In 2016, the PokerStars European Poker Tour Malta €5,300 Main Event was won by a Belarusian player named Aliaksei Boika. Boika took home €355,700 for his first major live victory, after which the EPT took a hiatus from the Maltese stop.
A return to the Mediterranean island was announced nine years later. Boika, now regularly seen competing in five- and six-figure buy-ins across the globe, was still considered the defending champion. Given the unique opportunity to defend his title, he decided to make his way to Casino Malta and become one of the 898 entries of the Main Event. Five tense days of poker followed, during which Boika persevered and battled his way to be among the final five players returning today at 12:30 p.m. local time for the last day.
If Boika manages to hoist the EPT Malta trophy for the second time in his career, he will be the first player in the rich history of the EPT to defend his title at a live stop, as none of the three current two-time champions claimed both of their victories at the same destination. This time, being crowned the champion will come with a €760,000 reward, courtesy of the €4,355,300 prize pool.
Boika will return to the table second in chips with 7,035,000, good for 88 big blinds at the deep-stacked finale. Only chipleader Mykhailo Ostash sits above him, as the EPT first-timer's dream run will have him return with a near eight-figure stack of 9,870,000. Meanwhile, Tomasz Brzezinski, has become the 11th player to make back-to-back EPT Main Event final tables, looking to use his 5,380,000 chips to improve on his fourth-place finish at EPT Barcelona just over a month ago.
At that same Barcelona stop, longtime professional online poker player Adria Calonge decided to dip his toes into the waters of the live poker realm. Having cashed twice, he became eager for more, making the trip to Malta and ending up among the final five players, sitting in fourth with a stack of 3,525,000. The most experienced player of the final five has the fewest chips, as Tom-Aksel Bedell, aged 65, first played at an EPT in 2010. Fifteen years later, Bedell has made his first Main Event final table, but with only 14 big blinds to his name, he has his work cut out for him.
Day 6 Seating and Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mykhailo Ostash | Ukraine | 9,870,000 | 123 |
| 2 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | 7,035,000 | 88 |
| 3 | Adria Calonge | Spain | 3,525,000 | 44 |
| 4 | Tom-Aksel Bedell | Norway | 1,140,000 | 14 |
| 5 | Tomasz Brzezinski | Poland | 5,380,000 | 67 |
The EPT Malta Main Event will return to blinds of 40,000/80,000, with an 80,000 big blind ante. Fifteen hands remain in this level before the blinds jump to 50,000/100,000 (100,000), at which point all levels will be played for 30 hands. The final five contenders have already guaranteed themselves a massive payout of €200,550. However, with the next pay jump being worth over €60,000, every pot at the final table could be worth an incredible sum of money.
Final Table Results & Remaining Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €760,000 | ||
| 2 | €474,650 | ||
| 3 | €339,000 | ||
| 4 | €260,750 | ||
| 5 | €200,550 | ||
| 6 | Toni Kaukua | Finland | €154,250 |
| 7 | Ben Heath | United Kingdom | €118,650 |
| 8 | Juan Pardo | Spain | €91,250 |
| 9 | Joao Tomas | Portugal | €70,250 |
Five players remain, but only one champion will be crowned. PokerNews will be on the floor from start to finish, covering every major hand of the thrilling finale on a 30-minute delay until the winner has been declared and the trophy has been awarded. Stay tuned to find out who will etch their names in the EPT history books at the 2025 EPT Malta Main Event.
