153 players bought in this afternoon in at the Portomaso Casino, meaning this tournament is already half of the way to reaching its €150k guarantee.
Leading the pack of 67 who survived to earn a seat on Day 2 is France’s Michael Agoutborde who bagged 135,500 when all was said and done.
Also finishing in the top ten was Gareth Edwards, Director of Marketing and Strategy at 888.com.
Gaëlle Baumann, who garnered worldwide poker celebrity by bubbling the WSOP Main Event final table this year, finished in 15th position tonight with an even 72,000 while high-stakes online specialist Dan Cates ended up with 51,200, good for 26th heading into Day 2.
Here are the top ten chip counts after Day 1A. Click here for the full and official counts.
Michael Agoutborde
135,500
Stevan Sudar
97,300
Peter Öttl
95,000
Alexander Lieff
91,400
Louis Salter
88,000
Gareth Edwards
85,000
Johan Linder
79,300
Maris Zilgalvis
79,000
Johan Nilsson
78,600
Thoma Panayiotis
78,000
Strassmann, Dato, Neuville to Play BoM Day 1B
Tournament staff are expecting Day 1B’s field to significantly outmatch today’s, and we already have a few confirmations as far as big-name players who will be in on the action.
Johannes Strassmann is one of the strongest young poker players in Germany and with more than $1.1 million in live tournament earnings he’s already cracked the top 25 on the all-time German money list.
He’s got nine cashes on the European Poker Tour, three of which were six-figure scores. He’s also cashed at the WSOP on five separate occasions.
Pierre Neuville is third on the all-time Belgian money list with $1.45 million in live cashes. He won the “Best Online Qualifier” award on the EPT last year where he’s notched an impressive 13 cashes.
Andrea Dato has been cashing with startling regularity in live events in Italy and abroad, racking up more than $600k in earnings in the last few years.
Tomorrow these three powerhouse players will join hordes of poker players hungry for a piece of the Battle of Malta cash. Action begins at 2pm.
Day 1a Video Show with Kara Scott
Keep an eye on our Battle of Malta page for continuing updates, and check out our blog for videos from the event.
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