Enrico Grella Bags Chip Lead on Day 1a of EAPT Malta Main Event
For the first flight of the €560 EAPT Malta Main Event at Portomaso Casino, it seems like the remaining players of Day 1a wanted to end the day quickly, as it took only a few minutes before midnight to eliminate the four last players. 26 players out of a field of 172 entrants were supposed to qualify for Day 2 and make it to the money. However, there will be 25 back on Wednesday, as two players were eliminated on the bubble.
Enrico Grella did his part of the work, eliminating the last woman standing, Santina Spedalieri, on the last hand. The Italian player even took over the first place, as he won the few chips he needed to finish the day with 644,000 chips. It is slightly more than Javier Cabrera Ramos (619,000), but the Spanish player won't have any complaints, as he won a massive flip during the last levels.
€560 EAPT Malta Day 1a Top 10
| Rank | Player | Country | Chipcount | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enrico Grella | Italy | 644,000 | 107 |
| 2 | Javier Cabera Ramos | Spain | 619,000 | 103 |
| 3 | Gian Luca Proietti | Italy | 532,000 | 89 |
| 4 | Aschraf Khader | Germany | 517,000 | 86 |
| 5 | Paschalis Papadopoulos | Greece | 485,000 | 81 |
| 6 | Andreas Putz | Germany | 434,000 | 72 |
| 7 | Theodoros Ampelikiotis | Greece | 320,000 | 53 |
| 8 | Tiago Serrazina | Portugal | 311,000 | 52 |
| 9 | Tomasz Brzezinski | Poland | 303,000 | 51 |
| 10 | Nikolai Ivanov | Russia | 300,000 | 50 |
With 532,000 chips, Gian Luca Proietti finishes in third place tonight, ahead of Aschraf Khader (517,000), who also burst the bubble. Chip leader of Day 1a after the dinner break, Greece's Paschalis Papadopoulos completes the Top 5 with 485,000 chips, and he is followed by Andreas Putz (434,000), Theodoros Ampelikiotis (320,000), Tiago Serrazina (311,000), Tomasz Brzezinski (303,000) and Nikolai Ivanov (300,000).
In the second part of the chip counts, Martin Fricker (276,000) and Mateusz Asztemborski (268,000) bagged the average stack. Giulio Spampinato (223,000) and Krisztian Kis (190,000) are not far behind and can still hope for more than the minimum cash-prize, but the situation is a little bit more complicated for Lukas Rutkauskas (61 000), Andreas Irchner (49,000) and Marian Jakoczi (26,000).
They all ended the day with 10 big blinds or less, but all three of them secured a spot in the money. They have the possibility to play again tomorrow on Day 1c and/or Day 1d to try to build a bigger stack. If they manage to do so, they'll come back on Day 2 with their big stacks. The smaller ones will be considered as min-cashes.
Later in the night, 14 players out of 90 entrants qualified through Day 1b, led by Luigi Pignataro (528,000). Finally, Fabio Peluso (648,000) finished in first place of the Turbo flight of the day. 25 entrants were recorded on this last Day 1, with only four of them making it to the money.
Day 1c will kick off at noon tomorrow, Tuesday, April 9. Like on Day 1a, players will receive 40,000 chips and play on 40-minute levels until 15% of the field remains. Same rules apply for Day 1d, which starts at 5 p.m. However, the levels will be 30 minutes long on this flight.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action throughout this tournament until a winner is crowned!