After a quick-fire final day, Aurelio Vallone of Italy has emerged triumphant in the Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event, the Italian cash game specialist sealing an emotional victory at Portomaso Casino after defeating German Carsten Mawick heads-up, following a deal between the final two.
The 29-year-old Vallone celebrated his victory with a vociferous rail who had been supporting him throughout the final day, and after congratulating Mawick on his run, returned to them to continue the celebrations. There, the emotions started to flow, and he dissolved into tears as he hugged a friend, clearly overwhelmed by his achievement.
Vallone, a full-time cash pro for three years, takes home €94,600 of the €555,940 prize pool, after a deal which left €10,000, the trophy, and a package to the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event in October (€2,200) to play for - with Mawick taking home €68,400.
There were two key hands for Vallone - his ace-king held against the worse ace of Matteo Ferrara to eliminate Ferrara in fifth, leaving Vallone and Mawick with a big chip advantage over their final two opponents, Antonio Scala and defending champion Domenico Lando.
Then Vallone put Mawick in the ICM blender when he four-bet jammed the flop, forcing Mawick to fold and putting Vallone out on his own in the lead.
2025 Malta Poker Festival Grand Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aurelio Vallone | Italy | €94,600* |
| 2 | Carsten Mawick | Germany | €68,400* |
| 3 | Antonio Scala | Italy | €43,500 |
| 4 | Domenico Lando | Italy | €32,150 |
| 5 | Matteo Ferrara | Italy | €25,050 |
| 6 | Vincenzo Popolo | Italy | €18,450 |
| 7 | Alexander Maskell | United Kingdom | €12,950 |
| 8 | Egon Holdhus | Norway | €10,850 |
| 9 | Dragan Ignjatovski | North Macedonia | €8,550 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
Once Scala disposed of Lando, and Mawick disposed of Scala, Vallone went into heads-up play with a 2:1 lead. The deal was struck, and Vallone quickly took the title when Mawick jammed the river over Vallone's bet on a double-paired board, but found that Vallone had the goods.
The result represents Vallone's first recorded live tournament result, and what an entry to open his account on The Hendon Mob.
Winner's Reaction
"This is a very emotional moment for me - all the tournament was really insane. I sometimes ran good and sometimes ran bad, but I had four big blinds at the last two tables, so to be here is amazing.
"I am a cash player, I study a lot. Five years ago I started playing properly and I've been a professional for three years, mainly online. Antonio Scala, who came third, is my coach. I think with cash games it is more consistent, you know your expected win rate for a year, but tournaments - two players of exactly the same skill can have completely different careers. But if you play a tournament for €10 you are more motivated than a €1,000 cash game because you want to be the last player standing!"
On whether the emotional reaction was purely due to the joy of victory or whether there was anything else behind it - "Yes, I am very happy - it's incredible for me - I had a tough start in life, when I was a child, when I was young, it was a bit difficult. Poker honestly changed my whole life - today is an incredible boost for sure. I really hope to pull off some more results like this!"
"I made some mistakes over the course of the tournament but I took some good ICM spots. Congratulations to Carsten, it was a fun battle."
"I don't think this will change my poker plans, I'll continue my way. I'm approaching 1k cash games online on the best sites - I want to try to become one of the best in this domain. I will continue playing live in Europe for sure, and one day the dream is Las Vegas, but not yet! For sure I have a lot less pressure from now."
"Thank you to the organisers, I lived in Malta for four years so it sort of feels like a home event to me. It's a fantastic event, it should get more exposure, it's great to see you guys here covering it."
"I also want to thank my coach, Antonio. Unlucky, but I beat you this time!"
That concludes our coverage of a hugely successful Malta Poker Festival, but be sure to check out PokerNews coverage of tournaments across the world.
