The reigning champion of EPT Malta, Niall Farrell just took his seat at table 7. Last year, in season 12 of the European Poker Tour, Farrell topped a field of 651 players. He banked €534,330 with his win and didn't do so bad in the events afterwards.
This summer he finished eighth in the $111,111 One Drop High Roller at the WSOP, ended second in a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Shoot Out and sixth in a $2,500 No Limit Hold'em tournament.
Today, he started his quest to extend his reign here in Malta and score another big payday.
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Alexander Ivarsson bet the heads-up flop of for 700 and Sai Wu called in the cutoff. On the turn, Ivarsson bet 1,800 and Wu said "call" then asked "how much?" before tossing in the chips. On the river, Ivarsson checked and Wu bet 3,000. Ivarsson called after some consideration and Wu showed the , Ivarsson had that beat with .
Day 1b is just five minutes underway and there are already more players than yesterday on day 1a. At the moment 176 players registered for this second starting day, outnumbering yesterday's 134 runners.
We expect the field will continue to grow over the first few levels, so the hopes are high on a big turn out for day 1b.
zedmaster84
Niall Farrell in the €25,750 Super High Roller
In two hours from now at 12 p.m. local time, the second starting day of the 2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta €5,300 Main Event gets underway at the Casino Portomaso. With plenty of sunshine outside and many of the online grinders returning to the felt after their Sunday sessions, a bigger field is expected than the 134 entries of yesterday's Day 1a, of which 61 bagged up chips last night.
The numbers to beat thus far for all hopefuls today are Dan Shak's 185,100 and Pasi Sormunen's 183,600, more than six times the starting stack over the course of eight 75-minute levels. All participants receive 30,000 in chips and there will be a break of 20 minutes every two levels and a 75-minute dinner break after level six, play will come to an end around midnight local time.
Last year, the EPT stopped twice on Malta. Jean Montury emerged victorious in the EPT11 Malta Main Event after outlasting a field of 895 players to claim a career-best payday of €687,400. And in October 2015, Niall Farrell defeated a 651-entry strong field in heads up against Alen Bilic to lift the trophy.
Many of the regular faces in the High Roller events took to the felt yesterday already with mixed success and as of 12.30 p.m. local time, the €10,300 Single-Day High Roller also kicks off as well. Who will make a big step towards history in the second-last EPT before the rebranding to the PokerStars Festivals next year? The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to cover the action for both tournaments, so stay tuned and check back regularly.
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for 700 and Sai Wu called in the cutoff. On the 
turn, Ivarsson bet 1,800 and Wu said "call" then asked "how much?" before tossing in the chips. On the 
river, Ivarsson checked and Wu bet 3,000. Ivarsson called after some consideration and Wu showed the 
, Ivarsson had that beat with 
.
