We expected big things for the start of the 2018 Battle of Malta, and we were not disappointed.
Moving to the spacious InterContinental Hotel and Casino Malta for the first-time this year, the Eden Arena was decked out in its Sunday best to greet the players on Day 1a today.
Not only was there plenty of elbow room (and registration points) for everyone to breathe easy, the room was awash in red and blue balloons.
They weren't there just to help set the festive mood - they were actually used to highlight the table numbers!
And that was only the beginning.
Laura Cornelius, Live Stream Ease BoM Into Action
New host Laura Cornelius was on hand to kick off the shuffle up and deal and when the chips settled into play we found some familiar faces around the tables.
Sofia Lovgren, Ana Marquez, Espen Uhlen Jorstad, and two-time final-tablist Jonas Hähnert were all here.
So were former Premier League footballer Anthony Gardner, WSOP November Niner Fernando Pons and Austrian chess wiz Ivo Donev.
Did we mention former Battle of Malta Main Event champion Nicolas Proust?
By the end of the day 451 entries had made it into the prize pool to make it the biggest Day 1A since the BoM moved to more than two Day 1 flights in 2015. For reference, last year's Day 1a had 320 entries.
Play ran through 16 levels and ended the night in the money with 68 players left. Those players have all been paid out €500 but they can also choose to forfeit their stack and come back again tomorrow.
Any difference in prize money will be paid out when we starting busting people on Day 2.
Koops There It Is!
The chip leader for Day 1A is Alexander Koops with 497,000. Here are the top 10 counts:
1. Alexander Koops 497,000 2. Luigi D'alterio 461,000 3. Fabrizio Privitera 454,000 4. Stanislav Zegal 434,000 5. Nir Amar 362,000 6. Per Steinar Sele 339,000 7. Stefano Terziani 330,000 8. Shlomo Yaakov Ben 313,000 9. Fredrik Karl Ellingsson 310,000 10. Pierre-Yves Joubert 306,000Live coverage continues every day on PokerListings.com and the live stream runs everyday on the Battle of Malta Facebook page.
Check in on our Italian language updates right here. Watch our recap video for the Day and enjoy some pictures below!
Full Chip Counts
(number of entries in parenthesis)
Koops Alexander Klass Mathias (1)
497,000
D'alterio Luigi (1)
461,000
Privitera Fabrizio (1)
454,000
Zegal Stanislav (1)
434,000
Amar Nir (1)
362,000
Sele Per Steinar (1)
339,000
Terziani Stefano (1)
330,000
Ben Shlomo Yaakov (1)
313,000
Fredrik Ellingsson Karl (1)
310,000
Pierreyves Jean Francis Joubert (1)
306,000
Cutri' Luciano (1)
285,000
Neukirch Jonas (1)
279,000
Hudson Thomas James (1)
276,000
Stanevicius Auris (1)
269,000
Jukka-Pekka Peltoniemi (1)
264,000
Romano Maurizio (1)
242,000
Nicolas Yan Proust (1)
218,000
Lappas Charalampos (1)
217,000
Evans Lena Ngoc (1)
-
198,000
Richnau Alexander Robin Erik (1)
190,000
Meller Guy (1)
176,000
Kambov Viktor Vasilev (1)
164,000
Adam Milewski (1)
157,000
Benta Sebastian (1)
-
155,000
Samuele Lo Presti (1)
154,000
Rafal Skrzypnik (1)
152,000
Even Soensterudbraaten (1)
141,000
Fenech Philip (1)
-
141,000
Sammut Clint (1)
140,000
Valter Proia (1)
140,000
Geci Endrit (1)
138,000
Lovelock Colin Eric (1)
133,000
Ghosh Kingshuk (1)
130,000
Filatov Mikhail (1)
129,000
Castillo Antonio Maria Iniesta (1)
129,000
Sahlstroem Robert Marcus Martin (1)
129,000
Mazet Florence Yvette Suzanne (1)
128,000
Netzer Shai (1)
-
125,000
Guarnuto Dario (1)
124,000
Verrina Carmine (1)
124,000
Puchol Vina Alvaro Fernando (1)
123,000
Kitsios Georgios (1)
119,000
Mr Cezar Iustinian Laurentiu (1)
117,000
Baccassino Mattia (1)
113,000
Bahar Yitshak Zah (1)
-
112,000
Guimond Florin Nico (1)
102,000
Caplau Joanny (1)
100,000
Aki Paveli Vartinen (1)
93,000
Stropoli Julien (1)
93,000
Formica Salvatore (1)
91,000
Riskevicius Vytautas (1)
82,000
Toledo Rafael (1)
78,000
Stachyra Artur Piotr (1)
-
71,000
Appleyard James (1)
69,000
Comesana Pedro Vidal (1)
66,000
Gabriele Re (1)
63,000
Scalia Marco Paolo (1)
60,000
Zapf Manuel (1)
59,000
Ioannou Ioannis (1)
58,000
Hosia Akseli Veli Johannes (1)
-
55,000
Jorstad Espen Uhlen (1)
49,000
Broden Jonas Gunnar (1)
46,000
Ho Ting (1)
44,000
Della Ventura Sergio Domenico (1)
40,000
Kasten Per Thorben (1)
-
39,000
Cormack Francis Harold (1)
34,000
Vadenbring Nils Gustav (1)
27,000
Penney Steven John (1)
25,000
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