The table of Adrian Mateos and Nick Petrangelo has another experienced tournament grinder on board, as Brian Altman has sat down and immediately got involved into the action. In a three-bet pot, Altman and Estonian qualifier Toomas Kursa saw a flop of . Kursa checked and Altman checked back.
On the turn, Kursa check-called a bet of 525 and then bet the river for 1,050. Altman raised to 2,300 and that forced a fold from Kursa. The very next hand, Altman raised to 300 and claimed the blinds and antes.
On the three-way flop of , Jorryt van Hoof bet 400 in the small blind and Jens Luebbe, as well as James Akenhead on the button called. On the turn, van Hoof checked and Luebbe bet 1,525. Akenhead folded and van Hoof came along to then check the on the river.
Luebbe checked back and van Hoof showed , which ended up second best to the of Luebbe.
Players keep walking into the tournament area and looking for their table and seat. We just saw Charlie Carrel searching for table 10. He couldn't find his seat at first but luckily one of the floor staff pointed him in the right direction.
PokerStars Team Pro Luca Pagano has taken his seat as well, as did Nick Petrangelo, Dan Shak and several others.
With 1,550 already in the middle and the board reading , Iliodoros Kamatakis checked out of the big blind and [Removed:155] bet 1,050 from under the gun. Kamatakis called and checked again the on the river. Brand cut out a bet of 2,650 and that proved to be too much for Kamatakis, the 5th place finisher from EPT12 Dublin folded.
The table of Senh Ung and Fabrice Soulier started four-handed and a min-raised pot saw all four players engage to a flop of . Luca Giovannone bet 250 and just Soulier called. On the turn, Giovannone bet 450 and received a call.
After the on the river, Giovannone made it 900 to go and Soulier folded.
Some 60 players have shown up at the start of level one and among them are Adrian Mateos, Fabrice Soulier, Caitlin Hall, Paul Newey and Senh Ung. Former November Niner Jorryt van Hoof is also there, along with the Greek regulars Iliodoros Kamatakis, EPT10 London runner up Georgios Karakousis and Alexandros Kolonias.
The Main Event is here! In about two hours, at 12 p.m. local time, the €5,300 2016 PokerStars.com EPT Malta Main Event starts. It's the third and final edition of this event as the EPT stops are about to be renamed next year.
Last year, the EPT visited this Meditteranean island twice. At the end of season 11, it was Jean Montury who took home the victory. In October 2015, it was Niall Farrell who became the latest EPT Malta champion. The Brit lifted the trophy and took home €534,330 for being the strongest in a field of 651 players.
A lot of notable players are expected to either enter today's day 1a or tomorrow on day 1b. We'll have to wait and see who shows up for today's eight 75-minute levels. There will be a 20-minute break after each two levels of play and a 75-minute dinner break at the end of level 6. Which means play will conclude around midnight local time.
Stay tuned here on PokerNews.com for all the latest action.
![[user38873]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Kursa checked and Altman checked back.
turn, Kursa check-called a bet of 525 and then bet the 
river for 1,050. Altman raised to 2,300 and that forced a fold from Kursa. The very next hand, Altman raised to 300 and claimed the blinds and antes.
, Jorryt van Hoof bet 400 in the small blind and Jens Luebbe, as well as James Akenhead on the button called. On the 
on the river.
, which ended up second best to the 
of Luebbe.
, Iliodoros Kamatakis checked out of the big blind and [Removed:155] bet 1,050 from under the gun. Kamatakis called and checked again the 
on the river. Brand cut out a bet of 2,650 and that proved to be too much for Kamatakis, the 5th place finisher from EPT12 Dublin folded.
. Luca Giovannone bet 250 and just Soulier called. On the 
turn, Giovannone bet 450 and received a call.
on the river, Giovannone made it 900 to go and Soulier folded.
