Malta Poker Festival: Norwegians Rule as Borge Dypvik Leads After Day 2
After almost twelve full levels of play, Day 2 of the €550 Grand Event of the Malta Poker Festival is over and done with 24 survivors left out of 260 players who started the day. And a battlefield is was as the all-ins and calls were flying all over the place throughout the day as they were all trying to win a chunk of the €662,510 prize pool for themselves.
Topping the chip counts is Borge Dypvik from Norway who managed to find a massive double-up against Jona Wilmsmann with pocket jacks against the ace-queen of Wilmsmann. Dypvik is taking 3,120,000 with him to Day 3 while Wilmsmann has 1,425,000 for Day 3.
Eyal Bensimhon started the day in the middle of the pack but managed to chip up early. He finished on a high; second in chips with 2,500,000.
Norway seems to be doing very well in this event as not only the top spot has been taken by the Norwegians! Espen Uhlen Jorstad scored a late double-up with kings against the queens of Craig Simpson and closes the podium with 2,430,000 in chips.
Filling up the top 5 is Andre Henning with 2,155,000 and Steven Iglesias with 2,075,000. Iglesias is legally blind and has Daniel Grytten with him to tell him what his cards are, the action on the table, the chip counts, the cards on the board, and help him with the chips themselves.
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borge Dypvik | Norway | 3,120,000 | 52 |
| 2 | Eyal Bensimhon | Austria | 2,500,000 | 41 |
| 3 | Espen Uhlen Jorstad | Norway | 2,430,000 | 41 |
| 4 | Andre Henning | Norway | 2,155,000 | 36 |
| 5 | Steven Iglesias | Norway | 2,075,000 | 35 |
Other notable players making it through to Day 3 include Day 1B chip leader Domenico Gala (1,500,000), Federico Petruzzelli (1,695,000), Colin Lovelock (1,300,000), Gary Banks (1,205,000), Fabian Gumz (730,000), and the last woman standing Giovanna Dimartino with 665,000.
Players who made the money, as one of the top 151 players who got paid, but not the end of the day, include Monika Zukowicz (€2,400), Clint Sammut (€2,100), Mark Vella (€1,350), Daiva Byrne (€1,200), Andy Hills (€1,200), Muhamet Perati (€1,150), Traian Bostan (€1,100), Murat Tulek (€1,050), and Day 1A chip leader Ondrej Jakubcik for €1,000.
Michael Jesse was the bubble boy when he ran his ace-queen into the jack-ten of Simpson. Simpson hit a jack on the river to burst the bubble. Jesse wasn't sent to the rail empty handed as he received a buy-in for next year's MPF Grand Event, courtesy of Olybet.
Grand Event Schedule
| Day | Date | Starting Time | Late Reg | Started | 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 | 451 | 78 | 75 minute-dinner break after Level 6 |
| 1C | Saturday, November 3 | 14:00 | ~21:30 | 613 | 118 | 75 minute-dinner break after Level 6 |
| 2 | Sunday, November 4 | 13:00 | N/A | 262 | 24 | 20-minute breaks and 75-minute dinner break after Level 23 |
| 3 | Monday, November 5 | 14:00 | N/A | 24 | - | 20-minute breaks and 75-minute dinner break after Level 35 |
| 4 | Tuesday, November 6 | 14:00 | N/A | tba | - | Play down to a champion |
| Position | Prize in € | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €150,000 | $170,899 |
| 2 | €85,000 | $96,842 |
| 3 | €50,000 | $56,966 |
| 4 | €40,000 | $45,568 |
| 5 | €34,000 | $38,732 |
| 6 | €28,000 | $31,897 |
| 7 | €20,600 | $23,467 |
| 8 | €14,710 | $16,758 |
| 9 | €10,500 | $11,962 |
| 10-12 | €7,000 | $7,974 |
| 13-15 | €5,000 | $5,696 |
| 16-18 | €3,500 | $3,987 |
| 19-24 | €2,900 | $3,303 |
The plan for Day 3 is to play down to the final table. Make sure to follow the Malta Poker Festival updates as the PokerNews live reporting team will bring you all the action from the shuffle up and deal until the final eight players are determined.
