It took just eight hours of play to go from 88 players to a final table of 10 on Day 3 of the 2015 Battle of Malta.
Israeli poker player Uri Gilboa wasn’t scared of the fast structure and utterly crushed his way to the final-table chip lead of 8.5 million.
It’s a fascinating final table that includes players from the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Norway and Finland.
For the first time ever the final table will also have a female player. Anne Meri hails from Finland and is playing a short-stack of 735,000 but will absolutely give the guys a run for their money tomorrow.
The table also includes noted high-stakes pro Carlo van Ravenswoud who finished with 3.7 million.
Fatima Stalls Early, Bulgaria Returns to Final Table
Perhaps the most well-known player in the field to start the day was former Olympian and current PokerStars pro Fatima Moreira de Melo.
Unfortunately de Melo had a rough time in early stage of the day and ended up shoving all-in with T♣ 4♣ and getting beat by 9♥ 7♦.
Still, de Melo was all smiles as she headed out of the tournament room to collect her €2,100 payout.
You can see the rest of the players who got paid on Day 3 on the 2015 Battle of Malta payouts page.
Interestingly for the second straight year we have a player from Sofia, Bulgaria.
Last year Sofia-native Antoan Katsarov outlasted 1,447 players to win the 2014 Battle of Malta for €122,750.
This year Dimitar Alexandrov, also of Sofia, will have a chance to replicate Katsarov's performance with an even bigger first-place prize of €165,000.
Final Table Extended to Monday
Originally the final table was scheduled to play down to a winner in the wee hours tonight but tournament organizers decided to extend the tournament for a bonus day on Monday.
The 10 remaining players will return tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. to play out an epic final table and decide who becomes the 2015 Battle of Malta champ.
You can follow the action live through our live updates page with news, photos and videos straight from the tournament floor.
Here’s a look at the chip counts heading into the final table:
Uri Gilboa: 8,520,000
Henrik Jacobsen: 6,640,000
Dimitar Aleksandrov: 6,410,000
Giuseppe Grimaldi: 6,350,000
Hendrik Koops: 5,370,000
Carlo van Ravenswoud: 3,700,000
Anders Gran Kvam: 3,070,000
Paolo Palmieri: 2,520,000
Nicolas Proust: 1,860,000
Anne Meri: 735,000
Watch Maria Ho Recap Battle of Malta Day 3
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