partypoker MILLIONS Recap Day 1F and 1G – € 3,000 MILLIONS Event Down to 16 

The Grand Prix event would get its big opening flights on Day 1F and 1G. The expectation would be just above 300 players, and with 1F ending on 308 entries, and 1G ending on 352 entries, that expectation became a reality. Among these entries, there were some big names in the mix such as all-time Italian poker legend Luca Pagano. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it until the end of the day, but perhaps he will try again on the last opening flight tomorrow.

The last flight, starting on 11:00 CET early in the morning, has got 20-minute blinds and will finish just prior to Day 2, which starts at 19:00 CET. Within that time frame, the MILLIONS event will play down from 16 remaining players to a winner.

During that day, we are going to try and catch up with one of these remaining players, Matt Staples, who is here with partypoker as a Team Pro. With over €400,000 in the prize pool and a first prize of €93,000, all eyes are set on who will become the new MILLIONS Malta Champion. 

Grand Prix Day 1F 

Our main focus was on Day 1F, and after a slow start, it would end with a true bang! A total of 308 entries were made throughout the first ten levels of play. Our online qualifier Asif ‘PokerTourist’ Warris, who won the satellite organized by PokerListings in collaboration with partypoker earlier this month, tried his luck on this flight.

Unfortunately for him, he would get knocked out in the early stages when he was all-in and at risk with A 10 and had hit the flush- and straight draw on the flop. He bricked the turn and river, so all his chips went to his opponent who had pocket Queens.  

When we got to know that All-time Italian poker legend Luca Pagano was playing during the 1F opening flight, he unfortunately immediately busted out of the tournament just when we wanted to check where he was seated. Hopefully, he will give acte de presence in some more tournaments here during the partypoker Millions Malta, so we can enjoy his elegant playing style like in the old days.

Imagine, the final tabling of so many European Poker Tours, of which 3 in one year including the grand final in Monaco. A true star of the game. With many of his fellow countrymen at this event, the chance of having an Italian victor in this event is extremely alive.

Day 1F eventually would last until blind level 15, where the bubble burst in great fashion. It was Valter Miceli who had opened up the action from the button with 4 6 , and Charalampos Televantou was practically all-in on the big blind with just a couple of chips behind.

He was at risk, holding [Qx][7x], but had high hopes when he saw where he was up against. The dealer, however, decided differently, showing 6 6 6 on the flop. It was an immediate goodbye to the player from Cyprus, who was the last player not receiving a minimum cash on this flight.  

If you want to read back all the action of this flight, check out our live blog for more in-depth information.  

Place	Country	Player	Chips
#1		KLEBIEKO BARTLOMIEJ	1,117,000
#2		BARONE CLAUDIO	824,000
#3		PORTO DARIO	767,000
#4		STACEY DANIEL	754,000
#5		CHISU DANUT FLORIN	583,000
#6		PATANE ANGELO	573,000
#7		FERRO MASSIMILIANO	565,000
#8		DELFOCO FRANCESCO	550,000
#9		SERAFIN LUIGI	465,000
#10		EFTHYMIADIS GEORGIOS	445,000
#11		RUSSO GIOVANNI	426,000
#12		MILAZZO ANTONINO	423,000
#13		THEVENET THIBAUT MAEL	399,000
#14		PECELJ PAVLE	365,000
#15		SAID OLIVER JOHN MOSES	358,000
#16		FISICARO MAURIZIO	357,000
#17		LEOTTA ANTONINO	355,000
#18		LISZKOVICS JOZSEF	341,000
#19		BERTI FABIO	338,000
#20		CONTI CORRADO	328,000
#21		MAGGIO MARCO EMANUELE	326,000
#22		JOURDAIN ALEXANDRE	310,000
#23		BODNAR GERGO	308,000
#24		YIANNAKIS PAPAPETROU	297,000
#25		PAVVLI ANDREAS	296,000
#26		GALATI GIORDANO FEDERICO	253,000
#27		CAVINA DEVIS	252,000
#28		MACRI’ PASQUALE	248,000
#29		CHRISTOFOROU ANDREW	233,000
#30		SFAKIANAKIS DIMITRIOS	229,000
#31		CARUSO FRANCESCO	228,000
#32		LEONZIO MARCO	215,000
#33		QUANG DAVID	212,000
#34		DE PASCUAL TORRENTE ANTONIO	208,000
#35		GRANIERI ALESSANDRO	195,000
#36		BRUNO MASSIMO	185,000
#37		LI PUMA MARIO	158,000
#38		DE LEO ALESSANDRO	143,000
#39		ETAU SYLVAIN JOSEPH LAPHETA	139,000
#40		RIBATALLADA RUIZ JORDI	137,000
#41		DEMETRI TRIANTAFYLLOI	127,000
#42		SERPE DAVIDE	114,000
#43		BARBERA ALESSANDRO	105,000
#44		BERTE FRANCESCO	105,000
#45		MICELI VALTER	86,000
#46		PHAM HONG THI MINH	75,000

Grand Prix Day 1G 

In the main poker room at Portomaso Casino, the evening flight of the Grand Prix Day 1G, would attract a stunning 354 entries. This was good news for the casino and partypoker, as the guarantee would not be far off any longer.

With one more opening flight on Saturday, just prior to Day 2, it is almost sure the guarantee will be reached and the prize pool will start rising to higher grounds. We did not blog this event, but we want to definitely share with you the overall chip counts of the remaining players of this opening flight.  

Place	Country	Player	Chips
#1		FAILLA VALERIO GIUSEPPE	1,332,000
#2		PILLONI LUCA	910,000
#3		KARADAGLIS STYLIANOS	805,000
#4		KAMPF PHILIPP	757,000
#5		ABBATE DAVIDE	738,000
#6		RIDI MATTIA	645,000
#7		TREDICI GIUSEPPE	576,000
#8		PATANE’ MARCO	497,000
#9		BARI ANTONIO	494,000
#10		PASHKOVA MARYNA	480,000
#11		ANZELO JULIO	462,000
#12		ULHAQ USMAN	438,000
#13		CRISCIO ROCCO	431,000
#14		KASPRZYK MATEUSZ	425,000
#15		D’ARDIA CIRO	402,000
#16		POLIMENI CARMELO	396,000
#17		MOTTA SALVATORE	377,000
#18		SPARZA DURAN SANTIAGO	372,000
#19		GEORGESCU GEORGIAN	364,000
#20		COZZULLA FRANCO	362,000
#21		CHORIANOPOULOS IOANNIS	347,000
#22		SANTINI ALESSANDRO	334,000
#23		RODRIQUENZ MARCO LUIS	320,000
#24		TERSIGNI MATTEO GIOSUE	320,000
#25		CROBU ANDREA PASQUALE	319,000
#26		CSERNUS DAVID GYORGY	318,000
#27		ZANGONE SAVERIO	318,000
#28		HANSEN OLE	310,000
#29		VERMEULEN TOM	310,000
#30		KOULOPOULOS IOANNIS	304,000
#31		BARTH MARTIN	302,000
#32		CUSMANO RAFFAELE	259,000
#33		VESCIO GIOVANNI	252,000
#34		HOUAYEK JOSEPH	220,000
#35		STEVANATO LUCA	213,000
#36		CIMA PAOLO	212,000
#37		SAFRANEK LUDEK	189,000
#38		GEORGIOU EFTYCHIOS	172,000
#39		FAGES BERTRAND JEAN ELIE	164,000
#40		SPIZZIRRI ROS LUIS RAFAEL	160,000
#41		PECORARIO AGOSTINO	136,000
#42		JUNG KEVIN DENNIS	115,000
#43		CLODOMIRO DAVIDE	111,000
#44		CUTI ALFREDO	104,000
#45		D’URSO SALVATRICE	77,000
#46		GUGLIELMINO SALVATORE	77,000
#47		KIS KRISZTIAN MARK	70,000
#48		ZANDI MILO	52,000
#49		KOZUCH MATEUSZ	44,000
#50		TERRAFINO AMATORE	26,000
#51		D’angelo Ignazio	25,000
#52		FERRO PASQUALE	25,000

€3,000 Millions Malta event down to 16 players 

The second day of the Millions High Roller event would start eventually with 92 players, as several players decided to late register just prior to the start. They still would have plenty of space to build up some stacks, as they would enter the tournament with more than 30 big blinds. Taco De Goede was one of them, securing himself from an eventual min-cash.  

The top prize of €93,000 is promising for lots of high-level poker action, and hopefully, Matt Staples will be able to battle through the remaining 16 players.  

The event will be live-streamed on Sunday, so make sure to turn on your mobile device or laptop to follow all the action! 

Place	Country	Player	Chips	Table	Seat
#1		PELUSO FABIO	1,490,000	1	6
#2		MEUNIER CLEMENT	710,000	2	2
#3		CAMINITA DEMETRIO	475,000	1	3
#4		STAPLES MATTHEW JORDAN	455,000	2	7
#5		WOJTAS JABUK ZBIHNIEW	420,000	2	6
#6		TRATTOU MARIOS	320,000	2	3
#7		BOELLIS GIULIANO	280,000	1	4
#8		CLACK THOMAS PAUL	275,000	1	5
#9		HARI ADAM	265,000	2	4
#10		DE LA ROSA MORAN RICARDO	260,000	2	1
#11		LINDQWIST ERIK LARS ALLAN	260,000	2	5
#12		BOUETTE RICHARD STEPHANE	240,000	2	8
#13		ANGELOU KONSTAS IOANNIS	210,000	1	2
#14		CIGLIANO ALBERTO	185,000	1	8
#15		MATAR MICHAEL NAGY	180,000	1	1
#16		GALA DOMENICO	140,000	1	7
#17		DE GOEDE TACO	€ 7,210		
#18		BOI PAOLO	€ 7,210		
#19		STRAKOVICH RAMAN	€ 7,210		
#20		BLIT JACQUES	€ 7,210

What’s Coming Next

Start Time	Event #	Event	Buy-In
11:00	#3	Grand Prix $1m GTD Day 1H Turbo	€500+€50
15:00	#27	Omaha Single Day	€1000+€100
15:00	#3	MILLIONS FINAL DAY	N/A
19:00	#3	Grand Prix $1m GTD Day 2	N/A
20:00	#28	Mystery Bounty Day 1	€500+€500+€100
20:00	Online #1	MILLIONS Malta LIVE Twitch Freeroll	Freeroll
22:00	#29	Sunday Party	€200+€20