2011 World Poker Tour Malta Day 3: Clemencon Leads Final Table
Heading into Day 3 of the 2011 World Poker Tour Malta, Cecilia Pescaglini held a big chip lead with 30 players remaining. The money bubble loomed as 27 were to be paid and the goal was to reach the final table. At the end of the day, with eight players remaining, Tristan Clemencon was leading the way with a stack of 2.251 million.
After Nesrine Kourdourli was eliminated in 30th place and Andras Fekete hit the rail in 29th, the tournament was officially on the bubble. According to the WPT Live Update Team, Giovanni Rizzo was all-in against Christofer Williamson on the 10♠9♣2♥ flop. Williamson held 10♣9♥ for top two pair against Rizzo's A♦9♠. The turn brought the 3♠ and the river the 10♠ to give Williamson a winning full house and send Rizzo out the door as bubble boy.
After the bubble broke, plenty of players hit the rail. Some notables included Justin Bonomo in 26th, Tony G in 25th, Marvin Rettenmaier in 16th and Isaac Haxton in 12th.
Tony G was eliminated holding A♥4♠ against Fabien Sartoris' Q♥10♣. The money went in preflop and the board ran out A♠K♦6♦10♠Q♣ to give Sartoris two pair and the win. Haxton went out after his A♠K♦ failed to win a flip against Simon Trumper's Q♦Q♣.
When the tournament was down to only one table with ten players remaining, Pescaglini shared the chip lead with Clemencon as both held 1.3 million in chips. Salvatore Bianco fell in tenth place and Manfred Sierke hit the rail in ninth before play continued on for a bit longer. Eventually, tournament director Matt Savage stopped play for the night with eight players remaining and scheduled to return for Saturday's final table.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cecilia Prescaglini | 1,218,000 |
| 2 | Filippo Bianchini | 188,000 |
| 3 | Fabien Sartoris | 654,000 |
| 4 | Matt Giannetti | 309,000 |
| 5 | Mats Karlson | 452,000 |
| 6 | Simon Trumper | 631,000 |
| 7 | Tristan Clemencon | 2,251,000 |
| 8 | Christofer Williamsson | 510,000 |
As you can see, there is one very familiar name at this final table: 2011 World Series of Poker November Niner Matt Giannetti. With his run in the WSOP Main Event this year, Giannetti should be a name and face that everyone recognizes in poker. Although there's still some time before his shot at poker's most prestigious title, Giannetti has a chance to first earn a WPT title by conquering this final table. He'll begin the final table as the short stack.
There's over $273,000 up for grabs in first-place prize money and you can see the rest of the payouts below for the final eight spots.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $273,200 |
| 2 | $159,412 |
| 3 | $104,936 |
| 4 | $72,985 |
| 5 | $54,381 |
| 6 | $41,977 |
| 7 | $31,486 |
| 8 | $22,894 |
The final table will begin at 1300 CEST (1200 BST) and you can follow the live stream at the WPT's website. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for the final table recap after the tournament is over.
Don't forget to follow us on Twitter for all your up-to-the-minute poker news.
