Eight Left in the Malta Poker Festival, Dan Still Leads
A massive set-up ensured that Day 3 of the €550 Grand Event ended halfway through the third level of play to see the 1,324-strong field reduced to a mere eight hopefuls who will play their final table in Club TwentyTwo on Monday, November 4 at 2 p.m. local time.
With the bulk of the €642,140 prize pool still up for grabs, all eyes will be on that first-place prize of €150,000 and the charming The Malta Poker Festival trophy.
Dmitri Dan (lead photo) started the day with the chip lead and never surrendered it. He only added more to his stack as he finished the day with 14,015,000 in chips. He claimed four victims on Day 3, which started with 21 players. Jacopo Achille, Teijo Sinervo, Martyn Frey, and Michel Vat all saw their chips go into Dan’s stack before making their way to the payout desk. Dan only has two tournament cashes to his name on The Hendon Mob, and they both date back to more than two years ago. With the €14,000 each player has already secured, this will be his biggest cash ever.
Dan is followed in the chip counts by Leendert Marcus from the Netherlands with 9,330,000 in chips. Even though Dan had an impressive run on Day 3, Marcus had some of the more notable eliminations of the day. Domenico Tortomasi’s two pair couldn’t beat the flush Marcus had turned. Marcus also took out Nicolaj D’Antoni, who finished in third place last year.
Most importantly, Marcus won what could probably be called the biggest setup of the tournament at the most crucial moment. Mark Vella had shoved with pocket queens, Dario Marinelli over shoved with pocket kings, and Marcus called with pocket aces. The aces held to send Vella out of the Grand Event in ninth place and to leave Marinelli short when he returns to the final table on the final day.
Closing the podium in third place is Tomas Sujeta with 6,685,000 in chips. Sujeta eliminated Giovanni Piccione when his lower pocket pair turned into a set on the flop. After having first doubled Linda Nguyen, he still took her out in tenth place when she held ace-jack, and he had ace-nine. The flop came with a nine for Sujeta to pair up with to send Nguyen home with €7,000.
The final table is completed with Oskar Wedde, Pasquale Gregorio, Peter de Bruin, and Craig Smith.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pasquale Gregorio | Italy | 2,615,000 | 26 |
| 2 | Dario Marinelli | Italy | 590,000 | 6 |
| 3 | Craig Smith | United Kingdom | 1,470,000 | 15 |
| 4 | Leendert Marcus | Netherlands | 9,330,000 | 93 |
| 5 | Tomas Sujeta | Lithuania | 6,685,000 | 67 |
| 6 | Peter de Bruin | Netherlands | 2,315,000 | 23 |
| 7 | Dmitri Dan | Israel | 14,015,000 | 140 |
| 8 | Oskar Wedde | Norway | 2,830,000 | 28 |
When the players return at 1:30 p.m. local time, they will be taken up to Club TwentyTwo, which is on the 22nd level of the Portomaso Tower. All eight have secured €14,000 already and will continue to play the 32 minutes and 51 seconds that are left in Level 29, which has a small blind of 50,000, big blind of 100,000, and a button ante of 100,000. The final table will be live-streamed on Twitch with a 30-minute security delay as the hole cards will be shown.
This is what they are still playing for:
| Place | Prize in € | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | €150,000 | $167,410 |
| 2 | €82,000 | $91,517 |
| 3 | €48,000 | $53,571 |
| 4 | €38,000 | $42,410 |
| 5 | €32,440 | $36,205 |
| 6 | €26,000 | $29,017 |
| 7 | €20,000 | $22,321 |
| 8 | €14,000 | $15,623 |
The PokerNews live reporting team will be following along with the delay, so the updates will start from 2:30 p.m. local time onwards. Make sure to keep reading or watching along until the winner has been crowned. The Malta Poker Festival Grand Event Live Updates can be found here.
