Malta Poker Festival: Jakubcik Claims Chip Lead on Day 1A
The first day of the brand new Malta Poker Festival is in the books after 14 levels of 45 minutes each. In total, 302 players flocked to the beautiful Portomaso Casino in the Portomaso Marina area, to battle it out on the poker tables. At the end of the day, 64 players managed to find a bag to tag for Day 2 which will take place on Sunday, November 4.
Leading the pack is Ondrej Jakubcik from the Czech Republic with 462,000 in chips. Jakubcik is no stranger to the Maltese poker scene; he already managed to win a tournament here a few months ago and took €100,000 home for his efforts.
Trailing him, with quite a distance between them, is Italy’s Alessandro Pichierri with 257,000. Closing the Day 1A chip lead podium is Borge Dypvik from Norway who bagged 241,500. John Forsman (229,000) and Giovanni Salvatore (216,000) round out the top 5.
Malta Poker Festival Top 5 Chip Counts After Day 1A
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ondrej Jakubcik | Czech Republic | 462,000 | 115 |
| 2 | Alessandro Pichierri | Italy | 257,000 | 64 |
| 3 | Borge Dypvik | Norway | 241,500 | 60 |
| 4 | John Forsman | United Kingdom | 229,000 | 57 |
| 5 | Giovanni Salvatore | Italy | 216,000 | 54 |
Other notable players who made it through to Day 2 include Irish player Daragh Davey who has made Malta his home base and found 180,000 chips at the end of the day. Local player Clint Sammut (139,000) needed two bullets today but survived in the long run.
Eyal Bensimhon (122,000) bagged a just above average stack. Fabian Gumz registered just after the dinner break and ran his starting stack of 25,000 up to 102,000.
Not everyone was able to built a stack. Multi-bracelet winner Jesper Hougaard ran his pocket eights into the ace-king of Natalia Chuprinskaia early on in the day. David Lappin couldn’t manage to hold on to his stack after having doubled before the first break of the day with ten-eight against Shayne Farquhar who held pocket jacks.
Espen Uhlen Jorstad ran his ace-queen into the pocket kings of Michal Wilczynski. Steven Iglesias lost all his chips in the last hand of the night but will definitely be back tomorrow for Day 1B.
The second starting flight starts at 2 PM local time on Friday, November 2, with the exact same structure as the first flight. Another spectacular opening ceremony is planned and the PokerNews live reporting team will be there to bring you all the action from the Malta Poker Festival!
Malta Poker Festival Grand Event Schedule
| Day | Date | Starting Time | Late Reg | Entries | Survivors | Further Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | Thursday, November 1 | 14:00 | ~21:30 | 302 | 64 | 75 minute-dinner break after Level 6 |
| 1B | Friday, November 2 | 14:00 | ~21:30 | - | - | 75 minute-dinner break after Level 6 |
| 1C | Saturday, November 3 | 14:00 | ~21:30 | - | - | 75 minute-dinner break after Level 6 |
| 2 | Sunday, November 4 | 13:00 | N/A | - | - | 20-minute breaks and 75-minute dinner break after Level 23 |
| 3 | Monday, November 5 | 14:00 | N/A | - | - | 20-minute breaks and 75-minute dinner break after Level 35 |
| 4 | Tuesday, November 6 | 14:00 | N/A | - | - | Play down to a champion |
