MPT News

Great days in Malta!

Sunny days, great poker and a bunch of new friends. That was Malta Poker Tour.

Players had all kind of amusement options and we can assure they seemed to have the best time at this great island.

On the poker side, three events crowned the solid play of Robin Lacey, who took to Ireland the Golden Bracelet.

We would like to thank everyone that made this possible and followed our coverage. And we can't be grateful enough for having all the players coming here and playing with us. Thanks for everything and see you all at the next Malta Poker Tour!

And it's over!

Tore Michaelsen did his best and got the first place on the last event of Malta Poker Tour.

In second place came Robin Lacey, the winner of the race for the Golden Bracelet. For final standings, please, check leaderboard area.

We would like to thank you all for staying with us on these three days and we hope to be back so for the next Malta Poker Tour.

Heads-up Play

We are down to the final two players on the last event on Malta Poker Tour.

Robin Lacey and Tore Michaelsen are facing each other for the last €50.000 on the prizepool.

The winner will take home €30.000 of that, and in Robin's case, the bracelet along. Below, prizes for 3rd and 4th places:

• 3. Paul Janssen - €12,500
• 4. Julian Herold - €9,500

Six guys are busted and the bracelet has an owner.

With Martin Klaeser out of the game, Robin Lacey (pictured left receiving last event's prize) is the one who got the Golden Bracelet.

We have four players on the game right now, and all of them must be really tired, because the pace of the play is just too fast.

Below, we have the latest bust outs:

• 5. Martin Klaeser - €7,500
• 6. Philip Roch - €6,000
• 7. Josip Marusic - €5,000
• 8. Aleksey Zlobin - €4,000
• 9. Andre Wagner - €3,000
• 10. Sindre Tvedt - €2,500

Event #3 - Final Table

And the last ten are ready. Among them, Martin Klaeser, Robin Lacey and Philipp Roch with a finger on the bracelet.

All three will try their best to get it, but Martin and Robin are in best shape.

Below, the chip counts:

• 1. Tore Michaelsen - 200 000
• 2. Julian Herold - 144 800
• 3. Martin Klaeser - 171 700
• 4. Robin Lacey - 87 000
• 5.Paul Janssen - 85 000
• 6. Andre Wagner - 81 600
• 7. Sindre Tvedt - 68 400
• 8. Josip Marusic - 67 200
• 9. Aleksey Zlobin - 54 700
• 10. Philipp Roch - 35 800

Leaderboard Update

Four players with real chances to get the bracelet just busted. Sascha Firth, Jamie Lennox and Alexandre Andermatt did well, but it was not enough.

Teemu Lahtinen, who was just busted, holds the lead on our race, but since we have so many players with real chance still on, it is not expected that he gets it.

Stay with us for live updates on the race for the Golden Bracelet.

Time for the truth

With twenty five players left, the real run for the bracelet is on! On the top, we have Robin Lacey, who is sitting with a wealthy stack in front of him.

In a good shape for the run, we have Philip Roch, Aleksey Milyushin,Sascha Firth, Teemu Lahtinen, Martin Klaeser and Alexander Digholm (pictured on the left). All of them in have what it takes to get there.

We will keep the leaderboard updated until we have the final winner.

Let's Split?

Right after last post was written, Firth and Lacey tangled for a nice sized pot. From UTG, Sascha made 3,500 to go, the table folded around and Robin from big blind asks how big was Firth's stack.

After seeing Firth's stack is almost big as his, Lacey decides to call. Board brings AKJ, two diamons. Lacey checks the action over to Firth, who bets 6k. Lacey calls without thinking much.

A 2 of hearts hits the board and Lacey checks down again. Sascha bets 14k to be raised all-in by Lacey. Sascha makes the call and shows AK. Lacey turns the same hand and they split the pot.

Tough Table

Valtteri Nieminen, Robin Lacey (pictured left) and Sascha Firth are sitting next to each other. All of them have more than 50k chips in front of them and they are using them to dominate the table.

Lacey and Firth are firm on their chase for the first MPT Golden Bracelet.

We are down to four tables and since we are close to the 25 players who gets points to Bracelet race, the pace of play lost in speed.

Known Moves?

This one is right from the dinner break. Players were now discussing whether the fact of the tournament being played by the same 100 players was affecting on the speed of play or not.

Most of the players agreed that having played on the days before against the same players is helping them to read better, and some times make moves, something that could make them put all their chips in.

Also, they said they are having to mix up the play a lot because of that too, something that is making the game really interesting.

Dinner Break

Time to eat! Players are heading to food court here at the Portomaso Casino and will have one hour and a half to relax and enjoy the specilities prepared by Casino's chef.

We will be back after the break with updated chip counts and more stories from the tables.

Go Karting!

The planned activities for yesterday's day off showed some before unrevealed qualities in poker players. Skills on steering wheels and with soccer balls.

On the karting side, organization were surprised to see that we had some extremely good pilots. And the top, Alexander Digholm, Zsolt Nagy and Juuso Lepannen had their own battle for the first three places.

On the left, Digholm celebrates his win. For more pictures on the event, visit our gallery area.

Rolling and Leading

With so many bust outs and so short time of play, some players have big stacks in front of them.

The portuguese Cristiano Araujo (pictured on the left) and russian Aleksey Milyushin are sharing the same table with more than 40k on their hands.

And both first and second places from last event, swedish Johan Jansson and irish Robin Lacey, have stacks a little higher than 50k. They too are on the same table and just one seat after each other, with Lacey on Jansson's left.

Long flighters

It was a long way for them, but here they are, having a good time in Malta and trying to make their way to today's final table.

Beng Hong Ker came straight from Singapore to make his first appearance in a big poker tournmament. So far, he had no luck in getting a good place. Maybe today is his day.

Joao Paulo Aquino (pictured on left), from Brazil, brought his girlfriend with him to enjoy the beautiful sites here in the middle of Mediterranean Sea. It is their first time here too, but Joao is also not being lucky on the tables.

We wish the best of luck to the long flighters.

Faster Bust outs

The first levels are being hard to a lot of players. Chips are going in easier than in the other two days and the number of busts outs is much higher than the previous days.

The first two places (Tommy Pavlicek pictured on the left) from the first day are already out, and consequently, not running for the Golden Bracelet. Along with them, more than 25 players headed out the poker room at Portomaso Casino.

On the other side, chips stacks are growing fast and some players appear on the top with big cheap lead.

Watch Prize Given!

After a great run yesterday on the planned day off where players had the opportunity to go karting, Zsolt Nagy (pictured left) was the first bust out today and for that, got the watch by MPT's sponsors.

Nagy, who yesterday won 2 heats on karting and then came second on the final race, will have to wait until next March to try another MPT Bracelet.

Cards in the Air!

This is the last run for the Golden Bracelet.

Players that are still on the chase have their chance to be placed on the top and then get good points to reach the final goal.

You can check how the race is going visiting our Leaderboard area. Stay with us for more updates.

Everything Ready for the Last Event

Sunday, October 5th. Portomaso Casino holds the third and last event of the first Malta Poker Tour. Tables are ready, dealers getting their seats and chips are being counted.

With yesterday's day off, we might have some late arrivals at the tables, since Saturday is the top day in Paceville's nightlife.

Today's event will crown the first MPT Bracelet winner according to leaderboard points. So far, Robin Lacey has the first position, but he is being chased closely by 5 players. It will be a day filled with emotion and excitement. Stay Tuned!