Italian Leonardo Romeo wins the Battle of Malta OlyBet Special for €5,780 + €2,900 in OlyBet extra prizes
The most exciting poker action has moved to sunny Malta. This Mediterranean island is hosting the Battle of Malta festival, which offers an impressive €1 million GTD Main Event. There are also plenty of side events, including the OlyBet Live Poker Special event on Thursday night. You can check the photo gallery from this event on the OlyBet Poker Facebook page.
This €300 buy-in event had excellent additional value as OlyBet offered more than €5,000 in added prizes. The eventual winner received a Kings of Tallinn 2023 €1,100 Main Event ticket and all nine finalists received Kings of Tallinn €350 Opening Event tickets. In addition, any player who wore an OlyBet patch on their clothing and joined OlyBet Last Longer, could win another Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event ticket as a prize. The largest live poker festival in the North – Kings of Tallinn will take place in the Estonian capital from February 24th to March 5th, 2023.
There was also a special OlyBet Last Longer for the Italian players, with €350 OlyBet.it bonus money as the prize.
Rich additional prizes attracted 87 entries, forming a €21,715 prize pool. Late registration closed after level 10 with 37 players remaining, and it took about an hour to reach the bubble phase with 14 players fighting for 13 paid places. The hand-for-hand play on two tables lasted for more than two levels.
A couple of players were left with just a few big blinds, trying to avoid becoming the bubble boy. Italian Enrico Campanile was able to find several double-ups and survive. In the end, Poland’s Jaroslaw Kosmaty was automatically all-in from the big blind with JTs, only to run into KTo.
After a long bubble phase, five players busted over the next few hands, ending the tournament for the last-standing Estonian Mark Metsla, and four Italians. Enrico Campanile was among those departures, but the 9th place secured him an extra prize in the Kings of Tallinn €350 Opening Event entry, as all 9 finalists secured these tickets.
When his fellow Italian Fabio Peluso busted in 7th place, it was good news to Leonardo Romeo, who won OlyBet Italian Last Longer and secured €350 bonus money to his OlyBet.it account.
After Latvian Elvijs Kučeruks’ departure in 4th place, the remaining 3 players had an average of 28BB, and even after the level-up, a 21BB average stack gave the players some space to maneuver. 3-handed play lasted for some time, and it was Kasparas Klezys from Lithuania who emerged as a chip leader. The tables turned when he lost a big flip to Leonardo Romeo and soon departed in 3rd place. It was also a deciding hand for the OlyBet Last Longer, as Romeo now secured the Kings of Tallinn 2023 €1,100 Main Event ticket.
In the heads-up duel, Romeo faced Dániel Herédi from Hungary. The stacks were really close when all the chips went in after a preflop shootout. Romeo was holding a pair of eights while Herédi opened KQo. The flop offered no help for the Hungarian, but the King on the turn put him in front. But not for long, as the river brought an eight of diamonds and the victory for Leonardo Romeo.
The Italian player secured not only a €5,780 main prize but also a total of €2,900 in OlyBet added prizes. He may start planning his trip to Estonia next February as he won two Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event tickets and a €350 ticket for the Kings of Tallinn Opening Event.
Battle of Malta €300 OlyBet Live Poker Special prize winners:
1. Leonardo Romeo (Italy) – €5,780 + 2x €1,100 Kings of Tallinn Main Event tickets + €350 OlyBet bonus money + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
2. Dániel Herédi (Hungary) – €4,010 + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
3. Kasparas Klezys (Lithuania) – €2,650 + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
4. Elvijs Kučeruks (Latvia) – €2,070 + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
5. Jianbo Ding (China) – €1,670 + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
6. John Bradley (United Kingdom) – €1,300 + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
7. Fabio Peluso (Italy) – €1,030 + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
8. Alexandre Pruneau (Canada) – €800 + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
9. Enrico Campanile (Italy) – €610 + €350 Kings of Tallinn Opening Event ticket
10. Daniele Sacchi (Italy) – €470
11. Mark Metsla (Estonia) – €470
12. Massimo Degiorgi (Italy) – €430
13. Roberto Agus (Italy) – €430
The Battle of Malta festival will continue till October 12th, when the Main Event winner will be crowned. Follow festival updates on OlyBet.tv, OlyBet Poker Facebook page and watch the Main Event live stream on the OlyBet Poker Twitch channel.
