Malta Poker Open Satellites keep getting bigger and better!

Malta Poker Open - Final satellite tournament for August 2010

15 Super satellite tickets given out at August’s final ‘Stage 1’ satellite tournament for the Malta Poker Open – Powered by XLBet.com



The ‘Stage 1’ satellites for the Malta Poker Open – Powered by XLBet.com have been received with great acclaim by the local poker community with a growing increase week upon week. From the onset of the ‘Stage 1’ satellites, that started on the 10^th August 2010, a total of 47 super satellites seats have been won from the 200+ entries so far in the month of August. Winners of the ‘Stage 1’ satellites will now challenge each other on Sunday the 5^th September 2010 together with a number of players who are expected to register on the day.



The first ‘Super Satellite’ for the Malta Poker Open – Powered by XLbet.com will start on Sunday the 5^th September at 16:30hrs. Players will be given 15,000 chips as their starting stack and will play at 30 minute blind levels. Finalists of the ‘Super satellite’ tournament will win themselves a seat to main event of the prestigious Malta Poker Open – Powered by XLbet.com. The main event ticket is worth €1,100, and by the looks of it so far, the event is set to be nothing short of action packed!



The final ‘Stage 1’ Malta Poker Open satellite for the month of August kicked off at 20:00hrs on Tuesday the 31^st August at the Portomaso Casino.



The event attracted a total of 61 players for the low entry €10+€1 re-buy tournament that reached a prize pool of €1,800. By the end of the night, 15 players were declared winners of the tournament and moved onto the second stage satellite, better known as the ‘Super Satellite’ for the Malta Poker Open – Powered by XLbet.com.



58 players were still at their seats at the beginning of the first break, and were reduced to 50 players by the second break of the freezeout poker tournament. By 11:45pm, the tourney was down to the last 27 players at the 13^th level of blinds with an average stack of 33,000 chips.







At the 13^th level of blinds there were three clear chip leaders at the tables. Massimo Casadei was leading the tournament with over 100,000 chips and was followed by Moira Cassar with over 80,000 chips. Matthew Pace was in close pursuit holding a stack of approximately 75,000.



Massimo Casadei, a previous winner at the ‘Stage 1’ satellites managed to pull off a great chip-boost off Daniel Mountford in a heads up battle which sent out Daniel in 24^th place, and put Massimo at the top of the tournament lead. Daniel pushed all in with K8 and got called by Massimo who was holding AA at the time. The dealer uncovered a flop which included an 8 of clubs, giving Mountford a better hand, although he was still behind Massimo’s ‘bullets’. By the river card, Daniel’s hand did not gain further strength and the round ended with Massimo’s prevailing AA taking over Mountford’s entire stack. A few hands after Massimo’s win, it was time for the third break, and we took some time to find out more about this Italian Poker player.



Massimo told us that he’s been in Malta since September 2009 and is currently working as a chef at a beachside restaurant in the St. Julians area. He didn’t fail to mention that he’s a very passionate poker player who often gets good results at the live tables.



“I love playing live poker in my free time, and I’m a regular player at the Portomaso Casino. I also play online at times when I can’t make it to a live game, but I tend to avoid online play since I prefer the live tables.”



“Live poker gives me a better read on my opponents, as there’s much more information available. I tend to absorb more out of my opponents when staring them down, analysing their reactions when they’re peeking at their cards. I also learn a lot from my opponents when seeing their behaviour when they are placed in tough situations”



“I tend to favour live poker because the skill level of players is often higher than that found on the more popular online poker rooms. At times, when playing online, I get called by players who are holding ridiculous hands - I’m sure that they would act very differently at a live table full of respectable players – just not to embarrass themselves!”







“I want to partipcate at the Malta Poker Open, because I love testing myself against highly skilled players. This is the only way to learn and develop a solid mindset when playing poker. It’s not advisable to play outside your skill level at higher stakes, but sometimes it’s necessary in order to increase one’s skillset. The Malta Poker Open, with a buy-in of €1,100 is one of those events that I will not miss out on, especially with the many qualifying options available – Qualifying from just €10+€1 would already be an achievement - as regards to getting a high placing ‘in the money’ – well that’s my ultimate goal for the Malta Poker Open.”



“It’s great to see such a high participation rate at these Poker events in Malta. Sadly, in Italy, ‘Poker Sportivo’ has now become illegal, which is a problem for players like myself as we have no choice but to play online, and as I mentioned before that’s a secondary preference for me”



“Back home, I used to play in live poker clubs and we were restricted to play for material prizes rather than cash – That was ok, at least I was getting my practice in the live environment. Now it has become outlawed and it’s too risky to play, as you never know whether the club will get busted or not”



“Poker in Malta is somewhat of a social activity, which is good to see, the players are generally pleasant guys, and the casinos offer a friendly service to their players, starting from the dealers, up to the food and beverage service which is provided free of charge to poker players”



“I heard about the Malta Poker Open through facebook, and through the Portomaso Casino, since I play exclusively at this casino. I think the Malta Poker Open is shaping up to be a great event. Based on the participation for the ‘Stage 1’ satellites, I think we’re going to have a full house at the 2 day main event!”



After our insightful talk with Massimo, we headed back to the tables for the next round of the ‘Stage 1’ satellite qualifier. By that time, the blinds had reached the 14^th level at 3,000/6,000 with 500 going out as antes. 23 players were left in the game with just 8 players to go before the tournament came to a close.



Several rounds later, by half past midnight, the game was down to the final 16 players, with just one player left to go before game’s end. The action started picking up at the table with several pushes by the table bullies against their smaller stacked opponents but several of the pushes went uncalled, or were won by the underdogs at the table.



The game came to a close when, Joe Smith, was all in on the Big Blind, with 3,000 chips holding Q8 and got called by Poul Worn holding 3 6. Paul hit a straight on the flop, when 5 2 4 got dealt by the dealer at the table, sending out Joe Smith in the 16^th place, bringing the tournament to a close.







Super Satellite seat winners

Masismo Casadei

Jason Degaura

Renzo Bonnici

Giovanni Tozzolino

Hubert Micallef

Andrea Stellato

Maude Smith

Moira Cassar

Stephen Caruana

Poul Worn

Matthew Pace

Andrew Tabone

Vincent Muscat

Lorenzo Vella

Michael Robinson



The first Super Satellite for the Malta Poker Open – Powered by XLBet.comis being held at the Portomaso Casino on Sunday the 5^th September 2010. Details are listed below



Malta Poker Open 2010 – Super Satellite Details

Buy-in: €110 + €10 [Direct buy-in or Stage 1 winners]

Date: Sunday, 5^th September

Venue: Portomaso Casino, St. Julians, Malta

Tournaments style: No Limit Hold'em Freeze-out

Blind levels: 30 minutes

Starting stack: 15,000 chips

Player Cap: 100 players

Prizes: €1,100 seat to the Malta Poker Open – Powered by XLBet.com



NOTE - Interested players are advised to register early for the ‘Super Satellite’ of the Malta Poker Open as 47 seats have already been occupied by the ‘Stage 1’ qualifiers.





Malta Poker Open

Once again, it's a full house at the Malta Poker Open Satellite!

 

The 3^rd Malta Poker Open – Powered by XLBet.com 'Stage 1' satellite kicked off on the 24^th August 2010 at the Portomaso Casino, St. Julians, Malta. 54 Poker players registered for the event which reached a prize pool of €1,510.

The ‘Stage 1’ satellite featured an entry free of €10 + €1 – a very affordable buy-in for poker players aiming to participate at the €1,100 Malta Poker Open main event – Powered by XLBet.com. The tournament structure allowed players to purchase two re-buys throughout the tourney and the opportunity to acquire an add-on at the onset of the first break. 5,000 chips were given out to the players at the start of the tourney giving them lots of space to test the waters while the blinds were still at a low level.

 

There were a numerous cash game players who took their seats at the tournament too. With the first super-satellite less than two weeks away, it seemed that most of the cash players participated in the tournament to try their shot at a low cost placing for the Super Satellite.

 

Some of the previous week's winners also joined in the action. John and Maude Smith, both 'In the money' winners from the previous two ‘Stage 1’ satellites also took another chance at winning a consecutive ‘Super satellite’ which they may use at any of the Super Satellites scheduled for the 5^th September, 3^rd October and 28^th or 29^th October 2010.

 

At 9:20pm, the prize-pool was already up to €930 and players were at the 4^th level of blinds which reached 150/300 with 25 chips being paid out by the players in antes. Average stack had reached 9,300 with a total of 465,000 of chips in play.

 

At the break which took place after the 5^th level of blinds, we approached Sharona Refalo, during her second entry at the 'Stage 1' satellite for a quick chat about her journey to the Malta Poker Open 2010.

 

Sharona, a Gozitan player from Ghajn Sielem, told us that she’s been playing poker for the last two and a half years but only started playing in casinos a few months ago, since she’s turned 25. She also shared that she had already played in casinos abroad and got some ‘in the money’ placings.

 

Sharona told us that “It’s an interesting experience to finally train myself at playing poker at the live tables in local casinos. Before I was of age I had no choice but to play in online poker tournaments, and although it shares identical rules to live poker, it’s a completely different ball game.”

 

“Apart from playing online, I also got some practice playing poker at home games. There’s a very high interest in poker in Gozo too. It’s not the first time that I had to decline an invitation by a friend because I was already committed to going to another friend’s house for a home tournament. I also encourage many of my friends to come over to the Casinos in Malta to give live poker a try, competing against the more experienced players here.”

 

 “I love the game and usually excel in heads up, or short handed tables. I much prefer those scenarios to 9 or 10 handed tables. In any case, playing at a low entry tournament such as the ten euro ‘Stage 1’ satellites is a great way for me to get used to multi table tournaments. It’s an affordable entry, and while everybody gets a chance to play, the competition is fairly interesting.”

 

“I found out about the Malta Poker Open powered by XLBet.com through the Malta Poker Events facebook page, there are frequent updates with lots of information about the poker scene in Malta, which is really handy for local poker fans like myself”

 

“I’ve already made a lot of new friends by participating at live poker events in Malta. I much prefer it to online play, the social aspect makes it more involving. I had originally tried the online satellites on XLBet.com for the December Special Edition tourney, but hadn’t got a placing – Now that online satellites are running again for the Malta Poker Open, I’ll also take my chances there too!”

 

Following the 10 minute break we headed back to the tables for a quick headcount. 48 players were left in the game from the original starting count of 54. Including the re-buys and add-ons, the prize-pool went all the way up to €1510, the greatest pool reached so far, resulting in a total of 12 super satellites which were to be given out at the end on the night. The prize-pool also allowed for an additional six 'Stage 1' satellites resulting in a total of 18 prizes given out at the end of the tournament.

 

At the 9^th level of blinds - that had started at 22:40hrs, 39 players were left in the tournament. The average stack rose to 19,359 chips and Keith Boniface was in the lead holding approximately 60,000 chips. Giuseppe Cali was in close second holding around 55k and Joe Mangion followed with about 50,000, Moira Cassar, one of the few remaining female players in the game maintained a strong position in fourth place [43,000 chips] after showing very consistent plays throughout the entire tournament. She was closely followed by Giuseppe Salustri, an Italian player, and a relatively new face in the Malta Poker Events scene.

 

Almost 2 hours later, at 00:30hrs, the blinds had reached 3k/6k and 18 players were left in the game. Tony Ciantar and Keith Boniface were leading the tournament when Aaron David Zammit exited the tourney in 18^th place.

 

A few hands later, Moira Cassar doubled up after entering a pot against Jackie Cachia. Moira held 78 and pushed all in, hoping to attract very few callers. It was a tough hand to refuse for Jackie who held AK and called Moira’s push a few moments later. Luckily for Moira she managed to hit a straight, and doubled up against Jackie. The hand increased Moira’s stack to 59,000 chips, yet didn’t send Jackie out of the tourney as she was holding a much larger stack than Moira before entering the hand.

 

Luck didn’t seem to be on Jackie’s side at that blind level, as a few hands later, she ran into a monster hand whilst holding A6. Jackie pushed all in pre-flop and got called by Salustri, who called Jackie’s push and showed AsKc. The dealer uncovered a 9h Qs Ks Js and 10s resulting in a beautiful royal flush for Salustri who sent out Jackie in 16^th place. 

 

With fifteen players left in the game, and Ketih Boniface still in the lead, blinds were at the 4k/8k level when Giuseppe Cali lost his entire stack to Jacques Balzan Demajo. Jacques started off with AT, pushed all in and got called by Cali. Jacques successfully paired his Ace sending Cali out in 15^th position, leaving 14 players in the tourney, with just two players to go before the tournament came to a close.

 

The next player out was Yan Agius who pushed with KT and got called by Moira Cassar with her AK. Moira won with an A high as none of the cards dealt at the table helped her or her opponent’s hand get any stronger. She was now in possession of over 80,000 chips.

 

The game finally came to a close when Kenneth Ellul pushed all in, whilst holding a pair of 7’s. Ellul got called by Vytautas Paukstys who held AQ and was lucky enough to pair both his hole cards by the turn of the river, winning the hand with 2 pairs, Aces and Queens and sending out Kenneth Ellul in 13^th position.

 

A total of 18 players made it into the money at the third edition of the ‘Stage 1’ live satellite tournament, with 12 super satellite tickets won [worth €120] and 6 ‘Stage 1’ tickets for the upcoming weekly satellite.

 

Super Satellite ticket winners included:

Keith Boniface

Moira Cassar

Chris Sammut

Jacques Balzan Demajo

Tony Ciantar

Joe Mangion

Ivan Farrugia

Pierre Mifsud

Rosario Tumino

Jenny Tumino

Giuseppe Salustri

Vytautas Paukstys

 

‘Stage 1’ ticket winners included

13^th Kenneth Ellul

14^th Yan Agius

15^th Giuseppe Cali

16^th Jackie Cachia

17^th Joe Smith

18^th Aaron David Zammit

 

The next edition of the ‘Stage 1’ satellite will be held on Tuesday the 31^st August at the Portomaso Casino, St. Julians, Malta. Poker players are advised to register early for the event to ensure participation and avoiding queuing up in the tournament waiting list. The event is capped at 50 players.

 

Winners of the ‘Stage 1’ satellites may use their tickets for the ‘Super Satellites’ which are taking place at the Portomaso Casino on the following dates: 5th September / 3rd October / 28th October / 29th October.  In the three ‘Stage 1’ satellite events that have taken place so far, a total of 32 ‘Super’ satellite tickets have been given out.

 

The Malta Poker Open 2010 - powered by XLBet.com, will take place between the 29th and 31st October 2010 at the Portomaso Casino. The tournament’s main event will feature a buy-in of €1,100 and is expected to attract several poker players from around Europe to compete for a potential prize-pool in excess of €150,000. For more details about the Malta Poker Open powered by XLBet.com event as well as satellite schedules and qualifying options, visit Malta Poker Events at http://www.maltapokerevents.com

 

Malta Poker Events

 

10 Malta Poker Open Packages up for grabs at Jetbull!

 

Jetbull.com have just announced their collaboration with Malta Poker Events for the upcoming 2010 Malta Poker Open, taking place on the 30th of October 2010 in Sunny Malta, at Malta's finest and renown Portomaso Casino.

Jetbull are offering their players the chance to meet up with the Jetbull team in Malta, whilst enjoying all the benefits of the Malta Poker Open, including accommodation and flight ticketspaid, for a prize pool which is expected to reach over $200,000 .

''We are very excited to be partners of the Malta Poker Open, and are looking forward to welcome the big boys fighting our very own players on the Portomaso tables, for a thrilling adrenaline infused ''all-in'' Battle!'' decalred John Zhang, Poker Manager for Jetbull.com.

Jetbull Poker will run Malta Poker Open qualifying satellites from September 1st until October 19th. The first Malta Poker Open qualifying Final takes place on Sunday, September 5th, 16:00 GMT.

Jetbull will offer Malta Poker Open Satellite Tournaments everyday to all the players, the schedule may be found by clicking the link below.

 

 

Malta Poker Events

12 Super Satellites won at this weeks Live Satellite for the Malta Poker Open

The Portomaso Casino was filled up to maximum capacity at the second edition of the ‘Stage 1’ live poker satellites for the Malta Poker Open 2010 - Powered by XLBet. With 53 players who signed up for the tournament - which was held on Tuesday the 17^th August 2010 - the night promised to be one filled with action and a massive prize payout at the end of the low entry poker tournament.

 

The Malta Poker Open 2010 €1,100 main event is taking place on the 30^th and the 31^st October 2010 at the Portomaso Casino and is expected to attract over 150 players making up for a prize-pool in excess of €150,000. The event, powered by XLBet is accessible to European poker players who are looking for a VIP Poker holiday experience, as well as local players who have access to an entire schedule of live satellites to help them gain entry at a fraction of the main event cost.

 

The live satellite schedule includes 2 stage qualifiers. The stage 1 tournament takes place every Tuesday at the Portomaso Casino and features and entry of €10+1, whilst the Super satellite [stage 2] features a buy-in of €110+€10. Those Poker players who prove successful enough at winning both stages, will be rewarded with the Malta Poker Open main event seats, which are worth €1,100.

 

50 participants for the second edition of the Malta Poker Open ‘Stage 1’ satellite were at their seats by 20:15hrs, and received 5,000 chips at the start of their tournament after paying up the low entry €10+€1 buy-in. The blind intervals were set at 15 minutes and players had the opportunity of making use of two re-buys as well as one add-on before the start of the first break. The tournament set-up allowed a more forgiving structure where players could still participate in the tournament even if they were to lose all their chips in what poker players usually refer to as a ‘bad beat’

 

Amongst the players present, were some of the previous week’s winners, including Jason Deguara, and Maude Smith. There were also various players who attempted their chances at winning their ‘Super Satellite’ tickets from the previous week, but never made it into the money - This was their second shot in their personal journey to the Malta Poker Open - Powered by XLBet..

 

The game kicked off at 20:20hrs, when players quickly got into their poker mindsets and started taking shots at each other’s precious stacks for that ‘edge’ at the start of the tourney. With re-buys being available for players holding 5,000 chips or less, several players loaded up their stack at the beginning of the tournament in order to place additional pressure on their more conservative adversaries.

 

After the 4^th level of blinds and by the end of the first break, there were a total of 53 entries in the tournament. Players were being accepted up till the first break thus increasing the tournament capacity as seats became available as a result of player exits. The total amount of entries made up for a pool which would pay-out 12 ‘Super’ satellite tickets as well as 2 seats for the upcoming ‘Stage 1’ satellite, with roughly €1,460 in the pot. To the poker participants, this meant that all they had to do was make it to the final 12 placings and they would be guaranteed a seat in the ‘Super Satellite’ qualifier for the Malta Poker Open main event!

 

There was a high level of multi-national participation at the tournament with several Italian players as well as a number of French players who took their seats at the tourney. Amongst these, we met up with a young French player, Fabien Mezanger to hear about his journey to the Malta Poker Open.

 

“Having recently moved to Malta following my employment at a leading recruitment company, I’m still new to the place, but quite excited about the poker scene here on this little speck in the Mediterranean.”

 

“I’m a very active poker player and equally enjoy live and online poker.   My new colleagues were aware of this and suggested that I should check out the Malta Poker Events website for a current schedule of poker tournaments taking place at the Maltese land based casinos.”

 

“It wasn’t at all difficult for me to find out about the Malta Poker Open, you do a good job at letting players know what is going on with your news and the poker tournament reports. I was actually surprised to see that even for a low buy-in tournament like the €10 + €1 which I’m playing today, you provide a detailed tournament report with photos… it’s brilliant!”

 

“I’ve been playing poker for quite a while now. I’ve had several live experiences with tournaments in Austria, Ireland, France and Morocco. I usually play at entries between €500 and €1,000. I would consider myself mostly a tournament player and I’m working hard to increase my consistency and achieving better placings at bigger tournaments. I even run my own Poker blog for French visitors [mr4b-poker.com] where I keep track of my performance, and blog about strategies I’m using, as well as reports about my poker experiences”

 

“I joined the tournament today primarily because I wanted to get a feel of the atmosphere in the local casinos, I’m new here, and live in St. Julians, so when I found out that there was a cheap tournament which can win me a seat to the €1,100 event – minutes away from home - , it was a no-brainer, I dropped by, and was happy to see such a high participation rate in the tournament”

 

“I’m looking forward to my first big event in Malta. I’m determined to play the super satellite whether I win tonight or not. At €110+€10 it’s incredible value for a seat at the Malta Poker Open main event. I want to win the Malta Poker Open, and at the same time I want to have fun while doing so. I will do my best to get as far as I can…watch me!”

 

“Being part of the growing Maltese Poker community is a new exciting chapter in my life.  I love the fact that there are many like-minded people on the Maltese islands, who love the game of Poker as much as I do. It also pleases me see all the effort that goes into the Poker community in itself!”

 

As the end of the break drew nearer, tournament director Mark Vella, signalled the end of the break, and we left Fabien at the tables to get back to his game. With ‘just enough chips for the next 6 blinds’, he was hoping to catch some goods cards after a night of careful play.

 

Players were at the 9^th level of blinds and there were 32 players left in the tournament from the original count of 53, meaning that there were 20 players to go before the tournament could come to a close. At that point, the more aware poker players of the bunch had acquired a good feel of their opponents and were taking advantage of this information to put themselves in advantageous positions with their decisions. 

 

Several hands later, we noticed a clear lead which was held by Mario Bugeja who kept over 65,000 chips at the 600/1200 level of blinds.

 

At approximately 23:45hrs. The game was down to the last 15 players and was now led Philippe Landy from France. Gaetano Caruana [Malta] following closely, with Mario Bugeja trailing with the third largest stack at the two remaining tables. 

 

With three seats left to go before the tournament came to a close, David Zammit was the first player out of the money after he faced off against Silvio Messina. Zammit made an attempt to steal a pot holding Ace high by pushing all in against Messina. Messina insta-called as soon as the words ‘All’ left Zammit’s lips and uncovered a K4 diamonds. With 3 diamonds on the flop Messina was a sure winner holding a King high flush.

 

Francis Cassar was the next player out of the tournament followed by Jason Deguara who placed 13^th in this edition of the live satellites for the Malta Poker Open. Blinds were at 3,000/6,000 when Jason pushed his 22,600 chips on the felt pre-flop holding A6. The other players at the table folded to Jason’s call, yet Messina called after a several seconds of consideration. He uncovered an A9, a reasonably stronger hand than Jason’s. The flop came out as a 3J378, which gave Messina the advantage, sending out Jason’s in 13^th place – ending the tournament with his exit.

 

 

12 players made it into the money at the second edition of the ‘Stage 1’ live satellite tournament. 

 

Winners included:

Gaetano Caruana

Johann galea

Casadei Massimo

S. Cutajar

Mario Bugeja

Joe Smith

Gianni Marletta

Mark Higgins

Philippe Landy

Messina Silvio  

Malla Francesco

George Attard

 

Runners up included:

Jason Deguara

Francis Cassar

 

The next edition of the ‘Stage 1’ satellite will be held on Tuesday the 24^th August at the Portomaso Casino, St. Julians, Malta. Poker players are advised to register early for the event to ensure participation and avoiding queuing up in the tournament waiting list. The event is capped at 50 players.

 

Winners of the ‘Stage 1’ satellites may use their tickets for the ‘Super Satellites’ which are taking place at the Portomaso Casino on the following dates: 5^th Setpember / 3^rd October / 28^th October / 29^th October. In the two ‘Stage 1’ satellite events that have taken place so far a total of 20 ‘Super’ satellite tickets have been given out.

 

 

The Malta Poker Open 2010 - powered by XLBet.com, will take place between the 29th and 31st October 2010 at the Portomaso Casino. The tournament’s main event will feature a buy-in of €1,100 and is expected to attract several poker players from around Europe to compete for a potential prize-pool in excess of €150,000. For more details about the Malta Poker Open event as well as satellite schedules and qualifying options, visit Malta Poker Events at http://www.maltapokerevents.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malta Poker Events

Maltese Tournament Opens its Doors to European Poker Players – Malta Poker Open 2010

Malta Poker Open (MPO) is back in 2010, and this year, the event is expected to feature a bigger prize-pool coupled with an increased European player participation rate.  

 

The Malta Poker Open is being spread out over three days - two of which being main event days - offering an affordable buy-in for beginners and seasoned players alike. The tournament is aimed at those Poker fans who would like to enjoy the thrill of playing live Poker in Malta.

 

The Luxurious Portomaso Casino - situated right in the centre of Malta's nightlife hub, St. Julians - was chosen as the venue to host the event between 29th and 31st October 2010.

 

The Malta Poker Open will open its doors with a female only tournament on the 29th October 2010. The €1000 + €100 ‘Main event’ will start on the following day, taking place between the 30th and the 31st October 2010. Side games are also planned for the Malta Poker Open and will include other tournaments and cash tables set at various limits.

 

Qualifiers are being made available through online promotions at qualifying partner sites, where players may compete for their holiday Poker packages. Packages include tournament registration, accommodation at premium hotels in the St. Julians district, social activities, and other attractive features. Live satellite tournaments are also taking place at the Portomaso Casino, throughout the months of August, September, and October 2010.

 

‘We’re very excited about the second installment of the Malta Poker Open. Last year’s event was a massive success which featured 150 players mostly from Malta, but this year’s event is set to attract many more players from top European countries! The fact that several European poker pros are joining in on the action will only help make this year’s Malta Poker Open a more memorable one for the participants.”

 

“We’ve compiled a fantastic all-inclusive package for European players who would like to participate in the event. We’re also giving them the option of winning packages through our online qualifying partners. This will ensure that the Malta Poker Open is accessible to all players, at all experience levels, every week up to the main event!”

 

“Set in the charming Maltese Islands, the Malta Poker Open will give European players a wonderful experience in line with their expectations of a VIP Poker holiday. The main event, chosen location, and additional extras are set to make this one of the finest European Poker tournaments in 2010. Participants will be more than delighted when they see themselves in the video production for the Malta Poker Open 2010, featuring tournament highlights and nail-biting final table action!” – Malta Poker Events

 

The Malta Poker Open is being hosted by Poker event agency, Malta Poker Events.

 

For more news or registration information, interested individuals may visit www.maltapokerevents.com

 

About the Malta Poker Open

The Malta Poker Open Poker Tournament made its debut in April 2009 and was co-ordinated by Malta Poker Events, a Maltese Poker event agency. The tournament was Malta’s first Poker tournament to feature a live camera table, as well as the first Maltese Poker tournament to be televised and broadcast on a Maltese television station. The Malta Poker Open was aired locally on the Melita TV network, and internationally on the Poker Channel TV station.

 

About Malta Poker Events

‘Malta Poker Events’ is the longest established Poker event agency on the Maltese islands. The agency is registered with the Malta Financial Services Authority and has been in operation since 2008.

 

Since their earliest events which were hosted in 2009, Malta Poker Events have been responsible for the majority of the Poker activities taking place on the Maltese Islands. They also partnered with some of the major media channels in the international poker industry with the intention of portraying Malta as a top destination on the international Poker circuit.

 

 

Malta Poker Events

 

 

 

Summer Face/Off Results - Malta Poker Events

 

 

The Malta Summer Face/Off Poker tournament €330 No Limit Hold’em event attracted 45 players at the Dragonara Casino to ‘Face/Off’ for their share of a prize-pool which reached over €13,000. The event was hosted by local Poker event co-ordinators - Malta Poker Events - and was held between the 28th and the 30th May 2010 in Malta’s central nightlife district, St. Julians.

 

The Summer Face/Off event was attended by several Maltese players as well as a sizeable group of Danish players who joined the tournament following the collaboration between Malta Poker Events and SportsBetting & Poker site - XLBet.com. Players from other nations such as Italy, France, Holland and Uk were also present at the live Hold’Em tourney taking their chance at the well structured Hold’em tournament.

 

Fifteen of the multi national Poker players at the Summer Face/Off gained entry through the various live and online satellites which were co-ordinated at the Live Dragonara Poker room and online on XLBet.com giving entry to players through a variety of free-rolls, cheap-rolls and re-buy tourneys.

 

The €330 tournament kicked off on Friday the 28th May 2010 at 18:15hrs with 18 players who chose Day 1A as their starting day of preference, and 27 players who started out on Day 1B. 

 

The event was spread out on 3 physical days [2 tournament days] and featured a 45 minute blind structure on Day 1A and Day 1B which extended to a 60 minute blind structure on Day 2. Players were given 12,000 chips as their starting stack, making this an exceptionally playable tourney with relaxed blinds giving players the much appreciated comfort of taking far less pressured decisions at the felt.

 

Below is the chip distribution of the 5 players who qualified from Day 1A and made it into Day 2 of the Summer Face/Off Poker tournament.

 

Day 1A qualifiers:

Raphael Toledo [Malta] - 71,900

Andrew Camilleri [Malta] - 64,400

Kevin Price [UK] - 35,075

Marten Isaksson [Sweden] - 32,525

Andrew Tabone [Malta] - 12,100

 

Average stack 43,200

 

 

Day 1 B of the Summer Face/Off took place on Saturday the 29th May 2010 and attracted another 27 players for the €330 hold’em event. The event started at 15:00hrs and went on for around 8 hours when players finally reached the 9th level of blinds. By the end of the day, 7 players were left in the game which featured the following distribution

 

Day 1B qualifiers:

Andrew Cutajar [Malta] - 79,275

Kenny FehStedt [Denmark] - 71,100

Jacob Nielsen [Denmark] - 47,000

Steve Caruana [Malta] - 39,525

Ivan Farrugia [Malta] - 36,400

Martin Hilstrup [Denmark] - 34,550

Spartaco Vivaldi [Italy] - 16,150

 

Average Stack: 46,285

 

 

 

 

 

With 12 players left in the game from the qualifying days 1A and 1B, Day 2 picked up on Sunday the 30th May 2010. Once again, the event started at 15:00hrs and went on for approximately 7 hours when Martin Hilstrup [XLBet] emerged victorious against runner-up Kenni Fehstedt [XLBet].

 

Martin enjoyed a massive comeback on Day 2 where he originally started with a sub- average stack of 34,550 ships carried on from Day 1B. This did not deter his course though, as he slowly managed to increase his stack with a series of well laid calls, folds, and bets which propelled him to the number one spot by the end of the tournament.

 

We also saw a great performance from Andrew Cutajar, who was the best performing Maltese Player, cashing in €2,000 for placing 3rd in the tournament. Andrew was ranked 1st overall player at the beginning of Day 2 following his stellar performance which saw him take the lead of the combined 45 players on day 1A and day 1B.

 

The payouts went out as follows:

1st - €5,000 – Martin Hilstrup [Denmark]

2nd - €2,800 – Kenni Fehstedt [Denmark]

3rd - €2,000 – Andrew Cutajar [Malta]

4th - €1,400 – Ivan Farrugia [Malta]

5th - €1,000 – Raphael Toledo [Malta]

6th - €900 – Kevin Price [United Kingdom]

 

 

Day 2 also offered a €100+ €10 Pot Limit Omaha tournament as a side event which attracted 11 players. The tournament was won by Thomas Tinglev [XLBet] who won €500 for his placing. Jose S. placed 2nd taking €300 for his efforts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Day 2, a competition draw was organized for the players who qualified for tournament Day 2 - Kevin Price was the lucky winner of a book entitled ‘My 50 most memorable hands’ written, and hand autographed by Mr. Doyle Brunson, aka the Godfather of Texas Hold’em Poker. Kevin was also one of the players who made it in the money and cashed in €900 for placing 6th in the tournament.

 

 

Sponsors for the event included XLBet.com, Betlobby.com, Bluff Europe, Dhalia Real Estate, and Hotch Bar.

 

For more information about the Summer Face/Off tournament as well as a photo gallery of the event, Poker fans may visit the Malta Poker Events online portal at http://www.maltapokerevents.com

  

 

From left to right: Martin Hilstrup [1st], Kevin Price [6th], Ivan Farrugia [4th], Andrew Cutajar [3rd] Raphael Toledo [5th], Kenni Fehstedt [2nd]

 

Malta Poker Events

Summer Face/Off Poker Tournament - Final Live Satellite!

 

 

The final edition of the live satellites for the Malta Summer Face/Off Poker tournament kicked off at 20:15Hrs at the Dragonara Casino on the 26^th May 2010.

 

34 Players registered for the €37 + €3 event which resulted in 4 prizes being given out to the fortunate winners of the Satellite tournament.

 

The prizes consisted of main event seats to the €300 + €30 summer Face/Off Poker Tournament, being held at the Dragonara Casino between the 28^th and the 20^th May 2010.

 

 

All players were at their seats at 20:15hrs, stacked at 5,000 chips, when the first hand of the night was dealt at the Dragonara Poker room. Players were split up on 4 tables taking up the entire floor space with 8 – 9 players sitting at each table for the 20 minute levelled tournament.

 

For the few hands of the tourney, players utilised a relatively tight strategy and the first players out of the tourney were those that encountered some sort of bad beat at an early stage of the tournament progression.

 

After about 90 minutes of play, the tournament was down to 25 players, when Antoine De Giorgio encountered an ice-cold deck which saw him out of the tourney at an unusally early stage. Blinds were still at 100/200 when Georgina Zammit [KK] raised the SB to 400, followed by Antoine De Giorgio [AA], who re-raised to 1,200. Gaetano Caruana [QQ] retaliated with an All-in, followed by an All-in from Gerogina and De Giorgio. To their astonishment players saw one of the coldest decks ever, with 3 pairs of the highest possible pockets, in a 3 way heads up. The dealer followed by uncovering the flop which showed a King giving Georgina the advantage, and was followed by a Q on the turn which gave Gaetano trips, but kept him trailing Georgina’s trips Kings. To Antoine’s dismay, a 9 turned up on the river which ended his tourney progression giving all of his chips to Georgina Zammit.

 

By 22:15 blinds had reached the 200/400 level and 20 players were left in the game. The average stack was now at 8,500 chips and players got broken down to 2 tables led by Emerson Farrugia

 

A heads up between Thomas Chandler vs. Stephen Spiteri took place after all players in the hand folded to a BB raise of 1,200. Thomas Chandler pushed all-in with 4,000 whilst holding A10 and got called by Stephen Spiteri holding A9. The flop, turn and river cards did nothing to strengthen any of the players hands, which resulted in Stephen Spiteri going out in 19^th place as Thomas’s push more than covered Stephen’s chip stack at the time.

 

An ‘Under the Gun’ call from Andrew Camilleri whilst holding 88 was met by Andrew Cutajar [SB] who raised to 1,500 chips. Philippe Lenferna who was on the Big Blind at the time, folded and Andrew Camilleri pushed against Cutajar, who was holding A9 in that hand. With both players all-in pre-flop, and over 12K in the pot, Andrew Camilleri was in the lead, all the way up to the river, where Andrew Cutajar paired his 9 sending Andrew Camilleri out in 18^th place.

 

By now the chip lead was as follows:

1^st Thomas Tinglev

2^nd Martin Hillstrup

3^rd Emerson Farrugia

 

Following a few more hands, the blinds had reached the 300/600 level and the average stack was up to 11,300 chips. At this point, 15 players were left in the game.

 

At 22:45, Thomas Chandler, holding a slightly higher than average stack at 7,000 chips was last to act and raised 1,500 with a pair of Ducks in his hands [22] Ruben Velden, on the Big Blind called with A7 which resulted in a fold by the remaining players at the table, and the dealer followed by dealing out the flop which showed 39A. Ruben hit his Ace and quietly checked, and Thomas bet 2,500 to scare off his opponenent. Ruben Velden called and the turn was shown as a 7 which gave Ruben 2 pairs - Aces and 7’s. Ruben checked his hand again and Thomas, [who put his opponent on a flush draw, as there were two clubs out on the table] pushed All-in in a last attempt to push his opponent out of the hand. Ruben, however was committed at this point, and held a reasonable 2 pairs which gave him all the right to call Chandler’s all-in which sent Chandler out at the showdown following the river. Velden took over Chandler’s stack of 7,000 putting him in a comfortable position for the upcoming blind levels

 

 

Holding a 9,000 stack, and last to act, Andrew Cutajar pushed All-in with JJ following a 600 bet by the first player to act – Valerio Cascapera. Moira Cassar [BB] folded to Cutajar’s bet, yet Valerio called with AK. The flop instantly put Valerio in the lead when an A42 showed up, and Valerio’s paired Ace kept its strength throughout the river sending Cutajar out in 12^th place, and putting Valerio in a very desirable position at such a crucial stage of the tournament. Valerio was now chip leader at the tournament.

 

Following a 15 minute break, 11 players were at their seats for the 500/1000 blind level. Antes had already kicked in and all players were paying out 100 during each hand played or folded. 

 

A match up between Tony Ciantar [79] and Thomas Tinglev [TT] saw the tables break down to the final table when Tony hit a 7 on the flop and pushed all-in to try to push his opponent out of the hand. An aggressive Tinglev called Ciantar’s bet, which, supported by his towering chips, covered Ciantar’s stack sending him out in 11^th position. The tournament was now down to 1 table with 10 players and an average stack of 17,000chips and Valerio Cascapera was still in the lead followed by Jonathan Vincent and Ivan Farrugia.

 

Ivan Farrugia soon toppled Valerio, as a hand between him and Reuben Velden gave him the advantage on the board. Whilst holding AA, Ruben went all-in preflop and got called by Ivan’s Snowmen [88]. Ruben pushed 11,000 of his chips on the rockets and lost his entire stack when Ivan hit an 8 on the turn sending Ruben out in 10^th place.

 

 

At 23:30 Moira Cassar went heads up against Emerson Farrugia. Moira was holding K6 against Emerson's A9 when she pushed All-in and got called by Emerson. The dealer uncovered a KQ798 which gave Moira the lead with a pair of Kings which she kept throughout the river. Moira was in desperate need of this break as she was the lowest stacked players at the table even after this hand which gave her a few more gasps of breath for the final table action.

 

 

The chip count at this stage was as follows:

Thomas Tinglev – 40,000

Jonathan Vincent – 29,000

Ivan Farrugia – 24,000

 

 

Blinds reached the 800/1,600 level when Moira Cassar pushed all-in and got called by Thomas Tinglev. Moira put her 11,000 chips at stake on AK vs Thomas's KJ. The delaer uncovered Q73TQ which resulted in another win for Cassar giving her a massive boost taking her stack up to 23,000 from her short stacked position less than 30 minutes before.

 

Emerson was now at the bottom of the scale and started to get aggressive with more frequent pushes intended to scare off his opponents and gobble up some blinds while doing so. Tinglev, who was catching some good cards like pocket 5's and various face cards, was tempted to call a few times, but restrained himself after his loss against Moira Cassar a few hands back which lightened his chip stack causing him to play a slightly tighter strategy against his opponents.

 

By 00:15 blinds had reached 1k/2k with 200 being paid out by players as antes and Moira Cassar was giving a great display of her aggressive final table strategy with excellent opponent assessment and an equally matching betting strategy. At the final table the best defense is often offense, and Moira Cassar made sure that she didn't go quietly into the night at the end of the tournament pocketing various blinds with her more conservative opponents.

 

Thomas Tinglev who was slowly being caught up by his opponents changed gears and went back to his aggressive strategy which brought him deep into the tournament and successfully kept him in the lead at the final table. A succession of 3x bets gave him a greater lead when his opponents didn't dare call his cards, allowing him to create a wider gap between him and the rest of the players at the table.

 

Following the break at 00:30, Emerson Farrugia, on the big Blind of 3,000 pushed All in with 21,800 chips with his Big Slick [AK], all players folded, yet Jonathan Vincent felt that his AJ was strong enough for Emerson’s push, and called the bet. The board showed a 62452 giving Emerson the lead, taking him up to almost 44,000 chips. The hand left Vincent crippled with less than 2,000 chips to go on, practically taking away any chances of him qualifying for the tournament prize. This hand also saw Emerson Farrugia take place as the new chip leader.

 

The final straw was drawn for Jonathan when he went up against Ivan Farrugia [SB] who held 22 against Jonathan Vincent’s KJ. The board showed a Q3347 but the community cards did not help Jonathan’s hand get any stronger sending him out in 5^th place. At that point there was just one player left before the tournament came to a close.

 

Moira Cassar was playing her hands less aggressively than the previous 2 levels and as result of blinds pressure, she was forced to push her 5,900 chips on the button whilst holding KT. Tinglev called her with his A2 and her K gave her the upper hand when QTK48 showed up on the board. Moira managed to double up to 13,000 taking her up to 4^th biggest stack, followed by Martin Hillstrup.

 

The next level of blinds came in at 1:15am at 2,000/4,000 + 400 antes and Moira decided to manipulate her table image by pushing an uncalled all-in with a hand she showed as 2 4 while her opponents were off guard. She successfully managed to increase her stack to 19,000 chips and maintain her position at the table.

 

The next push came from Ivan Farrugia on the BB which was followed by a fold by all the players giving him another 8,000 in blinds and antes.

 

The final hand was played between Moira Cassar and Martin Hilstrup when Martin pushed with Q6. Moira Cassar called Martin’s push with her K6, but this time, her King did not bring her luck as the board showed an 89A on the flop, a Q on the turn, giving Martin a pair of Queens, and a 3 on the river. Martin had slightly more chips than Moira and by taking over her chips, Moira was out in 5^th position, ending the tournament with his pair of ladies.

 

The winners of the final live satellite for the Malta Summer Face/Off poker tournament were: Thomas Tinglev

Emerson Farrugia

Ivan Farrugia

Martin Hilstrup

 

 

The Summer Face/Off Main Event tournament is taking place at the Dragonara Casino between the 28th and the 30th May 2010. Players are encouraged to pick their starting days, Day 1A or Day 1B as early as possible, since many players have already started giving indications of their preferred starting days.

 

You may register for the €300 + €30 Summer Face/Off Poker tournament by buying in directly at the Dragonara Casino.   Seats are limited, so make sure you register early to participate in Malta’s hottest Poker Tournament in Summer 2010!

 

 

Malta Poker Events