Former Battle of Malta Organizers Announce Malta Poker Festival

February 20, 2018

PokerNews Staff

The former organizers of the infamous Battle of Malta tournament, event founder and director Ivonne Montealegre, and the Portomaso Casino, have announced a new tournament festival on the Mediterranean island of Malta. After a legal dispute with the owners of the BOM brand, Montealegre has now set her sights on a new event, dubbed the Malta Poker Festival.

Like its predecessor, the Malta Poker Festival Main Event will have a buy-in of €550 with a guaranteed prize pool of €500,000. The event takes place in the Portomaso Casino in Malta, running November 1-6, 2018.

Besides the €550 Main Event with the half million guarantee, the festival will have several side-events. One of them is a second chance event with a guarantee of €10,000.

2018 Malta Poker Festival

Dates:	November 01-06, 2018
Place:	Portomaso Casino - St. Julians, Malta
Main Event Buy-In:	€550
Guaranteed Prize Pool:	€500,000

Montealegre comments: “With an operation like the one we have at Portomaso Casino, breaking records for the past 7 years, it makes sense to take the tournament to the next level. We have been listening to our clients and have recalibrated the entire operation to focus on good quality poker in the most spectacular destination in Malta.”

Montealegre: "We have recalibrated the entire operation to focus on good quality poker in the most spectacular destination in Malta."

Danilo de Bernardis, the tournament director for the event, adds: “Portomaso Casino is the only venue on the island capable of hosting an event of this magnitude. We have both the manpower and the facilities to create a comfortable, ethical, and professional environment to conduct an unforgettable poker experience. Our team is as strong as it gets after working together for 7 years.”

The Battle of Malta, in collaboration with poker website PokerListings.com, has been an enormous event in Malta in recent years. In 2017, the €550 buy-in event attracted a massive field of 2,074 entries. Nadav Lipszyc from Israel came out victorious, banking €200,000 ($232,585). The Battle of Malta was not only known among poker players for the tournament itself, but the parties surrounding the event gained fame in the poker playing community as well.

The new event, dubbed the Malta Poker Festival, is set to prolong that legacy with an opening cocktail party and an official party during the festival. The tournament organization also promised lots of added value to the players, but details are yet to be released. Same goes for the full schedule, which will be announced at a later stage according to the tournament organizers.

While the event is still some months away, buying-in is already an option on the official website. A package including accommodation is also available: