Live Tournament Updates
Full Day Three Seat Draw With Chips
Level 15: 1,500-3,000, 500 ante
Day Two Seat Draw
Table 1
Seat 1: Michael Finderup - 136,000
Seat 2: Mark Norman - 102,000
Seat 3: Filippo Bianchi - 249,500
Seat 4: Giovanni Rizzo - 59,500
Seat 5: Fabio Montanari - 169,500
Seat 6: Christofer Williamson - 305,500
Seat 7: Fabien Sartoris - 177,000
Seat 9: Justin Bonomo - 157,000
Table 2
Seat 1: Nesrine Kourdourli - 109,500
Seat 2: Vitalii Minakov - 78,500
Seat 5: Matt Giannetti - 370,000
Seat 6: Marvin Rettenmaier - 415,000
Seat 7: Cecilia Pescaglini - 976,000
Seat 8: Simon Trumper - 367,500
Seat 9: Tony G - 183,000
Table 3
Seat 2: Pierre Milan - 221,500
Seat 3: Nassir Bennacer - 226,000
Seat 4: Tristan Clemencon - 157,500
Seat 5: Andras Fekete - 131,000
Seat 6: Salvatore Bianco - 275,000
Seat 7: Armando Graziano - 324,500
Seat 8: Manfred Sierke - 383,000
Seat 9: Zsolt Vizsnyiczai - 312,500
Table 4
Seat 1: Mats Karlson - 250,000
Seat 3: Antonio Agnello 96,000
Seat 5: Jean Marie Vanderborne - 196,500
Seat 6: Isaac Haxton - 221,500
Seat 7: Fortunato D'Amico - 237,500
Seat 8: Frederico Cipollini - 98,000
Seat 9: Viktors Vorobjovs - 231,000
05:07 AM, 09/23/11
Cecilia Pescaglini Dominates WPT Malta Day Two
Level 15: 1,500-3,000, 500 ante
As soon as Matt Savage announced that Day Two of WPT Malta would play down to the money, everyone knew it was going to be a long day. Trimming 154 players down to 27 is not an easy task and after playing eight 90-minute levels of poker we had still not reached 27 players. Common sense prevailed and at 04.30 the dealers stopped shuffling and 30 players had made it through to Day Three.
The tournament area was filled with tired people, but there was one person who did not want the night to end. That person was our chip leader Cecilia Pescaglini who was on the heater of her young poker life. Pescaglini was our chip leader from start to finish and simply destroyed anyone she went to showdown with. The recipe for Pescaglini was simple: play a lot of huge pots and win them all! If WPT Malta was a bounty tournament Pescaglini would have won an absolute fortune. The first person she eliminated was Aleksandr Konstantinov after hitting the flush on the turn after being all-in on the flop. Next to go was Georges Georgiou and again she had to come from behind as her A
K out turned the J J
of her opponent. Next was Thomas Brauner, but this time Pescaglini was never in danger of losing the hand as she hit A
5 7 whilst holding J 9 with Brauner moving all-in on the flop. Then she moved to Tony G's table and just went from strength to strength including eliminating Julian Herold with her mighty 9x 10x in a three-bet pot (Herold had aces) after flopping Kx 10x 10x. Then in the very last hand of the night she proved that she was not just lucky but she had no fear and could play a bit too. On a board of Q 10 6 10
in a pot against 2nd place Marvin Rettenmaier she moved all-in over his 72,500 turn value bet turning J 3 into a bluff and forcing the German to lay down A 8 in the process!
Pescaglini finished the day with 976,000 chips and is on course to become the first-ever female to win an open WPT event. Other notable names into the hat for Day three include Tony G (183,000), Marvin Rettenmaier (415,000), Matt Giannetti (370,000), Justin Bonomo (157,000) and Isaac Haxton (221,500). One notable name not in the hat is Phil Hellmuth. The great man seemed a little under the weather today and crashed out towards the end of the day after bluffing most off his stack to Salvatore Bianco.
It’s time to get to bed for a little bit of sleep because in10-hours time (That's 14:30 CET Friday) we will start this all over again. The first milestone will be to hit the bubble of 27-players and then we will play down to the final table of six.
04:51 AM, 09/23/11
Giannetti Applies The Pressure
Level 15: 1,500-3,000, 500 ante
Vitalii Minakov raises to 6,000 and Matt Giannetti makes the three-bet from the cut-off. Marvin Rettenmaier is seated on the button and four-bets to 38,500. Minakov folds and Giannetti moves all in for over 200,000. Rettenmaier asks for a count but eventually surrenders pocket tens face up.
04:00 AM, 09/23/11
Marvin Rettenmaier Eliminates Andreas Berggren
Level 15: 1,500-3,000, 500 ante
Andreas Berggren raises on the button and Marvin Rettenmaier moves all-in from the big blind and Berggren snap-calls. When the cards are turned over Rettenmaier was in a world of hurt.
Berggren: A A
Rettenmaier: J 10
Then the dealer gave us the flop and Rettenmaier's dreams all came true at once.
Flop: K Q 9 - The stone cold nuts.
Turn: K
River: 5
Rettenmaier ~ 390,000
03:52 AM, 09/23/11
Bonomo's Tens Hold Strong
Level 15: 1,500-3,000, 500 ante
Antti Karkainen raises to 6,500 in early position and Justin Bonomo calls to his direct left and the big blind also comes along for the ride. The flop is K 9 4 and after the big blind checks Karkainen bets 8,000, Bonomo calls and the big blind folds. The turn is the 7 and Karkainen bets 7,000 and once again Bonomo calls before both players check down the J river.
"Ace high," says Karkainen
Bonomo: 10 10 and 166,000 chips.
03:22 AM, 09/23/11
Tony Sanguedolce Will Not Be Making the Money
Level 15: 1,500-3,000, 500 ante
Viktors Vorobjovs opens to 7,000 from early position and Tony Sanguedolce moves all-in on the button for 56,500. Vorobjovs makes the call and we have a showdown.
Vorobjovs: A J
Sanguedolce: 4 4
Board: J 8 10 K Q
Vorobjovs ~ 210,000
03:17 AM, 09/23/11
Phil Hellmuth Has Been Eliminated
Level 14: 1,200-2,400, 400 ante
Phil Hellmuth has been eliminated after losing two pots in quick succession. In the first pot there was a raise by Salvatore Bianco who made it 5,000 to play and Phil Hellmuth three-bet out of the small blind for a total of 17,000 and Bianco calls. The flop is Ax 7x 3x and Hellmuth fires a c-bet and Bianco calls. The turn is the 8 and Hellmuth fires his second barrel and Bianco once again calls. The last card is the K and Hellmuth bets 65,000 into a 70,000 pot and Bianco calls. Hellmuth verbally mucks his hand and Bianco turned over 9x 7x to take down a monster pot and cripple Hellmuth with a lowly pair of sevens.
Bianco ~ 360,000
The exit hand was even more bizarre that the first!
Hellmuth has around 20,000, starting the hand, when he raises to 7,200 in the cut-off. Andras Fekete is on the button and he makes it 12,000 and when the blinds fold he overturns his cards and shows K J.
"Wow buddy, I still have chips left," says Hellmuth.
"Sorry, I'll understand if you fold," says Fekete.
"Well I aint folding, says Hellmuth.
Hellmuth decides to just call leaving himself 8,000 behind and flop comes down A 10 6. Hellmuth checks, Fekete moves all-in and Hellmuth cant wait to join him. When the cards are turned over Hellmuth is the overwhelming favourite with his A 9.
Turn: 9
You can hear the crowd grown and people start talking about the potential flush.
River: 10
Hellmuth, who doesn't look very well, is out and his next call of duty at WPT Malta will be to commentate on the final live stream itself.
02:16 AM, 09/23/11
Cecilia Pescaglini Loses a Pot
Level 14: 1,200-2,400, 400 ante
Matt Giannetti raises to 6,000 from mid-position and Cecilia Pescaglini three-bets from position, making it 13,500 to play. The hands are mucked in unison until Giannetti calls. The flop is 8 7 3 and Giannetti check-calls a 19,000 Pescaglini bet. The turn is the 2 and once again Giannetti checks and Pescaglini keeps up her aggression with a 23,000 bet. Back to the shade wearing American and he check-raises to 64,000. Pescaglini starts talking to herself in Italian but you can hear the word, "flush" being spoken several times before she folds her hand.
Giannetti ~ 340,000
Pescaglini ~ 660,000
01:45 AM, 09/23/11
James Sudworth Has Been Eliminated
Level 14: 1,200-2,400, 400 ante
James Sudworth three-bet jammed his last 35,000 and was called by Filippo Bianchi. Sudworth held Ax 9x and Bianchi had the superior Ax Kx and it held.
Bianchi ~ 280,000
01:20 AM, 09/23/11
Tobias Renkemeier Has Been Eliminated
Level 14: 1,200-2,400, 400 ante
Filippo Bianchi has just eliminated Tobias Renkemeier in unfortunate circumstances. Renkemeier rivering a back door queen high flush but Bianchi had rivered the back door straight flush!
Bianchi ~ 235,000
01:17 AM, 09/23/11
