Day 1A
Day 1B
Day 1C
Day 1D
Day 1E/F
Day 2
Final Day
Images
Results
Live Blog
Matte Karjalainen and Ronny Albrigtsen Chip Millionaires on Day 1b
Day 1b of the €300,000 guaranteed 2024 Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition €550 Grand Event is in the books with a banner turnout of 291 entries to bring the total up to 468 entries when taking into account yesterday’s Day 1a with still four opening flights to go.
The day was scheduled to end once the field was down to 45 hopefuls to join the 27 players that found a bag on Day 1a into Sunday’s Day 2. However, Norway’s Ronny Albrigtsen sent two players packing in the same hand by delivering a bad beat to both Svajunas Seduikis and Pavle Peclej to end the day with more than 1 million in chips.
While this was better than the 858,000 that Day 1a chip leader Indre Stanaityte bagged on Wednesday, it wasn’t good enough to take the overall chip leader as Finland’s Matte Karjalainen earned that honor with nearly 1.3 million in chips after cruising most of the day.
Several other notable players found a bag including John Forsman, Garry Spinks, Angelo Vietti, Andrew Cutajar, Richard Kellett, Jonty Willis, poker author and The Chip Race podcast cohost Dara O’Kearney, Maltese all-time leading live tournament poker winner according to The Hendon Mob Joseph Grech, Cory Desmond, Mark Attard, and Antoine Talvard.
The action will resume on Friday at 1 p.m. with Day 1c. In the meantime, check out the chip counts from the Day 1b survivors below:
Place | Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Matte Karjalainen | 1,269,000 | 127 |
2 | Ronny Albrigtsen | 1,046,000 | 105 |
3 | John Forsman | 695,000 | 70 |
4 | Simon Taylor | 693,000 | 69 |
5 | Kai Vater | 683,000 | 68 |
6 | Lennart Bernett | 628,000 | 63 |
7 | Emanuele Napolitano | 614,000 | 61 |
8 | Jordan Dumas | 600,000 | 60 |
9 | Garry Spinks | 578,000 | 58 |
10 | Angelo Vietti | 546,000 | 55 |
11 | Vilde Ekren | 506,000 | 51 |
12 | Damjan Pulejkov | 477,000 | 48 |
13 | Ian Tabone | 425,000 | 43 |
14 | Krystian Nalepka | 413,000 | 41 |
15 | Enes Hasic | 401,000 | 40 |
16 | Niel Adams | 375,000 | 38 |
17 | Andrew Cutajar | 370,000 | 37 |
18 | Richard Kellett | 288,000 | 29 |
19 | Aleksi Heikkinen | 284,000 | 28 |
20 | Jonty Willis | 280,000 | 28 |
21 | Dara O’Kearney | 265,000 | 27 |
22 | Joseph Grech | 238,000 | 24 |
23 | Igor Bukowski | 211,000 | 21 |
24 | Stephen Barnes | 204,000 | 20 |
25 | Lee McRoe | 204,000 | 20 |
26 | Jan Stigter | 201,000 | 20 |
27 | Per Alstig | 194,000 | 19 |
28 | Thomas Cazaletz | 194,000 | 19 |
29 | Paul Coles | 192,000 | 19 |
30 | Gary Morgan | 158,000 | 16 |
31 | Terence Newton | 150,000 | 15 |
32 | Cory Desmond | 149,000 | 15 |
33 | Ivan Furniet Martinez | 143,000 | 14 |
34 | Alexander Jank | 136,000 | 14 |
35 | James Paris | 128,000 | 13 |
36 | Stefan Trevelyan | 117,000 | 12 |
37 | Sven Lorenz | 114,000 | 11 |
38 | Mark Attard | 87,000 | 9 |
39 | Thore Boedefeld | 82,000 | 8 |
40 | Julija Drevina | 82,000 | 8 |
41 | Paul Hopper | 75,000 | 8 |
42 | Antoine Talvard | 48,000 | 5 |
43 | Matthew Gray | 30,000 | 3 |
Albrigtsen Destroys Two Players Dreams
Level 15: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Entries: 44/291
It was a brutal ending for Pavle Pecelj and Svajunas Seduikis by the hands of Ronny Albrightsen. Pavle effectively jammed for 70,000, leaving just 1,000 back from middle position. Seduikis called off for slightly less from the hijack before Albrightsen called from the button.
Peclej’s remaining chip went in the middle on the 4♦Q♥7♦ flop. The hands at the others tables were being finished before players turned over their cards.
Svajunas Seduikis: A♣K♦
Pavle Pecelj: K♥K♠
Ronny Albrigtsen: A♥6♥
“Running hearts, please,” pleaded the big-stacked Albrigtsen.
Albrigtsen got his wish to the delight of the other players after the 9♥ turn and [/pcn]Th[/pcn] river completed the board for Albirghtsen to oust two players on the money bubble.
The remaining field of 44 players each locked up at least a €900 min-cash. They will collect a payout slip tonight after bagging and tagging their chips into Sunday’s Day 2.
Stay tuned for the final chip counts from the 44 Day 1b survivors shortly.
Ronny Albrigtsen – 1,046,000
Pavle Pecelj – 0
Svajunas Seduikis – 0
Two Players Double
Level 15: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Entries: 45/291
Two players doubled their stacks on the fourth hand for hand-for-hand play. Lorenz Sven doubled his short stack when his A♠K♣ proved to be more than good against the K♥9♥ held by Andrew Cutajar.
Meanwhile, to the dismay to most of the field that want to finish the day in the money, Svajunas Seduikis tripled up against Lee McRoe and Ronny Albrightsen when his sixes improved to a full house.
Lucky Bubble Double for Tabone
Level 15: 6,000/12,000 (12,000)
Entries: 45/291
Ian Tabone just earned a lucky double on the second hand of the bubble action on Day 1b. Tabone jammed for about 10 big blinds on the K♥4♥9♠ flop and was called by Jordan Dumas.
Ian Tabone: 4♦2♠
Jordan Dumas: K♠Q♠
A crowd emerged in hopes for the end of the day. It appeared likely that would happen after the blank 3♥ turn. However, the poker room erupted after Tabone survived and doubled up with two pair with the 2♣ river completing the board.
Jordan Dumas – 310,000
Ian Tabone – 300,000
Money Bubble Reached
Level 14: 5,000/10,000 (10,000)
Entries: 45/291
The clock was just stopped with less than two minutes remaining in Level 14 after Yigit Isilsoy hit the rail in 46th place on Day 1b.
Two minutes will be ran off after each hand during hand-for-hand play.
Meanwhile, the rich appear to be getting richer. This is especially true for Matte Karjalainen who became the first player in the Grand Event to become a chip millionaire.