Nine years after the last European Poker Tour Malta, PokerStars has returned to the Mediterranean island for a brand-new edition at Casino Malta. Back then, the Main Event drew 468 entries; a number that should easily be surpassed this week, as today’s Day 1a of the €5,300 EPT Main Event already attracted 319 entrants on its own, with Day 1b and late registrations until the beginning of Day 2 still to come.
For this opening flight, China claimed the top spot of the chip counts thanks to Jianwei Lin (242,000). For Lin, going deep in an EPT is nothing new as he finished 8th at the 2024 EPT Barcelona. A little over a year later, a flopped straight to crack aces was one of many hands that put him on the right track for another potential deep run.
Fellow countryman Zhao Jiaming finished the day third in chips with 194,500, while Erik Eisen (202,000) completed the provisional podium. In total, 102 players bagged chips at the end of the day and advanced to Day 2.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
According to many players PokerNews spoke with, the Day 1a field was tougher than what is usually seen at other EPT stops. Despite the higher level, Alexandre Reard (181,000), Cesar Garcia (176,500), Ilija Savevski (159,000) and Samuel Mullur (156,000) all reached the Top 10, closely followed by Ognyan Dimov (148,000), who leads the five EPT champions who advanced to Day 2.
That list includes Dimitar Danchev (128,500), Adrian Mateos (67,500), Pedro Marques (36,000), and the defending champion from nine years ago, Aliaksei Boika (72,000).
However, EPT winners Tom Middleton, Simon Wiciak, Barny Boatman, Hossein Ensan, and Aleksandr Shevliakov, among many others, lost all their chips on Day 1a and will have to try again on Day 1b, or have already been definitively eliminated.
Aliaksei Boika
Toni Kaukua spent most of the day among the chip leaders and closed with 139,000. Florian Duta (105,000), Adi Rajkovic (100,500), Artsiom Lasouski (90,000), Ole Schemion (58,000), and Juan Pardo (45,500) also advanced to Day 2.
“Happy with how (he) played”, PokerStars ambassador Julien Dupré bagged 52,000 despite “having a tough table.” He spent the day facing Germany’s streamer Felix Schneiders (66,000) and had David Docherty (58,500) to his right during the last levels of play. Kenny Hallaert was the only other PokerStars Team Pro to take a shot on Day 1a, but couldn’t find success.
Finally, recent EPT Barcelona runner-up Stefan Ionita didn’t build much more than the starting stack (35,000), while Hannes Jeschka and Jeremie Zouari both finished at the bottom of the counts with 13,500 each.
Julien Dupre
After Day 1a, it’s now time for Day 1b, which kicks off this Tuesday, October 7, at 12 p.m. local time. The second starting flight of the Main Event will follow the exact same structure as Day 1a, with a 30,000-chip starting stack and ten 60-minute levels of play.
Stay tuned as PokerNews continues to bring you live updates from the 2025 EPT Malta Main Event until a winner is crowned!