The

The Battle of Malta so far couldn't have gone any better with not only huge numbers but players enjoying themselves throughout Friday leading into the weekend.

The €500,000 guaranteed Main Event has been a smashing success thus far with the guarantee already smashed with 1,008 runners including 684 on Day 1b and 324 entries on Day 1a. This is already more than the 918 runners during the first two opening flights at the record-breaking 2019 Battle of Malta Main Event which eventually attracted 4,657 entries to generate a €2,495,795 prize pool.

A total of 103 players bagged chips into Day 2, each secured with at least a min-cash. Thomas Hoelmer (pictured above) led the way after taking the chip lead late in the day and then putting on a performance by applying pressure hand after hand to continue to grow his stack. Thus far, this is the second biggest stack as Day 1a chip leader Raoul Van Wersch managed to advance with 744,000.

Also bagging top five chip stacks were Marco Corso (560,500), Luka Sorainen (484,000), Josef Gulas (460,000), and Rosario Saddemi (386,000).

Meanwhile, 2018 Battle of Malta Main Event champion Julien Stropoli advanced with 128,000 and 2019 Battle of Malta Main Event runner-up Steven Van Zadelhoff wasn't too far behind with 106,500 in chips.

The Main Event action will continue with Day 1c on Saturday at 1 p.m. Stay tuned to follow the action.

Today we had a bit longer bubble than yesterday. Main reason for longer bubble was that good hands held up quite easily.

was better than

The bubble special was between Yossef Cohen and Rosario Saddemi. Rosario opened behind, Yossef reraised from the blind and Rosario moved all in 180K, Yossef was not scared and called, to see that his was in bad shape against Rosario's Board did not help him, so Rosario doubled up, and got his stack back to nice 360000.

Then aces held up against tens, easily.

All in player won also coinflip vs

Bubble burst, when Nicolaj D'Antoni moved all in from the button. Ian Tabone was in the big blind, and decided to call with his the board turned the race to Ian's favor.

Remaining players gave a big hand of applause to the bubble boy Nicolaj, and of course to themselves.Grinding to money is always good and even better in Battle of Malta, we know already that the winner is going to collect 6-figure payout.

Bart Kuiper raised from early position and Kaidar Viikman defended his big blind. Viikman open-jammed for 50,000 on the flop and was snap-called by Kuiper.

Kaidar Viikman:

Bart Kuiper:

The entire table gasped when they saw that Viikman's top pair was coolered by Kuiper's set. Kuiper improved to a full house after the turn and river completed the board and Viikman finished one player short of the money.

The action was hand-for-hand on the Day 1b bubble after Viikman hit the rail.

Here are the biggest stacks right now.

Thomas Hoelmer is our chipleader right now, he has about 550000 in his stack.

The Day 1b field is down to just 111 players out of the total field of 684 entries. The day will conclude when there are just 103 players remaining with all players finding a bag to Day 2 already securing a min-cash.

There will be a break in about 15 minutes assuming eight more players don't find themselves empty-handed on the rail before then.

Alberto Cigliano moved all in with his Luka Sorainen sat next to him and moved also all in with his

The board ran and Alberto's chips found a new home in Luka's stack.

Florian Gouguet moved all in with his and Thomas Hoelmer called with his

The board bricked and Florian left the table and started planning his re-entry tomorrow to Day 1C.

Julien Stropoli

Tomer Ben Azar

Renato Messina

A gathering of Dutch poker players including Mateusz Moolhuizen and Dex De Jong scheduled what was termed an unofficial wallet toss side event in between the official Ladies Event and the media desk.

At one point, there was live commentating and even a floorman helping judge the contest. The object of the game was to knock over a bottle by tossing a wallet at it from a considerable distance with the loser obligated to buy a round of drinks.

It was down to just Moolhuizen and De Jong at the end and Moolhuizen squeaked through with a min-cash while De Jong, said he was De Loser after losing the event and went off to get drinks for the crew.

After the contest, Moolhuizen conducted an indepth interview with the winner of the event in Jorn Batens.

Sami Mitwali

Vincenzo Pellegrino

Bart Kuipers

Rosario Saddemi

Steven van Zadelhoff

Kaidar Viikman

Shai Arbel called a three-bet jam of around 10-12 big blinds by Federico Giordano and the cards were turned over.

Federico Giordano:

Shai Arbel:

Arbel bricked the board and Giordano did a small celebration of joy after doubling his short stack.

Emanuele Cassibba

Vladimir Shraiberg

Salvatore Signorelli

Alberto Cigliano opened for 5,500 from middle position before Steven Van Zadelhoff defended his big blind.

Van Zadelhoff check-called for 10,500 on the flop before checking again on the turn. Cigliano jammed and Van Zadelhoff called off for about 35,000.

Steven Van Zadelhoff:

Alberto Cigliano:

Van Zadelhoff was far ahead on the turn and doubled up after his opponent blanked the river.

Here some big stacks from the last break.

Konstantin Farber opened with Michail Papaioannou moved all in with his Konstantin called.

The board did not give any mercy to Michail, who moved to the rail.

Giuseppe Firetto limped from the middle position, Guillaume Garcia was next to act and decided to raise to 6500. All other players folded, so it quickly back to Firetto. He thought a while, and moved all in with his 50000 stack. Now it was up to Garcia, who started to do the math. He decided to fold.

Firetto collected a small pot with a smile. He decided to show his cards:

Fernando Pacicca jammed for 9,200 into a small pot with the flop. Gaetano Porrello tanked for a minute before he found a call.

Fernando Pacicca:

Gaetano Porrello:

Pacicca didn't have the best hand preflop but postflop his hand held with the turn and river completing the board.

Enrico Grella and Ettore Esposito had been steadily building the pot bigger.

At the river board was Enrico moved all in, and Ettore did not hesitate put his last chips to the pot too.

Enrico showed but Ettore turned over Tand doubled up with his trips.

We saw quick action in table 15, when Diego Grisiglione and Dorian Hem saw the flop they did not hesitate to move their chips to the middle. Diego had and Florian had

Turn was which sealed the deal. Meaningless fell at the river. Dorian had smaller stack, so he can focus for tomorrow and day 1C.

Angelo Patane bet 6,500 into a relatively small pot with the flop. Shlomo Pearl jammed for more than a starting stack and Patane called.

Shlomo Pearl:

Angelo Patane:

As soon as Patane called, Pearl already began to get up and say good game as he figured he was far behind. Pearl was drawing dead after Patane improved to trip on the turn and his Day 1b was over after the completed the board on the river. 

Meanwhile, Chris Da Silva has also recently hit the rail.

Ettore Esposito got his 15 big blinds in with and was up against Enrico Grella with .

The tens held the entire way on the double-paired board to double his stack. Meanwhile, Grella still had a healthy stack of approximately 100,000 after the hand.

Late registration for Day 1b has closed with 684 entries and 278 players remaining. This brings the field up to 1,008 entries and counting with three more opening flights to go.

The €500,000 guarantee has been also smashed with the prize pool standing at €504,000 and will grow until late registration on Day 1e closes on Sunday.

The €150 Battle of Malta PLON Ladies Event kicked off during the dinner break and thus far has been quite popular with 59 entries as of the end of Level 4. There is still plenty of time for the field to grow even more with late registration will be open until the end of Level 10.

Shiyan Fang, who bagged in the Main Event on Day 1a is in the field along with many other well-known women players including Emmi Juutilainen, Jacqueline Cachia, Kelly Saxby, Siiri Saar, Kerryjane Craigie, Anne Bezdek, Carmen-Elina Vist, Ilona Sibold, and Maili Tannbaum.

Henrik Fjeldstad bet 15,000 into a pot of nearly 50,000 with the on the board. Antonio Alba jammed for 45,400 and Fjeldstad went into the tank for several minutes. Fjeldstad checked his cards one more time and began to count out his chips before he called.

Alba quickly turned over for a set and Fjeldstad appeared to try to send his hand directly into the muck. The dealer asked him to turn over his hand and he still had small hope to eliminate Alba after showing . However, the was a safe card for Alba to double through Fjeldstad.

On the first hand after the dinner break, Bernardo Rama bet 2,000 into a pot of around 6,000 after the . Anthony Sciacca jammed for about 15 big blinds and Rama called.

Anthony Sciacca:

Bernardo Rama:

Sciacca was in a good spot to double with top pair but that all changed on the turn with Rama improving to two pair. Sciacca was unable to get a save on the river and was on the rail straight after the break.

The €500,000 guarantee has already been met with 678 entries at the conclusion of the dinner break on Day 1b along with the 324 entries on Day 1a to bring the total field up to 1,002 entries.

Now it is just a matter of by how much the guarantee will be smashed with one more level of late registration today followed by three more opening flights on Saturday and Sunday.

The €500,000 Main Event guarantee is one player away from being met around halfway through Day 1b. The prize pool will be absolutely massive with not only 1 more level of late registration on Day 1b but also three more opening flights.

Patrisha Rimfire and Telly Bartolo took care of the welcome ceremony:

Oren Itzhak

Keimo Suominen

Christos Makris

Teemu Leppälahti

Almost last hand before the dinner we saw two big hands clash in table 3. Netiv Shai David moved his chips in with and Jari Hurri called with his

The board only made the difference between hands bigger and Netiv could start to plan a bit longer dinner.

Players are now on a 75-minute dinner break. Assorted chip counts will be updated during the dinner break along with more hands and stories for the second half of Day 1b.

Shortstacked Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen moved his last chips in with and Georgios-Angelos Tavoularis called with his

The board did not help Jacob. "Player out" shouted the dealer, when Jacob left the table.

We saw a big 3-way all in at table 16. Davide Brancale with , Oren Itzhak with and Christos Makris with went all in before flop.

The board did not help Davide and Oren, so Christos scooped a nice pot. Davide was the shortest stack, so he busted.

Joost van Waalwik was shortstacked and moved his last 8000 in with Bengt Loeoef called with Board did not help Joost, so he moved to the rail to think about possible re-entry.

Teemu Leppälahti opened from cutoff, all players behind him called, so had 5 players taking the flop, which was action was checked to Donato Mongelli to button, who bet 2500, Teemu was only one to call. Turn was now Donato bet 5500, Teemu took his time and checkraised to 17.000. Now Donato had a problem, to believe Teemu or not. After a short thinking process Donato decided to fold his hand, flashing the other card, which was

Alexander Levin bet 2,500 into a pot of around 7,000 after the came on the flop. Jakov Vinter raised to 6,500 and Levin went into the tank for a couple of minutes before he called.

Vinter checked the . Levin bet 15,000 and Vinter once again was in the tank for a couple of minutes. This time he jammed for about 33,000 and Levin snap-called.

Jakov Vinter:

Alexander Levin:

Levin had Vinter drawing dead with his set of tens. The dealer confirmed that Levin had Vinter covered after the inconsequential river.

Giuseppe Gallo

Helge Hoefte

Henrik Fjeldstad

Timoleon Christodoulou

Players are on their second 15-minute break of Day 1b. 

The Day 1b field has grown to 602 entries, nearly double the 324 entries that entered on Day 1a. It is certainly possible that the €500,000 guarantee will be met today as Day 1b with three more flights to follow.

Steven van Zadelhoff, also known around the poker world as "The Viking" is in the house. The last time he was at the Battle of Malta was a week to remember as he made it to the final two players. He had a substantial lead on Serghei Lisii but Lisii stormed back and took the lead. The stacks evened up and "The Viking" and Lisii made a deal where both players agreed to an even chop with €30,000 on the line to be played for.

The battle continued before Lisii was able to seal the deal. However, "The Viking" faired quite well despite not securing the trophy with a runner-up prize of €217,617.

Shaun Decesare opened for 1,100 from the cutoff and was called by Fabio Peluso from the button. Decesare continued for 2,100 on the flop. Peluso jacked it up to 5,500 with just another 11,000 behind and this got in as well after Decesare three-bet jammed.

Fabio Peluso:

Shaun Decesare:

Decesare was far ahead with his opponent drawing thin. No miracles happened for Peluso and after the hand his stack was in Decesare's possession.

Olivier Rodot four-bet to 3,500 from the small blind and was called by Raffaele Tantillo from the hijack. Both players checked the flop before Rodot led out for 6,500 on the turn. Tantillo jammed for about 23,000 and Rodot called off for a little less.

Olivier Rodot:

Raffaele Tantillo:

Rodot spiked a set of aces with his pocket rockets but was behind the flopped flush by Tantillo. The river didn't improve Rodot further to quads or a full house and his seat was open after the hand.

Table 40 is one of the more fun ones around the room with Carmen-Elina Vist, Leo Fung, and Shaun Decesare all at the table. However, neither of the three was involved in the following hand at the same table.

Fabio Peluso three-bet from the big blind for 2,800. Ron Mamon four-bet from the hijack to 7,500 and Peluso tanked for a minute before he called. Peluso checked the flop and the action paused on Mamon for a little while before he fired out for 12,500 leaving just 5,500 left in his stack. Peluso didn't take too long to fold his hand and the dealer awarded Mamon the pot.

Fabio Pirozzi three-bet to 2,500 from the big blind and was called by Manuele Turci and Antoine Stackowiak.

Pirozzi fired out for 2,800 on the flop. Turci called before Stackowiak folded. The action continued after the followed on a turn with a bet by Pirozzi and a call by Turci before both players checked the river.

Pirozzi turned over and won the hand with a better kicker after Turci decided to show the table his .

David Levy bet 5,000 into a pot of around 30,000 with the on the board. Grazia Caruso called and a third player in the hand folded.

Levy turned over for a rivered full house and delivered Caruso a cooler who showed the table for trip tens.

"Seven players were limping, and I looked down my cards and saw I decided to 3-bet and three players folded, fourth guy moved all in with players between him and me folded so I got really nice value for my call, but the board bricked and the opponent scooped a nice pot", reported Jarno Jokiniemi.

Day 1b is on its first break. The action will resume in 15 minutes.

The Day 1b field has already grown to 489 entries with 437 players in their seats before the break.

Jarno Jokiniemi

Carmen-Elena Vist

Shaun De Cesare

Chris Da Silva is in the house and proudly wearing his PokerStars Hippodrome badge. He just snagged his seat in the Main Event but has his eyes on another event in the High Roller where he plans to defend his title.

Da Silva entered the High Roller in 2019 with just 15 big blinds on Day 2. This was enough for him to run up his stack before eventually coming out on top of the 322 entry field to win the event for a whopping €73,070.

Other Hippodrome players are also in the house including the formidable Kelly Saxby, who just bubbled a satellite but plans to play in Day 1c tomorrow and the Ladies Event later today.

Felix Schneiders is in the house and just got paid off with his big slick.

Schneiders bet 2,200 into a pot of 3,000 with the on the board and was called by Angelo Tarallo. The was flipped over by Schneiders, which was good enough to win the pot with Tarallo mucking his hand.

Players keep filing into the InterContinental in droves. The field has blossomed to 409 entries with 398 players remaining. This already smashed the impressive 324 entries attracted on Day 1a.

Here is our video of yesterdays opening ceremony. Sorry for the delay.

Patrisha Rimfire had a nice chat with Dehlia de Jong and Mateusz Moolhuizen.

Emanuel Borg and Alexandros Papadopoulos checked the turn with the on the board and a little less than 5,000 in the pot before Paul Johnson bet 1,600. Borg called before Papadopoulos jacked it up to 5,800.

Johnson paused for a moment before he called and Borg did the same to bring three players to the river. The card was an action killer with all three players checking.

Johnson turned over for top two pair whereas Papadopoulos had the goods on the turn with the straight with . Meanwhile, Borg hit a lucky river and also improved to the same straight as Papadopoulos to chop up the pot.

Cards are barely in the air but two players in Teddy Tuil and Piotr Przybylski will have to re-enter if they wish to advance to Day 2 through the Day 1b field as they already lost their stack.

Cards are in the air for Day 1b. As mentioned in the intro, today will be massive with already 312 entries and late registration not closing until the end of Level 10.

Many familiar faces from Day 1a have already registered for Day 1b after not finding a bag with many new players also ready for action.

Here is a look at a handful of the players already in the Day 1b field.

This is goint to be big!!

Day 1B starts in 40 minutes, and right now we already 213 players registered players today. We think that it is possible to reach 500 buy ins today. The guarantee is 500.000€, and we will definitely go much much over that.

The Main Event boasts five opening flights from April 21-24 with players kicking off the action with a healthy stack of 25,000 in chips. The first three flights feature 40-minute blind levels with the final two flights playing faster with 20-minute blind levels.

Players will have plenty of opportunities to build a monster stack with unlimited re-entries permitted during each of the five opening flights until the end of Level 10.

Each opening flight concludes when the field is trimmed down to 15 percent with all advancing players already in the money. Players can re-enter even if they bag a stack with the biggest stack moving forward.

Surviving opening flight players will then compete for three more days from April 24-26 until the 2022 winner is crowned.

So interesting day coming, stay tuned!