Urbonas Takes Chip Lead to Day 3 in the MPNPT at the Battle of Malta Main Event
Day 2 of the MPNPT at the Battle of Malta Main Event saw a total of 570 players from the 3,815 entries return for battle at the Eden Arena located in luxurious InterContinental Malta hotel.
Players started the day already securing at least a min-cash of €700 and they proceeded over the course of nine one-hour levels to whittle themselves down to just 60 survivors.
OlyBet Poker qualifier and recent UCOP Main Event champion Mantas Urbonas (pictured) ended the day as the chip leader after bagging a massive stack of 7,090,000 in chips.
On his tail in second place was Grosvenor Poker Ambassador Andy Hills with 5,260,000 in chips. Also of particular note in the chip counts 2018 are MPNPT Sunny Beach Main Event runner-up Borislav Yosifov (fourth - 3,980,000), Andrew “Picasso” Hedley (16th - 1,845,000), Sofia Lövgren (27th 1,275,000), UCOP Leaderboard winner Mateusz Moolhuizen (35th - 990,000), and Gary Banks (58th - 395,000).
The €550 NLH Main Event is taking place over six days, October 25-30. With 3,815 entries over four starting flights has smashed the previous record, last year’s 2,074-entry Battle of Malta Main Event. The huge turnout generated a prize pool of €1,850,760, nearly twice the €1,000,000 guarantee, with the first place set to pay out €300,000.
Notable players who have already cashed in the Main Event include WPTDeepStacks Player of the Year Rex Clinkscales, Austrian poker veteran Ivo Donev, and vlogger and Instagram influencer Dehlia de Jong. The latter at one point found herself seated at the same table as her partner, Mateusz Moolhuizen, for the very first time!
Meanwhile, the €1,320 High Roller event on Sunday, Oct. 28 drew 241 entries including the likes of Daragh Davey, Henri Kasper, Manuel Zapf, and Ana Marquez. Also kicking off on Sunday was the €245 NLH Siege of Malta event with 501 entries. Both events will be returning at 2 p.m. CET on Monday with the Siege of Malta playing down to a winner and the High Roller playing down to a final table.
Monday’s side event schedule features the €150 NLH MPNPT Battle starting at 6 p.m. with 197 MPNPT package holders already holding seats they won in online qualifiers. As always, cash games are available 24/7 downstairs from the tournament area in the Casino Malta.
Away from the tables on Sunday, MPNPT players came out in force for the official Battle of Malta Player Party at the InterContinental Hotel's exclusive private Paranga Beach Club. Players were dazzled by fire dancers, a free bar, and an exclusive VIP area in the balmy Malta night air.
The Main Event resumes for Day 3 at 1 p.m. CET on Monday and will play down until the final table. Check out the MPNPT blog for live updates of the action from the floor.
