SIKORA TAKES LEAD FOR DAY 4 OF EPT12 MALTA MAIN EVENT
Published on:
Oct/28/2015
Jaroslaw Sikora has been in the spotlight at EPT Malta since Monday when he bagged the biggest stack at the end of Day 1b. He's now leading the EPT12 Malta Main Event once again, with 1,457,000 in chips at the end of Day 3. With 40 players left, Sikora has already improved on his best EPT Main Event finish to date, 45th place at EPT 12 Barcelona in August (for €22,840). But he has done well in Malta before; at the EPT's debut stop on the island in March, Sikora was runner-up in the IPT Malta Main Event for a career-best cash of €97,975. Playing professionally for the last seven years, the 27-year-old Pole is now seeking a breakthrough result in an EPT Main Event.
Meanwhile, Day 2 chip leader Alexander Ivarsson from Sweden spent today taking advantage of his start-of-day big stack and will be back tomorrow in second place, with 1,306,000. Shark Cage star and PCA finalist Faraz Jaka, who spent much of today on the EPTLive feature table, is in third place with over 1.2 million in chips. The American pro accrued nearly half his stack in two very lucky hands, sucking out on two players (and busting them) in just a few minutes during the last level of the day. Already through the $5m mark in live tournament winnings, Jaka - and the rest of the Day 4 field - are now all guaranteed at least €11,840.
Mike McDonald is the last EPT champion remaining field. The Canadian won the EPT12 Malta €25k High Roller for €498,575 few days ago. Also still in contention for the entual champion will take home €602,400 first prize are well-known pros Sam Greenwood, Kitty Kuo, Shannon Shorr, Ivan Luca, Natasha Barbour, Daniel Dvoress, Anton Bertilsson, Bryn Kenney, Thomas Muehloecker and Paul Berende.
JOHNNY LODDEN BREAKS EPT RECORD WITH 21ST MAIN EVENT CASH
No one celebrated the bubble bursting today more than British player Andrew Atkinson, who made the money in the EPT Malta Main Event with just one ante left. However, it was also a very special moment for Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden who became the first player to cash in 21 EPT Main Events. The 30-year-old Norwegian managed to equal fellow Team Pro Luca Pagano at the first stop of EPT Season 12 in Barcelona last August, but has now overtaken the Italian - and broken the record - at the very next stop, here in Malta.
No one celebrated the bubble bursting today more than British player Andrew Atkinson, who made the money in the EPT Malta Main Event with just one ante left. However, it was also a very special moment for Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden who became the first player to cash in 21 EPT Main Events. The 30-year-old Norwegian managed to equal fellow Team Pro Luca Pagano at the first stop of EPT Season 12 in Barcelona last August, but has now overtaken the Italian - and broken the record - at the very next stop, here in Malta.
Lodden has never won an EPT Main Event, but is certainly one of the most consistent players on the tour, finishing in the top 20 ten times so far. His first cash was at EPT Barcelona back in Season 3 and, since then, he's cashed every single season at least once. Over the course of his twenty previous cashes, Lodden has accrued more than €1,260,000 in prize money with his best result coming at the EPT9 Grand Final, where he finished third for €467,000. Lodden is also the only Team PokerStars Pro remaining in the EPT12 Malta field.
Johnny Lodden EPT Main Event career:
- Cashed in 10 straight seasons (3-12)
- Cashed in 12 different countries (including Malta)
- First 20 cashes: €1,267,562 total
- Best result: 3rd at EPT9 Grand Final for €467,000
- Final tables: 3
- Top 20 finishes: 10
- Cashed in 10 straight seasons (3-12)
- Cashed in 12 different countries (including Malta)
- First 20 cashes: €1,267,562 total
- Best result: 3rd at EPT9 Grand Final for €467,000
- Final tables: 3
- Top 20 finishes: 10
EPT12 Malta Main Event top five chip counts:
1st - Jaroslaw Sikora, Poland, PokerStars player, 1,457,000
2nd - Alexander Ivarsson, Sweden, PokerStars player, 1,306,000
3rd - Faraz Jaka, USA, PokerStars qualifier, 1,200,000
4th - Niall Farrell, UK, PokerStars player, 1,160,000
5th - Sam Greenwood, Canada, PokerStars player, 1,160,000
1st - Jaroslaw Sikora, Poland, PokerStars player, 1,457,000
2nd - Alexander Ivarsson, Sweden, PokerStars player, 1,306,000
3rd - Faraz Jaka, USA, PokerStars qualifier, 1,200,000
4th - Niall Farrell, UK, PokerStars player, 1,160,000
5th - Sam Greenwood, Canada, PokerStars player, 1,160,000
Team PokerStars Pro Online's Isaac Haxton and Team PokerStars Pro Matti De Meulder both cashed today - finishing 67th (for €10,580) and 79th (for €9,320) respectively.
SIKORA TAKES LEAD FOR DAY 4 OF EPT12 MALTA MAIN EVENT
Jaroslaw Sikora has been in the spotlight at EPT Malta since Monday when he bagged the biggest stack at the end of Day 1b. He's now leading the EPT12 Malta Main Event once again, with 1,457,000 in chips at the end of Day 3. With 40 players left, Sikora has already improved on his best EPT Main Event finish to date, 45th place at EPT 12 Barcelona in August (for €22,840). But he has done well in Malta before; at the EPT's debut stop on the island in March, Sikora was runner-up in the IPT Malta Main Event for a career-best cash of €97,975. Playing professionally for the last seven years, the 27-year-old Pole is now seeking a breakthrough result in an EPT Main Event.
Meanwhile, Day 2 chip leader Alexander Ivarsson from Sweden spent today taking advantage of his start-of-day big stack and will be back tomorrow in second place, with 1,306,000. Shark Cage star and PCA finalist Faraz Jaka, who spent much of today on the EPTLive feature table, is in third place with over 1.2 million in chips. The American pro accrued nearly half his stack in two very lucky hands, sucking out on two players (and busting them) in just a few minutes during the last level of the day. Already through the $5m mark in live tournament winnings, Jaka - and the rest of the Day 4 field - are now all guaranteed at least €11,840.
Mike McDonald is the last EPT champion remaining field. The Canadian won the EPT12 Malta €25k High Roller for €498,575 few days ago. Also still in contention for the entual champion will take home €602,400 first prize are well-known pros Sam Greenwood, Kitty Kuo, Shannon Shorr, Ivan Luca, Natasha Barbour, Daniel Dvoress, Anton Bertilsson, Bryn Kenney, Thomas Muehloecker and Paul Berende.
JOHNNY LODDEN BREAKS EPT RECORD WITH 21ST MAIN EVENT CASH
No one celebrated the bubble bursting today more than British player Andrew Atkinson, who made the money in the EPT Malta Main Event with just one ante left. However, it was also a very special moment for Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden who became the first player to cash in 21 EPT Main Events. The 30-year-old Norwegian managed to equal fellow Team Pro Luca Pagano at the first stop of EPT Season 12 in Barcelona last August, but has now overtaken the Italian - and broken the record - at the very next stop, here in Malta. Lodden has never won an EPT Main Event, but is certainly one of the most consistent players on the tour, finishing in the top 20 ten times so far. His first cash was at EPT Barcelona back in Season 3 and, since then, he's cashed every single season at least once. Over the course of his twenty previous cashes, Lodden has accrued more than €1,260,000 in prize money with his best result coming at the EPT9 Grand Final, where he finished third for €467,000. Lodden is also the only Team PokerStars Pro remaining in the EPT12 Malta field.
Johnny Lodden EPT Main Event career:
- Cashed in 10 straight seasons (3-12) - Cashed in 12 different countries (including Malta) - First 20 cashes: €1,267,562 total - Best result: 3rd at EPT9 Grand Final for €467,000 - Final tables: 3 - Top 20 finishes: 10 EPT12 Malta Main Event top five chip counts:
1st - Jaroslaw Sikora, Poland, PokerStars player, 1,457,000 2nd - Alexander Ivarsson, Sweden, PokerStars player, 1,306,000 3rd - Faraz Jaka, USA, PokerStars qualifier, 1,200,000 4th - Niall Farrell, UK, PokerStars player, 1,160,000 5th - Sam Greenwood, Canada, PokerStars player, 1,160,000 Team PokerStars Pro Online's Isaac Haxton and Team PokerStars Pro Matti De Meulder both cashed today - finishing 67th (for €10,580) and 79th (for €9,320) respectively.
There were 651 players in the starting field for the €5,300 EPT12 Malta Main Event, creating a €3,157,350 prize pool, with 95 paid. The eventual champion will take home €602,400 along with the title and a coveted trophy.
Last season, it was an all-French heads-up as Jean Montury and Valentin Messina cut a deal and then battled long and hard for the first EPT Malta trophy. The former eventually scooped the title along with a €687,400 first prize after beating 895-strong field.
You can download the schedule as a PDF and the EPT smartphone app - for iPhones;Android. For a list of all events for which registration is now open, click here
As well as the 76 tourneys on the schedule, there are also 45 cash game tables running 24/7 (with shufflers) from October 20 – 31.
FOLLOW DAY 4 ON EPTLIVE!
EPTLive will resume at noon tomorrow with Day 4 of the EPT Malta Main Event. The live stream will include excerpts from a special “in vision” version of the EPTNotLive podcast which James Hartigan, Stapes and Matt Broughton being filmed in the morning. EPTLive will continue daily through to the cards-up final table on Saturday, October 31 (subject to a one-hour security delay). You can watch it live on Twitch, PokerStars.tv, Facebook and YouTube | On top of that, you can check out theEPTNotLive podcast. FOLLOW THE ACTION
For full reports on EPT Malta, please see the PokerStars blog, video blogs on PokerStars.tv and theEPT facebook page |
