€5,300 Main Event
Day 6 Completed
2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 6
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€2,269,800
Entries
468
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Aliaksei Boika is the winner of the 2016 PokerStars.com EPT Malta Main Event! After six long days of poker in Casino Portomaso, the 28-year old Belarusian poker pro bested long-time tournament chip leader Mats Karlsson heads-up, making one of the best calls in EPT history to win it all.
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | €355,700 |
| 2 | Mats Karlsson | Sweden | €261,730 |
| 3 | Dmitry Yurasov | Russia | €192,650 |
| 4 | Elie Saad | Lebanon | €141,780 |
| 5 | Peter Ockenden | United Kingdom | €104,340 |
| 6 | Tomas Macnamara | United Kingdom | €76,790 |
| 7 | Bastian Dohler | Germany | €56,520 |
| 8 | Xixiang Luo | China | €41,590 |
| 9 | Dominik Panka | Poland | €41,590 |
The sixth and final day started with just six of the 468 runners remaining. Aliaksei Boika started the final table as the short stack but quickly moved up the pack by winning an all in with pocket jacks versus Tomas Macnamara's ace-king. Macnamara flopped a king but Boika rivered a straight to keep him in the tournament.
Tomas Macnamara was the first to, finishing in sixth place for €76,790. Macnamara shoved all in three times in a row after having doubled Boika. The first two shoves went unanswered, Peter Ockenden called with sixes the third time and Macnamara failed to catch up with ace-eight.
Despite busting Macnamara, Peter Ockenden would be the next to go. Ockenden, who resides in both England and The Netherlands, was sent to the rail when he got it all in with ace-nine against the jack-ten of Karlsson on a nine-high flop. The Swede paired his ten on the turn to sent Ockenden packing in fifth place, good for €104,340 - by far the biggest score of his career. An incredible payday for the online qualifier, who qualified online at PokerStars.com for only €27.
Elie Saad finished fourth, cashing €141,780. The 41-year old businessman from Lebanon couldn't get anything going at the final table and quickly fell down to a short stack. Holding king-jack, he moved all in versus Boika's pocket tens. A king on the flop gave Saad a huge lead, but the ten on the river ended his EPT Malta Main Event run in fourth place.
Russia's Dmitry Yurasov finished in third place. Yurasov, who was a constant presence in the top of the leaderboard throughout the tournament, started the final table second in chips. He didn't gain much traction on Day 6 but still reached the final three with relative ease. Three-handed, the experienced and feared online player shoved ace-king into Karlsson's king-queen, but a queen on the turn sent him to the rail. The high roller, who qualified on PokerStars under his moniker "yurasov1990", noted the third six-figure score of his career, banking €192,650.
The heads-up started off really deep but turned out to be a one-sided affair. Mats Karlsson started out with 8 million to Boika's 6 million in chips but it would be the latter dragging in the vast majority of pots. In just one level of 90 minutes, Boika managed to work down Karlsson's massive stack of 100 big blinds to zero, ending it with an amazing call to win the tournament. On a queen-eight-deuce-king-seven board, Boika held just ace-jack high and was facing an all-in shove from Karlsson. After spending five minutes in the tank, the Belarusian made the incredible call. Karlsson held just ace-four high and graciously admitted defeat. With that, Mats Karlsson of Sweden finished runner-up while Aliaksei Boika secured victory in the penultimate EPT, boosting his bankroll with a massive €355,700 out of the €2,269,800-prize pool.
That's it from EPT Malta, the second-to-last EPT is in the books. The European Poker Tour will be back early in December for the final stop in Prague, before transitioning into the PokerStars Championships and PokerStars Festivals.
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #92: Mats Karlsson picked up 
and raised to 200,000. Aliaksei Boika had him dominated with 
and threw in a big three-bet to 625,000. Karlsson wasn't planning on going anywhere and made the call.
Nobody got a piece of the 
flop. Boika slowed down and checked to Karlsson. The Swede picked up a stack of green 25,000-chips and moved it over the line for a bet of 550,000. Boika didn't gave up so easily and made the call.
He checked again on the 
turn and Karlsson checked as well. The river was the 
and Boika checked for the third time.
Karlsson made a huge bluff by moving all in for 2,555,000 in total. Boika, with nothing more than ace-jack-high, went in the tank for minutes and minutes. After five minutes he made a very brave call and Karlsson immediately waved the white flag.
"Nice call, you win", Karlsson said. "Wow, nice call", he continued.
Although Karlsson got hero called in the end, he wasn't sad about his second place finish. "That was a good call, I have to say. Well I'm happy anyway."
"I may have played bad heads up, but I'm happy. The heads up I played very bad but I'm not used to it. Up until the heads up I'm very pleased."
The Swedish amateur was the start-of-the-day chipleader and was in command during most of the final day. He had a huge lead when play got three handed but then got more and more resistance from Boika.
By eliminating Dmitry Yurasov, Karlsson gained himself a nice chip advantage moving into the heads-up battle but from there on it went downwards. Boika crushed him in the one-on-one fight and eventually Karlsson found himself in second place in the final ranking.
He still scores the biggest payday in his poker career. He heads home with €261,730 in his pocket.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
14,040,000
3,690,000
|
3,690,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #85: Aliaksei Boika raised to 160,000 with 
and won the hand.
Hand #86: Mats Karlsson raised to 200,000 with 
and Aliaksei Boika defended 
. On the 
, Karlsson quickly took it down with a bet.
Hand #87: Aliaksei Boika limped 
in and Mats Karlsson checked 
. Karlsson check-folded the 
flop to a bet from Boika.
Hand #88: Aliaksei Boika got a walk.
Hand #89: Aliaksei Boika limped 
in and Mats Karlsson checked 
. The flop 
got checked. Karlsson turned top pair with the and won the pot with a bet of 200,000.
Hand #90: Aliaksei Boika got a walk.
Hand #91: Aliaksei Boika raised to 160,000 with and Mats Karlsson defended 
. The flop was 
, giving both players middle pair. Karlsson checked, Boika bet 150,000, and Karlsson called.
The on the turn kept Boika with the better kicker in the lead. Both players quickly checked.
The fell on the river. Karlsson bet 400,000 and Boika called, shipping the pot to the Belarusian with a pair of nines with king kicker.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
10,350,000
710,000
|
710,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
3,690,000
-750,000
|
-750,000 |
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #83: Aliaksei Boika came in raising with 
. He made it 160,000 to go. Mats Karlsson threw in a three-bet with 
and Boika folded his hand.
"We don't need to go on another break if you speed up a bit", Karlsson told Boika.
Hand #84: Mats Karlsson limped in with 
and Aliaksei Boika raised to 300,000 holding 
. Karlsson made the call. The flop came down 
giving Boika a gutshot straight draw.
He checked and it was Karlsson who fired out a bet of 400,000. Boika called and hit a pair on the turn. Karlsson didn't slow down he made a big bet of 900,000 and Boika called.
The river paired the board with the 
and Boika checked again. Karlsson counted his stack, cut out some chips but didn't pull the trigger. He checked back and Boika raked in a big pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
9,640,000
1,480,000
|
1,480,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
4,440,000
-1,480,000
|
-1,480,000 |
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #78: Mats Karlsson raised to 200,000 and Aliaksei Boika defended . Both players checked the 
flop and the turn.
Boika rivered the straigth with the and valuebet 500,000. Karlsson couldn't call and folded.
Hand #79: Aliaksei Boika limped 
and Mats Karlsson checked . Both players missed the 
flop and checked.
The 
on the turn changed nothing and Boika took it with a bet of 100,000.
Hand #80: Mats Karlsson raised to 200,000 with and won the hand.
Hand #81: Aliaksei Boika raised to 160,000 with 
and won the hand.
Hand #82: Mats Karlsson raised to 200,000 with and won the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,160,000
260,000
|
260,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
5,920,000
-260,000
|
-260,000 |
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #73: Aliaksei Boika raised to 160,000 with and Mats Karlsson folded his 
.
Hand #74: After unknown preflop action due to the stream cutting away, there was 420,000 in the pot. The flop came 
and Aliaksei Boika checked his . Mats Karlsson checked behind with 
. Both checked the turn as well at the 
fell on the river. Boika bet 275,000 and took it down.
Hand #75: With Aliaksei Boika called and Mats Karlsson checked his 
. Karlsson paired up on the flop. It was checked through and the hit the turn. Boika now had a pair as well. Karlsson casually bet 200,000 and got called.
The hit the river and it was checked to showdown and Karlsson won it with his pair of eights.
Hand #76: Mats Karlsson completed with . Aliaksei Boika raised it up to 300,000 with and Karlsson called. Boika hit top pair on the 
flop and bet 300,000. Karlsson made the call and the fell on the turn.
Boika slowed down and checked, so did Karlsson. The river was the which gave Boika two pair. He fired out a bet of 750,000 and Karlsson laid down his king-high.
Hand #77: Aliaksei Boika raised to 160,000 with and Mats Karlsson let go of his .
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,900,000
715,000
|
715,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
6,180,000
-620,000
|
-620,000 |
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #68: Both players shook hands to start off their heads-up battle.
After sitting down, Mats Karlsson raised to 200,000 with 
and Aliaksei Boika defended with . Both players checked it down on 
and Boika won.
Hand #69: Aliaksei Boika raised to 160,000 with . Mats Karlsson three-bet to 500,000 with and Boika snap-folded.
Hand #70: Mats Karlsson raised with 
and took it.
Hand #71: Aliaksei Boika raised to 160,000 with and Mats Karlsson defended with . Both players checked down to Boika on the river. He bet 200,000 and got a call from queen-high.
Hand #72: Mats Karlsson raised to 200,000 with and Aliaksei Boika defended . Karlsson continued with 300,000 on a flop and Boika check-called.
Boika hit his gutshot on the turn and checked. Karlsson, drawing dead to a chop, bet 450,000. Boika check-raised to 1,400,000, sending Karlsson in the tank. The Swede eventually let it go and Boika won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,185,000
1,280,000
|
1,280,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
6,800,000
-1,280,000
|
-1,280,000 |
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Cards are in the air for the heads-up battle between Mats Karlsson and Aliaksei Boika. The runner-up will walk away with €261,730, the winner will receive a monstrous payday of €355,700.
Level 28
: 40,000/80,000, 10,000 ante
Mats Karlsson and Aliaksei Boika will take a 15-minute break before they start their heads-up battle.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,080,000 | |
|
|
5,905,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
|
|
||