Yesterday the European Poker Tour Malta kicked off with the €25,000 High Roller. A total of 57 players registered. With 10 players opting to reenter after busting, the total amount of entries came to 67.
After 8 levels of play, 49 remain. Registration is open till 12:15, 15 minutes before the start of Day 2. So high rollers still have some time to enter, there just might be one or two who played in the Berlin high roller making their way to this little island in the Mediterranean Sea. As registration is still open, a seat draw won't be released till start of play.
Quan Zhou did best yesterday, turning his 250,000 starting stack into 952,000. Dietrich "2pacnrw16" Fast, who won a bracelet last week in Berlin and won the Thursday Thrill online as well, did good as well with 931,000. John Andress (72,000) and Ivan Luca (53,000) start out as the short stacks today. The first level of play will be 3,000/6,000 with a 1,000 ante.
The plan for today's Day 2 is to play 10 levels, or down to a final table of 8, whichever comes faster. There's a 75-minute break after the 6th level of play today, which should be around 6:55 pm.
"What one flat can do!" Jason Wheeler said with a smile as we approached the table, just too late to catch all the action. Thankfully Wheeler told us what had happened after all was done.
Byron Kaverman opened for 14,000 under the gun and Wheeler flatted from the cutoff. Ivan Luca on the button shoved for 51,000 and small blind Jean-Noel Thorel pushed 320,000 froward. Christopher Frank folded from the big blind, and Kaverman moved over the top all in. Wheeler folded.
Byron Kaverman:
Ivan Luca:
Jean-Noel Thorel:
The board ran out clean for Kaverman: and both Luca and Thorel got up from the table.
EPT Barcelona champion John Juanda has been eliminated from the tournament. He opened for 14,000 from the cutoff and Charlie Carrel defended from the big blind. The flop came and Carrel check raised the 15,000 continuation bet to 35,000. Juanda moved in for around 120,000 and Carrel made the call.
Charlie Carrel:
John Juanda:
The on the turn probably gave Juanda a bunch of outs, but the on the river wasn't one of them. One EPT Champion gone, 6 remain (Buonanno, Mateos, Mercier, Jensen, McDonald, O'Dwyer, Charania).
Benjamin Pollak opened for 18,000 under the fun and Connor Drinan responded by moving all in for his last 95,000. Action folded back to Pollak, who put in the call.
Drinan:
Pollak:
It was a flip, but Drinan needed to improve to stay alive. The flop was no help, and neither was the turn. It was down to the river for last year's runner-up, but help wasn't in the cards as the blanked.
Mamouni Smain, who qualified for this event via a €3,000 satellite, got his chips all in preflop holding and was up against the of Andrew Chen. A six on the flop all but sealed the deal for Chen, and Smain hit the rail.
In the very next hand, Brian Roberts raised to 30,000 and Chen called from the cutoff. Frederik Jensen called from the small blind, and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier three-bet all in for roughly 280,000 from the big. Roberts folded, Chan called, and Jensen got out of the way.
Chen:
Mercier:
Roberts informed Mercier that he had folded the same hand, which obviously was not what Mercier wanted to hear. The board ran out and that was all she wrote for Mercier.
"Ok, good luck," he offered before collecting his things and exiting the tournament floor.
While Adrian Mateos was busting at one table, the defending champ, Dzmitry Urbanovich, fell at another.
It happened when Urbanovich, who had been nursing a short stack, moved all in for his last 151,000 from early position and recent WSOPE bracelet winner Dietrich Fast called from the small blind.
Urbanovich:
Fast:
Urbanovich was in big trouble, and while he received a little help on the flop, he needed more to stay alive. The turn wasn't it, and neither was the river. Urbanovich missed and saw his title defense come to an end in 24th place.
Charlie Carrel made it 50,000 from the cutoff and Byron kaverman on the button three bet to 125,000. Both blinds quickly released and action was back on Carrel. The Brit four bet to 325,000 with around 475,000 behind. Kaverman thought about it for just a bit before making the call.
The flop came and Carrel bet a modest 175,000. Kaverman called. The fell on the turn and Carrel tanked for just a bit before moving all in. Kaverman snap called. Carrel let out a big sigh of disappointment and slammed his on the table. Kaverman gave him the bad news by showing .
Carrel needed a ten but didn't get it: on the river. "Nice hand" Carrel said before making his way to the exit.
Action folded to Frederik Jensen and the EPT champion moved in for 322,000 from the button. Jason Wheeler in the small blind peeked at his cards and announced all in as well. Juha Helppi folded his big blind.
Frederik Jensen:
Jason Wheeler:
Wheeler's position was great and it only got better on the flop: . Jensen already got up from the table, and despite getting a glimmer of hope on the turn, the on the river blanked and the Dane made his exit.
Wheeler still below average, but with 920,000 (31 big blinds) he has a very much workable stack.
On a flop of we witnessed Sam Greenwood in the big blind check call a bet of 85,000 from his opponent Jeff Rossiter who was seated on the button.
The fell on the turn and Greenwood checked again. Rossiter moved all in and Greenwood instantly called by tossing in a single 5,000-chip.
Jeff Rossiter:
Sam Greenwood:
Things were looking good for Rossiter as he just needed to fade an eight on the river to double up. We didn't have time to check for how much Rossiter was all in as the dealer quickly burned and placed the on the river.
You could feel people shivering and Pollak even let out a small sigh. Rossiter stayed calm though, and wished Greenwood good luck. 13 players left, two from the money.
Mikita Badziakouski bubbles the €25,000 EPT Malta High Roller 2015
Mikita Badziakouski has been clinging to a short stack, and after Nick Petrangelo's double, the pressure was on the Belarusian.
After Mike McDonald, who has been very active on the bubble, opened for 90,000 from the cutoff, Badziakouski moved all in for 320,000 from the button. Sylvain Loosli folded from the small blind, and then Christopher Frank four-bet all in over the top for 1.1 million. McDonald folded and it was off to the race.
Badziakouski:
Frank:
Badziakouski was looking to hold, which he did on the flop. The turn gave Frank a wheel draw to go with his overs, and much to the dismay of Badziakouski, it came in when the spiked on the river.
With that, Badziakouski left empty handed and guaranteed the remaining 11 players — three of which didn't even play on Day 1 as they late registered before the start of play today — a minimum €45,325 payday.
and both Luca and Thorel got up from the table.
and Carrel check raised the 15,000 continuation bet to 35,000. Juanda moved in for around 120,000 and Carrel made the call.
![[user153638]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop was no help, and neither was the 
turn. It was down to the river for last year's runner-up, but help wasn't in the cards as the 
and was up against the 
turn wasn't it, and neither was the 
river. Urbanovich missed and saw his title defense come to an end in 24th place.
and Carrel bet a modest 175,000. Kaverman called. The 
fell on the turn and Carrel tanked for just a bit before moving all in. Kaverman snap called. Carrel let out a big sigh of disappointment and slammed his 
on the river. "Nice hand" Carrel said before making his way to the exit.
fell on the turn and Greenwood checked again. Rossiter moved all in and Greenwood instantly called by tossing in a single 5,000-chip. 
turn gave Frank a wheel draw to go with his overs, and much to the dismay of Badziakouski, it came in when the 
spiked on the river.
