Day 1C – MPF Spring 2024

Queens Win a Flip for Marone

Level 12: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 65/279

Roy Trickett jammed for about 100,000 from early position. Antonio Merone called off for slightly less from two seats over and the players were off to the races.

Antonio Merone: Q♥Q♠
Roy Trickett: A♣K♣

Trickett brocked the 5♠6♠9♠9♥3♥ runout to double up Merone and leave himself with just a handful of big blinds.

Antonio Merone – 181,000
Roy Trickett – 16,000

Photos From Day 1c

Thalmann’s Flush Beats Warnock’s Set

Level 12: 3,000/6,000 (6,000)
Entries: 67/279

There were two spots potentially involving jacks for George Warnock. In the first hand, Warnock opened from the cutoff before Paul High three-bet to 46,000 from the small blind. Warnock ripped it in with a four-bet jam to 158,000 and High tanked for more than five minutes.

“I got in trouble with this hand before,” shared High.

“What was it?” asked Warnock.

“Jacks,” replied High before going back into the tank again.

Eventually, the clock was called and High folded.

Shortly after, Yves Thalmann jammed for 88,000 from under the gun before Warnock three-bet shoved for nearly triple this. The rest of the table folded.

“You aren’t going to believe this,” Warnock said to High.

Yves Thalmann: A♥Q♦
George Warnock: J♠J♥

While we will never know whether High really had jacks, we do know that Warnock certainly did. Warnock flopped a set on the 6♦9♦J♦ flop but Thalmann pulled out ahead with a flush on the 3♦ turn. The board didn’t pair on the 4♠ river for Warnock to double Thalmann.

“Unlucky,” Amanda Smith, who we mentioned is playing only her second poker tournament outside of a pub environment said to Warnock.

“Nice hand,” added Smith to Thalmann as the dealer was shuffling the cards for the next hand.

Meanwhile, Matas Budginas, Tayfun Rodoplu, Pontus Dargren, John Mooney, and Bjarke Matthiesen all recently hit the rail to leave just 67 players remaining.

Magnusson Ousts Tingyu and Rothlisberger

Level 11: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 72/279

We just reported how Hung Tingyu left Kevin Rothlisberger with just a single chip. Rothlisberger stuck around for a short time and had more than a chip but both his stack and Tingyu’s recently built-up stack headed over to Pontus Magnusson.

Tingyu min-raised from early position before Rothlisberger called off his stack for less. Magnusson called from the blinds and led out on the A♥Q♠5♠ flop. Tingyu jammed over the top for many blinds more and Magnusson found a call with two pair with queen-five. Tingyu had the top pair and the top kicker with big slick and both him and Rothlisberger with air were eliminated by Magnusson with bricks coming the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, many other players also hit the rail since the dinner break including Gary Speers, Marco Siciliano, Nigel Harrison, Alexander Maskell, Matthew Micallef, Paul Zehetleitner, Popolo Proietto, Frederik Mortensen, Patrick Hoxha, and Craig Smith.

Pontus Magnusson – 375,000
Hung Tingyu – 0
Kevin Rothlisberger – 0

Rothlisberger Runs Queens Into Rockets

Level 11: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 78/279

Giuseppe Crisafulli opened for a min-raise from the hijack. Hung Tingyu called from the cutoff before Kevin Rothlisberger three-bet jammed for 76,000. Crisafulli folded before Tingyu snap-called.

Kevin Rothlistberger: Q♠Q♦
Hung Tingyu: A♣A♦

Rothlisberger had Tingyu covered by a single 1,000-denominated chip and this is all he had left to start a potential Cinderella story after the 2♦9♣9♥A♥K♥ ran out on the board.

Hung Tingyu – 185,000
Kevin Rothlistberger – 1,000

42 Players (Or Fewer) Advance to Day 2 Via Day 1c

Level 11: 3,000/5,000 (5,000)
Entries: 88/279

The action has resumed since the dinner break on Day 1c of the Grand Event. Late registration has closed with 279 entries getting into the mix to catapult the prize pool up to a cool €360,000 for a 20 percent bump over the guarantee with still three opening flights to go.

The day will conclude when the action is down to 42 entries, representing 15 percent of the field. It is possible that this will be fewer if multiple players bust on the final hand as was the case last night during Day 1b.

Those finding a bag will advance to Sunday’s Day 2 with already a €900 min-cash locked up. Best of luck to all of the Day 1c players in reaching the money and beyond in the 2024 Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition €550 Grand Event.