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.
| Place | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Humberto Jorge Lopes Galindo | 4,240,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Jerome Moreau | 3,940,000 | 79 |
| 3 | Simone Maglianella | 3,680,000 | 74 |
| 4 | Alessandro La Cava | 3,560,000 | 71 |
| 5 | Glen Gaines | 3,290,000 | 66 |
| 6 | Davide Iannaco | 3,235,000 | 65 |
| 7 | Jean Ruche | 3,125,000 | 63 |
| 8 | Andrew Cutajar | 3,005,000 | 60 |
| 9 | Luigi D'Alterio | 2,705,000 | 54 |
| 10 | Craig Rose | 2,300,000 | 46 |
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.
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.
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:
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €145,000 |
| 2 | €89,000 |
| 3 | €57,000 |
| 4 | €35,000 |
| 5 | €25,000 |
| 6 | €18,000 |
| 7 | €13,000 |
| 8 | €9,000 |
| 9 | €5,990 |
| 10-12 | €4,330 |
| 13-15 | €3,500 |
| 16-23 | €3,000 |
| 24-31 | €2,700 |
| 32-39 | €2,400 |
| Table | Seat | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Glen Gaines | 3,290,000 | 66 |
| 1 | 2 | Emanuele Onnis | 760,000 | 15 |
| 1 | 3 | Mirko Mostaccio | 1,615,000 | 32 |
| 1 | 4 | Luigi D'Alterio | 2,705,000 | 54 |
| 1 | 5 | Kolade Akadiri | 1,675,000 | 34 |
| 1 | 6 | Alessandro Forleo | 720,000 | 14 |
| 1 | 7 | Craig Rose | 2,300,000 | 46 |
| 1 | 8 | Cornelis Vreugdenhill | 130,000 | 3 |
| 2 | 1 | Alessandro La Cava | 3,560,000 | 71 |
| 2 | 2 | Tom Deschuytter | 625,000 | 13 |
| 2 | 3 | Leon Campbell | 2,150,000 | 43 |
| 2 | 4 | Johannes Grootelaar | 995,000 | 20 |
| 2 | 5 | Simone Maglianella | 3,680,000 | 74 |
| 2 | 6 | Sean Hopkin | 1,300,000 | 26 |
| 2 | 7 | Davide Iannaco | 3,235,000 | 65 |
| 2 | 8 | Yossef Cohen | 190,000 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | Raimondo Marcello | 1,050,000 | 21 |
| 3 | 2 | Jerome Moreau | 3,940,000 | 79 |
| 3 | 3 | Andrew Cutajar | 3,005,000 | 60 |
| 3 | 4 | Sylvere Paillot | 1,800,000 | 36 |
| 3 | 5 | Matthias Uwe | 1,175,000 | 24 |
| 3 | 6 | Hendrik Remmerde | 515,000 | 10 |
| 3 | 7 | Thomas Harnes | 1,700,000 | 34 |
| 3 | 8 | Alessandro Santini | 1,195,000 | 24 |
| 4 | 1 | Dario Marinelli | 1,640,000 | 33 |
| 4 | 2 | Arturas Bliudzius | 1,950,000 | 39 |
| 4 | 3 | Tobias Matuschek | 1,090,000 | 22 |
| 4 | 4 | Nils Torp | 625,000 | 13 |
| 4 | 5 | Rimko Meijer | 1,300,000 | 26 |
| 4 | 6 | Mike Alonso | 1,600,000 | 32 |
| 4 | 7 | Antoine Talvard | 1,750,000 | 35 |
| 4 | 8 | Stefan Alvetjarn | 525,000 | 11 |
| 5 | 1 | Raf de Wever | 1,615,000 | 32 |
| 5 | 3 | Jean Ruche | 3,125,000 | 63 |
| 5 | 4 | Steven Smith | 880,000 | 18 |
| 5 | 5 | Caroline Schallock | 805,000 | 16 |
| 5 | 6 | Karl Metz | 685,000 | 14 |
| 5 | 7 | James Clarke | 1,385,000 | 28 |
| 5 | 8 | Humberto Jorge Lopes Galindo | 4,240,000 | 85 |
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.