Carrel, De Meulder & Chattha Among Early EPT12 Malta Side Event Winners
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The European Poker Tour Malta is comprised of 76 events, and already some notables have been winning "Spadies."
For instance, the first event, a €5,000 Win the Button tournament, attracted just five players, though all of them — Ben Heath, Martin Finger, Patrick Leonard, Charlie Carrel and IPT7 Malta champion Georgios Zisimopoulos – were accomplished.
In the end, the 22-year-old Carrel defeated his best friend, Ben Heath, in heads-up play to walk away with the €15,760 top prize and the first trophy of the festival. Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Heath earned €8,490 for his efforts.
According to PokerStars, Carrel, known as "Epiphany77" online, started his poker career online with a deposit of just $15 and now has online earnings of nearly $900k including chopping the Sunday Million last year.
His first big score on the EPT came here in Malta in March when he made the final of the €10k High Roller, finishing fifth for €183,800; and then just two months later he won the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final Grand Final High Roller for €1,114,000.
In other news, Team PokerStars Pro Matthias De Meulder took down the €500 NL Deepstack Turbo event on Thursday night for €9,842., which came after cutting a three-way deal with runner-up Georgios Zisimopoulos, the reigning IPT Malta champ, and British player Patrick Leonard. There were 82 entries in total, creating a €39,770 prize pool with 11 players making the money.
Meanwhile, Eric Lescot took down the €500 PLO Turbo – a tournament that attracted 56 entries and created a prize pool of €27,160 — for €7,315 after cutting a heads-up deal with Finland’s Olli Kokko.
Finally, Britain’s Chaz Chattha won the €200 NL Hyper Turbo – a tournament that attracted 108 players with 15 being paid — for €4,540 after a three-way deal that saw runner-up Istvan Magyar and third-place finisher Giorgio Bellanca both take home €3,500 each.