Day 1B of the €1 Million Gtd €500+50 Battle of Malta has just wrapped up, Domenico Gala taking the chip lead on this second of six starting legs - all due to feed through to Sunday Evening's Day 2 on the 9/10.

Today's 419-strong field saw an increase on the numbers from Day 1A - no surprise as we approach the weekend. Once again the players began the tournament with a pair of knights marching toward seasoned host Laura Cornelius as she announced the start of the day accompanied by a dizzying light-show, ear-splitting drums and a bombastic musical ensemble.

The players were busy from the off - a steady stream of KO's and rebuys ensuring there was scarcely a dull moment during the day. Once level 10 was completed, the rebuys ended and we had our final tally of players for the day, 15% of which, 63, represented the cut-off point at which all remaining would have secured a Day 2 berth and a cash to boot for their efforts.

That point arrived in the early hours of the morning. The unfortunate soul to bubble was Potito Martine losing out in a flip to see his hopes of Day 2 progress disappear like vapor right on the cusp. He got some consolation hugs - but unfortunately these only have sentimental, rather than financial, value. We think they helped soften the blow however. Perhaps...

For the rest of the players though, their journey to achieve BoM greatness had just made great strides and we'll see them return on Sunday to battle the other Day 2 qualifiers.

While the Main Event played out, there were also a number of side events taking place. We'll bring you details of these shortly on the blog.

Tomorrow another poker-packed day beckons with Day 1C of the BoM Main Event commencing at 13:00 as usual. Alongside this, we'll have another bounty tournament taking place - the €80+100+20 "Bounty Your Day" Event beginning at 15:00, and two more NLHE side events (€180+20 & €130+20) will begin at 18:00 and 21:00 respectively.

The popular "Mystery Siege of Malta" Bounty Event will continue with Day 1B starting at 19:00.

There will also be a late night €55+15 satellite for anyone looking to win themselves a cheap entry to the BoM Main Event.

We'll be back at 13:00 for the Battle of Malta resumption. We know it will be fun so join us as we move slightly closer to determining who will be this year's €1 million Gtd Battle of Malta champion. Chip counts for Day 1B survivors will follow shortly.

It's no fun bubbling a tournament - just ask Potito Martine.

He called a shove from Clement Kerrien for 74k (Martine's stack)and the surrounding media & players surged in eagerly, straining to see if we'd finally have our Day 2 roster. TD Thomas Kremser called the action via microphone card by card.

Hands on their back...

for Kerrien, for Martine - the quintessential flip.

The flop looked bad for the all-in player bringing him no job with his two overcards.

The turn was the and the river the brickest of bricks - the .

Sad times for Potito (pictured centre below) who looked momentarily lost as reality sunk in. His friends rallied round and gave him affectionate squeezes. Very comforting but we still think he'd have taken the money given a choice!

All that aside, the remaining 63 players were all guaranteed a Day 2 spot and a cash. They looked suitably merry.

That brings the day to a close. We'll have a wrap of Day 1B's action and full chip counts coming shortly. Thanks for following!

Zero action so far.... On The Bubble...Still..

Sebastian Debrrowski departs in 65th, meaning we are Hand for Hand... The next out will be the bubble for Day 1B and all other players will be back for day 2 and all in the money...

Jacqueline Cachia has succumbed in 71st spot - running her short stacked against Giuseppe Comitini's pocket kings. No ace - and her day ended just short of the payouts. Bad luck!

Fraser Nicoll has just fallen 5 short of day 2!! 

On a board of All the chips end up in the middle and it's a nice 200k Pot.

Unfortunately for Nicoll he is drawing dead as he tables

Svetlana Aubakirova has

We lose another and now are 5 off making day 2 and in the money! 

Seven players remain in the OLYbet Event #11 €260+40 Event and it's Leonardo Romeo running the show at the moment with 415,000 to his name in the chip lead. It's a healthy €5,780 to the winner - a tasty prize to collect and Romeo looks focused on the job in hand...

The last bust outs of level 15.. 

Field Joseph James 
SUOKAS JARKKO 
D'alterio Luigi
DIACONU Ion
Marinacci Marco Andrea

Well, as expected, the atmosphere is becoming frosty as we close in on the effective bubble. There's a natural nervousness permeating the Main Event - medium stacks fearing the ICM pressure big stakcs can apply to them and little stacks seeing monsters round every corner. Danger abounds!

The break has arrived to provide 15 minutes respite. Time to put some whale music on your ipod, breathe deeply into your diaphragm, calm those jittery nerves and remember - it's only a cash!

We expect the next three levels to settle who will be returning for Sunday's Day 2 so hold tight for a dramatic finish. The bubble awaits...

With 78 players left and 63 getting through to day 2 and the 15 minute break imminent, play has ground to a Halt!! 

No action to speak of in the last few minutes, as the short stacks try and hang on!!

Table 14 has over 1.2 million chips spread around it.. But 3 of the have over 900k of them!!

Luca Beretta (Below) Has 450k

Humberto Galdini has 220k

Will Jarmen.... 270k

More Eliminations as we get down to 80!! 63 is the magic number the player need to survive until....

Shekerdemian Vako 
Fryda Victor Maceo 
GIANLUIGI GIULANI
TUPUREINA Evita
Kyriazi Grigoris 
Vaitzman Danel 
Van Wersch Raoul
Pierluigi Santelli
Martini Tomas 
Pietrosanto Andrea

Dimitrov Ivanov doubles to 55k but is still under the 100k average stack size..

But he did have all his short stack in the middle Pre flop against Nicolaj D'Antoni

Dimitrov 

Nicolaj

The board running a safe to give Ivanov (Below) a life line..

We draw ever closer to that magical number of 63 - the point at which the day will close and all remaining players can celebrate.

Life's fortunes and misfortunes are balanced though - with 101 remaining - at least 38 players won't make the cut - and it will be a bitter blow having battled through close to 12 hours of tough poker today.

Here are the players leading the final Day 1B charge, Claudio Moreira heading the counts as we speak.

More Exits as we head closer to the magical 63 players that make day 2.

Brackley Pete
Re Gabriele 
Dufouleur Lois 
Vat Michel 
Bengtson Henrik 
Anthony Vella Mark 
Grenander Jimmy 
Tedeschi Silvio 
Morel Florian 
Dvorkin Mary 
Sulc Marek 

Double up for Nico Frenn (Below).. On a board of He ends up all in against James Field....

Frenn turns over

Field has for 2 pair...... 

No help on the river for Field as the lands...

A juicy double to 125k for Nico, as he now sits in the middle of the pack...

With the Main Event's Day 1B moving into the latter levels of the day - here's a quick roundup of the other events taking place today.

The #10 Mystery Siege of Malta Day 1A saw 130 players stump up the €210+200+40 buyin to partake, creating a €25,116 prizepool. Just 26 of those remain in the running...

The #11 #OLYBet Live Poker NLHE saw 87 players register for the €260+40 buyin - their accumulated efforts building a tasty €21,715 prizepool.  There's 25 players left battling for the title as we speak.

The #12 PLO 8-Max €180+20 event had 76 runners and 36 of those remain, including the inimitable Irishman Daragh Davey. Those still in contention will duke it out for the €13,132 prizepool.

Exits from the last level... Remember we need to hit 15% of players who played Day 1B,  Which is 63 players..  115 left at this stage..

Podzemsky Lukas
Kollats Stylianos 
Austria Lipp Matthias Sebastian 
Pirn Mati 
Lombardi Rolando 
Ndoj Elmir 
Sherwood Rob 
Bonanno Vittorio 
Balan Cosmin-Liviu 
Maiorana Rocco 
Deni Flavio 
Liotta Giuseppe 
Reaubourg Quentin 
Kolarik Tomas 
Jo Darryl 
Ribatallada Jordi Ruiz 
Savio Damir

The end of Level 12 approaches and the players are preparing to take another break to stretch legs, compare notes, perhaps grab some refreshments from the food and drink desks.

There's 117/419 players still hoping to make that last cut of 63 who'll reach Day 2 and those fabled cash spots. Everyone wants a Maltese flag on their Hendonmob Resumé but a Battle of Malta one has extra kudos.

We'll find out who'll be burnishing their poker C.V. when we return in 15 minutes. See you then!

Hovvering over the table the board reads ... Quentin Reaubourg was called in 2 sopts for his final 30k.. There was now 130k in the middle..

The river fell and Quentin stood as if he couldn't win.... Clement Kerrien shoves, Potito Martire gets out of the way... 

Clement shows for the flopped straight.. Quentin(Below) was correct as he turned over and left the building ... 

Vittorio Bonanno just gained a stack of chips thanks to a fantastic backdoor draw that left Evita Tupureina watching a pot that was almost certainly hers disappear down the plug hole.

We joined the pair on the flop of an board - Bonanno leading for 4.6k - Tupureina making the call.

The turn saw Bonanno fire a second bullet of 8.5k - Tupureina calling once again.

Both players checked the river and Bonanno surprisingly turned up for a backdoored two-pair - Pureina showing down for top pair - which had been far ahead when the chips had gone in.

She took the beat well, restacking her remaining 44,000 chips whilst a chipper Bonanno (pictured centre) finds himself with an above-average 80,000 after that surprising turn of events.

Eliminations from the room....

 
Efe Levent 
Donnini Danilo 
Noble Tom
Hassan Mishal 
Williamson Susan 
Winska Klaudia 
Thiemer Frederik Paul Caspar 
Manic Petar 
Oliva Giueppe 
Grossmann Francoise
Polyzos Potelis 
Pichierri Alessandro 
Parts Rasmus 
Ahlmer Florian 
PUETZ ANDREAS 
Bergland Trond 

Maciej Krzysztof just played a pretty sizeable pot with Nicolaj D'Antoni.

We joined the pair contesting a board of , D'Antoni checking to Krzysztof, who bet out 8,500. D'Antoni eyed him suspiciously before making the call.

The river was the and once more D'Antoni checked. Krzysztof fired out 12,000 and D'Antoni thought for a little bit before jamming all-in for around 40k.

Krzystof pursed his lips and made the call - only for D'Antoni to show him pocket fives for a sneakily-played set turned full house.

Krzysztof nodded his head as though he knew this all along and was grabbing his coat to leave before the dealer called him back, explaining that he still had 22k to try and battle his way back into contention.

D'Antoni meanwhile was only too happy to run through the hand with an inquisitive tablemate in Italian - simultaneously re-organising his shiny new 110,000 into columns.

Here are the chip leaders from around the room... All aiming to be in the final 15% of the field later tonight..

Daniel Fantoli......110k
Jarman William Joseph Raymond... 180k (Below)
Tomasz Brzezinski.....142k
Angelo Mirabella.....160k
Luigi D'alterio........135k
Antoine Talvard.....145k

That's the first 10 levels of the day completed and the rebuy hose has been shut down, for now at least.

There will be no new registrants today, meaning the total number of entries Day 1B has attracted is 419 - and although this hasn't been officially confirmed, that should mean we will play down to 63 players before the day closes and all remaining are assured of a cash prize.

Expect some nail-biting moments as we approach this watershed moment, shortstacks especially will be hanging on for dear life with the heartening prospect of a cash within touching distance.

Elimiations from the end of level 9.. As we start the final buy in level of the day... 1 more chance to re-enter, if you fancy it tonight... 

 
 
Asztemborski Dominik Remigiusz
Azzopardi Warren
Matrai Andras  
Claudi Cristiano
Baci Eulgen 
Demircan Serdar 
Fang Shiyan 
SZABO GABOR  
Sambron Richard 
Mirza Zafar Islam 
Eberhardt Maximilian 
DAVEY DARAGH 
Estonia Leppik Andres 
IKONENÂ PEKKAÂ SAMULIÂ

The players have reached the end of level 9, meaning they are now ready to take their dinner break and return in 75 minutes to play down to the end of level 10  (at which point rebuys will cease) and the final 15% of total entries (which will end the day and signal all remaining players are being paid and will reach Day 2.)

We'll be back once everyone is suitably fed and watered. Catch you shortly!

Wrobel Maksymilian just sent the interestingly-named Tamm Taago to the rail, making what we think was a 30k ish call to what looked like a 4-bet shove preflop from Taago for around 36,100.

Maksymilian had - a strong call - which had a sizeable equity advantage over  Taago's speculative jam with . The queen-high run-out favoured Maksymilian, and he gave what looked like a small fist-pump of slightly-repressed joy as the pot went his way. A genial smile and some parting words from Taago and we'd lost another player to the mists of time.

Nearby, another player with an awesome name is marching his troops through the ranks and comin 'atcha - Cleopatra's famous beau and Roman General Mark Anthony is heading some impressive columns with 100k to his name. He'll be hoping to caesar few more before the day is done. We could literally make puns on his name all day so watch out if he goes deep!

A few eliminations from the room..

Frenn Nico  
Ferrara Marino 
Fohs Michael 
Goodman Sam 
Bukowski Igor 
Duffy Ciaran 
Bracchi Nicola 
Vayssieres Nicolas
Podzemsky Lukas
Tamm Taago
NACHSHON Itamar
Quilichini Lucas
Serdar Demircan
 Serdar Demircan 
Maennaste Kalev 
Caruso Raffaele 

Update of chips counts from some of the players that have made it over from the UK this week....

Tom Noble....24.4k
Dom Pope.....42.4k
Tony Poulengeris....30.7k
Frazer Nicoll...16.7k
Sean McKechnie.....32k
James McPherson....70k
Johnny Kelly......32k (pictured)
Sam Goodman...55k
Suzie Williamson... 17k

Recent eliminations have left the field considerably shorter. The blinds are starting to bite hard and just 232/392 players now remain. As expected today's numbers have shot ahead of yesterday's and we can expect this pattern to continue as the week progresses and the prizepool & number of entrants swells.

Bad luck to the following fallen warriors. You performed admirably (apart from those of you who played poorly - you have brought shame on yourselves with your performances.) Still there's always the chance to right that wrong with a superbly-played further entry.  There's always hope.

Two of the players who have had a sterling start to the day are Terlizzi Leonardo (105,000) and Serge Coppens (85,000) - both having made hay with better than 2 times average stacks at the moment.

Doing less well is Maciej Krzysztof - who just lost a chunk of his stack, calling a 12,800 shove from Hael Al-Labani with on a  board for top pair. Krysztof, however, found his opponent in almost impregnable shape with and a brick on the river saw his stack drop to 27,000 while Al-Labani rises to just shy of 50k.

Eliminations from the room...

Micallef Julian
Al-Labani Hael 
Johnson David 
KAMBER BORJA  
Micallef Julian 
Grosso Sergio 
Bellomonte Davide 
Dody Yoan 
HUGHES Woodrow 
Pliska Marc 
TARMO Tammel 
TATJANA Smakova 
Shellum Jason
O'kearney Dara  
DE LAAT BAS Menant 

Chip leaders from the room at the start of level 7....

Lawrence McLean.....80k
Dario Barone......65k
Raul Van Wersch.....78k
James Paris......85k
Tomasz Brzezinski......90k
Andrea Calandrino.....77k
Claudio Moreira.....74k
Leonardo Terlizzi....94k

The players have reached the end of level 6 and are taking  a quick break to recharge their batteries or perhaps sip a cooling hazelnut frappuccino (whatever that is) while they formulate a plan that will take them through to Day 2.

Remember - just as a reminder - all players who make it through to Day 2 will be in the money - and Day 1B will end (as did Day 1A) once 15 % of the total entrants remain.

With that said, we're off for a more traditional cup of water to quence our thirsts. Back with the action in 15.

Bust outs from the room durung level 6....

Flotta Saverio 
Shishkov Borislav Tonev 
Mihaylov Kostadin 
Mortensen Sebastian 
Arezzo Oscar 
Sahlin Daniel Gusta 
Gala Domenico 
Guerrero Jose 
Reid Blair
PUCZYLOWSKI MARCIN
Noble Philippe 
Piccione Giuseppe 
Kochev TOMI 
Giordano Alessandro 
Mortensen Sebastian 
Hemmert Udo Adrian 
Spagnolo Daniele 
Kirby Anthony 

Do you want an overhead view of a table here from the BoM?

What's that you say - only if you can see the cards? None of that distracting chatter others call "commentary."

Well wouldn't you know it, we can grant your every wish and desire (related to the BoM stream...)

We had a check round to locate some of the bigger stacks and found Claudio Moreira (pictured) with an impressive 92,000. Pierluigi Santelli had almost matched Moreira's haul (if not quite...) though this achievement looked significantly more impressive once we noticed Santelli was building astack even though he wasn't in his chair...Now that takes skill.

Gabriele Cappiello finishes off our mini chip counts with 70,000 - a near 3x starting stack at this point.

Bust outs from the room....

Grupposo Giuseppe
Grosso Sergio 
Mihaylov Kostadin 
Garama Noam Bener 
Capostagno Luca 
Donni Danilo
Bruno Massimo 
Smecca Marco
Juutilainen Henri
Hernandez Miguel 
Petrea Gabriel 
DE CESARE Shaun 
RÄTTYÄ JARI
Winski Zbyszko Piotr
Aydingoez Alkan
Matrai Andras 

As there are a number of UK Players now starting arrive here in Malta, we'll keep an eye on how they fare this week... 

Early stages we know, but here's a list of most of the Brits playing..

Blair Reid.....14.2k
Tom Noble...51k (Pictured)
Zaf Mirza....24k
Johnny Kelly....24k
Dave Johnson....14k
Woodrow Hughes....42k
Sam Goodman....17k
Rob Sherwood.....23k
Suzie Williamson...42k

Rob Sherwood's a fixture of the UK poker scene - regularly attending and cashing in poker events all around the world - including a strong summer in Vegas this year where he picked up numerous cashes, including the standout result - a $20k score at the MGM $500 Deepstack.

Rob even has a cash here at the BoM where he finished with just over a min cash in 2019 for € 1,220.

He'll obviously have his sights set on a better result this time round and he already had a pre-prepared strategy locked and loaded...

Don't start too early!

"They can go late these days - I think it's worth registering later to save some mental energy for when the blinds are bigger later in the day..." Rob told us.

Pretty good idea it seems to us, given how exhausted some of the players were by the time the big blinds rolled around in the early hours of the morning.

WIll Sherwood's strategy pay off? We'll find out later...

Players who were knocked out during level 3 and have a choice to re-enter before the start of level 11.....

Giordano Alessandro 
Manduca Andrew Borg 
Antonio Giulio 
Dop Rares 
Soreau  Julien 
Herbrecht Germain 
Kolarik Tomas 
Bruno Massimo 
Micallef Julian 
Guese Daniel
Piccione Giuseppe 
ASIYEUSKI SIARHEI 
Borenstein Yaron 
Cachia Jacqueline

The first three levels of the day are in the bag. The remaining 225 players will take a short break before returning to clash arms and stacks once more. Here's what they'll all be fighting over. En guard!

Battle will ring out once again in 15 minutes - see you shortly.

As I arrive at the table, Suzie Williamson has a bet of 8k on the river in the middle of the table.. Her opponent makes the call and Suzie flips over for a 4 card nut flush! Early stages of Suzie's tournament and she's up to 38k

Always the case when players like a gamble, we see multiple exits from the room during the first session.. Here are a few more...

Maes Davy 
Meredith Benjamin 
Shishkov Borislav Tonev 
Vincenzo Dainotti
Said Oliver 
Vat Michel
Moutos Apostolos 
Poulengeris Antonis 

Nice to look into the hall and see over 20 tables in use.. There are 10 level to buy in/re-enter the main event and 6 buy in days too.. This should be a massive turnout, by the time the Turbo finishes the day 1 entries on Sunday..

Early bust outs from level 1 and the start of level 2..

Arezzo Oscar 
Rehban Sebastian
Borenstein Yaron
Kyriazi Grigoris
Pliska  Anthon 
Burruano Luca  
Paris Michael
NEGUCIOIU Marius
Duran Juan
Asztemborski Dominik Remigiusz

We've just witnessed the bombastic introduction that heralds the start of the day.

Booming drums, technocolour spotlights, chainmailed knights - you know what it's like on Thursdays...

Once Laura Cornelius and Telly Bartolo completed the intro - the dealers shuffled up and dealed and we were underway!

Already the numbers look like they will dwarf yesterday's. We've got 216 players already registered and as the blinds and antes ramp up and start to take their toll - this number will be left in the dust as the rebuys proliferate.

Over the course of 6 day 1 buy ins, there will be plenty of Brits arriving for the BOM.. Some have already made it over, and more will come.. 

Danny Toffel is one who is already sat playing day 1B  and as I went to say hello, he looked down at  .. Raising Pre, bet the flop and the turn, he made his 2 opponents fold.. Nice start for Danny, who has 33k from his 25k starting stack..

We're ready for the start of the Battle of Malta Day 1B and if today follows the pattern Day 1A set, we're in for a treat. The Intercontinental Hotel's spacious conference room plays host once again - the party atmosphere within only enhanced by the helium-filled baloons festooning the room as table indicators.

Yesterday's field saw a respectable 297 entries including rebuys, though this will seem positively tame in the coming days as the numbers are anticipated to grow throughout the week.

Today's fresh batch of players can expect the usual light show and Templar knights to kick off the day. Don't be late to your table if you want to catch this fascinating performance! (Just look at the picture above. Bonkers but so, so good...)

The BoM players will get 25k stacks, 40 minute levels and unlimited rebuys up to the end of level 10 to play with. Play will end once 15% of the total entries are left - at which point all remaining players will have made Day 2 and will also have cashed. This will mean a tense bubble period come the end of the evening as we discovered last night.

As well as the Main Event, here are the other side events available. Though we will be focusing on the Main, we'll aim to bring some news from these as they play out:

11:00 Main Event Satellite €55+15
13:00 Start BoM €500+55 Main Event Day 1B
17:00 Mystery SIege of Malta (Mystery Bounty) Day 1A €210+200+40 20 minute levels
20:00 #Olybet Live Poker €260+40 NLHE 15 minute levels
21:00 PLO 8-Max €180+20 15 minute levels
21:30 €55+15 Satellite

We're looking forward to today. Cards will hit the air aorund 1:00pm so good luck one and all.