Andrew Cutajar & Mustapha Kanit Malta Poker Dream

Andrew found his way in the Malta Poker Dream tourney by winning a satellite tourney held on Tuesday the 29th March at the Portomaso Casino.

His first day was a bit of a roller-coaster ride, but eventually he ended the day with 22,300.  After starting on the 11th level on day 2 he played 6 hands but didn’t even see a flop before he entered the hand that ended his tourney.

We met up with Andrew as soon as we saw him walk away from his table, to get an update of his last hand.

MPE: What Happened Andrew?
AC: “Holding 88 from UTG, with the blinds at 800/1,600 and 200 ante, rather than pushing allin, I placed a 4,500 bet, and there was a player who re-raised me with 12,000 chips.  Everyone folded, and I went all-in, with the remaining 16,000 chips I had, and my opponent called the additional 9,000.  I held 88, and my opponent held AQ spades.  The flop showed two spades, small, small, and a Queen, so this guy stood a very good position from the flop.  The turn and the river did nothing to help me get in front of him, sending me out at a relatively early stage in day 2.  In retrospect, I should have rather pushed than raised when it was my turn to speak.  I should have tried to steal the pot as I didn’t want any opponents in the hand.  Plus, since I was short stacked, my opponents were more likely to call than they would if I had a tower in front of me…but any way, I enjoyed it while it lasted, satellite and all.”

MPE: What do you think about the tourney?
AC: Well it’s a really nice hall.  Somehow, although its such a big area, it feels kind of cozy. I really liked the open plan, lots of TV’s with tourney info, and the comfortable structure.  For tight players, it can be a bit too much though.  For loose players who call every hand its good but for tight players like me who play a few hands many chips are not in line with my strategy.

Malta Poker Dream 2011 – Day 2

As the tournament moves into its second phase, the blind levels will be extended by to 1 hour compared to 50 minutes on Day 1.  As 73 players have survived from Day 1A, together with another 204 from Day 1B,  day two will be starting with 277 players at 2pm at the Portomaso Casino, St. Julians Malta.

After the first day, average stack has risen to 73K at the deep structured tourney.  We’ll wait and see who of our local regulars will take the lead of their Italian counterparts.

Here’s quick reminder of the local’s chip stacks with Martin Kjaer in the Lead of the local pack of players.

Jackie Cachia & Martin Kjaer - Malta Poker Dream

Martin Kjaer – 152,300
Keith Boniface – 140,200
Mark Attard  – 104,800
Cosimo Dambra – 75,000
George Galea – 47,200
Mario Sciberras – 44,700
Gordon Mifsud – 38,200
Jackie Cachia – 23,600
Andrew Cutajar – 23,000

Martin Kjaer and Keith Boniface will be starting the Day with around twice the starting stack, giving them more ‘fuel’ with which to approach the tourney today.

Maltese ‘born and bred’ Mark Attard will be starting the day with 104,800 later this afternoon at approximately 50% over the a.stack, giving him a comfy entry at this determining stage of the poker tournament. Read the rest of this entry →

Andrea Stellato exits, whilst Cutajar is moving through, yet slightly below average stack.

Andrew Cutajar - Malta Poker Dream

We’re at the Grandmaster hall at the Portomaso Complex for the Malta Poker Dream Day 1B, €1,100 main event. The time is 23:50 and we’re at the 7th level of blinds at 300/600 with 50 antes.  259 players are left from the original 296 and the average stack has now risen from 50k to 57k.

Earlier on we reported that both Andrew Cutajar and Andrea Stellato started off at the tourney however Stellato is not on the field any longer.  After suffering a “string of bad beats” he eventually exited the tournament at a relatively early stage having lost his 50k stack.  Andrew on the other hand, had a roller-coaster of a ride so far, with swings from 50k up to 60k, down to 30, and up to 40k.  He currently holds little under 40,000 chips.

A side event just kicked off at the Portomaso Casino, at a €550 buy-in.  25 players have registered for the event so far, making for an interesting prize-pool which should increase further as more players seem to be signing up.

We’ll keep you posted on Andrew’s progress and he goes through the remaining three levels for the day.

Malta Poker Dream Day 1B

Malta Poker Dream Day 1B – Update

The exact count for the participants today is 292 which means that a total of 404 players have entered the event.

This is officially the biggest ever recorded number of participants in any poker tournament held in Maltese Poker history!  Hats off to Betpro and the Portomaso Casino for pulling it off!

From the local poker crew we only spotted Andrew Cutajar and Andrea Stellato in a field of almost 300 players.  We will be following these player’s progress for our readers and visitors at home!

Read the rest of this entry →