The final day of the European Poker Tour Season 11 Malta €5,300 Main Event is just about to start with only 6 players left at the final table. The Portomaso Casino in St Julian’s plays host to the prestigious tournament. And it is important to note that Malta is, in fact, the last stop before the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, Monaco, scheduled to kick off on April 28.
The EPT Malta Main Event attracted a total of 895 players and a prize pool of €4,340,750 was created. Of those, €810,400 will be for the winner, who will also be crowned the first EPT Malta champion in the history of the tournament.
Only eight players were to sit at the final table and its beginning was marked yesterday, March 27, with the elimination of Fedor Holz in Level 28. The German player is known to have previously won the 2014 WCOOP Main Event for the sum of $1,820,700.
Polish player Remigiusz Wyrzykiewicz was the first to leave the final table. He was defeated by Antonin Duda from the Czech Republic and was paid €76,000. Duda himself was the next to go after he could not hold up against Stefan Schillhabel. Duda took €108,200 for his seventh place in the event.
With only six players left at the final table, the tournament organizers signed Day 5 off. Day 6 is just about to start and here are the six remaining players and where they are to be seated.
Seat 2: Stefan Schillhabel
The German player starts the Main Event’s final day with 5,515,000 in chips. Schillhabel’s total live earnings amount to $86,334 so far. He took part in several EPT events throughout the years, but he has not won any, or at least not until now.
Seat 3: Javier Gomez Zapatero
The 24-year-old Spanish player ended Day 5 with 3,800,000 in chips. Up to now, he has cashed a total of $26,162 from live tournaments. But his participation at the Main Event’s final table means that he will increase this sum considerably.
Seat 4: Valentin Messina
The Frenchman is to start Day 6 as a chip leader, holding 7,805,000. Messina has $414,353 in live earnings and his best live cash so far is $189,146, a sum he took for winning the € 1,000 France Poker Tour Season 5 Grand Final in 2010.
Seat 6: Hossein Ensan
The 50-year-old player is no stranger to the international poker scene and surely knows what it is to sit at an EPT Main Event final table. Last year, Ensan finished third at the EPT/Estrellas Poker Tour 5 Barcelona Main Event, where he took €652,667 ($860,091), his best live cash so far. The German player will start the day as the shortest stack with 865,000 in chips.
Seat 7: Dominik Panka
The Polish started gathering popularity last year, when he won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $ 10,000 + 300 No Limit Hold’em Main Event for the amount of $1,423,096. Only 3 weeks later, he triumphed in the EPT Deauville € 10,000 + 300 No Limit Hold’em – One rebuy – High Roller – 8 Handed event, where he took $371,498. His live earnings total $1,955,771 and he is at the top of his country’s all time money list. Panka starts the final day of the EPT Malta Main Event with 1,680,000 in chips.
Seat 8: Jean Montury
It could be said that the other Frenchman at the final table is no stranger to EPT events. He has several third, fourth, and fifth finishes at those. His live tournament cash amounts to $396,939 at present. Montury starts Day 6 with a stack of 7,185,000.
