EPT Deauville champion Remi Castaignon (2013, €770,000) got his chips in before the flop with 
against EPT Berlin champion Daniel Pidun (2013, €880,000) who had 
.
The board ran out 
and Pidun hit the rail. Castaignon is up to where he started the day, around 70,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
69,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Tobias Reinkemeier was kind enough to help us recap the hand that just went down between Simon Higgins and Bernd Vogelhuber, as Higgins raked in a huge pot after calling Vogelhuber's shove on the river.
The action started on Higgins who raised before the flop, Vogelhuber three-bet from the cutoff and Higgins made the call. The flop brought out 
and Higgins checked. Vogelhuber bet 3,500, Higgins check-raised to 10,000 and his opponent called.
On the turn the 
popped up and both Higgins and Vogelhuber checked. The river completed the board with the and Higgins bet 19,000. Vogelhuber proceeded to move all in for about 60,000 and Higgins called within a minute.
"I'm just not going to fold this," Higgins said as he tabled for two pair.
Vogelhuber attempted a big bluff with 
, but it backfired and he was knocked out.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
210,000
113,300
|
113,300 |
|
Busted |
![[user76079]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
First there was the European Poker Tour, and then PokerStars introduced regional tours around the world. These were lower buy-in events, specific to a region, and they offered grass-root players the chance to play tournaments with the feel of an EPT but for a fraction of the price and still with a great structure. Players got the chance to see if they had what it took before they attempted to play an EPT, if they so wished.
One of the most successful incarnations was the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), now into its fifth season. A familiar face from that tour is the UKIPT4 London2 Champion Brett Angell. He took a second on the tour (Nottingham Season 2) before taking down the stacked London event last October for $184,991. He also came very close to defending his London title, coming seventh at the opening leg of Season 5 in London a couple of months ago.
PokerNews caught up with Angell before he took his seat for Day 2.
PokerNews: You’ve made Day 2, how’s your seat draw looking?
Brett Angell: “It looks good actually. There’s Martin (Jacobson) I recognize; Carlo Citrone, who I know from back in the UK; Sofia Lovgen, who I’ve never played with but I’ve seen her about, and three short stacks.
Martin is chip leader but his hands will be tied a little bit as he has the one, two and three short stacks behind him so hopefully he can’t run over the table too much.
Do you have any special plans to deal with someone of his stature?
Not really, I’ll just see what happens [nervous laugh]. I don’t think he’ll be able to run over the table, like I said, as he has three 15-big-blind stacks behind him. I can’t see him opening too light and he'll have position most of the time, but I will have it some of the time.
How did your Day 1 go?
Started really well and I built up a big stack. It got up to about 70,000 and then I lost a 40,000-pot with ace-king against eights really late on. I bagged up 45,000 for 50 something big blinds so I’m happy enough. It is a bit frustrating to be up there and be knocked back down though.
This is you second-ever EPT Main Event; tell us about the circumstance that brought about your first one.
I’ve played a few UKIPTs, but not them all as I still work full time. I get to the ones I can and obviously I went on to win London so I decided to jump straight into the EPT the next day to see what is was like. I think I had a pretty rough table, and again, I started okay in that one but I was very tired after the day and the night before. It probably wasn’t the best decision to jump in but you’ve got to try!
Did the tiredness effect you more than you thought it would?
It definitely did. The UKIPT was so draining and I had lots of battles with Vladimir (Troyanovsky), which meant I could never switch off. The final didn’t finish too late – maybe half-eight – but I obviously went out for some drinks, nothing too heavy, but then the Champion of Champions Event* was ten the next morning so I was up at half-eight getting ready for that and then straight into the EPT. It was tiring!
You still work full-time but after winning all this money with a win and a second-place in finish in two UKIPTs, have you ever thought of quitting your job and going pro?
I work in IT for a company back near where I live, a 9-5 thing. It has crossed my mind to quit and go pro a few times but I think it’s really tough without playing online and I don’t really enjoy it all that much. I much prefer live tournaments as I get a much better feel for what’s going on. I can never put the volume in as I’m working and then every time I play online I’m tired after being at work all day so I’m not playing my A-game.
Maybe, if I took six months out from work and gave it a shot, I’d enjoy it more. A lot of my friends who play full-time don’t particularly enjoy the hours they have to put in online to make a profit and I can’t see myself wanting to sit in front of a screen for 12-16 hours a day. I enjoy the live environment and talking to people and coming to places like this. I’ll probably always just play live and therefore will always need to work to fund the expenses etc.
The second level of the day is underway and Angell’s stack has slipped a little to around the 40 big blind mark (40bb), plenty to work with at this stage.
*The Champions of Champion Event was a specifically arranged tournament for all the winners on Season 4 of the UKIPT. Dean Hutchison, the Edinburgh Champion, won the event and his prize was buy-ins to all the stops on Season 5 of the tour.
In a blind battle we saw 
spread out on the table and Remi Castaignon faced a bet of 22,000 with about 13,000 in the pot. The was from JC Alvarado, seated in the small blind, and after quite some time the clock was called on Castaignon.
During the final 30 seconds of the clock Castaignon made the call and Alvarado turned over . Castaignon showed 
and he raked in this pot with three of a kind.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
85,000
-15,000
|
-15,000 |
|
|
64,000
27,000
|
27,000 |
|
|
||
A total of 43 Dutch players entered the EPT Malta Main Event and just now two of them got knocked out. We ran into both Thomas Brader and Johan van Til who informed us of their eliminations.
Brader explained that he re-shoved 18.5 big blinds from the small blind with pocket fours only to get called by the initial raiser who held two kings. Van Til, who entered the tournament this morning, busted out with nines versus kings.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Below are some assorted counts from the players on the last four tables in the secondary tournament area.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
175,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
115,000
6,600
|
6,600 |
|
75,000
18,700
|
18,700 |
|
70,000
13,600
|
13,600 |
|
||
|
65,000
-6,900
|
-6,900 |
|
60,000
-3,300
|
-3,300 |
|
55,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
51,000
2,700
|
2,700 |
|
38,000
23,500
|
23,500 |
|
31,000
-26,800
|
-26,800 |
|
15,000
1,100
|
1,100 |
All the below players have been eliminated recently in the secondary tournament area one floor below the main room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
Fabian Quoss opened for 2,200 from early position and action folded to Glib Kovtunov on the button. The player from the Ukraine shoved all in for 13,100 and after both blinds folded, Kovtunov tossed his hand over the line, not touching the muck or chips.
Quoss still had a decision though, and the floor was called over to make a ruling. The floor ruled that since the cards were without a doubt retrievable, Kovtunov got his cards back and Quoss still had the option.
Quoss had to decide if he believed that Kovtunov hadn't seen his raise and thought he was open shoving the button, or that he thought Quoss had folded. Eventually Quoss made the call.
Glib Kovtunov: 
Fabian Quoss: 
The board ran out 
and Kovtunov double with a rivered flush. Quoss was left behind with just under 10,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
9,000
-3,800
|
-3,800 |
Only four tables remain in the secondary area downstairs as the table of Jonathan Duhamel, Gilbert Diaz and Alen Bilic just broke. Bilic was involved in a pot with Diaz that saw him bet 15,000 on the 
river. The Frenchman reluctantly folded and claimed to have had a flush. Bilic said so too and admitted he had the .
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
145,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
120,000
33,000
|
33,000 |
|
||
|
82,000
55,900
|
55,900 |
There were 895 players in the first-ever EPT Malta Main Event from 64 countries. The festival has been held jointly with the Italian Poker Tour and, as Malta is only 180 km from the Italian island of Sicily, it’s no surprise that Italy accounts for the most players in the Main Event: 96 (11%), followed closely by Germany with 91 (10%). There are 75 Brits, 60 French and 42 Dutch. Five Maltese nationals also took part – although only Alan Brincat made it through to Day 2.
Here's a look at the nationality breakdown:
