PPC Malta 2022 Day 1B Live Blog

The partypoker Championship (PPC) Malta progressed to Day 1b in the €500,000 Guaranteed PPC Malta €550 Main Event at Portomaso Casino with three more opening flights to go on April 2-3.

Day 1b attracted 132 entries with 20 players surviving each earning at least a min-cash of €1,000. When combining this with the 148 entries and 21 survivors during the four online Day 1s, the 33 entries attracted in a live Day 1 in Milan with five survivors, and the 92 entries and 14 survivors during yesterday’s Day 1a, the field has blossomed to 405 entries with 60 players bagging to Day 2 already in the money.

Nicolas Maillaud led the way on Day 1b after bagging a massive stack of 553,500. Near the end of the day, Maillaud eliminated two players in the same hand when his ace-jack got there against the jacks held by Ulysses Harry and the king-eight suited held by Guiseppe Dedoni.

Maillaud bagged more chips than the Day 1a chip leader Victor Allain, who bagged 452,000 in chips. He isn’t the current chip leader as this honor instead belongs to Christoph Erbler virtually bagged 700,596 online at partypoker.

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Day 1b Chip Counts

Two More Opening Flights on Saturday

The PPC Malta Main Event continues on Saturday, April 2 with two opening flights. Day 1c will kick off at 12 p.m., while Day 1d will follow five hours later at 5 p.m. PokerListings will be covering Day 1d, so be sure to tune back in for updates.

Level 18: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

Ruben Perez was short on chips and bubbled Day 1b as follows. Perez jammed for two big blinds from the button and was called by Sokol Mollaj from the small blind and Nicolas Maillaud from the big blind.

Both Mollaj and Maillaud checked down the entire 7 8 K 10 9 board. Perez turned over J 10 for a pair. This beat Mollaj’s pair who held Q 9 . However, Maillaud rivered a flush with 8 6 to win the hand and the surviving players are bagging chips. Additionally, the final 20 players on Day 1b will be rewarded with at least a min-cash of €1,000.

Stay tuned at PokerListings for the final Day 1b chip counts and a recap of the day.

Field: 20/132

Day 1a did not feature hand-for-hand on the money bubble but with three tables each with a different pace of play, the tournament director decided that Day 1b would feature hand-for-hand until the money was reached with 21 players remaining and the day ending with 20 players.

Level 18: 4,000/8,000 (8,000)

Bas de Laat four-bet jammed for about 160,000 and was called by Koen Meutstege.

Bas de Laat: K Q

Koen Meutstege: A K

De Laat was in jeopardy of missing out on a bag and a min-cash but instead, he became one of the chip leaders after improving to a straight on the J 9 5 9 10 board.

Bas de Laat – 350,000

Koen Meutstege – 70,000

Field: 21/132

Level 17: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)

Giuseppe Dedoni jammed for 48,500 from the cutoff before Ulysses Harry three-bet shoved from the button for 127,000. Nicolas Maillaud called them both from the blinds and the cards were turned over.

Giuseppe Dedoni: K 8

Ulysses Harry: J J

Nicolas Maillaud: A J

“King, one time!” Shouted Dedoni.

Dedoni initially got his with after the 7 Q K came on the flop and was still ahead after the 3 followed on the turn. Maillaud then let out a loud uncontrollable laugh at his good fortune after the A spiked the river to win a huge pot and eliminate both Dedoni and Harry. Maillaud was up to around 460,000 in chips after the hand.

Field: 24/132

Level 16: 2,500/5,000 (5,000)

Ulysse Harry jammed for about 13 big blinds from the hijack and Benjamin Fougerouze called off for a little less from the button

Benjamin Fougerouze: A Q

Ulysse Harry: A K

Fougerouze was behind and that didn’t change after the 10 7 4 9 10 ran out on the board to hit the rail near the end of Level 16. Meanwhile, Harry was sitting on around 125,000 after the hand.

Field: 27/132

Level 16: 2,500/5,000 (5,000)

Kyle Pullicino jammed from the hijack for 72,500. Giuseppe Dedoni came in over the top for about 115,000 from the button and the rest of the table folded.

Kyle Pullicino: A A

Giuseppe Dedoni: 7 7

“Good luck,” Dedoni said before letting out a huge sigh when he saw he was up against rockets.

Dedoni shook his head after he got no help from the 5 8 K K 10 board while Pullicino improved his hand to a flush to earn a double-up.

Kyle Pullicino – 160,000

Giuseppe Dedoni – 45,000

Field: 29/132

Level 16: 2,500/5,000 (5,000)

Lukasz Fraczek opened for 10,000 from early position. Ashley Delaney called from the hijack before Ferdinand Janssen three-bet shoved for around 60,000. Fraczek quickly folded and Delaney tossed a single chip in to call.

Ferdinand Janssen: Q Q

Ashley Delaney: J 10

Janssen appeared to be in a great spot with his ladies especially after it didn’t appear Delaney connected at all with the A 9 3 flop. The Q turn provided a sweat with Delaney now having a flush draw. That flush draw was completed after the J spiked the river.

Janssen tapped the table before leaving the tournament arena short of finding a bag and a min-cash while Delaney’s stack was up to around 160,000.

Field: 30/132

Level 15: 2,000/4,000 (4,000)

Federico Petruzzelli three-bet jammed for about 10 big blinds. Koen Meutstege got into the mix from the big blind and the initial opener folded.

Federico Petruzzelli: A A

Koen Meutstege: J J

Petruzzelli was in a prime spot to double but the cards can sometimes be cruel as was the case here with Meutstege improving to a set on the 5 J 8 9 2 board. Petruzzelli was out of chips near the end of Day 1b, while Meutstege boosted his stack to 220,000.

Players went on a 15-minute break a few minutes after this hand.

Field: 32/132

Level 14: 1,500/3,000 (3,000)

Gabriel Ene was moved to Table 12 and only had 700 in chips. These went in the first hand he sat down in a hand against Luigi D’Alterio.

Gabriel Ene: 8 5

Luigi D’Alterio: K 9

Ene paired up his eight on the 7 4 9 8 Q runout but D’Alterio improved to an even better pair to take him out. D’Alterio was sitting on around 225,000 after the hand which was about the same as the player to his left in Samuel Dray who also had about 225,000.

Field: 36/132

Level 13: 1,200/2,500 (2,500)

A massive pot just took place at the end of Level 13 that took close to 15 minutes to play out.

It all began when Mike Alonso opened for 5,000 from the hijack. Nicolas Maillaud three-bet to 15,000 from the button and Alonso called.

Alonso check-raised the 10 K 9 flop from 12,000 to 30,000. Maillaud called and the 3 was dealt on the turn. Alonso asked Maillaud how big his stack was. Maillaud confirmed it was around 86,000 and a couple of minutes later Alonso jammed for about 130,000. Maillaud went into the tank for more than five minutes before Alonso called the floor.

The floor asked the dealer if Maillaud had enough time before he informed Maillaud he had 30 seconds to act. Maillaud appeared deep in thought and didn’t flinch even as the clock was reaching five seconds. Just after the tournament director said “one,” Maillaud said “call” and tossed in a single chip.

Nicolas Maillaud: A 10

Mike Alonso: 8 7

The 9 paired the board on the river to give Maillaud a massive pot while Alonso, who was cruising along saw his stack crumble.

Nicolas Maillaud – 260,000

Mike Alonso – 45,000

Field – 40/132

Level 14: 1,200/2,500 (2,500)

Sebastian Van Wonterghem checked the 4 5 9 flop before Luigi D’Alterio bet 7,500 into a pot of nearly double that. Van Wonterghem raised to 21,000. D’Alterio asked his opponent to show his stack before he made the call.

Van Wonterghem fired out for 35,000 after the 7 followed on the turn and D’Alterio called. The 8 completed the board on the river and Van Wonterghem slowed down the aggression with a check. D’Alterio jammed for a bit more than the 70,000 Van Wonterghem had behind. Van Wonterghem folded and D’Alterio opted to show his 10 7 before the dealer awarded him the pot.

Luigi D’Alterio – 190,000

Sebastian Van Wonterghem – 70,000

Field: 50/132

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)

Ivan Martinez jammed from the small blind and Alexandre Henry called off for about 15 big blinds from the big blind.

Alexandre Henry: A J

Ivan Martinez: K 4

It was looking like a decent spot for Henry to double but the wall came crumbling down fast after Martinez improved to trips on the K K 8 flop. Henry was drawing dead after the 5 turn and his exit was official after the 7 river completed the board.

Field: 53/132

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)

Giovanni Trimarchi once had one of the biggest stacks in the room. He lost some chips before losing some more in the following hand.

In a battle of the blinds, Trimarchi checked the river from the small blind with about 70,000 in the pot and the Q 4 2 A 8 on the board. Tanguy Pellerin jammed for 41,400 and Trimarchi tanked for a few minutes before he called.

Pellerin turned over Q 4 for two pair. Trimarchi was about to muck his hand but instead decided to table it showing the A 6 before the dealer awarded the pot to Pellerin.

Tanguy Pellerin – 150,000

Giovanni Trimarchi – 40,000

Field: 57/132

Day 1b is on its third break. The blinds will go up to 1,000/2,000 with a big blind ante of 2,000 when the action resumes.

Level 11: 800/1,600

Giuseppe Grupposo bet 4,000 into a pot of around 13,000 with the 4 10 2 6 on the board after the turn. Dimitros Sliakas raised to 10,000 and Grupposo went into the tank for two minutes before he called.

Grupposo checked after the 9 river completed the board and Sliakas jammed for about 27,000. Grupposo tanked for about four minutes before he found the call.

“I have nothing,” said Sliakas as he turned over the A K . Grupposo showed J 9 to win the hand and his stack grew to about 90,000 while sending Sliakas to the rail.

“Amazing call,” Sliakas said on his way out the door.

Field: 61/132

Late registration has closed with Day 1b attracting 132 entries. The day will end when the field is down to 20 players or a little more than 15% of the field. All players finding a bag are guaranteed at least a min-cash of €1,000.

Level 10: 600/1,200

Cowboys seem to be unlucky during Level 10 as another player suffered a similar fate to that Cristiano Ruiu just suffered.

Giulio Spampinato three-bet jammed for 15,000 and was called by Giuseppe Comitini.

Guilio Spampinato: K K

Giuseppe Comitini: A Q

Spampinato’s advantage disappeared quickly as Comitini connected his ace on the A 8 4 flop. Neither the 6 turn nor the 5 river helped Spampinato and he was the latest player on the rail. Meanwhile, Comitini had about 120,000 in chips after the hand.

Field: 68/129

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)

A player opened up for 3,500 from early position before Davide Testori three-bet to 10,000 from a couple of seats over. Christiano Ruiu four-bet jammed for around 30,000. The original opener folded and Testori called.

Christiano Ruiu: K K

Davide Testori: A K

Ruiu was ahead and it stayed that way after the 3 5 2 hit the flop. The advantage got bigger for Ruiu after the 7 followed on the turn. However, Ruiu slammed the table in frustration after A completed the board on the river to give Testori a better pair.

Ruiu still has a little time to re-enter if he so chooses today or if he wishes he can also choose between the three remaining opening flights. Meanwhile, Testori is among the bigger stacks in the room after the hand with a stack of 105,000 in chips.

Field: 69/129

Level 10: 500/1,000 (1,000)

Humberto Jorge Lopes Galindo three-bet jammed about 20 big blinds and was looked up by Mike Alonso.

Humberto Jorge Lopes Galindo: K Q

Mike Alonso: A K

Galindo was behind and never got ahead with the J 9 2 6 A runout to hit the rail. Meanwhile, Galindo’s stack increased to around 80,000.

Field: 79/128

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)

Idan Levy opened to 2,100 from early position and was called by Alessandro Toninello from two seats over. Damir Savio jammed for 23,600 from the small blind. Levy folded and Toninello called.

Damir Savio: K J

Alessandro Toninello: 9 9

Savio pulled ahead by a mile after nailing top pair on the K Q 8 flop and improved even further to two pair on the J turn. Fortunes changed for Savio with the 10 raining down on the river to give Toninello a straight and Savio left the tournament area with a look of frustration.

Alessandro Toninello – 60,000

Damir Savio – 0

Field: 83/127

Field: 82/122

Level 8: 400/800 (800)

PokerListings’ Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen was proud of himself for making the dinner break. Unfortunately, our hero didn’t last too much longer.

He lost a hand and was down to 15 big blinds after losing a big 50,000 chip pot when his ace-king suited didn’t hold against ace-jack. Shortly after, he three-bet shoved ace-eight suited and ran into ace-jack. Dideriksen-Nielsen improved to a pair on the jack-eight-four flop but his opponent nailed a better pair. A flush draw opened up on the K turn but no love came the rest of the way with a blank coming on the river to seal his fate.

Dideriksen-Nielsen shared he will be back for a third bullet on Saturday. Let’s hope the third time is the charm.

Players are back from dinner break and Day 1b has resumed with blinds at 400/800 with a big blind ante of 800. The field has grown to 120 entrants with 88 players remaining.

Day 1b players are on a one-hour dinner break. The field is up to 119 entries with 95 players remaining.

Level 7: 300/600 (600)

Emanuel Baldacchino jammed for about 7,000 in early position and was called by Luigi Corsetti from the big blind.

Emanuel Baldacchino: K 8

Luigi Corsetti: A 9

Baldacchino stood up looking ready to leave but Corsetti perhaps thought a bad beat was coming as he was slightly ahead when he said: “Don’t get up.”

Lady Luck was on Baldacchino’s as his king paired up the 7 9 3 Q K board to double his stack.

Luigi Corsetti – 40,000

Emanuel Baldacchino – 15,000

Field: 100/118

Level 6: 250/500 (500)

Things were going quite smooth in the early goings for Giovanni Trimarchi but he just hit a small bump in the road as follows.

Loic Dapres three-bet jammed for 9,000 and Trimarchi called.

Loic Dapres: A 10

Giovanni Trimarchi: A A

Dapres got up ready to leave when he saw he was up against rockets. Fortunes quickly changed for Dapres as he headed to Broadway after the J Q K came on the flop. Trimarchi doubled up his short-stacked opponent after the 8 turn and 4 river completed the board. That being said, Trimarchi still has one of the biggest stacks in the room early on Day 1b.

Giovanni Trimarchi – 100,000

Loic Dapres – 20,000

Field: 98/113

PokerListings’ Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen is back for his second bullet in the Main Event after yesterday running tens into queens.

While we aren’t supposed to play favorites, we are fully on Team Jacob in hopes that he wins the title. He already shared that if things don’t go well today he will come back for a third bullet tomorrow either during Day 1c or Day 1d. Let’s just hope that isn’t necessary and if it is that he doesn’t need to fire bullets on both opening flights tomorrow.

Level 5: 200/400 (400)

Life is usually good when you get pocket rockets. Samuel Dray might feel different after hitting the rail with an unfortunate runout.

Dray opened to 1,200 from the small blind. Quentin Laucher three-bet to 3,600 and Dray opted to call. Dray check-called a small bet of 2,000 on the 5 K 6 flop before jamming for around 10,000 after the 5 paired the board on the turn. Laucher snap-called and the cards were turned over.

Samuel Dray: A A

Quentin Laucher: K 5

Dray shook his head in frustration when he saw he was far behind Laucher who improved to trips on the turn. The 10 completed the board on the river and Dray left the tournament arena after his aces were cracked.

Quentin Laucher – 60,000

Samuel Day – 0

Field: 93/106

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

Level 4: 150/300 (300)

The Day 1b field is up to 98 entries with 90 players in their seats. Giuseppe Grupposo, Alessandro Di Dio, Victor Fryda, and Zlatan Penev were among the casualties but they can all get back in with one re-entry permitted per opening flight.

The gap in the PPC Malta coverage at PokerListings was for a special reason as we just interviewed 2021 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Jack Oliver who just busted the High Roller and will be catching a plane home before heading to Dublin soon after for the Irish Open.

Level 3: 125/250 (250)

Mario Masson checked the 8 9 10 flop with about 5,000 already in the pot. Rosario Trimarchi fired out for 3,000 and Masson snap-called.

Masson checked again after the A followed on the turn. Trimarchi bet 22,000 and Masson snap-called off his stack of 20,000.

Mario Masson: A A

Rosario Trimarchi: Q 6

Masson was ahead and doubled up after Trimarchi bricked the K river.

Mario Masson – 51,000

Rosario Trimarchi – 8,000

Field: 79/79

Level 2: 100/200 (200)

Table 16 just recently opened and there was some action early on. Raymond Galea bet 3,000 from the small blind into a pot of around 4,000 with the 3 6 9 4 already on the board after the turn. Ivan Furniet Martinez went into the tank for more than a minute before he raised to 10,000 from the big blind.

Galea paused for a moment before he folded. Martinez turned didn’t have to show, but wanted to show he held the nuts with him flashing 7 5 to the table for a straight.

Ivan Furniet Martinez – 35,000

Raymond Galea – 26,000

Field: 75/75

Level 1: 75/150 (150)

Lars Larsson just doubled through Francesco Grande late on Level 1 as follows.

We caught up to the action with Larsson three-betting to 1,200 from the cutoff. Grande four-bet to 3,125 from under the gun and Larsson called.

Grande fired out for 2,600 on the 10 8 6 flop and Larsson called. The 9 followed on the turn and Grande jammed for about 23,000. Larsson snap-called off his stack of 15,750 and the cards were turned over.

Lars Larsson: K K

Francesco Grande: Q Q

Larsson was already far ahead and even improved to a set to double his stack after the K river completed the board.

Lars Larsson – 45,000

Francesco Grande – 7,250

Field: 62/62

Level 1: 75/150 (150)

As expected, the early action has been mostly small ball with players starting with 200 big blinds. One slightly bigger hand just took place at Table 12 between Giovanni Trimarchi and Loic Dapres.

Dapres checked with about 3,500 in the pot on the turn with the A 4 K 8 on the board. Trimarchi bet 2,200 and Dapres paused for about a minute before he called. Dapres checked again after the 9 completed the board on the river. Trimarchi fired out for 4,025 and Dapres went into the tank for two to three minutes before he laid down his hand.

Giovanni Trimarchi – 35,000

Loic Dapres – 27,000

Field: 54/54

Day 1b has just kicked off with 49 entries. This will continue to grow with late registration open until 10:30 p.m. during which time players can re-enter once if they lose their initial stack.

Among the players to play from the start include Matthew Adams, Lars Larsson, Idan Levy, Angelo Patane, and Dimitros Sliakas. PokerListings’ Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen has promised to get back into the action later today after a short stint on Day 1a which ended after he ran tens into queens.

PokerListings will provide updates throughout the day, so be sure to stay tuned in.

Welcome to the PokerListings coverage of the 2022 partypoker Championship (PPC) Malta Main Event taking place at the luxurious Portomaso Casino from March 31 to April 4. 

Live poker is back in a huge way in Malta with the PPC Malta Main Event guaranteeing a whopping €500,000 for a €550 buy-in. There are still satellites running in the casino where players can potentially earn a seat for just a fraction of the cost.

Today will feature Day 1b starting at 4 p.m. Players will start with a healthy stack of 30,000 in chips with blinds increasing every 30 minutes. The tournament allows for one re-entry per opening flight during the late-registration window, which is scheduled to close today at 10:30 p.m.

The action will conclude when the field is down to just 15% with all surviving players heading to Sunday’s Day 2 already in the money for at least a €1,000 min-cash.

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PokerListings will be reporting the live portion of the PPC Malta Main Event from beginning to end while sprinkling in coverage from side events including the High Roller. In addition to reporting the biggest hands and bad beats, PokerListings will also share the cool ambiance that partypoker LIVE and the Portomaso are both well-known for. In addition, we will sprinkle in news about the side events and how you can get involved in some amazing promotions at partypoker.

Follow along with the action at PokerListings when cards are in the air at 4 p.m. CET.

2022 PPC Malta Schedule