Carrel, De Meulder & Chattha Among Early EPT12 Malta Side Event Winners
The European Poker Tour Malta is comprised of 76 events, and already some notables have been winning "Spadies."
For instance, the first event, a €5,000 Win the Button tournament, attracted just five players, though all of them — Ben Heath, Martin Finger, Patrick Leonard, Charlie Carrel and IPT7 Malta champion Georgios Zisimopoulos – were accomplished.
In the end, the 22-year-old Carrel defeated his best friend, Ben Heath, in heads-up play to walk away with the €15,760 top prize and the first trophy of the festival. Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Heath earned €8,490 for his efforts.
According to PokerStars, Carrel, known as "Epiphany77" online, started his poker career online with a deposit of just $15 and now has online earnings of nearly $900k including chopping the Sunday Million last year.
His first big score on the EPT came here in Malta in March when he made the final of the €10k High Roller, finishing fifth for €183,800; and then just two months later he won the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final Grand Final High Roller for €1,114,000.
In other news, Team PokerStars Pro Matthias De Meulder took down the €500 NL Deepstack Turbo event on Thursday night for €9,842., which came after cutting a three-way deal with runner-up Georgios Zisimopoulos, the reigning IPT Malta champ, and British player Patrick Leonard. There were 82 entries in total, creating a €39,770 prize pool with 11 players making the money.
Meanwhile, Eric Lescot took down the €500 PLO Turbo – a tournament that attracted 56 entries and created a prize pool of €27,160 — for €7,315 after cutting a heads-up deal with Finland’s Olli Kokko.
Finally, Britain’s Chaz Chattha won the €200 NL Hyper Turbo – a tournament that attracted 108 players with 15 being paid — for €4,540 after a three-way deal that saw runner-up Istvan Magyar and third-place finisher Giorgio Bellanca both take home €3,500 each.