Day 1C – MPF Spring 2024

€300K Guarantee Smashed

Level 3: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 163/169

The €300,000 guarantee slapped on the 2024 Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition €550 Main Event has been smashed already during the early parts of Day 1c with still a full day of late registration to go and three more opening flights on Saturday and Sunday.

Congrats to the MPF staff and all of the players for the amazing vibe and attendance at the 2024 MPF Spring Edition.

Full House for Hakkinen

Level 3: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 163/169

Fabian Maser bet 5,000 into a spread pot with the A♥8♥4♥A♦3♦ on the board. Verneri Hakkinen jacked it up to 20,000. Maser paused for a few moments before he called.

Hakkinen turned over the 4♣4♠ for the full house and won the hand after Maser tossed his cards into the muck.

Verneri Hakkinen – 110,000
Fabian Maser – 16,000

Do You Have €1? That’s All it Takes!

The Unibet Deepstack Open (UDSO), which powers the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event has stepped it up in a huge way as they will be hosting a satellite on Friday, April 26 at 8 p.m. CEST at Unibet Poker.

All it takes is €1 to enter with a €550 Grand Event ticket awaiting the winner with UDSO satellite tickets on tap for those that came close with no cigar.

When you think about the fact that you can’t really buy anything for €1 these days, this is an absolute bargain. Worst case, you lose a Euro while having fun. Best case is, that you are freerolling the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event compliments of the UDSO.

Special thanks to Alex Henry for adding more value to the Malta Poker Festival.

Matthiesen Wins Huge Pot Leading to Schuman’s Early Exit

Level 1: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 125/126

We had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan Schuman last year and he is not only a fierce competitor at the poker tables but an all around nice guy. Sometimes, nice guys finish last and that was what happened to Schuman on Day 1c.

Schuman lost the majority of his stack after three-bet jamming his 5♠3♠ on a 6♣3♣3♦ flop and was up against the A♣2♣ held by Manfred Quint and the better trips held by Bjarke Matthiesen with A♦3♦.

Matthiesen’s hand held to give him a monster stack and then Quint shortly later eliminated Schulman to chip back up after his ace-high flush beat Schuman’s king-high flush.

Bjarke Matthiesen – 145,000
Manfred Quint – 25,000
Jonathan Schuman – 0

Day 1c Century Mark Achieved

Level 1: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 106/106

The Day 1c field reached over 100 entries early on Day 1c.

Some of the players we noticed from around the room included Liutauras Armanavicius, Nikolaos Dafoulas, Tracey Dunn, Olivier Klat, Karl-Heinz Metz, Julian Micallef, John Mooney, and Thibaut Thevenet.

The field will just grow from here and the €300,000 guarantee is likely to be smashed sometime before late registration closes on Day 1c.

Amanda Smith Ready for Battle

Level 1: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 85/85

We met Amanda Smith before the start of the day and learned that she won a seat through Poker Raffles to the MPF Grand Event. While Smith has enjoyed plenty of pub-league action over the years, this is just her second time playing outside of a pub environment. She didn’t appear nervous and we reassured her that she had one of the best poker dealers we know in Anna.

Meanwhile, some of the local flavor is in the event as well with two of the nicest poker players you will come across in Karl Gialanze and Matthew Micallef. Don’t let their friendly demeanor fool you as Gialanze and Micallef have both been deep in multi-day events before.

Also in the field are Gary Whitehead, Anne-Marie Yuen, Craig Smith, poker mind coach Ilze Zolte, Jonathan Schuman, and Kelly Slay.

Best of luck to all of these players and the rest of the field.