Some more information about the last six in the EPT Malta Main Event:
Seat 1: Aliaksei “ale6ka” Boika, 28, Belarus, PokerStars player – 960,000
Aliaksei Boika has made more than $300,000 profit in the PokerStars online tournaments, where he is known as “ale6ka”. That includes a SCOOP title: last year, Boika took down the SCOOP 43-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em (6-Max, Progressive Super Knockout) for a $111,061 first-prize and another $40,213 in bounties. This year, he made it to the final table of the SCOOP-31-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em 4-Max Event to secure $88,777 in a four-way deal. However, his biggest payday came on the live scene. Boika was fifth in the EPT12 Barcelona €10,000 High Roller, taking €265,600. He also made the money in both €10,000 Events at EPT13 Barcelona. Boika sits in ninth place on the Belarussian all-time money list with $672,000 in winnings. He will appear on the EPT Main Event final table for the first time tomorrow.
Seat 2: Mats Karlsson, 59, Sweden – 3,795,000
The oldest player among the final six is 59-year-old Mats Karlsson. Although Karlsson is Swedish, he now lives here in Malta. Karlsson has won nearly $180,000 in live tournaments and ranks 168th on the Swedish all-time money list. His biggest payday came at the 2009 Nordic Masters of Poker in Stockholm, which he won for about $58,000. Karlsson also had a deep run at WPT Malta table five years ago when he finished eighth for €16,760. This is his first EPT Main Event cash and it will be the biggest prize of his career as he’s already guaranteed €76,790. Karlsson had a great start to the tournament, bagging up 150,200 on Day 1b to come back for Day 2 with the seventh biggest stack. He’s the only player from Day 1’s top 10 who made it to the final table.
Seat 3: Peter Ockenden, 46, Hastings, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier – 2,300,000
Peter Ockenden won his EPT13 Malta Main Event seat online on PokerStars, spending just €27. The 46-year-old Englishman owns several companies in the UK and the Netherlands, and splits his time between both countries. He comes from Hastings, on the southeast coast of England. His Dutch home city is Eindhoven. Ockenden participated in two EPT Main Events before he qualified for EPT13 Malta but failed to cash. However, he’ll pick up his first notch here at EPT13 Malta. Ockenden is an amateur poker player but has already racked up nearly $130,000 in live tournament winning. His biggest cash was €40,600 for first place in a €1,000 Event in Venlo.
Seat 4: Dmitry “yurasov1990”, 26, Russia, PokerStars qualifier – 2,845,000
The EPT crowned its last Russian Main Event champion (Andrey Pateychuk at EPT8 Sanremo) five years ago, and Dmitry Yurasov now has a chance to end that drought. The 26-year-old was born in Latvia a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union and now represents Russia. Yurasov is a professional poker player, whose live tournament winnings are nearly $850,000. He’s been successful mainly in the EPT High Rollers. He was third in the EPT10 Prague €10,000 High Roller for €177,500, then added €118,650 for fifth place in the EPT10 Vienna €10,000 High Roller and also cashed in the EPT10 Sanremo €10,000 High Roller. In the following season, Yurasov banked €60,850 for 10th place in the EPT11 Barcelona €10,000 High Roller. Yurasov is prolific online as well, using the screen-name “yurasov1990” on PokerStars. He was third in a Sunday Million for $139,121 in October 2013 and also has a Sunday 500 title worth $69,930 under his belt.
Seat 5: Elie Saad, 41, Baabdat, Lebanon – 2,065,000
Elie Saad, who is from Baadbat, Lebanon, has his own trading and shipping company and is in Malta as a tourist. He is married with five daughters and plays poker as a hobby. He usually plays live tournaments in Lebanon and Cyprus, but found EPT Malta a great opportunity to visit the island and play poker. Being here as a tourist may have not worked out for Saad but he certainly doesn’t regret that he’s been busy with the EPT Main Event for five full days, navigating his stack to the final day. Saad is guaranteed to pick up his biggest cash: his previous best score was €20,625 for fourth place in the 2015 Russian Poker Tour in Famagusta. He also won the 2011 Macau Poker Cup for a $12,354. The businessman would become the third Lebanese EPT champion, should he win tomorrow, following EPT4 London winner Joseph Mouawad and EPT6 Grand Final champ Nicolas Chouity.
Seat 6: Tomas Macnamara, 30, Manchester, United Kingdom – 1,835,000
Tomas Macnamara has cashed in five previous EPT Main Events but he made it to his first final table here at EPT13 Malta. The 30-year-old from Manchester came close to the finale back at EPT12 Dublin. He was eliminated on the last two tables of the EPT12 Dublin Main Event, taking €32,870 for 13th place. His EPT collection includes two Main Event cashes from EPT London and one from both Barcelona and Prague. Macnamara’s best result was 285th place in the 2010 WSOP Main Event for a $41,967. He’ll set his new personal best here, having already guaranteed a €76,790 payday. Macnamara has racked up $175k in live cashes and is shy of the top 500 in England’s all-time money list. He’ll ladder at least 130 places up after adding his EPT13 Malta winnings.
Back to Top
