Day 1a of The Festival Series Malta €550 Main Event attracted 84 entries to add €43,680 to the prize pool with four more opening flights to come over the next three days. Just 24 players bagged chips into Saturday's Day 2 with Beka Kopaleishvili parlaying a 30,000 chip stack into an impressive Day 1a chip leading stack of 253,500. Here is a look at all of the chip counts from the 24 surviving players.
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Beka Kopaleishvili | 253,500 |
| Erik Lindqwist | 177,000 |
| Rune Polden | 171,500 |
| Annika Haavaste | 167,500 |
| Irakli Kobeshavidze | 167,000 |
| Ruiz Ribatallada | 164,000 |
| Andreas Holmsten | 160,500 |
| Eric Andersson | 145,500 |
| David Mikhanashvili | 132,500 |
| Avtandili Magradze | 112,500 |
| Lars Eklund | 100,000 |
| Jarrko Kuusisto | 93,500 |
| Kalle Sammalisto | 87,500 |
| Paata Khmaladze | 83,500 |
| Nika Agirba | 83,000 |
| Laur Sibold | 82,000 |
| Gary Banks | 75,000 |
| Kairit Leibold | 63,000 |
| Vidar Oie | 61,500 |
| Matthew Davenport | 54,500 |
| Levan Dzidzikashvili | 45,500 |
| Jordan Dumas | 31,000 |
| Shota Sakandelia | 26,000 |
| Carlo Solazzo | 18,500 |
