As the theory goes, it’s better to tear the band aid clean off, than pull it off gently. None of which will make Daniel Dvoress feel any better tonight.
He busted in seventh place tonight, bringing the day to an end. Short stacked after a long day, he shoved with ace-jack only for Niall Farrell to call with ace-king. The flop gave Farrell trip kings. Dvoress smiled. At least it was quick.
Daniel DvoressThe result ended play, and gave a clear picture of how things look going into the last day of the EPT Malta Main Event, now led by Alen Bilic, with Farrell’s last hand heroics placing him in second.
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Bilic took the lead by virtue of another shock hand, this one involving one of the feature players of the week: Alexander Ivarsson.
Chip leader Alen BilicIt was back in March that Ivarsson departed the Malta main event prematurely after his aggressive style turned round to bite him. In much the same way he met a similar fate tonight, crashing his queens into Bilic’s ace-king.
That left Bilic with a stack he could coast with, and the lead with six left going into tomorrow.
| Seat | Name | Country | Status | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niall Farrell | UK | PokerStars player | 5,115,000 | 85 |
| 2 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | PokerStars qualifier | 1,505,000 | 25 |
| 3 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | PokerStars player | 1,615,000 | 26 |
| 4 | Giulio Spampinato | Italy | Live satellite qualifier | 1,180,000 | 19 |
| 5 | Alen Bilic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | PokerStars player | 7,635,000 | 127 |
| 6 | Jaroslaw Sikora | Poland | PokerStars player | 2,455,000 | 40 |
Just as Bilic is now turning heads, so too has Jaroslaw Sikora this week. A chip leader throughout the week, he was never too far from the lead, and deserves his spot in the last six. The same goes for Rainer Kempe, who makes back-to-back finals after he finished fifth in Barcelona in the season opener. Then there’s Giulio Spampinato. Some doubted he would make it this far, but he nursed his short stack like a man on a budget to make the final day.
Jaroslaw SikoraThen there were the familiar faces, those of Niall Farrell and Sam Greenwood. Farrell could easily have been leading had Bilic no run into Ivarsson, but has put in another confident performance this week. The same goes for Greenwood, a regular high roller, who now has an opportunity to add EPT Main Event success to his Super High Roller final table back at the PCA in January.
Niall Farrell
Sam GreenwoodIt’s a line-up that promises a thrilling conclusion.
Of course, as we look ahead to events tomorrow, there was a full day of play today to look back on.
Kitty Kuo was first to depart this afternoon, followed soon after by Darrell Goh, who can still claim a good Malta trip. Antonio Chemi put in a great rearguard display, squeezing every last penny out of a stack that at times looked like disappearing. He left in tenth place, before Ivarsson made way and Nabil Cardoso preceded Dvoress.
Alexander IvarssonFrom 651 players to six. Tomorrow we will find a new champion.
It all starts tomorrow at 13,00 CET, but you can follow it “as live” on EPT Live, with cards up on a one hour delay from 14.00 CET. We’ll also have hand for hand coverage and features along the way.
Malta tonightThat’s all for now until then, unless you like high roller action. They’re o the bubble in that one and ready to play on into the night. You can follow live updates of that event here through to the end.
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Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.
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