Malta Poker Open – Super Satellite 3rd October 2010.The second super satellite for the Malta Poker Open 2010 – Powered by XLBet, took place on Sunday the 3rd October at the Portomaso Casino in St. Julians, Malta.81 players joined in on the action, most of whom had already won themselves a seat to the super satellite throughout the month of September, thanks to the €10 + 1 satellites which are taking place every Tuesday at the Portomaso Casino.
9 tables were set out at the start of the tourney, with 6 tables which were located in the new poker hall at the Portomaso Casino and an additional 3 tables which were placed in the area utilized for last month’s satellite.
There were many of the regular Malta Poker Events players participating, and it was no surprise to us when we saw players like Gordon Mifsud, Andrew Cutajar, Fabien Mezanger, Raphael Toledo, and Jason Deguara, lining up at the registration desk, minutes before the tourney took off.
The tournament structure featured a slight variation when compared to the structure utilized in the Super satellite which took place in September, as players were each given 10,000 chips compared to 15,000 the previous month. Levels were also more progressive and emulated the structure which players got accustomed to from Tuesday’s tournaments, providing for a more enjoyable tournament, at every level of the game.
Players started off taking shots at each other early in the game, but they still kept a very observant eye, with the more knowledgeable players being careful not to take any unnecessary risks too early in the freeze-out tournament, as they couldn’t make any re-buys as they usually do in Tuesday’s tournaments.From the original starting count of 81 players, the tables were reduced to 53 players by 8:45pm. The number went down to 30 players around 90 minutes later, at 10:15pm.By the 12th level of blinds, at 1,500/3,000 + 400 antes, it was 11:28pm and there were 19 players left in the game. The average stack was up to 42,632 and Sean Bullard and Fabien Mezanger were in a clear lead with over 100,000 chips each.
The total amount of players resulted in 8 main event seats to be given out as prizes and an additional prize in the form of a €110 + €10 Super satellite. So there were another 11 players to go before the tournament would come to a close.
One hour / two rounds later we had lost another 6 players when there were 12 players left and the average stack had risen to 67,000. Fabien Mezanger had become much stronger at that stage with a tower of chips that seemed to replicate a scale model of a high rise building. Fabien was nonchalantly picking chips off the top of his towering stack, toying with his opponents through that stage of the game, but still maintained a sharp focus and didn’t falter his mind-set with over-confidence or loose calls.Sean, on the other hand, lost a majority of his chips to Pierre Debono and Ivan Farrugia, and also lost his position as chip leader. He crumbled down to 40,000, , from over 140,000 not much longer before. Pierre incredibly went from 10,000 chips to almost 100,000 in a matter of a few hands, thanks to his win over Sean whilst Ivan Farrugia, got some space to breathe when he hit an Flush of Hearts against Bullard’s pockets.Another bad encounter for Sean took place when he raised with JJ and got re-raised All-in by Raphael Toledo. Sean called Toledo’s raise, but was shocked when Toledo uncovered his bullets AA. The flop turn and river did nothing to help Sean, and Raphael did a quick double up to 160,000 leaving Bullard in a very bad shape which could have jeopardized his tournament progress.
Sean quickly stepped up and knocked out a short stacked player with KK vs JQ held by his opponent. Although he only won 13,000 he was up to almost 30K, a much needed break after the string of losses he encountered in the last 2 levels of blinds.
Fabien was also doing his share of duties to get the tournament closer to completion when he busted out Christina Nagy. Mezanger raised 22,000 pre-flop and Nagy called. The flop showed 10, 6, 4 and Nagy followed by placing an All-in bet against Mezanger. Mezanger called her bet and proceeded to show a pair of Aces, which overpowered Nagy’s pair of Jacks, sending her out of the tournament in 11th place.
The final table started at approximately 1.15am with Jacob Nielsen from XLBet on the small blind, and Raphael Toledo on the Big Blind. All the players folded, except for Maude Smith who pushed all-in, raising the stakes. The flop showed 269, Toledo bet 10,000 and Jacob Nielsen folded. A King came out on the turn, followed by an 8 on the river. The players showed their cards to reveal an 89 from Toledo and a 55 from Smith. Toledo hit two pairs8’s and 9’s sending out Maude in 10the position.
Toledo kept his game aggressive when he went in a heads up battle against Victor Mifsud. After a series of bets, raises and calls, Victor pushed All-in and got called by Toledo. The players showed their cards as 77 [Toledo] vs. AQ [Mifsud] and the dealer dealt out the flop turn and river cards, however none of them aided Mifsud in getting a stronger hand by the end of the round, sending him out in 9th position, leaving the 8 remaining players at the winners of the €1,100 Main Event seats for the Malta Poker Open 2010 – Powered by XLBet
Winners included:
Charles Sammut [Malta]
Jacob Nielsen – XLBet [Denmark]
Raphael Toledo [Malta]
Sean Bullard [Australia]
Pierre Debono [Malta]
Fabien Mezanger [France]
Keith Psaila [Malta]
Ivan farrugia [Malta]
The action continues every Tuesday at the Portomaso Casino, St. Julians, Malta, for the €10 + €1 satellites which give players the chance of winning their super satellite tickest for the Malta Poker Open 2010 – Powered by XLBet.In addition of the Live satellites, there are also a variety of online satellites for the Malta Poker Open which are taking place on XLBet.com and Jetbull.com. Schedules for these tournaments may be found in the poker room lobbies and start as low as €1.
The Malta Poker Open 2010 – Main event starts on the day following the Opening day of the 3 day Poker Festival. Below is a schedule of the 3 day event set to take place at the Portomaso Casino between the 29th and the 31st October 2010.Friday 29th Oct. 2010
6:30pm – Malta Poker Open Opening
7:30pm – Pokerqueen of the Rock [Ladies tournament] €100 + €10
8:30pm – €110 + 10 Sit ‘n’ Go Super satellites for the Main event
Saturday 30th October 2010
14:30 – €1,100 Main Event Day 1- NLHE Malta Poker Open
Sunday 31st October 2010
14:30 – €1,100 Main Event Day 2 – NLHE Malta Poker Open
The Malta Poker Open 2010 – Powered by XLBet.com is being supported by the following collaborators
