Mikel Calo Leads WSOP Circuit Malta Main Event After Early Day 1a Bubble
Calo bagged 940,000 as 17 of 107 entrants secured Day 2 cashes in the €1,500 event.
Mikel Calo took a commanding lead after the opening flight of the €1,500 WSOP Circuit Malta Main Event, bagging 940,000 chips as Day 1a’s bubble broke earlier than expected at Casino Malta.
The Wednesday flight drew 107 entries and generated a €135,000 prize pool. Seventeen players reached Day 2 with a cash secured before midnight, even though the tournament would normally need another one or two levels to reach its target of roughly 15% of the field.
Calo began the closing hands around an average stack, according to PokerNews, then eliminated two players to finish on top. He nearly doubled through an aces-versus-queens confrontation before making a runner-runner flush against Robert Binek’s two pair to eliminate Binek on the bubble.
Thomas Rayssiguier bagged 534,000, leaving him almost 60 big blinds behind Calo. Local player Matthew Micallef rounded out the top three with 480,000, followed by Carlo van Ravenswoud on 443,000 and Gabriele Paone on 430,000.
Gabriele Re advanced with 358,000, while Evangelos Charalampous, who had held the lead for much of the day, finished with 276,000. Birger Larsen (237,000), Georgios Tsouloftas (221,000), Mario Llapi (190,000), David Ledden (158,000), Filip Barczak (101,000) and Andrea Dal Bo (82,000) were also among the survivors.
Texapoker is running the Main Event as part of the WSOP Circuit’s 11-day Casino Malta stop in St. Julian’s, which is offering 12 rings across its schedule. The Main Event winner receives one of those rings.
Three more starting flights remain. Day 1b begins Oct. 1 at 12:30 p.m. local time, followed by Day 1c on Oct. 2 at 12:30 p.m. and the final Day 1d flight at 8 p.m.; Day 2 begins Oct. 3 at 1 p.m., with the final table set for Oct. 4.
