Juha Helppi and Sergio Aido built up a big pot to the turn before checking the river. Helppi flashed the for a pair of jacks and that was good enough to win the pot. Aido dropped down to almost half the starting stack while his fellow countryman Adrian Mateos is already up by almost as much.
First he fired the turn for 20,000 to win a pot uncontested and just now battled with Jason Mercier. Again the big pot emerged until the turn before the river was checked through by both players. Mateos flipped over for top pair and that was good enough to win the pot.
Poker is certainly being played - just not discussed.
As the high rollers weave thier way through the first half of the first level the major topic of discussion on the felt has been the upcoming Olivier Busquet and JC Alvarado MMA-style fight.
A date has yet to be determined, but the two did agree on Twitter to make it happen. Today, Jason Mercier is looking for some action on Busquet and may have found a willing gambler in Dan Smith - a good friend of Alvarado's.
In fact, most of the room perked up when they heard Mercier was in the Busquet camp, leading him to surmise he may be willing to get unlimited action on the match.
Want to find out more of what the fight is all about? Check out PokerNews Managing Editor Chad Holloway's interview with Alvarado right here.
The late registration will remain open until the end of level eight and more notables entered the competition just now, among others Adrian Mateos, Roberto Romanello, Steve O'Dwyer and EPT10 Vienna High Roller Fabrice Soulier.
Instead of playing Day 1b of the Main Event, Mike "Timex" McDonald decided to register for the Single-Day High Roller and just walked in to collect his seat assignment. McDonald won the € 25,000 + 750 #16 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller - 8 Handed and defeated 62 opponents to claim the trophy.
Also in now: Huidong Gu, David Peters and Justin Bonomo.
The screens have been updated and show 40 players registered, of which pretty much all are well known pros. The table talk is friendly and lots of banter is provided. The first two levels are run on the same blinds with 100 big blinds per person, however the single re-entry may very well result in early fireworks.
The screens show an increased number of entries and among the most recent additions to the field were PCA winner Dominik Panka, Jason Mercier, former EPT Prague winner Martin Finger and David "MissOracle" Yan.
The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Season 12 Malta €10,200 Single-Day High Roller will kick off just minutes from now inside the friendly confines of The Casino at Portomaso.
If past results are any indication, this should be a long day of poker in Malta as the last single-day High Roller event on the EPT schedule in Barcelona played until 5 a.m. when there were three players remaining. In the end, they decided to add an extra day and German Martin Finger came back to capture the EPT Barcelona €25,000 High Roller title for €865,900.
Along with Finger, some of poker's best players are expected to contend for the title this time around, and while it may be a long day, it is expected to be one filled with top notch poker action.
Registration has been slow to start, but the numbers are expected to grow as the day goes on with late-entry available until 5 p.m. and a single re-entry option available.
Get comfortable, as the PokerNews live reporting team endeavors to bring you a slice of the action for start to finish here in Malta.
![[user38873]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
turn before checking the 
river. Helppi flashed the 
for a pair of jacks and that was good enough to win the pot. Aido dropped down to almost half the starting stack while his fellow countryman Adrian Mateos is already up by almost as much.
turn for 20,000 to win a pot uncontested and just now battled with Jason Mercier. Again the big pot emerged until the 
turn before the 
river was checked through by both players. Mateos flipped over 
for top pair and that was good enough to win the pot.
