2022 Malta Poker Festival Autumn Edition Live Blog – Day 2

The 2022 Malta Poker Festival Autumn Edition €550 Grand Event by any measure has thus far been a smashing success at Portomaso Casino with 1,326 entries coming out in full force during the five opening flights for a massive €636,480 prize pool to smash the event’s €500,000 guarantee.

Humberto Jorge Lopes Galindo was absolutely crushing during Day 2 and finished the day with a chip lead stack of 4,240,000 in chips. Also bagging top five chip stacks into the final day were Jerome Moreau (3,940,000), Simone Maglianella (3,680,000), Alessandro La Cava (3,560,000), and Glen Gaines (3,290,000). Galindo has had a handful of cashes on the island and is looking for this one to be the biggest with his eyes on the €145,000 top prize.

Meanwhile, Luigi D’Alterio (2,705,000), Leon Campbell (2,150,000), Sylvere Paillot (1,800,000), Dario Marinelli (1,640,000), Uwe Matthias (1,175,000), and Caroline Schallock (805,000) are among some of the other players that advanced.

Schallock is the only woman in the field to advance to the final day. She had remarkable resilience throughout Day 2 as she suffered some big losses especially when her aces were cracked by ace-jack with players having their chips in the pot before the flop.

In another situation, she had big slick and was up against ace-ten and pocket tens. This isn’t as much of a bad beat story as a cooler as all three players committed their stacks before the flop. Schallock pulled ahead after an ace hit the flop. But that wasn’t the end of the story as the player with tens won the hand after nailing a one outer with a ten coming on the river.

Schallock was calm, cool, and collected at the end of the day and hopes to work some magic tomorrow.

Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Action of the Day

Day 2 began with 357 hopefuls in the hunt for Malta Poker Festival Grand Event glory. A few hours into the day, the money bubble was reached after Oystein Brenden was unable to get his king-jack to hold with his short stack against the queen-six held by Glen Gaines. Brenden took his fate well and was seen playing dealer’s choice mixed games after his unfortunate demise. After Brenden hit the rail, the remaining 143 players were each guaranteed at least a min-cash of €1,100, representing exactly double the €550 buy-in.

Four of the five opening flight chip leaders were unable to parlay their big stacks into Day 3. However, all three of these players finished in the money including Day 1a chip leader Daniel Taylor (62nd – €1,800), Day 1b chip leader Anastasios Apostolou, and Day 1d chip leader and the player on top of the leaderboard to start Day 2 Peter de Bruin (85th – €1,400).

Meanwhile, Day 1c chip leader Oscar Arezzo suffered a different fate as he was unable to make the money, while Day 1e chip leader Alessandro La Cava we already mentioned was successful with his big stack and is in the top five in the chip count to start the final day.

Final Day Plan

The final day will begin at 2 p.m. CEST with 31:22 remaining on the clock on Level 25 with blinds at 25,000/50,000 along with a big blind ante of 50,000. After this blind level, the blinds will increase every 60 minutes providing the deepest structure of the tournament with most of the opening flights boasting 40-minute blinds levels and Day 2 featuring longer 50-minute blind levels.

PokerListings will be with you from the beginning until the latest MPF Grand Event winner is crowned to bring the action to you with hands, bad beats, and anything else fun that may take place.

Remaining MPF Grand Event Payouts

The final 39 players have each locked up €2,400 with the payouts going up quickly from there. Here is a look at the remaining payout schedule:

Final Day Seat Draw

A special thank you to MPF founder Ivonne Montealegre along with the hard-working staff at both Portomaso Casino and MPF’s technical partner Ludos Academy for making this event as special as it is. Of course, it couldn’t have happened without the enthusiasm of the large crowd of players coming out to not only play the Grand Event but the many side events happening throughout the week.

We look forward to one more amazing day. Time will tell who will win the MPF Grand Event. Stay tuned at PokerListings starting tomorrow at 2 p.m. CEST when cards are in the air.

The action quickly went down to just 39 players in a hurry with 31:22 remaining on the clock of Level 25. Players are bagging chips and will return tomorrow when eventually we will find out who will win the €145,000 top prize in the MPF Grand Event.

Before the break, the tournament staff announced that Day 2 would end either with 40 players remaining or when the action reaches Level 27. With just 47 players remaining on the break, it is almost a certainty that Day 2 will end whenever the action is down to five eight-max tables.

Level 23: 25,000/50,000 (50,000)
Entries: 47/1,326

We met Greece’s Ioannis Aslanidis on Day 1b of the Grand Event. We clicked right away and were silently rooting for him to make it to the final table. Aslanidis used to play a bit of live poker but took a break. Maybe this is the start of him getting back into live events.

We found that we had common friends in Greece and Aslanidis would often come by the media desk before and after the day to have a friendly chat.

Unfortunately, Aslanidis was eliminated from the Grand Event just before the last break.

He had a photo of the hand and he shared that he three-bet jammed with J J and was called by Jean Ruch with one pair better with Q Q .

As you might have guessed, no miracle came on the 7 4 K A 5 board and Aslanidis left the tournament area with a big smile on his face after a nice run.

Jean Ruch – 3 million
Ioannis Aslandis – 0

Players are on another break.

Level 22: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 57/1,326

Jesse Liljegren opened for 80,000 from early position. Alessandro Santini three-bet jammed for 495,000 from one seat over. The action folded around to Liljegren who went into the tank for about a minute before he called for most of his stack.

Alessandro Santini: A K
Jesse Liljegren: K Q

Both players improved to trips on the J K 8 2 K . Santini’s ace-kicker came into play to win the hand and double his stack. Liljegren wasn’t sure if he was eliminated or not until the full counts were made.

“A chip and a chair,” Liljegren said with a smile.

After we left the table, Liljegren dusted off the rest of his stack.

Alessandro Santini – 1.1 million
Jesse Liljegren – 0

Level 21: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 63/1,326

Glen Gaines opened for 65,000 from the cutoff and was called by Sascha Manns from the button and Alessandro La Cava from the small blind before Damien Gayer squeezed with a three-bet to 270,000. Gaines folded before Manns four-bet to 665,000. La Cava folded and Gayer went into the tank.

A couple of minutes later, Gayer five-bet jammed for more than the 1,800,000 or so Manns had in his stack to start the hand. The table remained super silent as Manns tanked for about 5 minutes. It would have been for the likely chip lead if Manns made the call but he eventually opted to fold and muck his cards. Gayer was awarded the pot and also opted to not show his cards.

Damien Gayer – 2.9 million
Sascha Manns – 1.125 million

Level 21: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 69/1,326

The following players have at least 1 million in chips. France’s Jerome Moreau currently holds the chip lead and is the only player above 3 million in chips.

Level 20: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 80/1,326

Andrew Cutajar jammed his huge stack with the 4 10 2 6 3 on the board with about 700,000 already in the spread pot. Orazio Pellegino seemed a bit disturbed and tanked for a few minutes before he called off for about 600,000.

Cutajar turned over 5 5 for the rivered straight. Pellegrino slammed down his hand before turning it over showing J 6 then shoved all his chips scatter into the pot before leaving the poker room.

Andrew Cutajar – 2,300,000
Orazio Pellegrino – 0

Level 20: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 86/1,326

Arturas Bliudzius from the cutoff called a three-bet jam by Jens Lauritz Sandell-Duus from the small blind.

Jens Lauritz Sandell-Duus: A 6
Arturas Bliudzius: A 10

Despite being behind Sandell-Duus stayed alive and doubled after the 6 4 7 6 9 board improved to trip sixes.

Arturas Bliudzius: 1,250,000
Jens Lauritz Sandell-Duus – 370,000

The following players cashed for €1,300:

Level 20: 10,000/20,000 (20,000)
Entries: 100/1,326

Jos ten Have limped from middle position for half his stack. Alberto Cigliano raised to 210,000 with just 15,000 behind. William Mitchell jammed for much more than the other two players from the big blind and both ten Have and Cigliano called off their stacks.

Jos ten Have: 9 9
Alberto Cigliano: A J
William Mitchell: A J

Normally ten Have would be in a good spot and Cigliano and Mitchell would be chopping at least a side pot if not the main pot as well. However, four spades ran out on the Q 2 5 5 4 board to improve Cigliano to the nut-flush to win both the main and side pots.

Albert Cigliano – 540,000
William Mitchell – 325,000
Jos ten Have – 0

The Grand Event has resumed with players back from dinner break.

Players are on a 75-minute dinner break. We will update some of the biggest stacks around the room near the tail-end of the break.

Level 19: 8,000/16,000 (16,000)
Entries: 119/1,326

Guillermo Ceballos jammed for nine big blinds from under the gun with ace-four offsuit. Totti Lind got his stack of 15 big blind with ace-jack suited from middle position. The player in the big blind woke up with jacks and called.

The board ran dry for both Ceballos and Lind and they both hit the rail for a €1,200 cash.

Level 19: 8,000/16,000 (16,000)
Entries: 127/1,326

The following players cashed in 128th to 143rd places for a min-cash valued at €1,100. The remaining 127 players laddered up €100 and are guaranteed at least a €1,200 payout.

Level 18: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Entries: 143/1,326

Players are now in the money after Oystein Brenden hit the rail. The hand went down as follows.

Oystein Brenden jammed from middle position for 42,000 and was called by the big-stacked Glen Gaines from the big blind. The floor announced the action after the other tables played out the hands and a big crowd came to Table 3 where the action was taking place.

Oystein Brenden: K J
Glen Gaines: Q 6

As is often the case with a bubble hand, each street was announced with a small pause. It was looking like Brenden’s hand would hold after both the A 2 4 flop and the A turn. However, the 6 came raining down on the river and Brenden has bubbled the MPF Grand Event.

A round of applause took place around the poker rooms along with some high-fives even with this reporter with some of the shorter stacked players. We gave a quick hug to Greece’s Ioannis Aslanidis who began the day with a big stack but had 180,000 by the time the bubble came around. It is difficult not to get caught up with the excitement.

Congrats to the remaining field of 143 players! You are each in the money for €1,100 with more to come if you are able to run deeper. Best of luck!

Level 18: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Entries: 149/1,326

There are just 149 players remaining in the Grand Event. This means the bubble is approaching as 143 players are set to make at least a €1,100 min-cash.

There may be a small delay in the coverage as we want to do our best to capture the bubble hand. Best of luck to all of the remaining players in getting into the money.

Level 18: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Entries: 155/1,326

Lately, it appears that Sascha Manns is on a big final table whenever we travel to the same stops. Maybe the same will happen at the MPF Grand Event as well as he already has 875,000 in chips from his Day 2 starting stack of 368,000.

Manns shared a hand that just happened at the laughter of Joseph Grech and to the dismay of Maltese resident Soner Vanelderen. The hand began with Christian Kempf jamming the button for 135,000. Manns three-bet jammed from the small blind his big stack and Vanelderen folded from the big blind.

“We aren’t talking about that hand,” Vanelderen added at this point in the story.

Manns had fives and won a flip to eliminate Kempf short of the money after his opponent bricked the board.

“Can we make the title ‘The fish that got lucky?'” asked local player Joseph Grech, who we also see often when we get the opportunity to visit Malta.

“Of course,” I said before asking Manns if this was kosher.

The banter after this instantly ceased with players going in different directions with the table breaking. Best of luck to Sascha, Soner, and Joseph in their quest for MPF Grand Event gold.

Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 173/1,326

Alfio Previti opened for 35,000 from the hijack and was called by Kristof Everaerts from the cutoff. The action folded around to Antoine Talvard in the big blind.

“How much you playing?” Talvard asked to Everaerts.

After Everaerts showed his stack of around 800,000, Talvard three-bet to 100,000. Previti called off for less before Everaerts four-bet shoved his big stack. Talvard had Everaerts covered and tanked for about 20 seconds before he folded.

Alfio Previti: J 10
Kristof Everaerts: K K

“I had ace-queen,” Talvard said after the players turned over their cards.

Everaerts’ cowboys held on the 6 2 8 9 2 board and his stack grew while sending Previti to the rail short of the money.

Antoine Talvard – 1.1 million
Kristof Everaerts – 1 million
Alfio Previti – 0

Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 180/1,326

Antoine Talvard began the day with 135,000 in chips and now is sitting on close to 1.2 million. That is quite the start!

Talvard mentioned that fireworks erupted against a player. Peter de Bruin, who began the day as the chip leader, raised his hand and said: “That’s me.”

Talvard shared that he was involved in a 3-bet pot when he check-raised a flop containing both a jack and a ten. He opened-jammed a blank turn and there was about 1 million in the pot after de Bruin called.

De Bruin had the best preflop hand with pocket aces but was far behind Talvard’s two pair with jack-ten. A blank river completed the board and if Talvard isn’t the chip leader at the moment, he is very close.

Antoine Talvard – 1.2 million
Peter de Bruin – 200,000

The CasinoCoin Cup, which boasts a €1,100 buy-in, just kicked off in the same room as the Grand Event.

There are already 41 entries. This figure will grow throughout the day. Among the players in the mix is none-other than MPF founder Ivonne Montealegre.

Best of luck to everyone playing the highest buy-in event at the Malta Poker Festival.

Level 17: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 189/1,326

We had the opportunity to chat with Norway Sturla Hiller on the break. Hiller shared he was on 385,000 in chips, which is more than double the 174,000 he began the day with. He was as high as 450,000 in chips at one point as well but still has a more-than-healthy stack.

Hiller shared that an opponent three-bet jammed for 150,000 with ace-queen and he made the easy call with aces. No miracle came for his opponent and the rest was history.

Good luck, Sturla the rest of the way in the MPF Grand Event.

Day 2 players are on their first break of the day. Blinds will increase to 5,000/10,000 with a big blind ante of 10,000 when the action resumes.

Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Entries: 205/1,326

Leon Campbell is another player sitting on a lot more chips than he began the day with. Campbell came into Day 2 after bagging 214,000 in chips and now has about 750,000.

We asked Campbell if there were any notable hands to get him to where he was.

“Someone just gave me 250K,” Campbell said with a smile.

We asked him to elaborate with some details and he explained that his opponent three-bet jammed for 250,000 with ace-trey suited. Campbell was going nowhere with his cowboys and won a tasty half-million pot after his hand held.

Leon Campbell – 750,000

Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Entries: 213/1,326

France’s Damien Gayer began the day with 311,000 in chips. It has been a good start for Gayer as recently he was witnessed sitting on about 900,000 in chips.

Gayer shared that one big hand he played was with ace-king against queens. The player will queens jammed for about 15 big blinds and Gayer won the flip after he called.

Damien Gayer – 900,000

Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Entries: 223/357

Totti Lind started the day on a rough note and witnessed his 302,000 stack dwindle down to 80,000 after his ace-king suited didn’t win a flip against nines.

Since then, Lind has been on a roll and has around 315,000 in chips.

The Lind rollercoaster may continue but it might be just a ride straight up in the air instead of down and back up against like earlier today.

Totti Lind – 315,000

Level 16: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)
Entries: 243/1,326

Gytis Pazemeckas, who has been crushing events in his home country of Lithuania, had some chips during one of the opening flights but failed to bag in that one. He did eventually find a bag but there wasn’t a plethora of chips inside it.

Pazemeckas shared that he is off to play the €1,100 CasinoCoin CUP at 4 p.m. after losing his stack in the Main Event. In his final hand, he got it in with ace-five and was unable to get there against his opponent’s cowboys.

Sėkmės, Gyti (good luck, Gytis in Lithuanian) in the CasinoCoin CUP and see you around next week at our local casino in Vilnius.

Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 268/1,326

Jon Kyte just hit the rail and will take a little break before entering the €1,100 CasinoCoin CUP at 4 p.m.

Kyte shared that he lost most of his stack with ace-king vs. ace-queen. The rest went in with jack-eight against ace-jack.

We wish Kyte the best of luck in the CasinoCoin CUP.

Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 279/1,326

Jens Lauritz Sandell-Duus bet 90,000 into a pot of around 140,000 with the 7 J A J 2 on the board.

Stavros Tsakas tanked for about five minutes before a player called time. The floor came over and the count was down to just two seconds when Tsakas made the call. Sandell-Duus turned over A J for a full house and was awarded the pot after Tsakas mucked his cards.

Jens Lauritz Sandell-Duus – 440,000
Stavros Tsakas – 210,000

Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 282/1,326

Gaetano Castagnolo opened for 12,000 from early position. Mark Vella three-bet jammed for 111,000 from late position.

Castagnolo asked if his opponent spoke Italian (he did it in Italian). Vella remained silent and Castagnolo eventually called with just a few more chips in his hand.

Mark Vella: 10 10
Gaetano Castagnolo: A Q

The local hero Vella won the flip after his opponent bricked the 3 3 4 5 5 double-paired board and Castagnolo was left with crumbs in his stack.

Mark Vella – 237,000
Gaetano Castagnolo – 8,000

Level 15: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 297/1,326

Wouter Schuurbiers is off to play some mixed games which will start on the casino floor at 3 p.m.

He shared that he got his short stack in with ace-jack with a three-bet jam for about 12 big blinds and didn’t get there against his opponent’s queens.

We wish Schuurbiers better luck with the mixed games. Who knows, maybe we will also see him in the €1,100 CasinoCoin CUP beginning at 4 p.m. A hyper-turbo satellite just began for that event as well costing just €150!

Also, check out a podcast we did with Schuurbiers after the Spring Edition of the Malta Poker Festival by clicking on the image below.

Wouter Schuurbiers – 0

Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 315/1,326

Petter Redemo squeezed his 12 big blinds and was called by Chris Da Silva, who originally opened the pot. Another player folded and Redemo was flipping for his tournament life.

Petter Redemo: Ace-Ten
Chris Da Silva: Sixes

The board was all blanks for Redemo and he became one of the players on the rail during the first blind level of Day 2.

As a side fact, Da Silva was on the podium during the last MPF Grand Event in the Spring. He is hoping to do even better than his third-place result from last time around and is on his way to do so.

Chris Da Silva – 360,000
Petter Redemo – 0

Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 326/1,326

Peter de Bruin came into Day 2 with the chip lead. He is no longer the chip leader but does have a big stack still. He lost some chips in the following hand to Vincenzo Pellegrino.

Pellegrino bet 55,000 into a pot of a bit more with the 9 2 2 7 J on the board. De Bruin tanked for a couple of minutes before he called.

Pellegrino turned over J 9 for top two pair.

“Nice river,” de Bruin said as he was mucking his cards.

Peter de Bruin – 500,000
Vincenzo Pellegrino – 375,000

Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 337/1,326

About 20 players have already hit the rail in the opening moments of Day 2. Yossef Cohen wasn’t one of them as his stack went in the opposite direction and shared how it all went down.

Gianmarco Pagliaro opened for 33,000 from the button and Cohen called from the big blind. Cohen led out for 45,000 on the 10 7 4 flop and Pagliaro called. Pagliaro then called bets of 75,000 on the 2 turn and for 65,000 on the 4 river.

Cohen tabled a flush to win a big pot early on Day 2.

Yossef Cohen – 539,000
Gianmarco Pagliaro – 180,000

The payouts have been announced and tomorrow’s winner will go home with a whopping top prize of €145,000 for more than double what Daniel Lakerveld collected after winning the MPF Spring Edition Grand Event in May.

The top 143 players will each go home with at least a min-cash of €1,100 for exactly double the €550 buy-in.

Level 14: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 357/1,326

Cards are now in the air for Day 2. Best of luck to everyone battling it out! May the short stacks spin up and the big stacks continue to grow.

For those of you that haven’t bagged into the Main Event, you will be pleased to learn that there is a €150 hyper-turbo satellite at 2 p.m. for the €1,100 CasinoCoin CUP.

The CasinoCoin CUP has tons of added value including there being a €1,000 bounty on the head of MPF founder Ivonne Montealegre.

In addition, all final table players will get a funded crypto-wallet.

Head to the MPF CasinoCoin CUP landing page for more information and best of luck to everyone entering this event.

Welcome back to our coverage of the 2022 MPF Autumn Edition €550 Grand Event powered by partypoker at the luxurious Portomaso Casino.

After five opening flights over the past four days, the Grand Event has progressed to its penultimate day with 357 players ready to battle it out in hopes of making the money and beyond.

Peter de Bruin leads the pack with a massive stack of 690,000 in chips when Day 2 begins at 1 p.m. after bagging the Day 1d chip lead. Just behind him is Matthew Adams, who also bagged a big stack on Day 1d and will start today with 629,000 in chips. The Day 1e chip leader Alessandro La Cava was the Day 1e chip leader yesterday and isn’t too far behind Adams with 591,000 in chips.

Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

Grand Event by the Numbers

The Grand Event attracted 1,326 entries with 357 Day 2 survivors. This generated a massive €636,480 prize pool to smash the event’s €500,000 guarantee.

Here is a look at some of the figures from the opening flights:

Day 2 will kick off with blinds at 3,000/5,000 with a big blind ante of 5,000. Blinds will increase every 50 minutes instead of every 40 minutes (or 20 minutes for the turbo flight) giving players more time to make the correct decisions.

The fluid plan for Day 2 is to play either 13 or 14 blind levels. This is subject to change and the MPF tournament director Danilo De Berardinis informed PokerListings that he will announce the structure of the day before the dinner break updated plan.

Best of luck to everyone playing. Cards are in the air at 1 p.m. CEST. Stay tuned at PokerListings for all of your updates on the MPF Grand Event.