Niko Pakalen (571,000) has claimed the Day 1b chip lead with Simon Forster (477,000), Marc Jan Mijnheer (446,00), Ola Stene-Johansen (431,000), Patrick Clarke (400,000), Ovidiu Dorin Barna (383,000), and Leo Worthington-Leese (372,000) (pictured above) following behind.

With 333 entries on Day 1a and 585 on Day 1b, this year's Battle of Malta Main Event is already up to a total of 918 entrants.

Today 88 players joined the 55 from yesterday in making it through to Day 2 after a long day's play, guaranteeing themselves a place in the money.

Among those to progress included Dara O'Kearney, Ian Simpson, and Daragh Davey.

Several players from Day 1a were back in action, along with new players such as last year's winner Julien Stropoli and 2018 runner-up Maxime Canevet along with Uri Gilboa, David Lappin, John Hesp (pictured below), Sander van Wesemael and Fraser MacIntyre.

Canevet hit the rail during hand-for-hand after running pocket jacks into Clarke's pocket queens, before Stefano Stefanacci bubbled the money spots having flopped a flush with six-four of spades, but saw Salvatore Motta held ten-eight of spades for the higher flush. 

For players not advancing, they still have Days 1c, 1d, and the Turbo Day 1e flight to punch their ticket to Day 2.

Tomorrow sees Day 1c kick off at 1 p.m., and if last year is anything to go by, it is expected to be a massive field, dwarfing the two flights that have taken place so far.

Be sure to stay tuned to the live updates as we bring you all the coverage from the Intercontinental Hotel and Casino Malta here at the Battle of Malta.

The flop was down , and Stefano Stefanacci checked.

Salvatore Motta bet 11,000, and Stefanacci shoved for 83,000 from the big blind. 

Motta went into the tank with 120,000 behind, but after a minute passed, he called. 

Stefanacci flipped over for a flush, but saw the bad news that Motta held for the higher flopped flush. 

The and fell to complete the board, and Stefanacci was eliminated in 89th place. 

The final 88 are now in the money and will bag their chips for Day 2. 

A recap of the day's action and full end-of-day chip counts will follow. 

The action opened from early position with a raise to 11,000, and Maxime Canevet moved all in for 62,000 from the hijack. 

Patrick Clarke called from the cutoff, and the initial raiser folded. 

Canevet:

Clarke:

Board:

Clarke extended his lead on the flop with a set, and by the river had improved to a full house to seal the pot. 

2018 BOM Main Event runner-up 2018 BOM Canevet departed in 90th place and just missed out on the money spots. 

Barna Ovidiu-Dorin moved all in from the cutoff and Chris O'Hare put the last of his chips into the middle from the small blind. 

Ovidiu-Dorin:

O'Hare:

Board:

O'Hare was in a flip for his tournament life but was unable to connect with the board. 

Ovidiu-Dorin took down the pot and moved up to 190,000. 

Three players called, and Ricciardi Gaetano moved all in for 56,000. 

Two players folded, and Danny Toffel put his final 15,000 into the middle. 

Gaetano:

Toffel:

Board:

There was no joy for Toffel, and he hit the rail as Gaetano moved up to 80,000. 

Yesterday's chip leader was Shane Dempsey with 490,000, however Leo Worthington-Leese is already in a good position with 435,000 midway through Level 13.

Just 117 players remain from the 585 that started Day 1b, with 88 advancing to Day 2.

Mick McCloskey is all in on the flop, and Mario Ripepi called. 

McCloskey revealed for the up-and-down straight draw, and Ripepi was ahead with . 

However, the on the turn gave McCloskey the straight, and he held on the river to double. 

Kapatsoris Stylianos moved all in for 58,000 from the button. Patrick Clarke called in the small blind and the big blind folded.

Kapatsoris Stylianos:
Patrick Clarke:

The flop came . "That'll be difficult," said Clarke on the turn leaving Stylianos drawing dead.

The river was the and Clarke moved up to around 280,000.

The players are on a 20-minute break.

The board was down , and a bet of 9,200 came in from one player. 

Three players called, and the appeared on the river. 

All four players checked, and the first player showed for top pair. The second player showed before the third player folded. 

The final player revealed , and the three players chopped the pot while sharing laughter at the situation. 

Action was on a river of and Daniel Lakerveld bet 32,000 into a pot approaching 80,000. Ovidiu-Dorin Barna was his opponent, and he instantly flicked in a chip to call.

Lakerveld showed but was no good against the of Barna.

"Good river for you," said Barna who chipped up to over 200,000 in chips.

The board was down , and Fabio Frusca bet 49,500 from under the gun. 

James Crawley-Boevey moved all in for 98,000, and Frusca went into the tank. 

Frusca was unsure about what to do and repeatedly checked his holding with 50,000 behind. After close to two minutes, Frusca mucked for two pair, and Crawley-Boevey took a massive pot. 

Shortly after doubling, John Hesp shoved for 20,000 from under the gun and was called by Umberto Ruggeri.

John Hesp:
Umberto Ruggeri:

There was no help for Hesp on the runout and he was eliminated.

"I was just card dead," said Hesp. "I got off to a really good start on feature, you know how it is, when you get all your cards at once!"

Tournament officials have confirmed that after 585 players jumped into Day 1b of the Battle of Malta Main Event, the tournament will play down to 88 players before bagging up for Day 2.

That brings the tournament to 918 total entrants with three flights left. There are currently 164 players remaining in Day 1b.

Hayashi Tatsuya raised from the cutoff, and Mugurel Fracas moved all in for 28,000 from the button.

Pavlos Xanthopoulos called in the small blind, and Pablo Amor moved all in from the big blind. 

Xanthopoulos called after Tatsuya folded, and the three players turned over their cards. 

Xanthopoulos:

Fracas:

Amor:

Board:

Fracas hit a set on the flop, and Amor caught an ace on the turn. 

Fracas triples up to 90,000, Amor was left with 10,000, and Xanthopoulos moved down to 65,000. 

According to Alan Vinnicombe, he has single-handedly brought himself back from the dead after being down to just 3,000 shortly after the dinner break.

"It was a miracle," Vinnicombe told us. "Four straight double ups! It might have been four. Or was it five?"

"I thought I was out. I had ace king against queens and I thought that was it."

Vinnicombe told us that he limp re-raised with aces to get a chunk back, and after further pots he now sits on 83,000. Will he continue ever upwards and be a contender for the end-of-day chip lead? Only time will tell!

The completed board was down , and Elisha Benguigui checked from the big blind. 

Anthony Forster bet 10,000 from the button, and Benguigui moved all in for 41,600. 

Forster asked for the count and went into the tank. After ninety seconds, Forster called and revealed for two pair. Benguigui mucked for the lower two pair and hit the rail.

Morten Mathiesen raised to 3,500, and the player in the cutoff called before Dario Marinelli moved all in for 7,600 from the small blind. 

Giorgio Marletta called in the big blind and did the other two players. 

The flop fell , and Mathiesen bet 15,000. The other two players folded, and Mathiesen and Marinelli flipped over their hands. 

Marinelli revealed but was behind to . 

The turn and river were no use to Marinelli, and he departed. 

Players in the Battle of Malta Main Event are heading on a 75-minute dinner break. The tournament clock shows 228 of 580 players remaining.

Fraser MacIntyre three-bet to 6,800 from the button after his opponent in the cutoff opened to 2,600. 

The cutoff player four-bet to 15,000 and MacIntyre's shove was snap-called. 

MacIntyre held and was up against . 

The board fell , and despite MacIntyre hitting a full house on the river, it was not enough to survive. 

A player opened and Pasquale Braco three-bet. Michele Manzi and the original raiser called and the trio saw a flop of

It checked to Braco who continued for 16,000. Manzi min-raised and the original raiser folded. Braco shoved and Manzi called it off for his last 80,000 or so chips.

Pasquale Braco:
Michele Manzi:

The turn meant Manzi was drawing dead and the river sent him to the rail with Braco moving up to within touching distance of 300,000 in chips.

There was a loud thump of a fist hitting a table and we saw Francesco Aprigliano mumbling something in not-too-friendly sounding Italian.

Aprigliano held and was all in for in excess of 50,000 against the of Mateusz Wozniak.

The board had come giving Wozniak a rivered set and eliminating Aprigliano.

Robert Cabral Lim called an all in from Alessandro Giordano, and the latter needed help. 

Lim held , and it was for Giordano. 

The board brought no help for Giordano and the Italian hit the rail as Lim moved up to 120,000. 

Daniel Carlsson raised from the button and called after the player in the small blind shoved for 12,000. 

Carlsson was ahead with against , and when the board fell there was no shocks. 

Carlsson picked up the pot as his opponent departed and moved up to 40,000. 

Chris O'Hare was all in holding against the of Dario Marinelli for O'Hare's last 21,000.

There was an ace on the flop of and Marinelli couldn't hit on the runout and he fell below starting stack.

With 323 of 569 players remaining in the Battle of Malta Main Event, the big stacks are beginning to emerge with anyone over 100,000 in chips well-placed.

The largest that we've noticed is Czech player Dominik Martan who sits with over 140,000 midway through Level 7.

Csaba Kovacs bet 4,000 and the flop fell and then called a 12,000 all in from Peter Jaksland. 

Jaksland held for middle pair, and Kovacs had . 

Jaksland kept his lead after the fell on the turn, but the river gave Kovacs the nut flush to steal the pot and eliminate Jaksland. 

Players are going on their second 20-minute break of the day with the tournament clock showing 348 of 561 players remaining.

Jelmer Schuurmans raised from the button before Ian Simpson moved all in for 12,500. Joubert Pierreyves thought for a minute in the big blind before he called, and Schuurmans folded. 

Simpson:

Pierreyves:

Board:

Simpson hit top set on the river to confirm his double up and moved up to 26,000. 

A player opened to 1,500 and got a number of calls including Seppo Lehtonen before Renato Messina three-bet to around 18,000 leaving himself 1,000 around.

It folded back to Lehtonen who moved all in for 15,000 and the remaining players all folded.

Seppo Lehtonen:
Renato Messina:

There was no help for Lehtonen on the and he was eliminated.

The pot was 9,500 with the flop down , and Kristofer Skolem check-called a 3,000 bet from Dario Marinelli. 

Both players checked on the turn, and Skolem passed the action across for the third time after the appeared on the river. Marinelli then saw his 5,000 bet called, and for top pair top kicker was enough to win the pot for Marinelli. 

Battle of Malta has created a new app – available for both iOS and Android. The app has a host of features including instant notifications, the latest BOM news, the BOM twitter feed, 2020 tournament schedule, and the chance to win a seat for the 2020 edition of the event next year.

Players can download the app anytime by visiting bom.beezer.com

Last year Maxime Canevet fell just short of taking down the biggest Battle of Malta Main Event, finishing in second place behind Julien Stropoli.

However, he did walk away with the largest payday after a five-handed deal. He won €192,000 and is back in the field today looking to lock up another cash and start his journey to back-to-back deep runs.

The main Battle of Malta Players Party is taking place at exclusive Paranga Beach, the Intercontinental Hotel’s private beach club, from 8 pm on Sunday (October 20). Hit Maltese band Red Electrick is on the bill, ensuring this will be a night to remember for all Battle of Malta players.

On a flop Morten Mathiesen check-called 2,200 from pre-flop raiser Danilo Colomba.

The turn was the and Mathiesen checked. Colomba continued for 5,400 and Mathiesen check-raised all in, with Colomba snap-calling for his last 24,000.

Morten Mathiesen:
Danilo Colomba:

Colomba had flopped two pair with the turn giving Mathiesen a better two pair. The river gave both players a full house with the Danish player's hand better sending the Italian to the rail..

Michele Manzi called for 500 before Jana Krcova raised to 1,800 in the next seat. 

Manzi called after the other players folded, and the flop fell . Both players checked, and Manzi bet 2,400 on the turn. 

Krcova called and the appeared on the river. Manzi bet 4,000 and Krcova raised to 8,000. 

Manzi quickly folded to the pressure from Krcova but was still left to play a 65,000 stack. 

The flop was down , and James Crawley-Boevey called Uri Gilboa's all in. 

Gilboa held for the open-ended straight draw, but Crawley-Boevey was ahead with . 

The turn and river were no use to Gilboa, and he departed from the table. 

Marius Cristea Valentin raised to 1,100 from under the gun, and four players called. 

The flop fell , and Valentin continued for 3,700 after two players checked. Another folded before John Hesp min-raised to 7,500, and the action folded back to Valentin. 

Valentin thought for 30 seconds before he took a final look at his cards and folded.

Battle of Malta has created a new app – available for both iOS and Android. The app has a host of features including instant notifications, the latest BOM news, the BOM twitter feed, 2020 tournament schedule, and the chance to win a seat for the 2020 edition of the event next year. Players can download the app anytime by visiting bom.beezer.com 

Lars Olsson was all in for around 6,000 against fellow Swede Carl Brandt.

Lars Olsson:
Carl Brandt:

There was no help for Brandt on the as Olsson doubled up, bringing both to around half starting stack.

The completed board was down and in front of Andre Grech was . 

Grech was all in and Sirin Ongorur had called at some point only to reveal . 

Grech collected the 37,000 pot, and Orgorur was reduced to 32,000. 

Andy Hills has enjoyed a stellar period of time, spinning up a stack of just 1,300 to 29,000.

After calling a shove for around 40,000 with ace-queen and failing to hold, he managed to - in his words - "save €500" by chipping back up.

His reward for such efforts? A seat on the feature table after the break.

The players are now on their first 20-minute break. 

The flop fell and Marko Pejic checked from the big blind before Anders Andren bet from the cutoff. 

Pejic raised to 2,200 and Andren called. The hit on the turn, and Andren called a 2,500 bet. 

Pejic continued for 6,100 on the river and Andren called after a few moments in the tank. 

Pejic showed for two pair, and Andren open-mucked . 

Dmitry Pavlov raised from early position and Andy Hills three-bet all in for 7,300 from the cutoff. 

The action folded back to Pavlov, and he called after ten seconds of thought. 

Pavlov:

Hills:

Board:

Hills, who took sixth place in the 2018 BOM Main Event, held to double and remained in contention in his bid to make back-to-back final tables. 

On a flop, Aidan Hynes checked blind on blind to Robert Lim who bet 700. Hynes check-raised to 2,800 and Lim called.

The pair checked both the turn and river. Hynes turned over for two pair and Lim mucked.

The cards were down , and there were 3,000 in the middle. 

Both players checked, and the river card was the . 

Oscar Quintero Chica bet 1,300 from the big blind, and Quintin Mouton called from the button. 

Chica showed for the flopped straight, and Mouton mucked. 

Action was on a board and with 20,000 chips in the middle, Christopher Barclay checked to Jon Garaialde who bet 15,000.

Barclay eyed his opponent steadily.

"You need to button up the collar for the next bluff you try," said Barclay, pointing at his opponent's neck.

Eventually the clock was called on him and as the seconds ticked down his hand was declared dead.

"You didn't want me to call there," he said, with his opponent sliding his hand into the muck.

The completed board was down and Oyvind Wroldsen bet on the river. 

Daragh Davey raised, and the Irishman called after Wroldsen shoved. 

Wroldsen showed for top set, but Davey revealed for a  straight to survive and win the pot. 

Stian Danielsen raised to 400 from the cutoff and called a raise to 1,200 from Bartosz Mielczarek in the big blind. 

Both players checked on the flop and Mielczarek bet 1,500 on the turn. 

Danielsen called and the players checked to a showdown on the river. 

Mielczarek revealed and Danielsen mucked .

The flop fell , and Souliotis Konstantinos bet 800 from middle position. Two players folded before Kapatsoris Stylianos called in the small blind, as did Sally Jane Stephens in the big bind. 

Konstantinos bet 2,700 on the turn, and only Stephens called. She checked again on the river, and Konstantinos checked behind. 

Stephens held , but Konstantinos took the pot with for trips. 

Yesterday's figure of 333 has already been surpassed today on Day 1b of the Battle of Malta Main Event.

Organisers are hopeful that the addition of yesterday's extra flight - compared to last year - will mean a bumper field size for the 2019 edition.

Among the notable names in the field so far is Dara O'Kearney (pictured), Mohamed Mehdi, Christos Xanthopoulous, Patrick Clarke, Daragh Davey, Anthony Gardner, John Hesp, Andy Hills, John McDonnell, Csaba Kovacs, David Lappin, Fraser MacIntyre, Paul Romain, Ian Simpson, and last night's money bubble player Vygerdas Jonikas. 

The Day 1b action is underway at the Casino Malta. 

Live Updates by Will Shillibier and Aaron McBride

The 2019 Battle of Malta continues today with the second of five starting flights, with this year's €555 buy-in Main Event expected to be the biggest in Battle of Malta history.

Yesterday's Day 1a saw 333 entrants compete, and with the action in level 14, the money bubble burst, leaving 50 players remaining to progress to Day 2 on Sunday, October 20.

Last year a whopping 3,816 players smashed the €1m guarantee, and this year, thousands of players will be competing in Malta’s biggest poker tournament, including hundreds of qualifiers from MPNPT, 888poker and Italian site Vincitu.

*denotes deal

The award-winning Battle of Malta is being hosted by Casino Malta at the luxurious InterContinental Hotel in St Julian’s from October 15-22. 

Malta-based French player Julien Stropoli won last year's Main Event for €168,500, the best cash of his live poker career. The star-studded final table included previous MPN Poker Tour finalist Mantas Urbonas, two-time Unibet Open champion Mateusz Moolhuizen and Grosvenor Ambassador Andy Hills.

Main Event Structure

With unlimited re-entries until the end of level 10, there will be five start flights in total – with many flights expected to sell out. Players will kick off with a 25,000 starting stack and 40-minute blind levels. In the final Day 1e start flight, players will get a 10,000 starting stack and 10-minute levels. Each Day 1 will play down to 15% of the field – with all survivors making the money.

Bowling Competition

On Saturday (October 19), Battle of Malta is hosting a Bowling Competition at the Eden SuperBowl opposite the tournament venue. Four seats for Battle of Malta 2020 are up for grabs for each member of the four-person winning team . Teams of four should register in advance at the Eden Super Bowl, which is right across the road from the Intercontinental.

Players Party

The main Battle of Malta Players Party is taking place at exclusive Paranga Beach, the Intercontinental Hotel’s private beach club, from 8 pm on Sunday (October 20). Hit Maltese band Red Electrick is on the bill, ensuring this will be a night to remember for all Battle of Malta players.

New App

Battle of Malta has created a new app – available for both iOS and Android. The app has a host of features including instant notifications, the latest BOM news, the BOM twitter feed, 2020 tournament schedule, and the chance to win a seat for the 2020 edition of the event next year. Players can download the app anytime by visiting bom.beezer.com or using the QR code below.

Stay tuned to all the live updates throughout the Battle of Malta festival right here!