Grzegorz Grochulski raised to 2,500, Guillaume Diaz three-bet to 8,500 and Grochulski then four-bet to 19,500 and that shut down Diaz, who elected to fold.
Soon after, Usman Siddique defended his small blind and check-called a bet worth 7,300 on the turn by Diaz. Siddique checked again the river and Diaz bet 9,000, Siddique called. Diaz flashed and Siddique had that beat with for two pair.
2014 PCA winner Dominik Panka just scored a full double-up versus his right-hand neighbor Pasi Sormunen. The board read and Sormunen had bet 14,000. Panka moved all in for 60,200, which gave Sormunen a serious headache.
After mulling over his decision for two minutes, Sormunen reluctantly flicked a chip in to indicate a call. Panka showed for the nut flush and Sormunen mucked.
Alexander Prokudin and Pratyush Buddiga were among the early eliminations. Prokudin got it in good with for around 18,000 and Pierre Calamusa looked him up with , the first card on the flop was a jack.
Calamusa took down another pot against Dmitry Yurasov soon after. Calamusa raised to 2,100 from the button and Yurasov called in the big blind. On the flop both players checked. On the turn, Yurasov check-called a bet worth 2,000 and then check-folded the river to a bet of 6,000.
Govert Metaal got his last chips in before the flop holding . He was in excellent position to double his 20-big blind stack as he was up against . Unfortunately for the charismatic Dutchman, the board ran out and he was forced to leave the tournament area.
As of Day 2, there will be a feature table on PokerStars live and the chosen one at the start includes Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Brian Altman, Simon Trumper and William Kassouf among others.
The two starting days of the 2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta €5,300 Main Event have gathered a total field of 460 entries, of which 223 players bagged up chips after the end of level eight in the past two days. However, that number is not final yet, as registration remains open until the first card is dealt in 90 minutes from now at 12 p.m. local time at the Casino Portomaso.
Leading the field of survivors thus far is Andras Nemeth with 192,700, the Hungarian is followed closely by Dan Shak (185,100), Armin Mette (183,700) and Pasi Sormunen (183,600). Other big stacks and notables belong to [Removed:155] (163,300), Anton Bertilsson (155,200), Roberto Romanello (148,300), Frederik Jensen (147,800), German poker prodigy Ole Schemion (147,500), Eugene Katchalov (143,900), Sarah Herzali (143,200) and Dmitry Yurasov (126,500) to name just a few.
Defending EPT Malta champion Niall Farrell was eliminated on Day 1b whereas EPT11 Malta winner Jean Montury survived the same starting day with 20,000. The only Team PokerStars Pro that made it through is George Danzer with 27,000 and many other familiar faces of the international poker circuit will return to the tables today to battle for the title of the penultimate EPT Main Event before the rebranding to PokerStars Championships in 2017.
Action recommences with level nine and blinds of 500-1,000 with a running ante of 100. A total of six 75-minute levels are scheduled with a break every two levels, there will not be any dinner break and the chips will be bagged up around 8.30 p.m. local time. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to cover all the action until a winner is crowned next Saturday.