Georgios Zisimopoulos Triumphant in IPT Malta Main Event

While the Main Event of the European Poker Tour in Malta is picking up the pace, other events arrived at their natural conclusion. That's exactly what happened with the Main Event of the Italian Poker Tour that saw the final eight players return yesterday to battle it out for the championship.

In the end, the title deservedly ended up in the hands of Georgios Zisimopoulos, a young Greek who is no stranger to live events, although the online arena fits him better as his online cashes up to date amount to a whopping $2 million.

Before any player could claim the title, seven others had to be sent to the rail. The eliminations started with Julian Track, who lost most of his chips to the Greek after he tried to pull off a bold five-bet bluff shove with 35 . The plan was not bad per se given Zisimopoulos' reputation, but had zero chance of success as the Greek picked up pocket Aces.

Severely crippled, Track was sent packing soon after, earning €21,000 for his efforts. He was soon followed by Ezio Nisoli, who played a very tight game and at the point of his elimination had only four big blinds in his stack. He failed to get a much needed double up in a blind vs button confrontation and was sent home with €29,800 to his name.

Georgi Abuladze was then eliminated by Jaroslaw Sikora, who had him dominated and five cards later ended his IPT Malta adventure, sending him to the cashier to pick up his €39,000 reward.

After the Estonian made his way to the exit, the remaining five players decided to make a deal. It did not come easily, as it took them almost an hour to come to an agreement on how to distribute the money, but eventually everyone agreed on the numbers and €28,000 was set aside for the winner.

Jaroslaw Sikora and Frederik Reusch got basically the same amount after the deal, just shy of €98,000, and these two got their chips in the middle not long after. Sikora’s pocket Kings were way ahead of Reusch’s pocket Treys and the board rundown changed nothing about that fact.

Zisimopoulos was the man responsible for the next elimination, as he sent Michel Feil back to Germany after finding some serious help on the river. However, the Greek played the final table almost without any errors so a little bit of help from Lady Luck was only fair. Feil took home €101,260 that he locked up during the deal-making.

Italian Nicolino di Carlo got the best out of the five-handed deal, as he secured the prize of €119,585 by being the chip leader at the time. That was all he got, however, as he exited in third place after losing a decisive flip with pocket Nines against the aj of Zisimopoulos.

As di Carlo hit the rail, Pole Jaroslaw Sikora was left alone to fight it out with the Greek, but starting with an 8 to 1 chip disadvantage and considering Zisimopoulos was simply on fire, there wasn’t much Sikora could do.

The Polish player successfully got his chips in the middle way ahead with ak against the a4 of Georgios and it seemed like he could be on the comeback trail. However, the Greek found a four on the flop to seal the deal and grab the trophy and a total cash of €142,205.

As for Sikora, he took home €97,975 and a runner-up finish in a big event that gathered 1,285 players – nothing to be ashamed of.

Photo: Jules Pochy, PokerStars Blog