Last week Lorenzo Di Blasi won the €120 Flight to MPP, the first tournament of the Eurasian Poker Tour (EAPT) festival at Portomaso Casino in Malta. Outlasting 390 players, he took home €8,500, hoping for more on the Main Event.
It seemed almost impossible to win both tournaments, but Di Blasi managed to do so as he finished in first place again on the €560 Main Event, out of a field of 660 entrants. Already chip leader at the beginning of the final table, he stayed in the lead until the end and won €50,225. Germany’s Aschraf Khader was the last player to challenge him for victory. But he couldn’t do much against Di Blasi’s good run and finished in second place for €33,200.
EAPT Malta €560 Main Event Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lorenzo Di Blasi | Italy | €50,225* |
| 2 | Aschraf Khader | Germany | €33,200* |
| 3 | Fabio Peluso | Italy | €23,000* |
| 4 | Marco Vannini | Italy | €16,000* |
| 5 | Tiago Serrazina | Portugal | €11,600* |
| 6 | Theodoros Ampelikiotis | Greece | €9,600 |
| 7 | Sergiy Alariki | Ukraine | €7,675 |
| 8 | Panteleimon Michalakellis | Greece | €6,175 |
| 9 | Eyal Saidof | Israel | €5,000 |
*The top five finishers will also receive a €5,000 package to Cyprus for the Mediterranean Poker Party in May which includes an entry to the €2,000 EAPT Grand Finale.
Winner’s Reaction
“I am more than happy,” Lorenzo Di Blasi said, visibly moved, moments after he lifted his second trophy of the week. “Last week, it was my first win of a tournament. I never thought that I could win one, so winning two tournaments in the same festival is unbelievable”.
For this manager in the tuna industry, the Main Event started off well with a qualification for Day 2 through Day 1b with 235,000 chips. Then, he discreetly worked his way to the top places of the chip counts, eventually reaching the chip lead just before the final table. “When I eliminated Helfner Augusto Hotvedt in 10th place, it was a very big pot. It was the most important moment of the tournament for me because, after this hand, I told myself that I could win.”
During the final table, Di Blasi won a big flip to extend his lead, and eventually secured a chance to win in the heads-up. Khader made a comeback at the beginning of the last duel, but Di Blasi managed to triumph.
Thanks to his two victories, Di Blasi earned two packages for the Mediterranean Poker Party in May in Cyprus. For now, he plans to go there to play poker and enjoy the place. But perhaps he’ll return home with one, two, or more trophies, as he did this week in Malta.
Final Day’s Action
Ninety-nine players out of a field of 660 entrants qualified for Day 2 and reached the money. They all came back at noon for the final day of the EAPT Main Event. But after the first three levels of the day, half of the field was already eliminated. At the same time, a small group of players became the first millionaires of the tournament, like Arvydas Merfeldas, Panteleimon Michalakellis, or Helfner Augusto Hotvedt, who could have lost a big part of his stack if he hadn’t folded queens preflop.
After the first break of the day, David Lappin‘s tournament came to an end (48th, €1,150), as well as for Day 1 overall chip leader Mohamed Aissani (51st, €1,150). The action slowed down a little bit during the next few hours, but it was only the calm before the storm as only 30 minutes were needed to go from 27 players left to the two last tables. During that period, the future winner Lorenzo Di Blasi eliminated Enrico Grella (24th Place, €1,825) and drove Hans Erlandsson (20th, €2,300) crazy, while WSOP bracelet winner Fabio Peluso eliminated two players at once to build a big stack.
It didn’t take long either to go from 16 players to the final nine. Day 1c chip leader Alessandro D’Amore (14th, €3,050) was eliminated during that time, followed by Flaviano Cammisuli (13th, €3,600), Gian Luca Proietti (12th, €3,600), Alessandro Comi (11th, €4,200), and Helfner Augusto Hotvedt. The Norwegian player had the biggest stack of all during the two-table redraw, but he had a terrible time when he moved from one table to the other. Finishing 10th for €4,200, he let his nine remaining opponents join the final table.
After a short dinner break, Eyal Saidof (9th, €5,000) was quickly eliminated in a three-way all-in and call situation. Moments later, it was Panteleimon Michalakellis‘ turn to make his way to the exit (8th, €6,175). He gave his stack to Sergiy Alariki (7th, €7,675), who engaged it with ace-king but lost the big flip against Di Blasi’s queens. Then, finishing sixth, Theodoros Ampelikiotis (6th, €9,600) bubbled the €5,000 package to Cyprus for the Mediterranean Poker Party in May.
Once the package was guaranteed, the shortest stacks doubled up one after the other, until Tiago Serrazina gave up in fifth place for €11,600. Marco Vannini was the next to follow (4th, €16,000). Fabio Peluso then found kings and moved all-in on the flop against a “combo draw.” But Di Blasi’s flush was completed on the turn, and Peluso left with the bronze medal (3rd, €23,000).
Between Lorenzo Di Blasi and Aschraf Khader, only one player could win. Despite Di Blasi having 75% of the chips at the beginning of the heads-up, Khader fought hard and closed the gap. However, just when he nearly was back, Di Blasi sent him to the rail with ace-king and won this EAPT Main Event.
That concludes the PokerNews coverage of the 2024 EAPT Malta Main Event. Stay tuned for more updates from tournaments around the world!