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.
![Kevin Price [right] is handed a Book signed by Doyle Brunson - Malta Poker Events](http://maltapokerevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Kevin-Price-wins-Doyle-Brunson-Book-Malta-Poker-Events.jpg)
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 athttp://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]