While the PokerNews Live Reporting Team has been busying live reporting the High Rollers and Main Event from the European Poker Tour Malta, another event – the €1,100 IPT7 Malta2 Main Event – wrapped up at the Portomaso Casino.
That tournament attracted 947 participants from 57 countries, which created a prize pool of €918,590 that was distributed to the top 135 players. Among those to cash were Yann Dion (14th - €8,440), Hyunwoo Kang (32nd - €3,550), Gaelle Baumann (34th - €3,550), Matthias De Meulder (77th - €2,210), Luca Pagano (87th - €2,210), Marcin Wydrowski (123rd - €1,810), and Andrea Dato (134th - €1,810).
In the end, it was Natan Chauskin who finished as the last man standing to capture a €149,560 first-place prize, the result of a heads-up deal with EPT regular Govert Metaal, who had actually began the final table as the short stack.
The 27-year-old began the final table as chip leader and rode it all the way to heads-up play. When the deal was struck with Metaal, who was named the Netherland's 2013 Player of the Year, the two agreed to leave €20,000 on the table for the eventual champ, which ended up going to Chauskin along with a shiny new trophy.
"It's not the amount of money that changes my life," Chauskin said after the win. "Plus, I don't play just for the money, I play to become a sportstar, because poker is a sport, where the competition is the most important thing. I will play the EPT Main Event tomorrow and win it too."
According to PokerStars, Chauskin started the pokerbrothers.by coaching website with his friends Mikolai Vaskaboinikau and Jenya Gavrilovich just three months ago. In addition to Chauskin's win, Gavrilovich won the €2,000 NL tournament at EPT Barcelona for €75,300.
IPT7 Malta2 final table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|
| 1 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | €149,560* |
| 2 | Govert Metaal | Netherlands | €124,000* |
| 3 | Christopher Brammer | UK | €72,660 |
| 4 | David Gomez | Spain | €54,570 |
| 5 | Joep Raemaekers | UK | €42,440 |
| 6 | Tobias Garp | Sweden | €31,420 |
| 7 | James Grogan | Ireland | €22,500 |
| 8 | Denis Timofeev | Russia | €16,030 |
*denotes a heads-up deal
Here's a look back at the history of the IPT Malta Main Event:
| Event | Field Size | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|
| IPT2 Malta1 | 385 | Michal Pochlopek | Poland | €190,000 |
| IPT2 Malta2 | 237 | Giacomo Loccarini | Italy | €122,000 |
| IPT3 Malta | 131 | Marco Figuccia | Italy | €82,000 |
| IPT7 Malta1 | 1,285 | Georgios Zisimopoulos | Greece | €142,205 |
| IPT7 Malta2 | 947 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | €149,560 |
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Natan Chauskin
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