2022 Malta Poker Festival Autumn Edition Live Blog – Day 1a

The €500,000 guaranteed Malta Poker Festival (MPF) Autumn Edition €550 Grand Event Powered by partypoker kicked off in style with 205 entries hopping into action on Day 1a at the luxurious Portomaso Casino. This crushed the 118 entries attracted during Day 1a of the MPF Grand Event Spring Edition which eventually attracted 1,014 entries.

Daniel Taylor was the star of the day after bagging the biggest stack among the 47 Day 1a survivors and will head to Sunday’s Day 2 with a massive stack of 519,000 in chips. Just behind Taylor was Johannes Erfurth who will enter Day 2 with 500,000 in chips with Steffan Lind (497,000), James Clarke (489,000), and Stavros Tsakas (450,000) also parlaying their opening stacks of 50,000 in chips to huge stacks.

In other big news, the defending MPF Grand Event champion Marthijn Lakerveld finds himself in a great position to become the first two-time MPF Grand Event champion after collecting a healthy stack of 364,000 in chips.

Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

The Grand Event is all for the players and is limited to two re-entries per flight. In addition, late registration closes after Level 8 meaning that anyone getting into the action will start with a workable stack and not need to shove straight off the bat in order to gain some breathing room.

Today also boasted a €60 satellite for players looking to get into the Grand Event for pennies on the dollar along with the €150 MPF Freezeout. The Freezeout turned out to be a popular event as many players liked the idea of a poker tournament with no re-entries and we promise to update you tomorrow with the outcome.

PokerListings will be back live reporting at the MPF at the start of Day 1b of the MPF Grand Event at 2 p.m. CEST. Tomorrow’s schedule also boasts the €230 Bounty Hunter Days Malta at 5 p.m. and a €60 Grand Event satellite at 8 p.m. Stay tuned at PokerListings for all of your Malta Poker Festival Grand Event updates until a winner is crowned.

Day 1a attracted 205 entries with 47 players surviving. Daniel Taylor leads the way with a stack of 519,000 followed by Johannes Erfurth with 500,000. Here is a look at the final chip counts of the 47 Day 1a survivors.

The floor just announced that the day will end after three more hands. We will provide the final chip counts shortly after the end of the day.

Level 13: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)
Entries: 53/205

Staffan Lind (no relation to Totti Lind) appears to have the chip lead with 570,000 in chips. He already had a monster stack even before the following hand.

Nils Torp check-raised from 12,500 to 28,000 with the 5 K 7 8 on the board and about 40,000 in the pot and was called by Lind. Both players checked the A river. Torp turned over 8 6 for a pair of eights. This wasn’t good enough as Lind managed to take down the hand with a pair of kings after turning over K J .

Staffan Lind – 570,000
Nils Torp – 100,000

Level 12: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Entries: 57/205

We try to remain impartial when reporting but it is natural to root for certain people including Caroline Schallock who we had the pleasure to speak with during the break.

We feel her pain after grinding a long day only to lose most of her stack on a cooler.

Schallock recapped the hand which we later spoke to her opponent Bruce Shannon. The duo got their stacks in the middle for a pot approaching 300,000 with Schallock holding ace-ten and Shannon holding ten-eight from the big blind on a board with two tens and an eight. Shannon’s full house proved to be good and Schallock was down to a handful of big blinds.

The rest of her stack went in with ace-jack against ace-king. No love came on the board and Schallock will need to try again during another opening flight for a chance to advance to Day 2. Tomorrow won’t be that day as Schallock plans to play the €230 Bounty Hunter Days Malta tomorrow at 5 p.m. Schallock has prioritized that event since she is currently in third place on the Bounty Hunter Days Leaderboard.

Bruce Shannon – 280,000
Caroline Schallock – 0

Level 12: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)
Entries: 60/205

Two players checked with the J J 7 J on the board and about 50,000 in the pot before Timothe Busso fired out for 16,500. Isvi Cohen called and Julian Sacco folded.

Cohen led out for a small bet of 5,000 after the 3 river completed the board. Busso went into the tank for more than a minute before he made the call. Cohen turned over 9 9 for a full house with jacks over nines. This was good enough as Busso instantly mucked his cards after he saw his opponent’s hand.

Despite losing this hand, Busso is still among the big stacks with 320,000 in chips while Cohen is at around 140,000 with a little more than an hour left on Day 1a.

Level 11: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)
Entries: 71/205

Davoud Nikravan was running well on his first bullet and eventually got his stack up to 150,000 in the early part of the day. He was playing aggressively to get this stack and his aggression continued before he eventually lost his first bullet. He lost his second bullet before late registration was over and opted to get back in for the flight’s limit for his third bullet.

Nikravan just lost his stack and will have to try again during one of the next four opening flights for a chance to find a bag to Day 2. He lost his final bullet as follows.

Nikravan open-jammed for nearly 60,000 into a spread pot of around 100,000 with the 2 Q 3 8 on the board. Timothe Busso asked for a count and went into the tank for a minute before making the call.

Timothe Busso: Q 10
Davoud Nikravan: 5 3

Nikravan was behind but there were still a handful of cards on the river that could help him win the hand. The 2 river that completed the board was not one of them and Busso won a huge pot to soar to the top of the leaderboard.

Timothe Busso – 375,000
Davoud Nikravan – 0

Late last night, Ireland’s Garry Moore won the second trophy of the Malta Poker Festival after outlasting a field of 138 entries including defeating Samuel Vaananen heads-up to win the €100 NL Texas Special for €2,800.

Here is a look at all of the final table results from the event.

Level 11: 1,500/2,500 (2,500)
Entries: 78/205

Olivier Klat jammed 51,000 into a pot of slightly less with the J 3 3 2 on the board. Dario Marinelli went into the tank for close than two minutes during which time he asked for a count. He eventually made the call and Klat was miles ahead.

Olivier Klat: Q J
Dario Marinelli: J 10

Despite being ahead, Marinelli connected with his ten to win the hand with top two pair after the 10 spiked the river and Klat immediately left the poker room after losing his stack.

Dario Marinelli – 200,000
Olivier Klat – 0

Day 1a players are on their final break of the day. Blinds will increase to 1,500/2,500 with a big blind ante when the action resumes.

Two more levels including 1,500/3,000 and 2,000/4,000 will also be played after the break. After these three blind levels, surviving players will bag chips into Day 2.

Some players may not opt to have a bag as players can forfeit their stack if they have under a starting stack and are not happy with what they ended the day with. These players can try again during one of the other four opening flights.

Level 10: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 90/205

Janos Ulbert and James Clarke both checked the 7 9 A flop with about 25,000 in the pot before Jeppe Bisgaard fired out for 10,000.

Ulbert folded and Clarke called to see the 9 turn. Both players checked before Clarke fired out for 28,000 after the 10 river completed the board. Bisgaard thought things over for about a minute before he called. Clarke instantly turned over J 8 and completed his gotshot straight draw on the river. Bisgaard could have mucked but showed he was ahead until the last card after showing the table his A 10 .

“That’s the way it goes,” Bisgaard said as he got ready for the next hand.

James Clarke – 290,000
Jeppe Bisgaard – 50,000

Level 10: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 105/205

Andreas Schweigl had his short stack of 4,000 in the pot before the 8 K 6 flop against three other players. Mark Cousin jammed for 68,500 which sent last night’s HORSE winner Romain Nardin into the tank for several minutes.

“How much?” Nardin asked.

He was told the amount and folded after another minute. Meanwhile, Vincent Keen also folded for a heads-up showdown with two more cards to come.

Andreas Schweigl: A 10
Mark Cousin: A K

Cousin was ahead and had his opponent drawing dead after the 3 turn.

“Good game,” Scheweigl told to his table after the Q river completed the board and he was out of chips.

Mark Cousin – 100,000
Andreas Schweigl – 0

Level 9: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 109/205

Mike Alonso opened for 3,500 from under the gun before Salvatore Ritrovato three-bet jammed for around 20 big blinds from one seat over. Antoine Talvard jammed a huge stack of around 130,000 from late position and Alonso folded.

Salvatore Ritrovato: A 8
Antoine Talvard: Q Q

Talvard’s queens held on the 9 7 J 3 9 board but called the floor while the board was still running out to discuss another matter. He piled up his chips as he discussed the rules with the floor about calling the clock on players.

Antoine Talvard – 175,000
Salvatore Ritrovato – 0

Level 9: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 112/205

This reporter has covered hundreds of events both as a reporter and a commentator and has been to countless others as a player. It is hard for something to happen at a poker tournament at the tables that I haven’t seen before.

Jonatan Seiler has the honor of having this reporter do a double take as he had his computer out. This is rare as well but not unique as occasionally we have seen players play online poker or some other game while also playing at the live tables. However, what made this unique is that Seiler was busy programming while playing today’s Day 1a.

Whether or not programming is affecting his play is up for debate, but he does have more than a starting stack with around 75,000 in chips. Best of luck to Seiler in completing his programming while also progressing to Day 2 of the Grand Event.

Level 9: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 113/205

Late registration is closed with the Day 1a field officially attracting a banner field of 205 entries! Gytis Pazemeckas and Roland Alakji both appear to be neck-and-neck for the chip lead with stacks approaching 300,000.

We approached Pazemeckas just after the break to both practice our Lithuanian and to get the story behind his success. He shared a hand that took place more than an hour ago.

Pazemeckas said he had king-three offsuit when he bet 6,000 with his two pair on the 3 K 5 flop. Two players called before a third player jammed for 20,000. Pazemeckas and the chip leader at the table at the time both called to see the 7 turn.

Pazemeckas jammed and was called by his opponent with K 10 , while the shorter stacked player that was all-in on the flop held A J .

Pazemeckas faded both players when a blank card he can’t remember completed the board on the river.

Sėkmės (Good luck in Lithuanian) to Pazemeckas on the rest of his MPF Grand Event journey and ačiū (thank you) for sharing your path to early success.

Players are now on a 15-minute break. Blinds will increase to 1,000/1,500 with a big blind ante of 1,500 when the action resumes.

Level 8: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 119/205

Davide Iannaco opened for 2,500 from the cutoff. Bozena Skalska called from the small blind before Ronnie Cohen three-bet to 7,500 from the big blind. Iannaco and Skalska both opted to call to see the 5 7 3 flop.

Cohen led out for 6,000 after Skalska checked and both his opponents called. Skalska opted to lead out for 10,000 on the 7 turn and both players called. All three players checked the 10 river and the cards were turned over.

Skalska first turned over 6 6 and was quickly ruled out from winning the pot after Cohen turned over K K . Nearly the entire table was dazzled after Iannaco turned over Q Q as he could have lost much more with this hand especially considering the board.

“You lost the minimum,” Cohen said in a congratulatory tone to Iannaco. “You literally only lost the minimum.”

Ronnie Cohen – 190,000
Davide Iannaco – 90,000
Bozena Skalska – 80,000

Freezeouts are a rare breed with re-entry events dominating both the live and online poker scene for more than a decade. If you are jonesing to play a freezeout, now is a unique opportunity with the MPF One Bullet kicking off at 9 p.m.

As the title describes, there will be no re-entry allowed for players that lose their opening stack. Thankfully, if you are running late, there are eight levels of late registration.

You also can’t beat this structure for just a €150 buy-in with 25-minute blind levels. Best of luck to everyone getting into the MPF One Bullet and may the best player of the night win.

Level 8: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 125/201

Michele Amirante four-bet jammed for nearly 50,000 before Davoud Nikravan, who at one point had around 150,000 in chips, called off his stack for a little bit less.

Davoud Nikravan: 7 7
Michele Amirante: K K

Unfortunately for Nikravan, this isn’t a bad beat story. Instead, Amirante’s cowboys held against sevens with the 4 8 3 A 4 appearing on the board.

Michele Amirante – 100,000
Davoud Nikravan – 0

Level 8: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 126/201

Last night, this author was playing some limit mixed cash games with a number of players including Norway’s Oystein Brenden. Unfortunately, we just saw Brenden’s demise with his first bullet in the Grand Event as follows.

Brenden open-jammed for 14,600 from early position and was looked up by Johannes Erfurth.

Oystein Brenden: 4 4
Johannes Erfurth: Q Q

The 2 Q 6 7 8 was of no use for Brendon and was eliminated by Erfurth who was far ahead the entire way before ending the hand with a set of queens.

“Can I still re-enter?” Brenden immediately asked after losing his stack.

He was told he could, so we may see Brenden back in action still today.

Johannes Erfurth – 100,000
Oystein Brenden – 0

Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 132/200

Samuel Biland three-bet jammed for 8,000 from the hijack and was called by Mikael Blomfell, who originally opened from early position.

Samuel Biland: 10 9
Mikael Blomfell: A K

Biland was ahead and doubled through Blomfell after nailed top two pair on the A K 6 J J runout.

Day 1a has been absolutely rocking the Portomaso Casino with big numbers for the first of five opening flights. The field has reached 200 entries with 133 players still in their seats.

This number will grow, but likely not by much, with late registration closing in less than an hour. Regardless of the final number, it is already very impressive that the Day 1a field has already nearly doubled the Day 1a field in the MPF Spring Edition Grand Event which attracted 118 entries on its first opening flight.

Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 136/197

Giorgos Papanikitas checked before Jerome Moreau fired out 16,000 into a pot of around 20,000 with the 2 7 3 7 on the turn.

Papanikitas called before he jammed for about 20,000 after the 8 river completed the board. Moreau snap-called and Papanikitas seemed reluctant to show his hand. Eventually, he turned over A 3 and will need to re-enter if he wants a chance to bag chips for Day 2 via the Day 1a flight after Moreau turned over 10 7 for trip sevens to win the hand.

Jerome Moreau – 100,000
Giorgos Papanikitas – 0

Those of you looking to get into the MPF Grand Event without paying full price will be pleased to learn that there is a satellite that began at 7 p.m. In fact, it costs only €60 to enter with a chance at winning a Grand Event seat valued at €550.

There is still time to join in with late registration open until the end of the second break. The satellite is well-structured with 20-minute blind levels giving players plenty of time to build an adequate stack to win a seat.

Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 141/195

A player from early position opened for 2,200 before Bruce Shannon jammed for 28,000 from the hijack. James Limmer came in over the top with a four-bet jam for about 34,000 from the button and the rest of the table folded.

Bruce Shannon: 7 7
James Limmer: J J

Limmer was ahead and odds continued to be well in his favor after the 10 2 Q flop. Shannon got out of his seat after seeing the 3 turn. However, Limmer was back in his chair after spiking his two-outer for a set of sevens to double his stack after the 7 river completed the board.

Shannon began to get up and appeared ready to leave the table before one of his tablemates told him to wait. He sat back down after he saw he still had some crumbs left in his stack.

James Limmer – 60,000
Bruce Shannon – 6,000

Level 7: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 138/191

Here is a look at some of the bigger stacks from around the room at the dinner break. There is still more than 30 minutes remaining on the break.

Day 1a players are on a 75-minute dinner break. This reporter will get a quick bite to eat before updating the biggest stacks around the room during the break.

The MPF Grand Event has already attracted 188 entries on Day 1a. To put this in perspective, when the MPF Grand Event met the guarantee in the Spring with 1,014 entries, it attracted 118 entries on Day 1a.

It doesn’t seem like this reporter is going out on a limb when he states that this event will be bigger than the Spring Edition based on the current run rate and the plethora of players planning to play in subsequent opening flights. However, anything can happen as there is one less opening flight in the Autumn Edition as compared to the Spring Edition.

Despite that disclaimer, the only question in this reporter’s mind is whether the Grand Event will be the biggest in MPF history. It would need to surpass the 1,366 entries attracted during the inaugural MPF Grand Event in 2018 when Emanuele Onnis won the mouth-watering €150,000 top prize.

Level 6: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 143/186

Alessandro Demore fired out for 3,500 with close to 20,000 in the pot and the 6 J 6 6 9 on the board. Hakan Uzun tanked for a minute before he jacked it up to 20,000. Demore tanked for a couple of minutes before he made the call.

Uzun flopped a full house with J 6 before the turn improved him to quad sixes. Demore had nothing that could possibly beat his opponent and opted to muck his hand.

Hakan Uzun – 150,000
Alessandro Demore – 80,000

Level 5: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 151/183

Giacomo Ferrera three-bet to 12,600 from the hijack and was called by Joshua Nadin, who opened from one seat to his left.

Ferrera snap-jammed for 26,500 on the 8 6 3 flop. The problem here was that he was acting out of turn. Nadin began to ask some questions and the dealer called the floor. The floor correctly explained that Ferrera’s bet is only binding if the action remains passive.

“So if I check, he has to go all-in?” asked Nadin.

The floor said that was the case but Nadin opted to change the action anyway with a bet of 13,000. Ferrera jammed for double that and Nadin snap-called.

Giacomo Ferrera: Q Q
Joshua Nadin: A K

Nadin got no love from either the 9 turn or the 10 river and was short on chips. Ferrera asked for a first bump which Nadin delivered after he doubled through his opponent.

Giacomo Ferrera – 80,000
Joshua Nadin – 20,000

Level 5: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 152/176

We noticed Totti Lind at a different table. Since he shared with us originally about his action table, we asked him whether he changed tables.

“I busted,” shared Lind before recapping what happened.

On Level 4, Lind opened to 1,000. Davoud Nikravan, who has been aggressive every time we walked past the table, three-bet to 6,500. Lind four-bet jammed for around 35,000 and Nikravan called. Lind held king-queen and was unable to win a flip. Lind will likely miss that table with all of the action with Nikravan accumulating around 100,000 in chips and Karl Gialanze having even more with a stack of around 140,000. There are nearly two dozen tables in play, but it appears at least at the moment that Gialanze holds the chip lead.

Lind also shared how he lost some of his stack with his second bullet. Bruno Killian was getting a bit jammy with his short stack during a sequence of hands before he doubled through Lind with king-ten against queen-jack. However, Killian’s good fortune was short-lived as his seat is now empty as well after losing his stack shortly after.

Karl Gialanze – 140,000
Davoud Nikravan – 100,000
Totti Lind – 35,000

Level 5: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 154/174

Marthijn Lakerveld won the Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition Grand Event in May for €71,000.

Last night, this author had the pleasure of sitting next to Lakerveld in the HORSE event and later on sold a seat he won to Lakerveld. Lakerveld is already in his seat and ready to defend his title.

Best of luck to Marthijn for two MPF Grand Event victories in one year.

Marthijn Lakerveld – 50,000

Check out the first batch of Day 1a photos by MPF photographer Fiore Capuano.

Level 5: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 154/174

Marthijn Lakerveld won the Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition Grand Event in May for €71,000.

Last night, this author had the pleasure of sitting next to Lakerveld in the HORSE event and later on sold a seat he won to Lakerveld. Lakerveld is already in his seat and ready to defend his title.

Best of luck to Marthijn for two MPF Grand Event victories in one year.

Marthijn Lakerveld – 50,000

Level 4: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 159/169

Niccolo Ceccarelli checked with a little more than 10,000 in the pot and the J 2 K 5 4 on the board. Pavle Pecelj fired out for 15,100 and Ceccarelli went into the tank for a couple of minutes before flicking in some chips for the call.

Pecelj turned over K 10 for the top pair and won the hand after Ceccarelli mucked his hand.

“Thin value bet,” commented Ceccarelli in a friendly way to Pecelj.

Pavle Pecelj – 60,000
Niccolo Ceccarelli – 8,000

Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 149/159

We caught up with Totti Lind at break and he shared with PokerListings a funny hand. Maybe it wasn’t that funny for Karl Gialanze but he will likely look back and laugh at the hand as well.

According to Lind, Gialanze opened for 800 before Lind three-bet to 2,700. Two players called before some confusion came with Gialanze putting 3,700 into the pot.

Gialanze apparently thought this was the amount of the three-bet to call and he attempted to take back 1,000 from his bet. The floor was eventually called and it was correctly ruled that this was a raise as it was for more than 50% of Lind’s raise. Gialanze was forced to put 5,500 in the pot and Lind five-bet jammed. Gialanze folded and wasn’t too pleased after Lind turned over only eight-four. After the hand, Lind was on about 70,000 in chips.

Players are on their first break of Day 1a. The blinds will increase to 200/400 with a big blind ante of 400 when the action resumes in about 15 minutes.

Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 139/148

Usually, an event with this type of structure will showcase very few eliminations early on. That is still the case today but Joanna Bart did something impressive by firing the maximum of three bullets on Day 1a before the first break.

Although Bart can’t get back into the action today, the good news is that there are four more opening flights to give it a shot. We hope for better luck if Bart re-enters on another opening flight.

Joanna Bart – 0

Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 139/146

Asa Holmberg was another player to win a seat during Monday’s Grand Event satellite and is off to a good start despite the following hiccup.

Holmberg check-called a bet of 2,500 by Rafael Toledo with slightly more in the pot and the 3 K 3 10 on the board before leading out for 5,000 on the Q river. Toledo snap-called. Holmberg turned over 10 9 for two pair with tens over threes but this wasn’t enough to get the job down with Toledo showing K Q for top two pair to win the hand.

Rafael Toledo – 65,000
Asa Holmberg – 55,000

Level 3: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 135/140

There was already 10,000 in the pot with the 6 2 A on the board when both Johan Gustavsson and Sebastian Mortensen checked. Marc Brazier fired out for 3,500. Gustavsson called and Mortensen folded.

Both Gustavsson and Brazier checked after the A paired the board on the turn before Gustavsson fired out for 5,000 after the J river completed the board. Brazier snap-called only to snap-muck his hand after Gustavsson turned over A Q .

Johan Gustavsson – 60,000
Marc Brazier – 40,000

Level 2: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 127/132

Several more players hit the rail including Joanna Bart for a second time. Bart is back in action for a third and final Day 1a bullet. Maybe the third time is a charm.

Players are visibly having fun enjoying chatting with their neighbors and sharing laughs. Some big laughter just erupted at Table 15 in a hand involving Caroline Schallock, Bart Servaes, and Rares Bodea.

Schallock opened the action from middle position for 600 and was called by both Savaes and Bodea. The 4 4 K flop was checked around before Schallock began to laugh after the K double-paired the board on the turn. Other players joined her with smiles and laughter before the action checked around again.

Smiles were still on all players after the 7 completed the board. The action checked around again and Schallock turned over Q 10 . This didn’t get the job done as Savaes subsequently showed 6 6 for a better two pair than was on the board and won the hand after Bodea mucked his cards.

Caroline Schallock – 50,000
Bart Savaes – 40,000
Rares Bodea – 40,000

Earlier this week, PokerListings sat down with Malta Poker Festival Founder Ivonne Montealegre to get her thoughts about the festival.

Click here to check out what she had to say.

Level 2: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 125/126

The MPF Grand Event had its first elimination with Joanna Bart hit the rail at around the same time the following hand took place between Nicholas Osthus and Dennis Christiaens.

Osthus bet 4,000 into a pot of around 8000 with the 2 6 2 7 5 on the board. Christiaens paused for a few moments before he folded.

Osthus decided to show his hand and he won the pot with A 3 . We will likely never know whether this was good if Christiaens called.

Nicholas Osthus – 65,000
Dennis Christiaens – 55,000

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 114/114

It has been mostly small ball on all the tables as one should expect with such a deep structure with players starting with 500 big blinds. There is at least one exception to this with Table 3 seemingly creating a bit of action.

“You might want to stay at this table,” Totti Lind said while he noticed PokerListings observing a hand.

So far, we fully agree with Lind with much of the action being generated by Davoud Nikravan, who recently got back to near a starting stack as follows.

Nikravan fired out for 8,000 into a pot of a little bit more with the 5 7 8 4 on the board after the turn. Karl Gialanze called before Andre Yoann called.

Nikravan then continued with his aggression with a large bet of 15,000 after the 7 paired the board on the river. Yoann was at the table when Nikravan bluffed against Lind and went into the tank before giving up on the hand.

Davoud Nikravan – 45,000
Andre Yoann – 35,000

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 101/101

It has been an amazing start to the MPF Grand Event with the Day 1a field already growing beyond 100 entries. This figure will continue to grow until late registration closes before the start of Level 9.

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 96/96

The field has already ballooned to nearly 100 entries. Among those entries is Sweden’s Totti Lind. Lind was an absolute beast and crushed the dreams of many players in a Grand Event satellite two days ago. He build up such a big stack that he was having fun raising every hand and sent many players to the rail.

Lind started off today in a similar fashion by already winning a sizeable pot against Davoud Nikravan.

Nikravan fired out for 3,500 into a pot of around 5,000 with the 10 6 J 4 on the board after the turn. Lind called and the 3 river completed the board. Nikravan bet 8500 this time around and Lind went into the tank for a couple of minutes.

“Wow, you have sixes!” Lind said. “Right?”

Lind eventually called. Nikravan opted to muck his cards before Lind turned over. Lind was already awarded the pot but he showed he picked off his opponent’s bluff with A 10 to win the hand.

Totti Lind – 65,000
Davoud Nikravan – 35,000

Last night, Romain Nardin won the €230 HORSE Event Powered by CardPlayer Lifestyle for a tasty payout of €4,000.

Players, including this reporter, had a blast throughout the event and some players played mixed cash games shortly after busting out of the event. We will try to catch up with CardPlayer Lifestyle Founder Robbie Strazynski for his thoughts about the event.

Level 1: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 77/77

Cards are in the air after introductions by MPF Founder Ivonne Montealegre and the Tournament Director Danilo De Berardinis.

It is looking like a banner turnout even for the first opening flight with the field already at 77 entries and counting.

Welcome to the coverage of the 2022 Malta Poker Festival (MPF) Autumn Edition powered by PokerListings. The MPF was founded in 2018 by popular event organizer Ivonne Montealegre. Although the festival was interrupted like many others across the globe thanks to the COVID pandemic with no events taking place in 2020 or 2021, it has caught up for lost time with the luxurious Portomaso Casino hosting the MPF for the second time this year.

The MPF boasts nearly two dozen events and satellites from Oct. 24-31 highlighted by the well-structured MPF €550 Grand Event powered by partypoker. The event promises to award huge prizes thanks to its mouth-watering €500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Many players have already claimed their seats for the Grand Event via online satellites at partypoker with dozens of others also getting their seats for pennies on the dollar in after winning €60 live satellites at Portomaso Casino. There are still more satellites to come for anyone looking to get into the action last minute.

PokerListings to Live Report the Grand Event

For the first time, PokerListings will be on hand to report the MPF Grand Event. This reporter had the pleasure of playing in the Grand Event during the Spring when Daniel Lakerveld defeated a field of 1,014 entries to win the huge €71,000 top prize.

The Grand Event is a well-structured affair with five opening flights from Oct. 26-29 followed by Day 2 on Oct. 30 before a winner is crowned on Oct. 31. The first four opening flights will feature 13 blind levels of 40-minutes each giving players plenty of time to build a massive stack. The final opening flight will be a turbo-charged affair boasting 20-minute blind levels.

The MPF is all about the players as can be evidenced in the fact that this event doesn’t feature unlimited re-entries and late registration closing at a reasonable time after Level 8 of each day. That being said, if players have some bad luck early on and don’t want to wait for another opening flight to get back into the Grand Event, they can re-enter twice each day before late registration closes.

Those finding a bag during any of the opening flights will enjoy an even deeper structure with 50-minute blinds on Day 2 and even longer 60-minute blind levels on the final day.

Players can also join a contest hosted by PokerDeals where they can win back their €550 buy-in along with plenty of other goodies. There will be flyers with instructions at each table about how to participate.

Day 1a Structure

Tons of Side Events

The MPF isn’t just about the Grand Event as there are plenty of side events each day for players to enjoy. In addition to the start of the Grand Event at 2 p.m., today’s schedule also boasts two side events including the €230 Bounty Hunter Days Malta at 5 p.m. and the €150 MPF One Bullet at 9 p.m.

Here is a look at the full schedule of the 2022 Malta Poker Festival Autumn Edition:

Our coverage of the Malta Poker Festival begins today at 2 p.m. Stay tuned to PokerListings for all of your updates.