Atanas Malinov Takes a Commanding Lead at the Final Table of the FPS Main Event
Atanas Malinov sits at the table with his head lowered and nearly completely covered by his hoodie. He looks more like a silent assassin than a poker player, and today on Day 3 of the PokerStars France Poker Series Main Event at Sporting Monte-Carlo, he made picking off opponents look easy.
Malinov eliminated the likes of Ankit Ahuja, Andrei Mjagkov, Kin Hang Man, and, finally, Elie Saad on his way to finishing as the chip leader with 21,725,000 as six players return for tomorrow’s live-streamed final table at 12:30 p.m. local time.
The Bulgarian high roller has EPT cashes dating back to 2015 and finished 17th at EPT Cyprus in October. But he’s not the most highly decorated player remaining in the field. That belongs to Guillaume Nolet, who has $1.6 million in live earnings including finishing second in a €10,300 event at EPT Barcelona in 2019. The Canadian ended up in third place with 10,500,000, closely behind start-of-day chip leader Virgile Turchi (10,700,000).
Day 3 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atanas Malinov | Bulgaria | 21,725,000 | 72 |
| 2 | Virgile Turchi | France | 10,700,000 | 36 |
| 3 | Guillaume Nolet | Canada | 10,500,000 | 35 |
| 4 | Marco Gambini | Italy | 9,525,000 | 32 |
| 5 | Gabi Livshitz | Israel | 6,050,000 | 20 |
| 6 | Remy Murcia | France | 4,325,000 | 14 |
Marco Gambini was at times the story of today’s play as he enjoyed a spectacular fall to an extreme short stack, only to rise up to become an overwhelming chip leader. The Italian eventually fell back toward the pack and bagged up 9,525,000. Gabi Livshitz, who has a run to fourth place at the EPT Prague Main Event in 2019 among his $1.5 million in live earnings, is in fifth place with 6,050,000, while Remy Murcia rounds out the final table with 4,325,000.
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 31 players remaining out of a starting field of 2,096. Harry Lodge busted in 29th place when he lost a race with ace-jack to Nolet’s threes, while Robbie Bull won a big flip to eliminate Miroslav Alilovic in 27th place.
Ahuja has shown a remarkable proficiency in these events, including finishing in fifth place out of 7,398 entries at the ESPT Main Event at EPT Barcelona last year, then winning the Eureka Poker Tour Main Event at EPT Cyprus over 2,659 entries in October. However, his run here in Monte Carlo ended in 23rd place when he picked up aces but Malinov turned two pair with queens and nines.
Antonino Venneri was among the top stacks remaining when he jammed for 1,875,000 on the river with jacks and fours, but Turchi had a set of sevens to win the massive pot and bust Venneri in 19th place. Eusebiu Jalba (18th) and Alessandro Merelli (17th) followed to the exit as the field went down to the final two tables.
Then came the fall and rise of Gambini. He ran two tens into Kin Hang Man’s kings to drop down to just 310,000, good for three big blinds. After one double up, he was all in for 920,000 with fives against Federico Macori’s kings but spiked a two-outer on the river to stay alive yet again.
Malinov, meanwhile, busted Mjagkov in 16th with trip kings, while Jason Wheeler fell in 15th in a blind-versus-blind battle with Murcia. Gambini then opened to 250,000 in middle position and Alisa Sibgatova moved all in for 720,000. Pierre Basile reraised to 1,200,000 in the small blind. Gambini didn’t notice Basile had raised and just called Sibgatova’s bet. He was forced to put in the extra chips as Basile jammed for 4,000,000 on a nine-high flop. Gambini snap-called with pocket threes, while Basile had two tens and stayed in the lead until a three fell on the river.
Gambini had once again hit a two-outer to win the massive pot and knock out both players to take the chip lead with more than 13,000,000. Day 1 chip leader Gil Aboodi fell in 12th after running two tens into Murcia’s kings, while EPT champion Uri Gilboa was eliminated by Bull in 11th.
Play slowed down considerably near the final table bubble, with tournament officials stopping play at one table because they had played so many more hands than the other. Gambini crossed 20,000,000 when he rivered a full house against Murcia’s straight, but Turchi then picked up aces to Gambini’s sevens to double up to 11,000,000. Finally, Man called Malinov’s pre-flop shove with ace-high, but Malinov made trip jacks to eliminate Man in 10th and set up the nine-handed final table.
Gambini led with 16,000,000, followed by Malinov at 15,500,000. Macori was the first out, calling off his short stack with nine-seven against Livshitz’s ace-king. The final table then became a war of attrition as the short stacks battled for survival. Murcia doubled off Gambini with aces, while Nolet doubled off Turchi. Nolet then moved all in for 5,000,000 with kings against Gambini’s ace-queen and held on to double again.
Livshitz was all in for 2,400,000 with two tens, but Gambini woke up with kings to leave Livshitz at risk of elimination. Livshitz, though, caught a running straight to earn a miracle double up. Saad's set of threes then went down to Malinov’s rivered flush as Saad finished in eigthth. Two hands later, Turchi picked up tens in the small blind to eliminate Bull in seventh and bring the night to an end.
Final Table payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €303,190 | ||
| 2 | €189,220 | ||
| 3 | €135,160 | ||
| 4 | €103,970 | ||
| 5 | €79,980 | ||
| 6 | €61,520 | ||
| 7 | Robbie Bull | Scotland | €47,330 |
| 8 | Elie Saad | Lebanon | €36,410 |
| 9 | Federico Macori | Italy | €28,020 |
The remaining six players are guaranteed €61,520, with the winner tomorrow earning €303,190. The final table will be streamed on a 30-minute delay by PokerStars beginning at 1 p.m. Action begins with 24 minutes remaining on Level 34 with blinds of 150,000-300,000 and a 300,000 big blind ante.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as a champion will be crowned out of this massive field tomorrow.