Scotland’s Graham Clarkson Strikes Early at The Festival Malta

Clarkson entered the final day in front after bagging 459,000 chips from the second flight.

He almost managed to make the task slightly harder before play even began, arriving around 15 minutes late after leaving his phone in a café. His stack remained intact, and the delay ultimately made little difference.

The Scot moved through an 11-player final-day field before reaching heads-up play against Poland’s Mateusz Szymanski.

The pair struck an ICM deal with Clarkson holding the larger stack, giving the Scottish player €10,835 and the title. Szymanski collected €8,500, with Jens Voertmann third for €5,820.

*Heads-up deal.

The tournament attracted 87 entries, the largest TORSES Main Event yet held during The Festival Malta.

The British contingent has already put players through. Lin Chen advanced from Day 1A with 163,000 according to the festival’s published chip counts.

Day 1C is underway Thursday, followed by two more starting flights on Friday. Day 2 begins Saturday, with the final 16 scheduled to return on Sunday.

Dmitri Dudakov took one of the week’s other major titles and set a record in the process.

The Estonian won the €250 Hendon Mob Championship for €15,470, topping a field of 456 players and becoming the first person to win the event twice.

His first title came earlier this year at The Festival Rozvadov.

Dudakov started the final day as chip leader but still had work to do after Germany’s Spielomeister reached heads-up play and briefly moved ahead.

The Estonian eventually regained control and called Spielomeister’s final shove with ace-seven. His hand stayed in front of queen-ten through the river.

The €95,304 prize pool paid nine players at the final table, including Denmark’s Lars Jensen in fourth for €6,540.