WPT Malta Kicks Off with High Action on Day 1a
The World Poker Tour team hardly wrapped up the WPT Grand Prix de Paris before the WPT Malta was set to begin. 64 players, including a few of poker's biggest names like Phil Hellmuth and Marvin Rettenmaier, were in Malta for Day 1a of the event.
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| Phil Hellmuth & Spiderman |
The WPT Malta began on Sunday, and 64 players from around the world are at the Casino at Portomaso to participate. The buy-in is €3,300, and the action has been very fast-paced so far - only 34 players made it through to Day 2.
What happened on Day 1a?
64 participants - Although Malta is a fantastic location, just 64 players entered this event on Day 1a. That number may go up somewhat significantly on Day 1b, but a large number of pros, especially American ones, are busy at another WPT event - the Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City. Although the field so far is fairly small, many big names did show up. Some of them that made it to Day 2 include Dominik 'ace0ntheriver' Nitsche, Phil Hellmuth, Jonathan Duhamel, Dan O'Brien, and Arnaud Mattern.
A strange re-entry format - Most World Poker Tour events use a re-entry format where players who bust can enter an event on another starting day. Therefore, if an event has two starting days, any player who busts on the first day can enter for a 2nd - and final - time. During Day 1a of this tournament, the staff failed to make this rule clear to all players, and one was able to enter for a second time. The tournament director decided to allow anyone else to do this as well. Marvin 'xcrash154' Rettenmaier, for example, took advantage of this and busted Day 1a twice.
Day 1b will begin today at 13:00 CET.
WPT MaltaDay 1a Chip CountsNote: Full counts were not made available, so only select players are listed below.
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| Place | Name | Chips | ||
| - | Casper Toft | 123,600 | ||
| - | Dominik 'ace0ntheriver' Nitsche | 91,400 | ||
| - | Phil Hellmuth | 47,000 | ||
| - | Casey Kastle | 43,900 | ||
| - | Jonathan Duhamel | 40,900 | ||
| - | Dan O'Brien | 36,900 | ||
| - | Arnaud Mattern | 13,900 | ||
| Blinds: 300/600/75 | Players: 34 (64) | Prize pool: TBD |
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Check out some pictures from Day 1a of the WPT Malta:
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| Phil Hellmuth |
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| Cecilia Pescaglini |
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| Jonathan Duhamel |
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| Arnaud Mattern |
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| Marvin Rettenmaier |
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| Dominik Nitsche |
By Matt Kaufman
