€5,300 Main Event Dia 2 | 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta

2015-10-27 20:10 UTC

Some 131 Survive Day 2 of the EPT Malta Main Event

[user127999]

Nível 14 : 1,200/2,400, 300 ante

Day 2 of the 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta Main Event went off inside The Casino at Portomaso on Tuesday with the field cut close to a third of its size by the time it finished up.

The day began with 386 players, plans to play six 75-minute levels and Italian Carmelo Crucitti bringing in the combined chip lead from the two starting flights with him. By the time they bagged and tagged, just 131 players remained, and Swede Alexander Ivarsson was on top.

Registration closed at the start of the day and the final tally was 651 total entries creating a €3,157,350 prize pool that will pay 95 spots. A min-cash is worth €9,320, with a hefty €602,400 awaiting the winner.

Ivarsson got the inside track on that dominating his table early, then winning a 170,000-chip pot when his sixes made a set to hold versus big slick to push above the 500,000-chip mark. He bagged 529,200 and almost 180 big blinds coming into tomorrow.

Those who were not so fortunate included Friend of PokerStars Natalie Hof, who double once, but busted soon after, joining a littany of big names on the rail including Andrew Chen, Gaelle Baumann, Ismael Bojang, and Danish Team PokerStars Pro Theo Jorgensen, who ran kings into aces to go broke in the second level.

Just a couple days removed from winning the €25K High Roller here at EPT Malta, Mike McDonald built it up to mid six figures by busting German standout Bojang early. In the late stages, he five-bet shoved with jacks into Antonio Scalzi's pocket queens and four-flushed on the river to move up to a spot among leaders. McDonald ended on 314,200.

2015 WSOP $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em runner-up Natasha Barbour ran it up early as well, but bagged just 74,000. Faraz Jaka came in with a big stack and only added to it all day, collecting 375,200 and a spot in the top 10 to finish the day. €10,200 High Roller champion Steve O'Dwyer was pushing close to 300,000 as the day played on, but just a day after jumping up to the top of the EPT all-time money winner's list, he fizzled a bit, ending on 98,100. Norwegian Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden remains the only hope for the home team, bringing a similar 102,400 with him.

Day 3 will go off Wednesday with plans to play five 90-minute levels with a 20-minute break between each, starting at 12 p.m. local time.

Stay tuned as the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be here throughout, bringing you all the action from from start to finish.

Tags: Alexander Ivarsson Faraz Jaka Gaelle Baumann Ismael Bojang Johnny Lodden Mike McDonald Natalie Hof Natasha Barbour Steve O'Dwyer

2015-10-27 17:50 UTC

The Great Debate -- Does Asking "Check" Constitute a Check

[user153638]

Nível 13 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

A small hand just took place between Khorshid Sakhra and Chris Hunichen that called into question what constitutes a check. Let's start from the beginning.

Sakhra opened for 4,600 from late position and Hunichen defended from the big blind. Both players checked the flop, and then Hunichen bet 4,200 on the turn. Sakhra made the call and then Hunichen announced a check on the river.

"Check?" Sakhra asked in a tone that indicated a question. The dealer, who took it as such, replied in the affirmative. "Did he check?" Sakhra asked again just to be clear. The dealer reiterated that Hunichen had in fact checked.

However, with "check" being the first word out of Sakhra's mouth, Hunichen assumed that he had checked and nearly tabled his hand.

"Did you check?" Hunichen asked Sakhra, who stated that he did not. He then placed put a minimum bet of 2,000. "We may need to get a floor over here," Hunichen stated.

It was his belief, based upon prior experiences, that regardless of tone, Sakhra said the word check, so it needed to stand as such. The dealer explained that it was a question, but Hunichen, who understood that fact, was adamant it didn't matter.

A floor person was called, who listened to the situation and agreed with the dealer, stating the 2,000 bet would stand. Hunichen was not satisfied.

Tournament Director Toby Stone was then called over. He first listened to Hunichen's version of events, and then turned his attention to the dealer. After taking everything into consideration, Stone ruled that "in fairness of the game" the bet would stand.

"It's a terrible ruling," Hunichen blatantly quipped. Nonetheless, it was the ruling and action was on him.

By this point several players at the table were visibly frustrated, and before long one of them called the clock. The original floor person, who hadn't left the table, began the one-minute countdown, and Hunichen let every single second tick off before his hand was declared dead.

Just for kickers, Sakhra showed the .

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Khorshid Sakhra	190,000	15,000
Chris Hunichen	62,000	-13,000

Tags: Chris Hunichen Khorshid Sakhra

2015-10-27 17:22 UTC

Fang Busts to Morozovs

[user38873]

Nível 13 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

Down to only 32,000 chips, Giada Fang of the PokerStars Team Online moved all in from under the gun with the and Mihails Morozovs called with in the big blind. The flop gave Morozovs a flush draw while the turn changed nothing whatsoever. The river provided one of the two over cards and that sent Fang to the rail.

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Mihails Morozovs	250,000	157,000
Giada Fang	Eliminado

Tags: Giada Fang Mihails Morozovs

2015-10-27 16:27 UTC

Panka Vanished from the Feature Table

[user38873]

Nível 12 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

The cards were almost rushed away, but former PCA champion Dominik Panka was just sent to the rail after being eliminated on the feature table. He was all in and at risk on a short stack with and found top pair on the flop, Mike McDonald however turned an ace with his and even completed a straight on the river.

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Mike McDonald	111,100	-24,900
Dominik Panka	Eliminado

Tags: Dominik Panka Mike McDonald

2015-10-27 13:32 UTC

Mitrotta Cracks Kings to Eliminate Little

[user153638]

Nível 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

We arrived at Table 14 to see a huge 175,000 pot being contested between Jonathan Little and Antonio Mitrotta. Apparently the former had opened with a raise only to have the latter three-bet. Another player flatted, Little four-bet, and Mitrotta five-bet jammed for roughly 85,000. The limper folded and Little snap-called off his nearly equal stack.

Mitrotta:
Little:

Little was looking dodge an ace, and he did just that on the flop. The American pro managed to dodge an ace on both the turn and river, but unfortunately for him they came the and respectively to give Mitrotta a runner-runner Broadway straight.

Without a word, Little quickly collected his things and made a beeline for the door.

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Antonio Mitrotta	175,000	91,800
Jonathan Little	Eliminado

Tags: Antonio Mitrotta Jonathan Little

2015-10-27 13:02 UTC

Alibas Continues to Build

[user153638]

Nível 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Salim Alibas opened for 2,200 and action folded to Germany's Daniel Matthias Hoenig in the small blind. He three-bet to 5,500, and after the player in the big folded, Alibas began to ponder. He asked his opponent if he held a big hand, and he received an affirmative response.

Alibas then four-bet to 12,200 and snap-called when Hoenig shoved all in for approximately 30,000.

Alibas:
Hoenig:

Alibas held the goods, and he essentially locked up the hand on the flop. The turn left Hoenig drawing dead, and the river made his elimination official.

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Salim Alibas	190,000	90,000
Daniel Matthias Hoenig	Eliminado

Tags: Daniel Matthias Hoenig Salim Alibas

2015-10-27 11:19 UTC

Unprecedented Fifth Spin & Go Millionaire Crown on PokerStars this Week

[user153638]

Nível 9 : 400/800, 100 ante

While the live version of PokerStars' popular Spin & Go tournament made their debut here at the EPT12 Malta — yesterday saw the first €1,000 prize hit — the online version has been crowning millionaires. Most recently, Germany's "handbt1" became the fifth instant Spin & Go millionaire this week.

In the first year of Spin & Go’s at PokerStars, just five new millionaires were made, and in the last week alone there have been five more.

According to PokerStars officials, the $5 buy-in Spin & Go tournament (Tournament #1,360,472,695) started at 12.35 a.m. German Local Time on October 26 (7.34 p.m. US Eastern Time, 11.43 p.m. GMT on October 25) and concluded at 12.48 a.m., creating yet another poker millionaire from thirteen minutes of poker play.

The runner up was "egg1981" from the Channel Island of Guernsey, who won $100,000, while the third-place finisher was Ukraine's "Lyuda1975," who also won $100,000. The tournament was over in just 55 hands, with "handbt1" leading for the majority of the tournament. He won the match with the all in preflop against the of "egg1981." The flop paired "handbt1," and he held as the turn and river came respectively.

In addition to this tournament, there has been an unprecedented spate of instant millionaires made on Spin & Go tournaments this week:

On 26 October, ‘barrakuuda4’ from Estonia became a millionaire from a $100 Spin & Go tournament.
On 25 October, ’prophethicks’ from England became a millionaire from a $5 Spin & Go tournament.
On 22 October, ‘wrawras’ from Brazil became a millionaire from a $100 Spin & Go tournament.
On 21 October, ‘Samara Lúcio’ from Brazil became a millionaire from a $5 Spin & Go tournament.

Spin & Go's are fast-paced, 3-Max Hyper Turbo tournaments which feature 500 chip starting stacks. Each tournament has a randomly drawn prize pool that will award between two and 3,000 times your buy-in. PokerStars offer Spin & Go's at nine different buy-in levels: $0.50, $1, $3, $5, $7, $15, $30, $60 and $100.

Tags: Spin & Go "handbt1"

2015-10-27 09:36 UTC

Day 2 Awaits, 6 Levels Scheduled

Webjoker

Who follows Jean Montury up as EPT Malta champ?

Day 2 of the 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta €5,300 Main Event starts at 12, or in about 90 minutes. Another 6 75-minute levels are scheduled for today as the big separation will start. There will be no dinner break, play should be done around 20:15. The money stage of the tournament will not be reached, only thing players have to do today is stay alive.

On Day 1a a total of 184 players signed up. Yesterday's Day 1b was a lot busier with 460 entrants. That makes for a combined 644 players, but registration is open till start of play today so that number might just increase a little. Of the 644 that already paid their €5,300 entrance fee, 386 remain at this point.

Leading the charge is Day 1a chipleader Carmelo Crucitti with 163,000 in chips. Last nights chipleader Jaroslaw Sikora is right on his heels with 153,700. Frenchman Ludovic Riehl (150,000) and German Jens Lakemeier (138,000) are not too far behind. Byron Kaverman (5,100) and Andrew Chen (4,900) both cashed in the €25,000 High Roller here in Malta, but are the shortest stacks in the Main Event.

Some players might be a bit sleepy today, as there was late night action last night. Steve O'Dwyer won the €10,000 One-Day High Roller for €327,030 around 3:30 in the morning, but is expected again in the tournament room at 12 noon to spin his 90,600 Main Event chips up to another final table worth stack.

Check back here at PokerNews for all your updates from the EPT 12 Malta Main Event, starting at noon. In the meantime, check out Sarah Herring catching up with John Juanda and getting his initial reaction to the announcement that he is officially in the Poker Hall of Fame.

Day 2 Main Event structure

Level	Small Blind	Big Blind	Ante
9	400	800	100
10	500	1,000	100
20 minute break
11	600	1,200	200
12	800	1,600	200
20 minute break
13	1,000	2,000	300
14	1,200	2,400	300