 | La Sengphet | 3,400,000 | 28 |
9 | Oliver Said | 2,800,000 | 23 |
10 | Salvtore Ritrovato | 2,765,000 | 23 |
11 | Arnaud Cressent | 2,510,000 | 21 |
12 | Tomasz Caba | 2,500,000 | 21 |
13 | Lewis Coffin | 2,485,000 | 21 |
14 | Maik Buss | 1,960,000 | 16 |
15 | Kjetil Hanstvedt | 1,850,000 | 15 |
16 | Chris Da Silva | 1,100,000 | 9 |
17 | Michal Gavurnik | 1,080,000 | 9 |
18 | Lasse Jacobsen | 1,060,000 | 9 |
Brazdzionis Extends Lead Again; Eliminates Eriksson
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 1:24 am
Level 26: 50,000/100,000 (100,000)
Entries: 18/1,226
Martynas Brazdzionis opened for 325,000 from the small blind. Lars Eriksson three-bet jammed from the big blind for about 2 million and Brazdzionis snap-called.
Lars Eriksson: 8♠8♣
Martynas Brazdzionis: K♥K♦
Eriksson was unable to get a miracle with his snowmen on the A♥J♣J♥2♠3♥ board and hit the rail near the end of the evening.
Meanwhile, it seems like hands are loosening players up as both Shaun Halliday and Alessandro Furneri also hit the rail to leave just 18 players remaining.
Martynas Bradzionis – 11 million
Lars Eriksson – 0

Final Four Hands
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 1:20 am
Level 26: 50,000/100,000 (100,000)
Entries: 21/1,226
The floor just announced that there will be four more hands played on Day 2 before players bag chips into tomorrow’s final day.
Brazdzionis Wins Massive Pot Against Furneri With Kings vs. Queens
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 1:01 am
Level 26: 50,000/100,000 (100,000)
Entries: 21/1,226
Alessandro Furneri opened for 200,000. Martynas Brazdzionis three-bet to 750,000 and Furneri jammed for about 4 million. Brazdzionis snap-called his stack of 3.2 million and the cards were turned over.
Martynas Brazdzionis: K♥K♠
Alessandro Furneri: Q♠Q♦
Furneri just got done rebuilding his stack after being down to a handful of big blinds. He will have to try again as his queens didn’t pull ahead of cowboys on the 4♥8♥6♥A♠3♠ board. Meanwhile, Brazdionis won the biggest pot of the tournament thus far.
Shortly after, Brazdionis extended his chip lead after he eliminated Serguei Skrypnikov Laviolle to leave just 21 players remaining.
Martynas Brazdzionis – 9 million
Alessandro Furneri – 700,000
Serguei Skrypnikov Laviolle – 0
Galindo Loses His Short Stack
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 12:52 am
Level 26: 50,000/100,000 (100,000)
Entries: 22/1,226
Humberto Galindo jammed his short stack of around six big blinds from the lojack and was called by Alessandro Furneri from the big blind.
Humberto Galindo: Q♥J♦
Alessandro Furneri: A♥8♥
Galindo got nowhere on the double-paired 7♦K♠K♥7♣3♥ board and hit the rail with his queen kicker not beating an ace kicker.
Alessandro Furneri – 4 million
Humberto Galindo – 0

Hanstvedt Doubles Through Brazdzionis
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 12:47 am
Level 26: 50,000/100,000 (100,000)
Entries: 23/1,226
Kjetil Hanstvedt jammed for 1 million from the cutoff and was called by Martynas Brazdzionis from the small blind.
Kjetil Hanstvedt: Q♠9♦
Martynas Brazdzionis: 6♥6♣
Hanstvedt fist-pumped in the air after his queen connected on the turn with the 5♦3♣A♥Q♦5♠ running out on the board to win the hand with a better two pair.
Martynas Brazdzionis – 3.3 million
Kjetil Hanstvedt – 2.2 million
Payouts for €2,470
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 12:21 am
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
27 | Alex Montgomery | €2,470 |
28 | Antonino Karman | €2,470 |
29 | Michal Kulesza | €2,470 |
30 | Marko Luksa | €2,470 |
31 | Jonathan Therme | €2,470 |
32 | Vincenzo Scarcella | €2,470 |
33 | Scott Roberts | €2,470 |
34 | Louis Le Boisselier | €2,470 |
35 | Ulf Andersson | €2,470 |
Final Day 2 Break
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 12:20 am
Players are on their final break of Day 2 and will play one more blind level after the players return from break with blinds at 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante.
Furneri Wins Two Flips in a Row
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 12:17 am
Level 25: 40,000/80,000 (80,000)
Entries: 26/1,226
Alessandro Furneri was short after losing a bulk of his stack to Paolo Aleo. He doubled up once on a flip with nines against ace-ten before just winning another flip as follows:
Furneri jammed for 1.4 million from the lojack.
“How much?” asked Humberto Galindo from the button.
Galindo called sooner after getting a count.
Alessandro Furneri: 5♥5♣
Humberto Galindo: A♣9♣
Furneri’s fives were good on the 6♠J♦K♦2♣J♥ board to double through Galindo.
Alessandro Furneri – 3 million
Humberto Galindo – 1 million
Cowboys for Aleo
By Jason Glatzer | May 1, 2023 12:04 am
Level 25: 40,000/80,000 (80,000)
Entries: 27/1,226
Alessandro Furneri opened the button for 175,000 before Paolo Aleo jammed for 1,640,000 from the small blind. Furneri tanked for less than a minute before he called.
Paolo Aleo: K♥K♠
Alessandro Furneri: J♥J♣
Aleo’s cowboys not only held but he even improved to a set on the 8♣7♥4♥K♣Q♦ to double through Furneri.
Aleo left his seat for a moment in excitement and ran over to his friend who happened to be by railing the hand.
Paolo Aleo – 3.4 million
Alessandro Furneri – 800,000
Sick Board Gets Cressent Back in the Hand
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 11:50 pm
Level 25: 40,000/80,000 (80,000)
Entries: 27/1,226
Alex Montgomery jammed for slightly less than 1 million from middle position before Arnaud Cressent called off his stack of 725,000 from the big blind.
Arnaud Cressent: 6♦6♥
Alex Montgomery: 5♥5♦
Cressent was far ahead but that all changed after Montgomery flopped the goods with the 10♠10♥5♠ flop improving him to a full house
However, the 10♦ turn put trips on the board and improved Cressent to a better full house. Cressent doubled through Montgomery after the J♠ river completed the board.
Arnaud Cressent – 1.6 million
Alex Montgomery – 175,000

Hegyi Wins the Battle of Unibet Qualifiers
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 11:39 pm
Level 25: 40,000/80,000 (80,000)
Entries: 28/1,226
Sengphet La opened for 160,000 from the lojack and was called by Jozsef Hegyi from the hijack. Michal Kulesza three-bet jammed for slightly less than 1 million. La folded and Hegyi called to bring a showdown between two players who qualified online at Unibet Poker for a MPF package.
I shared this information with Unibet DeepStack Open founder Alex Henry.
“Yes!” said Henry. “They both actually qualified in the same satellite.”
Michal Kulesza: A♠J♣
Jozsef Hegyi: A♣K♦
Hegyi’s big slick held on the 6♥9♣8♠Q♠6♥ board to eliminate fellow qualifier Kulesza.
Jozsef Hegyi – 3.8 million
Michal Kulesza – 0
Laviolle Gets His Revenge on Roberts
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 11:23 pm
Level 24: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Entries: 32/1,226
Scott Roberts is part of Team Roberts along with his wife Lisa. The couple is well-known, especially in the United States where they are from for traveling around to poker events and have even won some WSOP gold rings in the process.
Unfortunately, Team Roberts won’t be adding an MPF Grand Event trophy to go along with their other accolades.
During one of the opening flights, Roberts doubled through Serguei Skrypnikov Laviolle with king-jack against queens with four threes appearing on the board. Both Laviolle and Roberts separately reminded us of this hand we reported after Roberts was on the rail as follows:
Roberts jammed for about eight big blinds from the small blind with queen-jack and was up against the eight-seven held by Laviolle after he called. An eight spiked the river and that was it for Team Roberts.
It was lovely to see both Scott and Lisa once again after many years from meeting them for the first time. We hope they enjoyed their trip to Malta and we wish them luck in winning a trophy in a side event during the final day of our amazing festival tomorrow.
Serguei Skrypnikov Laviolle – 2.2 million
Scott Roberts – 0
“Show & Tell Time is Over”
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 11:13 pm
Level 24: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Entries: 33/1,226
La Sengphet is the last woman standing in the Grand Event. She has made the most of her time since the dinner break and keeps piling on chips as we’ve watched her climb from 1 million to nearly 5 million in chips.
She just took down a three-bet pot against Vlad Ardeleanu as follows:
Ardeleanu continued for 275,000 on the A♠7♣6♥ flop and Sengphet called. The K♥ turn followed and Ardeleanu bet 425,000. Sengphet paused for about a minute before she raised to 1,125,000.
Ardeleanu went into the tank for about five minutes before he folded.
“Nice bluff,” Ardeleanu said to Sengphet after the hand.
“Show and tell time is over,” responded Sengphet.
La Sengphet – 4.8 million
Vlad Ardeleanu – 2.4 million
Payouts for €2,170
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 10:49 pm
The following players cashed for €2,170 in the Grand Event. The final 35 players are now each guaranteed at least a €2,470 payout.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
36 | Lucien Jouanneau | €2,170 |
37 | Cedric Offner | €2,170 |
38 | Christopher Collins | €2,170 |
39 | Joaquim Ferriera | €2,170 |
40 | Koen Meutstege | €2,170 |
41 | Mikael Bjertrup | €2,170 |
42 | Fabrizio Nobile | €2,170 |
43 | Antonio Chille | €2,170 |
44 | Erik Lindqwist | €2,170 |

Jouanneau Loses a Flip and His Chips
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 10:46 pm
Level 24: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Entries: 35/1,226
Lucien Jouanneau got less than 1 million in chips in from late position and was up against Raoul van Wersche for a flip for his tournament life.
Lucien Jouanneau: 9♥9♣
Raoul van Wersch: A♠K♥
Van Wersch won the flip after the Q♣A♣10♦4♦5♠ board connected with his ace to send Jouanneau out of the Grand Event in 36th place.
Raoul van Wersch – 2.8 million
Lucien Jouanneau – 0
Sengphet Doubles Through Ardeleanu
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 10:27 pm
Level 23: 25,000/50,000 (50,000)
Entries: 36/1,226
Three players limped before Vlad Ardeleanu raised to 300,000 from the big blind. La Sengphet called while the other two players folded.
Ardeleanu fired out for 125,000 on the 8♣J♦J♣ flop and Sengphet called. The 8♦ double-paired the board on the turn. Ardeleanu jammed and La snap-called her stack of 1,020,000.
La Sengphet: K♦J♥
Vlad Ardeleanu: A♥K♥
Ardeleanu was drawing dead and La doubled up with a full house after the Q♣ river completed the board.
La Sengphet – 3.1 million
Vlad Ardeleanu – 2.3 million

Patane Ousts Two With Rockets
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 10:18 pm
Level 23: 25,000/50,000 (50,000)
Entries: 38/1,226
Joaquim Ferriera opened for 410,000 with just 320,000 behind from the lojack. The action paused on Koen Meutstege for a few minutes before he opted to jam for 1,045,000 from the hijack.
Angelo Patane paused for a few moments before he asked for a count of Meutstege’s stack. A couple of minutes later, he called. Ferriera tanked for a minute before he called off his stack as well.
Joaquim Ferriera: K♠Q♦
Koen Meutstege: 9♠9♥
Angelo Patane: A♦A♣
Patane’s rockets held to oust two players after the 6♦6♠5♣8♣8♥ ran out on the board.
Angelo Patane – 4.8 million
Koen Meutstege – 0
Joaquim Ferriera – 0
Ace-Queen No Good for Nobile
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 10:06 pm
Level 23: 25,000/50,000 (50,000)
Entries: 41/1,226
Martynas Brazdzionis jammed from the small blind before Fabrizio Nobile called off his short stack of under 10 big blinds from the big blind.
Fabrizio Nobile: A♦Q♥
Martynas Brazdzionis: K♠10♦
Brazdzionis improved to trips on the K♦4♥9♥K♣3♦ runout to send the first player since the dinner break to the rail in Nobile.
Martynas Bradzionis – 4.3 million
Fabrizio Nobile – 0
Four More Day 2 Blind Levels
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 9:58 pm
We were just told by the floor that the plan for Day 2 (subject to change) is to play four more blind levels.
Players will battle for three blind 50-minute levels before a break before playing one final blind level. It is possible that the action will end earlier if the final two tables are reached before the end of the scheduled action.
Players Back From Dinner
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 9:51 pm
Level 23: 25,000/50,000 (50,000)
Entries: 42/1,226
Players are back from dinner break with blinds at 25,000/50,000 with a big blind ante of 50,000.
Full Chip Counts of Final 42 Players at Dinner Break
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 9:36 pm
Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|
Vlad Ardeleanu | 3,695,000 | 74 |
Alessandro Furneri | 3,580,000 | 72 |
Michal Gavurnik | 3,450,000 | 69 |
Angelo Patane | 3,140,000 | 63 |
Martynas Brazdzionis | 2,910,000 | 58 |
Humberto Galindo | 2,690,000 | 54 |
Lewis Coffin | 2,650,000 | 53 |
Scott Roberts | 1,955,000 | 39 |
Jostein Groedum | 1,950,000 | 39 |
Arnaud Cressent | 1,920,000 | 38 |
Shaun Halliday | 1,895,000 | 38 |
Jozsef Hegyi | 1,800,000 | 36 |
Maik Buss | 1,710,000 | 34 |
Koen Meutstege | 1,670,000 | 33 |
Serguei Skrypnikov | 1,665,000 | 33 |
Raoul van Wersch | 1,395,000 | 28 |
Oliver Said | 1,370,000 | 27 |
Fabio Aprile | 1,355,000 | 27 |
Chris Da Silva | 1,315,000 | 26 |
Salvatore Ritrovato | 1,250,000 | 25 |
Alex Montgomery | 1,245,000 | 25 |
Antonino Karman | 1,220,000 | 24 |
Mark Luksa | 1,140,000 | 23 |
Ulf Andersson | 1,140,000 | 23 |
Lars Eriksson | 1,120,000 | 22 |
Vincenzo Scarcella | 1,115,000 | 22 |
Lasse Jacobsen | 1,030,000 | 21 |
Lucien Jouanneau | 1,025,000 | 21 |
La Sengphet | 1,015,000 | 20 |
Paolo Aleo | 935,000 | 19 |
Christopher Collins | 925,000 | 19 |
Joaquim Ferriera | 730,000 | 15 |
Jonathan Therme | 670,000 | 13 |
Kjetil Hanstvedt | 635,000 | 13 |
Tomasz Caba | 580,000 | 12 |
Michal Kulesza | 580,000 | 12 |
Mikael Bjertrup | 455,000 | 9 |
William McMurray | 420,000 | 8 |
Cedric Offner | 415,000 | 8 |
Bogdan Juc | 410,000 | 8 |
Fabrizio Nobile | 345,000 | 7 |
Louis Le Boisselier | 300,000 | 6 |
Players Cashing for €1,920
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 9:27 pm
The following players cashed for €1,920. The 42 players returning from dinner break have each locked up €250 more and are guaranteed at least a €2,170 payout.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
45 | Andrei Mjagkov | €1,920 |
46 | Manoj Navani | €1,920 |
47 | Paul Young | €1,920 |
48 | Noel Studer | €1,920 |
49 | Rauno Kiviloo | €1,920 |
50 | Giovanni Nava | €1,920 |
51 | Chen Keren | €1,920 |
52 | Robert Boon | €1,920 |
The Dinner Bell Rings
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 8:31 pm
Surviving players are on a 75-minute dinner break. We will update near the end of the dinner break with full chip counts of the players still in contention.
As my French friend and Unibet DeepStack Open founder Alex Henry would say, “Bon appétit!”

Groedum Doubles With Big Slick
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 8:30 pm
Level 22: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 44/1,226
Head of Poker at the Betsson Group Jostein Groedum is alive and well. In fact, he just doubled up to 2 million while leaving Erik Lindqwist with dust in his stack.
Lindqwest four-bet jammed for 940,000 from the hijack and Groedum called off his stack of 925,000 from the button.
Jostein Groedum: A♣K♣
Erik Lindqwist: 8♥8♦
Groedum won the flip after both his king and ace connected on the K♦J♥3♦A♣5♦ board to leave Lindqwist with just a few chips.
Jostein Groedum – 2,050,000
Erik Lindqwist – 15,000
Top Pair Doesn’t Hold for Studer
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 8:14 pm
Level 22: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 45/1,226
There wasn’t much in the pot when Michal Gavurnik checked the 4♥J♣3♦ flop from early position. Noel Studer bet 125,000. Gavurnik jammed and Studer called off for his stack of around 500,000.
Noel Studer: J♠2♠
Michal Gavurnik: 5♦4♣
Studer was ahead and his lead was even bigger after Gavurnik didn’t connect with the 9♦. The table gasped and Studer’s disappointment was visible when the 5♠ river completed the board to improve Gavurnik to two pair and eliminate Studer.
Michal Gavurnik – 2.5 million
Noel Studer – 0
Payouts for €1,720
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 8:04 pm
The following players were eliminated for €1,720 leaving the final 53 players with at least a €1,920 payday.
The PokerStars at The Hippodrome Head of Poker Kerryjane Craigie was among the recent casualties leaving La Sengphet as the final female remaining in the Grand Event.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
54 | Kerryjane Craigie | €1,720 |
55 | Georgios Georgiou | €1,720 |
56 | Ian Gascoigne | €1,720 |
57 | Peter Kaspar | €1,720 |
58 | Thomas Hofmann | €1,720 |
59 | Damir Savio | €1,720 |
60 | Thomas Petit | €1,720 |
61 | Torben Krogh | €1,720 |
62 | Olga Liscsinzky | €1,720 |
63 | Presiyan Tsvetanov | €1,720 |
64 | Kevin Houghton | €1,720 |
65 | Salvatore Incardona | €1,720 |
66 | Guiseppe Loreto | €1,720 |
67 | Daniel Spavin-Haigh | €1,720 |
68 | Simon Taylor | €1,720 |
69 | Theo Schmitt | €1,720 |
70 | Corentin Viaud | €1,720 |
71 | Serdar Demircan | €1,720 |



Patane Felts Nava
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 7:59 pm
Level 22: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 49/1,226
Giovanni Nava open-jammed for about 600,000 from the cutoff. Angelo Patane three-bet shoved for a lot more from the cutoff and the rest of the table folded.
Giovanni Nava: A♦Q♥
Angelo Patane: A♥K♥
Both players nailed a pair on the 7♠6♠2♥K♦Q♠ board. Patane’s pair of kings were better than his opponent’s pair of queens to win the pot and eliminate Nava.
Angelo Patane – 2.4 million
Giovanni Nava – 0
Sixes for Halliday
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 7:28 pm
Level 21: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 58/1,226
La Sengphet, who traveled to Malta from Dallas, Texas, is one of two ladies remaining in the Grand Event alongside Kerryjane Craigie. She was cruising along until the following blind vs. blind hand. Regardless of losing this hand, she still has some chips to her name.
Sengphet checked from the small blind with about 500,000 in the pot and the 5♠8♦4♦4♥3♥ on the board. Shaun Halliday bet 250,000 and Sengphet went into the tank before she called.
Halliday turned over 6♠6♣ and won the hand after Sengphet mucked.
Shaun Halliday – 2.8 million
La Sengphet – 1 million


Sevens No Good Against Jacks for Tsvetanov
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 7:14 pm
Level 21: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 60/1,226
Presiyan Tsvetanov three-bet jammed for about 500,000 from the button and was called by Vlad Ardeleanu, who opened from the lojack.
Presiyan Tsvetanov: 7♣7♥
Vlad Ardeleanu: J♥J♠
Ardeleanu’s jacks held on the 9♥Q♠9♠A♦5♣ runout to increase his stack and eliminated Tsvetanov.
Vlad Ardeleanu – 1.9 million
Presiyan Tsvetanov – 0
Payouts for €1,520
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 7:00 pm
The following players each cashed for €1,520. The remaining field has now locked up at least a €1,720 payout.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
72 | Dost Ghrabie | €1,520 |
73 | Johannes Grootelaar | €1,520 |
74 | Edward Chun Ho Yam | €1,520 |
75 | Paul Maguire | €1,520 |
76 | Daro Berisa | €1,520 |
77 | Jemery Bametz | €1,520 |
78 | Emil Karhu | €1,520 |
79 | Zaheer Zeb | €1,520 |
80 | Stepan Brychta | €1,520 |
81 | Roland Boothby | €1,520 |
82 | Erik Ostergaard | €1,520 |
83 | James Thody | €1,520 |
84 | Attila Kassitzky | €1,520 |
85 | Maciej Toma | €1,520 |
86 | Daniele Staropoli | €1,520 |
87 | Benjamin Rensen | €1,520 |
88 | Ertan Cicekdemir | €1,520 |
89 | David Ozmen | €1,520 |



Never Easy Playing Jacks
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 6:56 pm
Level 20: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 70/1,226
Laviolle Skrypnikov opened for 55,000 from early position before Edward Chun Ho Yam three-bet jammed for about 20 big blinds from middle position. Skrypnikov snap-called and the cards were turned over.
Edward Chun Ho Yam: J♣J♠
Laviolle Skrypnikov: K♦K♠
Yam was on the rail after his jacks were unable to get ahead of kings on the 7♦5♣9♦9♥10♦ board.
Laviolle Skrypnikov – 1.6 million
Edward Chun Ho Yam – 0

More Day 2 Photos
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 6:42 pm






“I Hope I Have One Over”
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 6:33 pm
Level 20: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 82/1,226
Alex Montgomery opened for 45,000 from middle position and was called by Antonio Chille from the hijack and Lucien Jouanneau from the button before James Thody ripped it in for 230,000.
Montgomery asked for a count before four-bet jamming. Chille asked for a count before he folded and Jouanneau folded as well.
“I hope I have one over,” said Thody before the cards were flipped over.
James Thody: A♠3♣
Alex Montgomery: A♥K♣
“Well, I have one under,” Thody said. “Spades, please.”
The 2♦K♦8♠7♦10♥ board didn’t provide the spades Thody was looking for. Nor did it provide any other love and he was on the rail.
Alex Montgomery – 900K
James Thody – 0

Day 1d Chip Leader Cicekdemir Eliminated by Jouanneau
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 6:19 pm
Level 19: 8,000/16,000
Entries: 87/1,226
Ertan Cicekdemir three-bet squeezed for 20 big blinds from the big blind. One player folded before Lucien Jouanneau found a call.
Ertan Cicekdemir: 10♥9♥
Lucien Jouanneau: K♦Q♥
Both players bricked the 8♥J♠5♠2♥4♠ runout and Cicekdemir was eliminated by Jouanneau with king-high.
“Nice hand,” said a couple of players at the table. “Nice call.”
“It was because I saw him do the same thing not too long ago with king-jack,” replied Jouanneau.
Lucien Jouanneau – 1 million
Ertan Cicekdemir – 0

Payouts for €1,320
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 6:12 pm
The following players cashed for €1,320 in the Grand Event. The final 89 players have each locked up at least a €1,520 payout.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
90 | Sjoerd Nikkels | €1,320 |
91 | Santaluna Baldassare | €1,320 |
92 | Daoud Abu | €1,320 |
93 | Kaspar Schmid | €1,320 |
94 | Liwei Wang | €1,320 |
95 | Fabio Coppola | €1,320 |
96 | Amber Glasby | €1,320 |
97 | Per Moller | €1,320 |
98 | Aurelien Giard | €1,320 |
99 | Katie Swift | €1,320 |
100 | Pieter Koedijk | €1,320 |
101 | Philip Roberts | €1,320 |
102 | Fabio Sturba | €1,320 |
103 | Thomas Lowter | €1,320 |
104 | Marian Ivanov | €1,320 |
105 | Pavle Pecelj | €1,320 |
106 | Yannick Rohrbach | €1,320 |
107 | Eduardo Terrivel | €1,320 |
108 | Leon Campbell | €1,320 |
109 | Fabian Fleischmann | €1,320 |
110 | Antonios Onourfriou | €1,320 |
111 | Luke Pace | €1,320 |
112 | Robert Teunissen | €1,320 |
113 | Anastasios Apostolou | €1,320 |
114 | Firat Cankaya | €1,320 |
115 | Dejan Dabetic | €1,320 |

Viaud Leaves Ozmen With Crumbs
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 6:08 pm
Level 19: 8,000/16,000
Entries: 94/1,226
David Ozmen opened from early position before Corentin Viaud three-bet to 135,000 from middle position. Ozmen jammed for 505,000 and Viaud called off his stack of 495,000.
Corentin Viaud: A♦A♠
David Ozmen: A♥K♠
Viaud’s rockets were the clear favorite and he doubled through Ozmen after the 9♥K♠5♠2♦8♦ ran out on the board.
Meanwhile, Ozmen was left with just half a big blind and his table broke after the hand.
Corentin Viaud – 1,040,000
David Ozmen – 10,000
Big Stacks at Break
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 5:59 pm
Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|
Humberto Galindo | 2,000,000 | 100 |
Noel Studer | 1,900,000 | 95 |
Martynas Brazdzionis | 1,900,000 | 95 |
Shaun Halliday | 1,800,000 | 90 |
Maik Buss | 1,800,000 | 90 |
Thomas Hofmann | 1,300,000 | 65 |
Serdar Demircan | 1,300,000 | 65 |
Raoul van Wersch | 1,200,000 | 60 |
Salvatore Ritrovato | 1,150,000 | 58 |
Dost Ghrabie | 1,100,000 | 55 |
Fabrizio Nobile | 1,000,000 | 50 |
Joaquim Ferriera | 1,000,000 | 50 |
Peter Kaspar | 1,000,000 | 50 |
15-Minute Break
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 5:45 pm
The final 95 players are on a 15-minute break. Blinds will increase to 10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 big blind ante when the action resumes.
More Day 1d Photos
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 5:29 pm
Taylor Doubles His Short Stack
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 5:28 pm
Level 19: 8,000/16,000
Entries: 106/1,226
Simon Taylor jammed for 175,000 from the cutoff and was called by Baldassare Santaluna from the big blind.
Simon Taylor: 10♣10♠
Baldassare Santaluna: K♦J♦
Taylor was at risk of losing his stack if he couldn’t win this flip. The tens held on the 2♣A♠4♥2♦Q♣ runout to survive and double his stack through Santaluna.
Baldassare Santaluna – 500K
Simon Taylor – 400K
Players That Min-Cashed (€1,120)
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 5:12 pm
The following players min-cashed the MPF Grand Event. The remaining 115 players each locked up a €200 pay jump and are guaranteed at least a €1,320 payout.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
116 | Grant Pirie | €1,120 |
117 | Robrecht Winterink | €1,120 |
118 | Arn Kungl | €1,120 |
119 | Ashley Wilson | €1,120 |
120 | Callum Gordon | €1,120 |
121 | Torsten Riedl | €1,120 |
122 | Kaloyan Kirov | €1,120 |
123 | Anthony Whalley | €1,120 |
124 | Massimo Bruno | €1,120 |
125 | Mantas Petrauskas | €1,120 |
126 | Michael Frost | €1,120 |
127 | Fraser Mackenze | €1,120 |
128 | Paolo Rando | €1,120 |
129 | Andrew Cutajar | €1,120 |
130 | Giulio Spaminato | €1,120 |
131 | Rob van Embden | €1,120 |
132 | Jonathan Schuman | €1,120 |
133 | Anton Shroter | €1,120 |
134 | Matthew Adams | €1,120 |
135 | Ian Swan | €1,120 |
136 | Boris Zismanov | €1,120 |
137 | Julien Gadanho | €1,120 |
138 | Nicky Molmans | €1,120 |
139 | Thomas Steedman | €1,120 |
140 | Giuseppe Signorelli | €1,120 |
141 | Oscar Arezzo | €1,120 |
142 | Samuel Biland | €1,120 |
143 | Olav Kok | €1,120 |
144 | Raimondo Marcello | €1,120 |
145 | Thibault Branly | €1,120 |
146 | Andrei Musat | €1,120 |
147 | Nauseda Grazvydas | €1,120 |
148 | Daniel Kuhlmann | €1,120 |
149 | Lars Halkier | €1,120 |
150 | Joseph East | €1,120 |
151 | Ivan Picavet | €1,120 |
Ghrabie Grabs a Ton of Chips With Ladies
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 5:08 pm
Level 19: 8,000/16,000 (16,000)
Entries: 116/1,226
Arno Kungl open-jammed for 65,000 from early position and was called by Dost Ghrabie from the hijack and Angelo Patane from the cutoff before Andrei Mjagokov jammed for close to 1,000,000. Ghrabie quickly called off his stack of 475,000 when the action came back around to him while Patane opted to fold.
Arno Kungl: A♥6♦
Dost Ghrabie: Q♠Q♣
Andrei Mjagkov: A♦K♠
Ghrabie won the hand with his ladies to eliminate Kungl and double through Mjagkov after both players failed to improve on the 9♠2♥9♦6♣2♠ board.
Dost Ghrabie – 1.2 million
Andrei Mjagkov – 500,000
Arno Kungl – 0
“Maybe I Did, Maybe I Didn’t.. It’s 50/50”
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 4:56 pm
Level 18: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Entries: 126/1,226
Louis Le Boisselier bet 120,000 into a pot of around triple that with the K♠10♠J♦Q♣ on the board after the turn. Arnaud Cressent tanked for a couple of minutes before he called.
The 6♥ river completed the board. About two minutes later, Le Boisselier jammed for more than the 420,000 or so Cressent had behind.
Cressent tanked for close to five minutes. During which, he asked for a count only to learn that he was well-covered. Eventually, Cressent folded.
“Did you have it?” Cressent asked.
“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” responded Le Boisselier. “It is 50/50.”
Louis Le Boisselier – 1.3 million
Arnaud Cressent – 420,000

Photos of Some of the Big Stacks from Around the Room
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 4:41 pm
D’Antoni Heading to Marrakech
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 4:21 pm
The clock was paused after the money bubble broke and dozens of players headed over to Table 21 for a big flip taking place between the players that hit the rail close to the bubble.
Nikolaj D’Antoni won the flip after his K♦5♠ hit two pair on the 5♦K♠J♥10♣2♠ board and will head to the “can’t miss” Winamax Open Marrakech compliments of a package valued at around €2,500 by Winamax.
Tons of players were thrilled for D’Antoni and kudos for Winamax for adding this excitement to the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event.
In other news, we will not have a repeat champion in the MPF Grand Event as Mirko Mostaccio, who won this event in the autumn, hit the rail just short of the money.
Best of luck to the remaining players in the field.
Footballer Regilio Vrede Bubbles Grand Event
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 4:17 pm
Level 18: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Entries: 151/1,226
Former footballer Regilio Vrede just bubbled the Grand Event on a cooler. Vrede jammed for 90,000 into a pot of around the same with the 4♥Q♥J♣ on the flop and was called by Michal Gavurnik.
The action paused for about three minutes while hands at other tables played out. After that, a big crowd surround the table and the cards were turned over.
Regilio Vrede: A♥Q♣
Michal Gavurnik: K♠10♠
Vrede was ahead but Gavurnik had many outs to a better pair or to complete an open-ended straight draw. The 10♣ added more possible outs for Gavurnik with one card to come.
The tournament arena erupted with applause after the 9♠ river completed the board to complete a straight for Gavurnik.
Unlucky for Vrede but he will have a chance to make up for it with the last nine players to hit the rail before the bubble flipping for a Winamax Marrakech package valued at approximately €2,500.
This author has attended Winamax events in the past at Marrakech, and that isn’t one to miss.
Michal Gavurnik – 1 million
Regilio Vrede – 0
**We will update with a bubble photo shortly.**
Demircan Delivers Three Strikes
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 3:36 pm
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 152/1,226
While we are waiting for the bubble to break, here is a funny hand from earlier involved Serdar Demircan.
Demircan opened for 25,000 and was called by Fabrizio Nobile from the big blind.
“Strike one,” said Demircan. “You should have folded.”
Nobile checked in the dark before the five-eight-nine came on the flop.
“That’s strike two,” Demircan said. “You gave me a free card.
Demircan checked and Nobile checked again on the king turn.
“That’s strike three,” Demircan said. “Another free card.”
Dermircan, who is on around 1.3 million in chips, would up betting 50,000 this time around and Nobile folded.
Serdar Demircan – 1,300,000
Fabrizio Nobile – 400,000

Hand-for-Hand
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 3:32 pm
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 152/1,226
Players are hand-for-hand on the money bubble with 152 players remaining.
Galindo Rockets to Over 1M
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 3:20 pm
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 160/1,226
We caught up with Humberto Galindo, who is quietly grinding a big stack. He shared with us that he got a good amount of his nearly 1.2 million in chips in a big pot where a player ran their stack with ace-nine suited into his rockets.
Also on his table with big stacks were Leon Campbell, Stepan Brychta, and Kevin Houghton.
Humberto Galindo – 1,150,000
Kevin Houghton – 600,000
Leon Campbell – 500,000
Stepan Brychta – 500,000
Luksa Wins Nearly a 1 Million Chip Pot
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 3:10 pm
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 167/1,226
Marko Luksa began today with the chip lead and now has it once again after winning a massive pot of around 900,000 in chips against Maxime Chilaud near the money bubble.
Luksa opened for 20,000 from late position. Chilaud three-bet to 83,000 from the blinds. Luksa four-bet to 150,000 before Chilaud five-bet shoved for more than 400,000. Luksa called and the cards were turned over.
Maxime Chilaud: Q♠Q♥
Marko Luksa: K♦K♣
Luksa’s cowboys got the job done on the A♠4♥5♣J♠J♦ board to eliminate Chilaud and win the biggest pot of the tournament thus far.
Marko Luksa – 1.1 million
Maxime Chilaud – 0

Various Big Stacks at Break
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 2:56 pm
Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|
Alex Montgomery | 1,050,000 | 105 |
Chris Da Silva | 890,000 | 89 |
Martynas Brazdzions | 770,000 | 77 |
Manoj Navini | 760,000 | 76 |
David Ozmen | 745,000 | 75 |
Alessandro Furneri | 710,000 | 71 |
Marko Luksa | 700,000 | 70 |
Chen Keren | 690,000 | 69 |
Anthony Whalley | 660,000 | 66 |
Louis Le Boisselier | 592,000 | 59 |
First Break
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 2:38 pm
Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 173/1,226
Players are on their first break. The money bubble will approach soon after the action resumes with 151 players guaranteed at least a €1,120 min-cash.
Blinds will increase to 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante when the action resumes in 15 minutes.
Montgomery Becomes a Chip Millionaire
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 2:36 pm
Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Entries: 181/1,226
Alex Montgomery, who entered today with a top 10 stack of 499,000 in chips is the first player we noticed over 1 million in chips. Montgomery recapped an earlier hand which got him on his way.
A player opened from under the gun before three players called including Montgomery from the big blind.
The players in the blinds checked the 10♦5♠3♦ flop before the under-the-gun player bet 26,000. Another player flat-called before the player in the small blind jammed for 126,000. Montgomery came in over the top for his table-leading chip stack and the under-the-gun player went into the tank before he called.
Small Blind Player: K♦2♦
UTG Player: Q♠Q♣
Alex Montgomery: 3♠3♥
Montgomery was ahead with his set of treys and remained ahead after the 9♣ turn. The 5♦ river improved the small blind player to a flush but Montgomery won the hand with a full house.
“Boom!” said the player in the small blind prematurely before realizing he lost his chip stack.
We will update some of the other bigger stacks from around the room on the first break.
Alex Montgomery – 1.1 million
Ferrari Runs Out of Gas
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 2:13 pm
Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Entries: 190/1,226
Moreno Ferrari jammed for 81,000 from the small blind. Mantas Petrauskas went into the tank for a few minutes before he found a call for more than half of his stack.
Moreno Ferrari: 8♠7♦
Mantas Petrauskas: K♠6♠
“Wow!” said Ferrari seemingly in shock before the Q♥4♥K♥ flop improved Petrauskas to top pair.
“What’s happening?” Ferrari said still in a little shock.
The J♠ turn and 6♠ river completed the board for Petrauskas to win the hand and felt Ferrari.
“Nice hand,” Ferrari said before leaving.
Mantas Petrauskas – 230,000
Moreno Ferrari – 0
Snowmen Don’t Get Ahead of Cowboys for Swift
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 2:05 pm
Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Entries: 197/1,226
Daniel Spavin-Haigh open-jammed for 93,000 from under the gun. Katie Swift asked for a count from the button before she called.
Daniel Spavin-Haigh: K♥K♦
Katie Swift: 8♥8♦
“Nice hand,” Swift said to Spavin-Haigh when she saw how dominated her snowmen were.
Spavin-Haigh improved further to a set of cowboys on the K♣2♠9♠ flop.
“Nice hand,” Swift said to her opponent again.
Neither the A♥ tur nor the 4♣ river made any difference in the hand and Spavin-Haigh doubled through Swift.
Kaite Swift – 235,000
Daniel Spavin-Haigh – 205,000

Pinto Loses His Stack to Roberts on a Rollercoaster Ride of a Hand
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 1:58 pm
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 208/1,226
Michael Pinto began today with one of the bigger stacks in play with 374,000 in chips. He was down to about 15 big blinds when he lost the rest on a roller coaster of a hand against Scott Roberts.
Roberts opened for 13,000 before Pinto jammed for about 80,000. Roberts called and the cards were turned over.
Michael Pinto: A♣K♠
Scott Roberts: Q♣Q♥
It was looking good for Pinto to double after he pulled out ahead with trips on the A♠A♦2♣ flop. Pinto was still ahead on 5♠ turn. However, the Q♠ came raining down on the river to destroy the rest of Pinto’s stack.
Meanwhile, Roberts was north of half a million chips after the hand.
Scott Roberts – 525,000
Michael Pinto – 0
Pace Flops Two Pair to Win Massive Pot Against Oldfield
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 1:39 pm
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 219/1,226
There was a little bit already in the pot when Luke Pace checked the 8♦6♥Q♣ flop. John Oldfield bet 30,000 and Presiyan Tsvetanov called before Luke Pace jammed for 301,000. Oldfield called the big shove and Tsvetanov opted to fold.
Luke Pace: Q♠8♣
John Oldfield: A♠A♣
Pace was ahead with his two pair but Oldfield still had a bit of hope. Neither the 4♣ turn nor the K♣ river improved Oldfield from his pocket rockets for Pace to win the massive pot. Meanwhile, Oldfield had his work cut out for him as he was below a starting stack after the hand.
Luke Pace – 700,000
Presiyan Tsvetanov – 290,000
John Oldfield – 40,000
Turn Saves Petit
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 1:33 pm
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 227/1,226
Thomas Petit jammed for a little more than 10 big blinds from the hijack and was looked up by Jonathan Pastore from the button.
Thomas Petit: 7♦7♣
Jonathan Pastore: A♣K♦
It was looking like Petit would be heading to the showers after Pastore connected with his ace on the A♠J♥J♠ flop. However, Petit moved far ahead after hitting a two outer on the 7♠ turn to improve to a full house.
Petit wasn’t out of the woods yet as Pastore had a potential four-outer to complete for a better full house. The blank 3♠ river wasn’t one of those four outs and Petit doubled through Pastore.
Thomas Petit – 140,000
Jonathan Pastore – 65,000
Bandyle Comes Back to the Table
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 1:25 pm
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 242/1,226
Tina Bandyle opened from the hijack. Nauseda Grazyvydas three-bet shoved for just under 15 big blinds and Bandyle called.
Nauseda Grazyvydas: A♣K♦
Tina Bandyle: A♦J♦
Grazyvydas’s big slick held on the 4♠K♠2♠5♣10♠ board. The stacks of the two players appeared to be very close. Bandyle, however, ran away from the table and temporarily out of the poker room. This reporter chased after her when we saw she still had 3,000 chips left. Someone else told her first and she got back to the table in an attempt to go from zero to hero..
Nauseda Grazyvydas – 200,000
Tina Bandyle – 3,000
Zeb Wins a Big Flip to Oust Cartarius
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 1:13 pm
Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 252/1,226
Dror Krici opened for 13,000 from the button. Zaheer Zeb three-bet to 35,000 from the small blind before Louis Cartarius four-bet jammed for 172,000 from the big blind. Krici got out of the way and Krici went into the tank before asking for a chip count.
Zeb found a call about three minutes later and the cards were turned over with Cartarius at risk.
Louis Cartarius: A♣K♥
Zaheer Zeb: 10♦10♠
Zeb’s tens won the flip to eliminate Cartarius after his opponent was unable to find any love on the 8♠6♠9♠3♣9♦ board.
Zaheer Zeb – 400,000
Louis Cartarius – 0
Tens Good for D’Antoni
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 12:57 pm
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 273/1,226
Sirin Ongorur three-bet jammed the button and was called by Nicolaj D’Antoni, who originally opened from middle position.
Nicolaj D’Antoni: 10♥10♠
Sirin Ongorur: A♣6♠
We were hoping to catch Ongorur on the winning end of a hand and hopefully, we will later as he created the technical aspects of the blog and website we are using.
However, this wasn’t the time as D’Antoni immediately improved to a set and never looked back after the 10♦8♥5♥2♦Q♠ ran out on the board.
Ducks No Good for Berdis
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 12:49 pm
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 280/1,226
Oliver Said opened from the button before David Berdis jammed for 130,000 from the small blind. Said called and the two players were flipping for a big pot with Berdis at risk.
David Berdis: 2♦2♣
Oliver Said: A♣J♠
Berdis was ahead in the flip after both the 4♦7♥8♣ flop and the 8♣ turn.
“Yes!”said Said after the J♥ river completed the board to improve him to a better pair.
Berdis got out of his seat and we wish him better luck if he plays in any of the side events today.
Craigie Breathes a Sigh of Relief
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 12:38 pm
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 300/1,226
Kerryjane Craigie jammed from middle position for 83,000 and was looked up by Flaviano Cammisuli from the button.
Kerryjane Craigie: Q♦Q♣
Flaviano Cammisuli: A♦K♥
Craigie pulled miles ahead after the Q♠6♠K♦ improved her to a set. She appeared nervous despite improving to a full house on the K♠ turn with Cammisuli holding a handful of outs for a better full house or four kings.
The blank J♣ river completed the board and Craigie breathed a huge sigh of relief after winning the hand.
Kerryjane Craigie – 180,000
Flaviano Cammisuli – 40,000

Georgiou Flops the Nuts
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 12:33 pm
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 305/1,226
Georgios Georgiou had his stack of 75,000 in the middle on the 5♦3♦4♠ flop and was up against Julian Capone.
Georgios Georgiou: 7♦6♦
Julian Capone: K♠K♦
Georgiou already had the nuts with a straight to pull ahead of cowboys and even had a flush draw to boot. Capone needed a pair of runners to win the hand but was drawing to just a three-outer to a chop after the 6♥ turn. The J♠ river completed the board for Georgiou to double through Capone.
Georgios Georgiou – 170,000
Julian Capone – 25,000
Hays Runs Into Ladies
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 12:26 pm
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 309/1,226
“Player out,” is something that can be frequently heard in the poker arena early on Day 2 with more than 20 players already on the rail including Antonin Hays as follows.
Hays jammed for 75,000 from the button.
“How much?” asked Fabio Coppola from the small blind.
The dealer counted Hays’ stack and Coppola announced a call shortly after.
Antonin Hays: K♥9♥
Fabio Coppola: Q♠Q♣
Hays wasn’t able to get there on the 7♣A♥2♣5♦8♦ and was eliminated by Coppola early on Day 2.
Fabio Coppola – 300,000
Antonin Hays – 0
Bagnall Ousts Nima
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 12:18 pm
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 324/1,226
Several players have already hit the rail early on Day 2 including Hassan Nima as follows.
Nima jammed for about 12 big blinds from the small blind. Calum Bagnall had Nima covered and snap-called from the big blind.
Hassan Nima: 10♣9♣
Calum Bagnall: K♠Q♣
Bagnall barely had Nima covered and snagged all of his chips with a full house after the 2♥2♦Q♠2♣A♣ ran out on the board.
Calum Bagnall – 125,000
Hassan Nima – 0
151 Players Paid; €100,600 Top Prize!
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 12:10 pm
The payouts have been announced for the MPF Grand Event. The top 151 players will go home with at least a €1,120 min-cash for more than double the €550 buy-in.
Tomorrow’s winner is slated to walk away with much more with a €100,600 top prize on the line! Here is a look at all of the payouts of the 2023 Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition €550 Grand Event.
Place | Prize |
---|---|
1 | €100,600 |
2 | €75,690 |
3 | €55,420 |
4 | €37,400 |
5 | €20,150 |
6 | €14,850 |
7 | €11,400 |
8 | €9,050 |
9 | €7,550 |
10-11 | €6,150 |
12-13 | €5,050 |
14-15 | €4,150 |
16-20 | €3,350 |
21-26 | €2,820 |
27-35 | €2,470 |
36-44 | €2,170 |
45-53 | €1,920 |
54-71 | €1,720 |
72-89 | €1,520 |
90-115 | €1,320 |
116-151 | €1,120 |
Day 2 Begins
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 12:10 pm
Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 330/1,226
Ludos Academy CEO Danilo de Berardinis and MPF founder Ivonne Montealegre welcomed the players and provided some information about Day 2 of the MPF Grand Event.
One player was disqualified from the event, so we start today with 330 hopefuls in the hunt for the title.
Best of luck to all of the Day 2 players.
Day 2 of the MPF Grand Event Begins at 1 p.m.
By Jason Glatzer | April 30, 2023 10:25 am
The Malta Poker Festival (MPF) Spring Edition €550 Grand Event powered by the Unibet DeepStack Open has been a massive success with 1,226 entries coming out in full force during the five opening flights to generate a huge €588,480 prize pool. This not only smashed the €300,000 guarantee but also nearly doubled it.
A total of 331 entries or 27% of the field survived and are ready to battle for the next two days until the latest MPF champion is crowned.
Day 1a chip leader Marko Luksa bagged the biggest stack of 687,000 with Day 1b chip leader Shaun Halliday (656,000) and Day 1c chip leader Malik Buss (618,000). Here is a look at the top 10 chip counts on Day 2.
Place | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Marko Luksa | 687,000 | 137 |
2 | Shaun Halliday | 656,000 | 131 |
3 | Maik Buss | 618,000 | 124 |
4 | Michal Gavurnik | 577,000 | 115 |
5 | Ertan Cicekdemir | 523,000 | 105 |
6 | Chris Da Silva | 500,000 | 100 |
7 | Alex Montgomery | 499,000 | 100 |
8 | Kaloyan Kirov | 472,000 | 94 |
9 | Paul Young | 459,000 | 92 |
10 | Noel Studer | 447,000 | 89 |




Players will have a little more time on Day 2 than the opening flights with 50-minute blind levels throughout Day 2. In addition, players will enjoy a smooth 8-max format the rest of the tournament.
The payouts will be announced shortly after cards are in the air. Day 2 is scheduled to conclude the sooner of 14 blind levels or when a final table of nine players is reached.
Head to the Seat Draw post to check out the Day 2 seat draw for the final 331 players.
Meanwhile, the €120 APAT Maltese Championship will crown a winner on its second and final day with cards in the air at 2 p.m.
Several new side events kickoff today as well including the €250 Sunday Deep Stack powered by Stanleybet at 5 p.m., the first of two days of the €1,100 MPF High Roller at 6 p.m., the €200 PLO Knights Crusaders at 7 p.m., and the €150 Win the Button at 8 p.m. Additionally, there is a €150 turbo satellite to the High Roller at 2 p.m. for those looking for a chance to get in for a fraction of the cost.
We will be back on the floor when cards are in the air at 1 p.m. for Day 2. Stay tuned to the Malta Poker Festival blog for all of your updates.
