Georgios Papakonstantinou Leads Final Eight in Battle of Malta Main Event

From a massive battlefield of 2,667 entries, only eight fighters remain after Day 4 of the €600 Battle of Malta Summer Edition Main Event at Casino Malta.

While 24 players returned at the start of the day, only eight seats were available at the final table. The chip leader at the restart Stavros Passias had one spot reserved for him as he maintained his position for most of the day, scoring a quarter of the eliminations.

Among his victims were Gareth Hamilton (22nd - €6,340), Igor Pasierbek (16th - €8,720), Panteleimon Pontos (15th - €9,910), and Daniele Renzi (11th - €12,340), who ran with queens into Passias' aces.

However, after losing a big pot during the final hands, Passias ended the day with 19,275,000 chips, not enough to keep the chip lead. That honour instead went to his fellow Greek Georgios Papakonstantinou, who bagged up 22,525,000.

2026 Battle of Malta Summer Edition Main Event Final Table

Seat	Player	Country	Chip count	Big blinds
1	Angelo Censabella	Italy	13,775,000	46
2	Fredrick Bratein	Norway	4,850,000	16
3	Stavros Passias	Greece	19,275,000	64
4	Alejandro Asenjo	Spain	12,850,000	43
5	Danilo Scevola	Italy	3,750,000	13
6	Georgios Papakonstantinou	Greece	22,525,000	75
7	Gianluca Donini	Italy	2,375,000	8
8	Marko Cosic	Serbia	16,025,000	53

Papakonstantinou first sent Rami Amuri (23rd - €6,340) to the rail in the early levels, before quietly maintaining his stack without drawing too much attention.

That changed when he secured a massive double up by hitting a flush against Arnaud Boudet. He later eliminated the Frenchman on the final table bubble to take the chip lead. Moments before that, he also ended poker reporter Florence Mazet’s deep run in 10th place (€12,340), adding around 1,500,000 chips to his stack.

With the two Greeks leading the way, followed by Marko Cosic (16,025,000), three Italians remain in contention for the knight trophy.

First, Angelo Censabella could not hide his joy at reaching the final table. Despite starting the day second in chips, he saw his aces cracked in one of the early hands and had his stack cut in half by the first break. Still, he recovered to bag 13,775,000.

The day was also far from easy for Danilo Scevola, who started Day 4 as the second-shortest stack but remains in contention. He struggled throughout the day, doubling up four times along the way. At one point, he was one card away from elimination against Passias and Tiberiu Florescu (19th - €7,530), but found a two-outer on the river to triple up. He later won another flip to eliminate Mark Vella (14th - €9,910) and finish with 3,750,000 chips.

Only the last Italian stands behind him at the final table with Gianluca Donini, who returns with eight big blinds (2,375,000).

Against this Greek and Italian dominance, Alejandro Asenjo will aim to bring the trophy back to Spain with 12,850,000 chips, around the average stack. Or perhaps the surprise will come from Norway, with Fredrick Bratein, who was last in chips after Day 3 but fought his way to the final table with 4,850,000.

Who will take the title? The answer will be known from 2 p.m. local time this Wednesday, June 3, when the final table begins.

Play will resume with 24 minutes remaining in Level 34, featuring blinds of 150,000/300,000 and a 300,000 big blind ante, and will continue on 60-minute levels until a winner is crowned.

All eight finalists have already locked up €19,350, but their eyes are firmly set on the €176,070 top prize.