For the past week, the 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta Main Event – a tournament that attracted 651 players and created a prize pool of €3,157,350 — has been playing out inside Portomaso Casino. Thus far 635 players have come and gone, and today the final 16 will return looking to play down to the final six.
The man best positioned to make it there is Alexander Ivarsson, who leads the pack with 2,418,000. Not far behind is Jaroslaw Sikora, the only other man above two million with 2,300,000. Others with big stacks are Scotland's Niall Farrell (1,902,000) and Rainer Kempe (1,726,000), the latter of which is looking to make back-to-back final tables after finishing fifth in the EPT Barcelona Main Event.
Joining them are a slew of tough players including Nabil Cardoso (1,175,000), who looks to follow in the footsteps of Adrian Mateos and become just the second Spaniard to win an EPT title; Alen Bilic, who can become Bosnia and Herzegovina's all-time money leader with a win; High Roller regulars Daniel Dvoress, (986,000) and Sam Greenwood (970,000); and the last woman standing, Kitty Kuo (510,000).
Everyone remaining is guaranteed €27,120, but there is a pay jump straight away as the 15th-place finisher will earn €30,280. Furthermore, those who make the final six will be guaranteed six-figures, with the eventual winner taking home €602,400.
Here's a look at how things stack up:
Table
Seat
Name
Country
Chips
1
1
Nabil Cardoso
Spain
1,175,000
1
2
Darrell Goh
Ireland
793,000
1
3
Jaroslaw Sikora
Poland
2,300,000
1
4
Akim Aouine
France
250,000
1
5
Antonio Chemi
Italy
804,000
1
6
Sam Greenwood
Canada
910,000
1
7
Alen Bilic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
1,000,000
1
8
Rainer Kempe
Germany
1,726,000
2
1
Gianluca Escobar
Italy
1,537,000
2
2
Apostolos Bechrakis
Greece
290,000
2
3
Kitty Kuo
China
510,000
2
4
Daniel Dvoress
Canada
986,000
2
5
Alexander Ivarsson
Sweden
2,418,000
2
6
Giulio Spampinato
Malta
1,725,000
2
7
Bjorn Geissert
Germany
1,103,000
2
8
Niall Farrell
United Kingdom
1,902,000
Cards will be in the air at Noon local time, which is a few hours from now. Stay tuned right here to see who makes the final table of the EPT12 Main Event!
In the first hand of the day, Kitty Kuo opened for 55,000 from early position and was met by a three-bet to 120,000 from Bjorn Geissert in the small blind. Kuo responded by four-betting all in for 507,000 total and Geissert snap-called.
Geissert:
Kuo:
It was a race, and Kuo was just looking to hold. That proved easier said than done though as the flop paired Geissert.
"Good game," Kuo said after the appeared on the turn. She could still win with a jack on the river, but it wasn't meant to be as the bricked. Kuo, the last woman in the field, took her leave in 16th place for €27,120.
Niall Farrell opened the cutoff for 45,000 and Apostolos Bechrakis in the small blind three bet to 110,000. Farrell moved all in and Bechrakis called for 483,000 total.
Farrell:
Bechrakis:
The flop came , giving a set to Bechrakis but a gutshot to Farrell. The on the turn was a blank but the on the river sure wasn't. Bad beat for Bechrakis and he exited in 15th place.
Alen Bilic opened for 45,000 from the hijack and Darrell Goh responded with a three-bet to 117,000 from the small blind. Bilic then announced he was all in, and Goh snap-called off for approximately 600,000 total.
Goh:
Bilic:
It was a flip, but Goh needed to improve to stay alive. The flop didn't do it, and neither did the turn. Goh needed either an ace or king to extend his EPT12 Malta Main Event, but it wasn't in the cards as the blanked on the river.
Ivarsson made it 50,000 from the button and Geissert called from the big blind. The flop came and Geissert checked. Ivarsson made a continuation bet of 50,000 and Geissert raised to 125,000. Ivarsson three bet to 325,000 and after a long tank, Geissert shoved all in for 1.3 million. Ivarsson snap called.
Geissert:
Ivarsson:
Ivarsson needed to fade the three deuces and two queens to win the 2,777,000 pot. The on the turn was safe for him and so was the on the river. Exit for Geissert, monster chip lead for Ivarsson!
Three eliminations just happened in quick succession, that latest being France's Akim Aouine.
It happened when action folded to Jaroslaw Sikora in the small blind and he raised to 55,000. Aouine three-bet all in from the big for roughly 400,000, and Sikora snap-called.
Sikora:
Aouine:
The flop gave Sikora a full house, which meant Aouine needed to catch either running aces or threes to win the pot. The turn took away any chance of that happening, and Aouine's elimination became official once the was put out on the river.
According to PokerStars, after making Day 5 early last night, Italian Gianluca Escobar hadn’t had quite enough poker when Day 4 of the EPT Malta drew to a halt. Here's what they had to say:
Instead of taking a well-earned rest for making the penultimate day of the flagship Main Event, he jumped in to last night’s €1k NL Hyper Turbo. And boom for Escobar, he took it down.
Escobar originally hails from Naples but now lives in Sliema, just a few minutes away from Portomaso Casino. He has every reason to love his newly-adopted country: it is at this very casino that the 27-year-old scored his biggest live cash to date, winning the People’s Poker Tour Main Event in September for €41,090.
Escobar can now celebrate his first-ever EPT victory as well after defeating a 92-strong field in last night’s €1k NL Hyper Turbo for €23,700. He beat Mikko Turtiainen heads-up to seize the title and €23,700 first prize. The Finn meanwhile has already had his moment in the EPTLive sun. He was taking part in last night’s turbo after a long spell on the TV table yesterday; his dreams of winning the Main Event were brought to a halt however when both he and Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden were eliminated in one hand by Jaroslaw Sikora. Turtiainen finished 28th place for €15,620 but was able to boost his bankroll by an additional €16,460 with his runner-up finish last night.
There were 13 players taking a share of the €89,240 prize pool in the popular turbo event including IPT7 Malta winner Georgios Zisimopoulos (fourth for €8,520), EPT Copenhagen champion Anton Wigg, who won the €500 PLO Turbo the other night, and EPT Dortmund runner-up Cristiano Blanco.
In the last hand of Level 25, a huge hand took place at the TV table.
It began when Niall Farrell opened for 70,000 from the cutoff only to have Gianluca Escobar three-bet to 175,000 from the button. Sam Greenwood then four-bet to 475,000 from the small blind, and Farrell, who had the big stack, five-bet jammed. Escobar called off for 1.572 million, and Greenwood got out of the way.
"I have a cracker hand," said Farrell, who had apparently been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Farrell:
Escobar:
"I said I wouldn't do this again on the stream," added Farrell, who would be left with just 10 big blinds if he lost.
Farrell was behind, but the flop made things interesting.
"I'll take that," Farrell said of his pair and gutshot. The dealer then burned and turned the to give Farrell two pair and drive a dagger through Escobar's heart.
Escobar had eight outs headed to the river, but it came the to improve Farrell to a full house. A disappointed Escobar was unexpectedly sent to the rail in 11th place for €40,410.
Jaroslaw Sikora opened the cutoff for 80,000 and Antonio Chemi, who had been blinded down to 210,000, pushed all in from the button. Both blinds folded and Sikora added the few chips he needed to make the call.
Antonio Chemi:
Jaroslaw Sikora:
It was a virtual coin flip who would win before the flop, but Sikora jumped to the spot of heavy favorite after the first three community cards: . The on the turn sealed the deal for Sikora, and the on the river was there just to make things official.
Antoni Chemi made his exit in 10th place, netting him €40,410. The remaining nine players are guaranteed €49,560 and are now redrawn to one table. Play will continue till the official final table of 8 is reached and then halted for the official photo. Play than resumes till only 6 players remain and the bagging and tagging will commence.
The tournament is now on a small break for the redraw, stay tuned for the chip counts and seating order of the final 9 players.
Alen Bilic opened for 100,000 from the cutoff. Alexander Ivarsson on the button three-bet to 250,000 and both blinds folded. Bilic four-bet to 625,000 and the pressure was back on Ivarsson. The Swede tanked for a fair bit before moving in for 2,065,000. Bilic snap called.
Bilic:
Ivarsson:
The flop came and Ivarsson looked up in disgust. The on the turn was a blank, leaving Ivarsson two outs. He didn't hit either one of them, the hit and Ivarsson was out.
Alexander Ivarsson takes home €49,560. The remaining 8 players have made the official final table and are guaranteed €62,570.
![[user153638]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop paired Geissert.
appeared on the turn. She could still win with a jack on the river, but it wasn't meant to be as the 
bricked. Kuo, the last woman in the field, took her leave in 16th place for €27,120.
, giving a set to Bechrakis but a gutshot to Farrell. The 
on the turn was a blank but the 
on the river sure wasn't. Bad beat for Bechrakis and he exited in 15th place.
flop didn't do it, and neither did the 
turn. Goh needed either an ace or king to extend his EPT12 Malta Main Event, but it wasn't in the cards as the 
blanked on the river.
on the turn was safe for him and so was the 
on the river. Exit for Geissert, monster chip lead for Ivarsson!
turn took away any chance of that happening, and Aouine's elimination became official once the 
to improve Farrell to a full house. A disappointed Escobar was unexpectedly sent to the rail in 11th place for €40,410.
. The 
and Ivarsson looked up in disgust. The 
on the turn was a blank, leaving Ivarsson two outs. He didn't hit either one of them, the