After roughly nine hours of play, Day 3 of the €550 Grand Event at the Malta Poker Festival Autumn, hosted by Portomaso Casino in St. Julian’s, has come to a close.
The €550 Grand Event drew 1,987 entries, generating a prize pool of €903,497. Day 3, the penultimate day, saw 30 players return to the tables, with play continuing until only eight remained.
Each of those eight bagged their stack and will return for the fourth and final day, knowing that they are each guaranteed a payout of €17,040. However, they will all have one eye on the €141,000 first-place prize and the trophy that comes with it.
Leading the pack into Day 3, Benjamin Nicault was a constant presence near the top of the leaderboard throughout the day. He picked up the final elimination of the night, giving him the late boost he needed to bag the overnight chip lead heading into the final day.
However, the path to the title is far from clear, with a tightly packed group of contenders on his heels. Ulf Grahs closed the night in second place with 18,500,000, and Joris Ruijs isn’t far behind in third on 15,900,000, setting the stage perfectly for a climactic showdown, befitting of the marquee Grand Event.
Final Table Chip Counts
Jesper Joldher
Within the first two hours of play, the field was reduced from 30 to just 18. In fact, it took no time at all to see the day’s first casualty. In the very first hand dealt of the day, Jesper Joldher ran his ace-king into pocket kings, seeing him stand up almost as soon as he had sat down.
Players such as Day 1a and 1g chip leaders Lars Viggander (11th – €10,200) and Hans Bjorklund (16th – €5,859) fell just short of reaching the final table and competing for the top prizes. Grosvenor-sponsored pro Euan McNicholas (23rd – €4,060) was another to see his hopes end so close to the final hurdle.
Perhaps the most painstaking elimination of the day was Richard Broda, who spent nearly nine hours at the tables only to bubble the official final table in 9th place for €12,830. His ace‑three went all‑in preflop against the pocket sevens of Day 3 chip leader Nicault, but failed to improve, leaving him to watch as the remaining players bagged their chips for the final table right in front of him.
The final table will resume on Monday, November 3, at 1 p.m. local time and will continue until a champion is crowned.
Play will recommence at Level 29 with blinds of 300,000/600,000 and a big blind ante of 600,000. The action is set to be streamed on YouTube with a 30-minute delay, with PokerNews coverage following the same delay.
Remaining Payouts
Be sure to stay tuned as PokerNews brings you chip counts, updates, and all the action from the final day of the €550 Malta Poker Festival Grand Event here in Portomaso.