Pesonen, Jukka Dudeson Cruising with 24 Left at BOM

The record-breaking 2013 Battle of Malta is down from 888 players to just 24 after Day 2 with two Finns - one expected, one not so much - taking center stage.

Young gun Lauri Pesonen - a PokerListings Spirit of Poker Award finalist and rising star on the major tour circuit - is the expected one.

A £2k side-event winner at EPT London earlier in the year Pesonen navigated expertly through the bomb-laden field to end Day 2 third overall with 1,241,000 in chips.

Loose cannon Jukka Hilden - 1/4 of the Finnish stunt crew The Dudesons - surprised a few people at the tables over the last couple of days to say the least. Moving chips around like a boss, Hilden swung up towards the end of Day 2 to also head to Day 3 in the Top 10 with 801,000.

Italians, Scandis All Over Final 24

An impressively international Battle of Malta field skewed decidely towards a couple of geographic areas as we wound down to 24 today.

Italians, perhaps feeling a slight home-court advantage given its proximity to Malta, and Scandinavians are all over the chip counts with several eyeing a big win tomorrow.

Norwegian Ambjorn Haga is the overall chip leader heading into Day 3 with 1,849,000 to join the two Finns in the top 10.

Marcus Holmstrom, Jan Erik Saelevik and Pontus Dahlgren add a bit more Northern flavor to the final 24. Norwegian pro Andreas Hoivold seemed set to join them but busted late in the day.

Giorgio Piazza leads the Italians in fourth overall with 1,023,000 while Malta's Konrad Abela leads the hometown charge in second with 1,492,000. Chip counts for the remaining 24 players below:

1. Ambjorn Haga - 1,849,000 2. Konrad Abela - 1,492,000 3. Lauri Pesonen - 1,241,000 4. Giorgio Piazza - 1,023,000 5. Mariano D’Aquila - 975,000 6. Alessandro De Laco - 966,000 7. Arthur Popov - 932,000 8. Sonny La - 854,000 9. Jukka Hilden - 801,000 10. Daniel Lucacz - 800,000 11. Vincenzo Severino - 780,000 12. Marcus Holmstrom - 768,000 13. Mark Attard - 764,000 14. Giuseppe Polichetti - 668,000 15. Even Froshaug - 512,000 16. Louis Cartarius - 509,000 17. Federico Oviedo - 461,000 18. Jan Erik Saelevik - 454,000 19. Pontus Dangren - 431,000 20. Keith Hathaway - 381,000 21. Romain Gravisse - 343,000 22. Deniz Maska - 305,000 23. Giovanni Accetta - 265,000 24. Giovanni Ceraso - 159,000

€80,000 On the Table for Winner

Given the phenomenal turnout for the 2013 Battle of Malta the inflated prize pool will make for an extremely exciting rundown to the title tomorrow.

The final nine will split roughly €240,000 between them with the winner snagging €80,000 - an incredible return on a €550 buy-in.

Tune in to our Battle of Malta live updates tomorrow at 1 pm CET to see how it all plays out. Learn a bit more about The Dudesons ballsy poker strategy below:

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