In Malta, the atmosphere of the Portomaso Grand Opening festival is heating up. The MPF Special Edition reaches the final table, while the Diamond 5k Million and NLH Mystery Million continue. Once again, many Italians are among the protagonists.
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MPF Special Edition: final table today with 5 Italians
The Malta Poker Festival Special Edition concludes with 454 paid entries, while only nine remain. But let’s go in order.
Day 1F
Yesterday’s schedule included the last flight, the Day 1F turbo with 115 entries and 60 qualifiers. Among the top 10 were several excellent names:
| POSITION | PLAYER | NATION | STACK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luca Castellaneta | 925,000 | |
| 2 | Stefano Terziani | 805,000 | |
| 3 | Lulei Hu | 715,000 | |
| 4 | Andrea Pasquale Crobu | 680,000 | |
| 5 | Riccardo Saraniero | 660,000 | |
| 6 | Angelo Censabella | 650,000 | |
| 7 | Johan Karlsson | 640,000 | |
| 8 | Flaviano Cammisuli | 615,000 | |
| 9 | Renato Messina | 590,000 | |
| 10 | Federico Marino | 555,000 |
Among the last-minute qualifiers were also Paolo Boi (410k), Alessandro Pichierri (200k), Renato Hysenbelli (175k), Umberto Ferrauto (150k), and Carlo Graziano (130k).
Payout
Thus, there are a total of 454 paid entries for this great tournament, 207 of whom advance to Day 2, chasing the 63 prize places, with the following payout:
| POSITION | PRIZE |
|---|---|
| 1 | €161,500 |
| 2 | €100,850 |
| 3 | €72,100 |
| 4 | €55,380 |
| 5 | €42,620 |
| 6 | €32,780 |
| 7 | €25,220 |
| 8 | €20,680 |
| 9 | €17,230 |
| 10–11 | €14,360 |
| 12–13 | €11,950 |
| 14–15 | €9,970 |
| 16–17 | €8,650 |
| 18–20 | €7,540 |
| 21–23 | €6,560 |
| 24–27 | €5,730 |
| 28–31 | €4,950 |
| 32–39 | €4,320 |
| 40–55 | €3,750 |
| 56–63 | €3,400 |
The bubble bursts: (Un)lucky Festa is the bubbleman
Day 2 begins and eliminations follow in quick succession, until the bubble. In fact, the double bubble: unfortunately, Fortunato Festa pays, not living up to his name, as he finds himself ahead with 99 vs 44 but his opponent hits a set to eliminate him. Mitigating Festa’s bitterness is the simultaneous exit of Ukrainian Vasyl Pidhrushnyi, who loses with AJ vs QQ on a breathtaking AXXXQ board. Thus, Festa and Pidhrushnyi split the prize for 63rd place, which is €1,700 each.
The final table
Eliminations continue until only 9 players remain, vying for the largest share of the prize pool. Play will resume today as follows:
| POSITION | PLAYER | NATION | STACK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matteo Garofali-Martorelli | Italy | 21,775,000 |
| 2 | Elia Salerno | Italy | 20,175,000 |
| 3 | Giuseppe Stallo | Italy | 16,950,000 |
| 4 | Andro Scarpa | Croatia | 9,775,000 |
| 5 | Francois Rejdles | France | 5,550,000 |
| 6 | Giuliano Boellis | Italy | 5,300,000 |
| 7 | Marios Trattou | England | 4,650,000 |
| 8 | Gabriele Savà | Italy | 3,700,000 |
| 9 | Laurentiu-Florin Dumitru | Romania | 2,950,000 |
Portomaso Grand Opening, NLH Mystery Million: Bognanni shines in Day 1E, Pardo leads
Now, let’s turn to the NLH Mystery Million, a €1,150 buy-in tournament, with €150 of which goes to the mystery bounties. The guaranteed prize pool remains one million euros, to which the 65 entries in Day 1E contributed. 15 players qualify, the vast majority of whom are Italians:
| POSITION | PLAYER | NATION | STACK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salvatore Pardo | Italy | 990,000 |
| 2 | Florian Marco Kraft | Germany | 720,000 |
| 3 | Roman Fondos | Italy | 675,000 |
| 4 | Marco Bognanni | Italy | 585,000 |
| 5 | Francesco Di Profio | Italy | 530,000 |
| 6 | Mihai-Cristian Tabac | Romania | 530,000 |
| 7 | Alessandro Nocerino | Italy | 515,000 |
| 8 | Cristian Nania | Italy | 400,000 |
| 9 | Gaetano Ricciardi | Italy | 355,000 |
| 10 | Sergio Di Ruberto | Italy | 235,000 |
| 11 | Vlad Andrusca | England | 165,000 |
| 12 | Rocco Pizzichillo | Italy | 165,000 |
| 13 | Domenico Di Vito | Italy | 135,000 |
| 14 | Andrea Maiolino | Italy | 110,000 |
| 15 | Nazzario Padulo | Italy | 75,000 |
Diamond 5k Million: Barakat and Di Lauro excel in Day 1B, another 9 Italians qualify
Finally, Day 1B of the Diamond 5k Million also took place, a €5,000 tournament dedicated to Pot Limit Omaha with a six-figure guarantee. The second and final flight almost doubled the figures from Day 1A, welcoming 93 paid entries for another 30 qualifiers. Thus, at the start of Day 2, 43 players will try to make their way, with late registration still open to potentially expand the field, which currently stands at 143 entries. Here is the top 10 of Day 1B, which includes four Italians:
| POSITION | PLAYER | NATION | STACK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aku Joentausta | Finland | 1,508,000 |
| 2 | Youness Barakat | Italy | 1,339,000 |
| 3 | Michele Di Lauro | Italy | 1,206,000 |
| 4 | Robert Cowen | England | 1,200,000 |
| 5 | Jeremy Trojand | Germany | 1,151,000 |
| 6 | Theo Jorgensen | Denmark | 1,074,000 |
| 7 | Samuel Del Castillo Guerra | Spain | 1,035,000 |
| 8 | Andrew Cutajar | Malta | 989,000 |
| 9 | Marco Levato | Italy | 863,000 |
| 10 | Pasquale Gregorio | Italy | 784,000 |
Among the qualifiers are also Luigi D’Alterio (463k), Giulio Di Salvo (250k), Angelo Vietti (200k), Manuel Persico (175k), and Renato Messina (155k).
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Cover image: Elia Salerno (archive Manuel Kovsca & RHL)
