Category Malta Poker Festival 2024

Level 32: 80,000/160,000 (120,000)
Entries: 17/2045

Antonin Hays (pictured below) opened from the button and faced a 3-bet from one of the chip leaders, Nikolaos Konstas, in the big blind to 1 million. Hays took his time before shoving his 4 million stack, and Konstas snap-called.

• Nikolaos Konstas – Q♠Q♦
• Antonin Hays – A♣J♥

The flop came J♠K♦10♦, giving Hays a pair but also reducing his outs, as any ace would complete Konstas’s straight. The turn was 3♥, and Hays was already up with his backpack on, ready to go, but the dealer delivered the J♦ on the river, giving Hays trips and a pot worth over 8 million!

Antonin Hays – 8,200,000
Nikolaos Konstas – 7,000,000

Level 32: 80,000/160,000 (120,000)
Entries: 18/2045

Antoine Berruel (pictured below) opened from the cutoff to 320,000 and big-stacked Nikolaos Konstas on the button moved all-in. The blinds folded, and Berruel made the call for about 3 million chips.

• Antoine Berruel – A♦Q♥
• Nikolaos Konstas – K♥J♠

The flop came 7♣Q♣K♦, giving both players a pair, with Konstas ahead. The 3♣ on the turn and J♣ on the river cemented Konstas’s hold over the pot, knocking out the French player. Berruel finished in 18th place, taking home €5,000.

A few minutes before that Scott Ledingham busted the main in 19th place, also taking the same prize.

Nikolaos Konstas 10,500,000
Antoine Berruel – 0

Level 32: 80,000/160,000 (120,000)
Entries: 19/2045

The remaining players in the MPF Main Event are back from their dinner break and ready to continue the fight toward the final table. With just 19 players left, every move counts as they edge closer to Day 3’s finish line. Each player is determined to make it through to the prestigious final 9, with some impressive stacks leading the way.

Here are the top 5 chip stacks as we dive back into the action:

Name	Chip Count	Country
Charles Eichner	12,600,000	France
Fabio Peluso	12,200,000	Italy
Glen Gaines	10,000,000	England
Antonio Alba	9,200,000	Italy
Dennis Mercier	7,600,000	Netherlands

Stay tuned as we bring you all the excitement and key moments from this intense race to the final table!

Level 31: 60,000/120,000 (120,000)
Entries: 20/2045

Miika Toyras (pictured below) from Finland limped in from the small blind and faced a raise from Charles Eichner. In response, Toyras shoved his last 20 big blinds, and Eichner quickly called.

Miika Toyras: A♥5♠
Charles Eichner: A♠10♠

The flop landed 8♣J♥Q♠, giving Eichner a strong lead. The turn brought the A♣, prompting Toyras to call for a chop, but the 2♣ on the river sealed his fate. Toyras exits in 20th place, taking home €5,000 for an impressive deep run close to the final table. A great run from the Finnish player.

Charles Eichner – 13,000,000
Miika Toyras – 0

Level 31: 60,000/120,000 (120,000)
Entries: 20/2045

Check out the players who recently busted right before the top 20 in the main event:

21	Danilo Mercuri	Italy	€ 4,200
22	Rui Lessa Ferreira Uribarri Soares	Portugal	€ 4,200
23	Lars Jonas Hahnert	Sweden	€ 4,200
24	Massimiliano Ferro	Italy	€ 3,500
25	Per Joakim Backstrom	Sweden	€ 3,500
26	Simone Maciocia	Malta	€ 3,500
27	Marco Canavesi	Italy	€ 3,500
28	Marko Luksa	Slovenia	€ 3,000
29	Alejandro Garcia Asenjo	Spain	€ 3,000
30	Tanguy Nathanael Jacques Pellerin	France	€ 3,000
31	Johan Bngt Ake Ekdahl	Sweden	€ 3,000

Level 31: 60,000/120,000 (120,000)
Entries: 22/2045

Charles Eichner opened the pot from an early position and got a call from Domenico Lando (pictured below), sitting on the bubble. The flop came 2♥7♦3♦, and after Eichner checked, Lando bet 300,000. Eichner called, and they saw the turn 8♣. Another check from Eichner led to a 600,000 bet from Lando, which Eichner called once again.

When the river 10♠ completed the board, Eichner checked a third time. This time, he faced an all-in from Lando for 2.3 million chips! After a long think, Eichner decided to fold, letting Lando scoop a pot worth over 2 million with this aggressive play.

Charles Eichner – 10,000,000
Domenico Lando – 4,800,000

Level 31: 60,000/120,000 (120,000)
Entries: 25/2045

Per Joakim Backstrom shoved his last 1.5 million under the gun, and action folded to Antoine Berruel, who looked at his first card and commented, “This one is good,” then peeked at his second card and called. Tough luck for Backstrom as Berruel revealed A♣A♠ while Backstrom held K♣J♦. The flop 2♦7♠3♠ and the turn Q♣ brought no help for the Swede, sealing his fate.

Berruel didn’t have him covered by two blinds, next hand Backstrom was all in versus two with seven-deuce off and busted. Backstrom takes home €3,500 as he finished in 25th place.

The tournament moves to a redraw for the final three tables.

Per Joakim Backstrom – 0
Antoine Berruel – 2,700,000

Level 30: 50,000/100,000 (100,000)
Entries: 29/2045

Davide Gelardi opened from the button and faced a shove from Scott Ledingham in the small blind, putting in his 16 big blinds. The big blind folded, and Gelardi made the snap call. Both players turned over the same hand:

• Scott Ledingham – [invalid notations]
• Davide Gelardi – [invalid notations]

With identical hands, it seemed a likely chop—until the board started spicing things up! The flop brought [invalid notations], and as if straight out of an online poker story, the 6♠ turn and J♠ river gave Ledingham the freeroll flush! He scoops the pot, keeping his tournament hopes alive with under 30 players left.

Davide Gelardi – 3,100,000
Scott Ledingham – 3,400,000

Tonight at 19:00, the €2,500 Super Highroller event, hosted by popular poker player and streamer Lukas “RobinPoker” Robinson, will begin!

Players will start with 30,000 chips and face 40-minute blind levels, promising deep play and high-stakes action. Late registration will remain open until the end of the first level of Day 2 tomorrow, allowing players one final chance to jump in on the action.

It’s bound to be an exciting night as some of the biggest names and high-rollers join the tables for this prestigious event! Stay tuned for updates and highlights from the Super Highroller!