September 17 2012, Matthew Pitt

Day 1b of the World Poker Tour Malta Main Event has drawn to a close after eight action-packed 60-minute levels were completed inside the vast Casino at Portomaso. A number of notables took to the felt during the course of Day 1b, but Jackson Genovesi had out-chipped everyone by the end of the night. In fact, he has more chips than anyone still in the tournament.

Genovesi didn’t have the easiest of tables when Day 1b began because Table 3 was home to Steve van Zadelhoff, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Ronnie Bardah, Fabrice Soulier, and PartyPoker Pro Kara Scott. Genovesi didn’t let the fact he was surrounded by stars faze him, though. If anything, quite the opposite was true.

During the fifth level of play, with blinds at 150/300/25, there was a raise to 700 and four callers before Scott stuck in a raise of her own and made it 2,300 to play from the small blind. Both Bardah and Genovesi made the call, and the dealer fanned out the flop. Scott continued her aggression and led out for 5,000 only to see Bardah raise to 18,000. Genovesi then flat-called Bardah’s raise, Scott also called, and action was three-handed to the turn.

“What is going on in this hand?” shouted Bardah as he looked up to the heavens, “You just flat 18k?” he motioned to Genovesi, “I have been in some tough spots before, but this is one of the toughest…I have put over 20,000 of my chips into this pot and I have to fold…I have outs too,” said Bardah before finally folding his hand. Genovesi then pretended to fold and the whole table burst into raptures and laughter at the reaction on Bardah’s face. Genovesi pulled his cards back and called.

Scott showed and needed a queen or a seven to survive because Genovesi held for the nut flush. The was not one of Scott’s outs and she headed to the sidelines while Genovesi became the new chip leader with 110,000 chips and from that moment, the young Italian never looked back.

For Bardah’s take on the hand, check out this video.

As mentioned, among the 105 entries were some of poker’s most familiar names and some of those who made it through with chip stacks intact included Giovanni Rizzo (95,800), Alessio Isaia (77,500), Erik Cajelais (74,800), Ilan Boujenah (62,100), Jason Mercier (56,600) and Fabrice Soulier (49,500). Vanessa Selbst (29,500), Tony G (17,600), Andrew Badecker (15,700), Marvin Rettenmaier (13,375) and Anton Wigg (12,700) also made it through but will have a little more work to do when play restarts.

Play resumes at 1300 CET (0400 PDT), and we are told the plan is to play between five and six 90-minute levels, depending on how quickly the field thins early on. The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be there to bring you all of the action as it unfolds.

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September 11 2012, Donnie Peters

The World Series of Poker recently announced a “50,000 Super High Roller event that will be held at the WSOP Europe. The announcement and the event has generated a fair amount of buzz throughout the industry, especially as the bracelet bash in Cannes grows closer and closer. PokerNews reached out to Ty Stewart, executive director of the WSOP and vice president of Caesars Interactive Entertainment, about the event, and he was kind enough to answer several questions.

How did the WSOP decide to put the “50,000 Super High Roller on the schedule?

Many factors, but really, the success of the Big One [for One Drop] and seeing all the high-stakes action it created around the city. There is an appetite for a group of players to continue to play really big, and we strive to have offerings for every player at WSOPE events. Also, there is the dynamic that in France for hold’em there is a 4 percent tax to the government with no cap [on live games], so nosebleed live action is difficult to organize. A high-stakes tournament seemed [like the] best way to ensure these players could get the action they crave beyond the large tournament fields.

Why make it a “50,000 buy-in and not “100,000 or higher?

Felt right, particularly since reentry is allowed. Guys like [Richard] Yong and [Paul] Phua are accustomed to playing really big. But 50,000 euros is already huge. We looked at the high-roller and super high-roller tournaments out there, how many distinct players each achieved, and felt that “50K would give the tournament the best chance.

Can you tell us about the decision to make the event a reentry?

Reentry has more competitive balance in my book. Obviously, we dabbled our toe in this format with this year’s $1,500 [No-Limit Hold'em] at the WSOP – and [are] doing it for the Circuit.

But a big reason for the reentry at the High Roller is two-fold. One, WSOPE is a destination event, and poker players would rather be back in action than on a beach. You go halfway around the world and want to play, unlike Vegas where there is another event starting in a few hours. Two, for a High Roller, I think players want to see the prize pool as big as possible. There will be guys in the field likely firing two bullets and that means more value.

Are reentry events now coming back into the mix for future WSOP events, specifically the 2013 WSOP?

We’re looking at the schedule right now, [but it's] too early to tell. We want diversity of games at the WSOP and players want the highest ROI. There’s likely a place for it, but we’re not going to go crazy and make every event reentry, which seems in vogue these days.

Why not make the “50,000 Super High Roller a bracelet event?

We try to be very cautious with expansion of bracelets to maintain prestige and credibility. We had a big year of growth moving to Cannes, but still wanted to stay flat and focus on event-by-event growth. We have additional bracelet events coming up later this year with WSOP APAC. We must be creative and extend the offerings around the centerpiece tournaments.

There’s a lot of action to be spread outside the bracelets. This year in Vegas, we had over 230,000 total entries in tournaments and satellites – with only about 75,000 of them bracelet events. We’re trying to do the same here in Europe with nearly 70 total events. Last I checked, players still like money.

How many players is the WSOP expecting for this event?

We’ve learned our lesson not to get into over/under business. We just like to continue to surprise people. High-stakes poker is alive and well. I don’t think the winner’s prize will be more than the Main Event, but you never know.

Are there any incentives for players planning to play?

We’re running great hotel specials right now; stay four nights, get the fifth free at Hotel Gray d’Albion, stay six nights, get the seventh free at Majestic Barrière. Regular fees are very low – 2 percent. I think the credibility that many of the high-stakes players will be teeing it up at WSOPE is strong incentive to come.

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