€550 Grand Event
Day 1b Started
2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring
€550 Grand Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1b
Buy-in
€550
Prize Pool
€555,940
Entries
1,202
Level
32
Blinds
400,000 / 800,000
Ante
800,000
Entries
82
Players Left
12
Players Left 1 / 1,202
Filter
(1)
The Malta Poker Festival has become a fixture on the European poker circuit since its debut in 2018, and PokerNews is delighted to be at the stunning Portomaso Casino for the 2025 Spring Edition.
The festival's feature attraction is the €550 Grand Event, sporting a huge €300,000 guarantee. Day 1a has already taken place, with 24 players progressing to Day 2 from 158 entrants. Local player Andrew Cutajar (873,000) leads the way, and is followed by Charles Eichner (568,000) and Sergei Cutajar (518,000).
There are a further six starting flights, beginning with Day 1b, which kicks off at 1 p.m. local time today. Players will sit down with a 50,000 starting stack, with blinds starting at 100/200, with a 200 big blind ante.
The clock is set to 40-minute levels, with late registration open until the start of Level 11. Players are permitted two reentries per flight, with play continuing until 15% of the field is left, all of whom will bag for Day 2 and be guaranteed a minimum cash.
Days 1e (May 2 at 7 p.m.) and 1g (May 3 at 9 p.m.) are turbo flights featuring 20-minute levels, but otherwise following the same structure as previous flights.
Day 2 is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday May 4, at which point blind levels will be increased to 50 minutes, with the final day due to take place at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 5.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Cutajar | Malta | 873,000 |
| 2 | Charles Eichner | France | 568,000 |
| 3 | Sergei Cutajar | Malta | 518,000 |
| 4 | Egon Holdhus | Norway | 486,000 |
| 5 | Erik Lindqwist | Sweden | 482,000 |
| 6 | Cahit Basbug | Turkey | 428,000 |
| 7 | Jorgji Kotorri | Albania | 398,000 |
| 8 | Inaki Gonzalez | Spain | 374,000 |
| 9 | Roberto Morra | Italy | 364,000 |
| 10 | Leonard White | Ireland | 348,000 |
Domenico Lando of Italy triumphed in the October 2024 version, overcoming a record-breaking field of 2,045 players to claim the €140,000 first-place prize.
2024 MPF Grand Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domenico Lando | Italy | €140,000 |
| 2 | Nikolaos Konstas | Greece | €93,000 |
| 3 | Theodoros Ampelikiotis | Greece | €66,000 |
| 4 | Charles Eichner | France | €49,068 |
| 5 | Jaroslaw Falkowski | Poland | €39,000 |
| 6 | Andre Grech | Malta | €30,000 |
| 7 | Antonio Alba | Italy | €23,000 |
| 8 | Salih Kaya | Denmark | €17,500 |
| 9 | Angelo Vietti | Italy | €13,400 |
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor from the start of Day 1b until a champion is crowned, so stay tuned for your coverage of all of the action.
Have you heard about MyStack by PokerNews? It is a free-to-use tool built into the PokerNews website that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. MyStack directly connects you to PokerNews' live reporting pages, making you an even bigger part of the action in the events you play.
MyStack is a free poker tool and PokerNews activates MyStack for every event it is live reporting from, regardless of that tournament's buy-in. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
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Level: 1
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 200
Level 1
: 100/200, 200 ante
Play is underway here in Day 1b of the €550 Malta Poker Festival Grand Event at Portomaso Casino, with 23 players seated - stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of the day's action.
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
A pot of 15,000 had developed on a completed board of 10♥9♠3♣5♣A♥, in a hand between Paul Frost and Tigran Piloyan.
Frost check-called versus a bet of 10,000 from Piloyan. Piloyan tabled A♦3♥ for the rivered two pair, causing Frost to tut in disgust and table 10♠9♣ for the worse two pair.
"Lucky river" said Piloyan. "Yeh, I've lost so much with two pair recently", lamented Frost.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
67,500 | |
|
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33,500
16,500
|
16,500 |
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
A pot of 4,000 had developed by the turn on a board of 8♥7♠5♥7♥, in a hand between Steven Penney in the cutoff and Mary Demosthenous in the small blind.
Demosthenous led out with a bet of 2,500, and Penney called.
The K♠ river completed the board, and Demosthenous fired out a bet of 5,000. Penney swiftly folded, stating "Not the river I was looking for", while Demosthenous flashed the 8♣ as she raked in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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56,000
6,000
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6,000 |
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42,000 |
Level 1
: 100/200, 200 ante
If you’re at or heading to the 2025 Malta Poker Festival and looking for something a little different to spice up your trip, PokerNews has just the challenge for you.
Start lacing up your walking boots and get your cameras ready, as we're launching an interactive Scavenger Hunt across the series, and one lucky winner will walk away with a €550 ticket to the MPF Grand Event, courtesy of the MPF team.
Scavenger Hunt List
So, what are you actually hunting for in the PokerNews Scavenger Hunt? Take a look at the full list below. You’ll need to complete any ten of the twelve challenges to qualify for the prize draw.
Want to get ahead of the pack? You can start knocking off some of the simpler tasks right now. Just make sure you’ve got the proof when you find us at the Portomaso Casino to get them officially ticked off.
- Take a selfie with the boss herself, Ivonne Montealegre
- Beat a PokerNews team member at rock, paper, scissors
- Find a “Lucky Fish” and snap a picture with it
- Like and share our Scavenger Hunt announcement post on Instagram and X
- Solve this cryptic crossword clue: “Hold Back and Lift Wager, Surprisingly” (5,5)
- Take a photo with the Fisherman and Cat statue
- Find LOVE in Spinola Bay
- Build a stack of 50 or more chips and post it on your socials, tagging PokerNews
- Play the PokerNews Championship and show us your receipt
- Visit the PokerNews booth and spin the prize wheel
- Sign up for MyStack and post an update during the PokerNews Championship.
- Video evidence of you trying Kinnie.
If you're posting any of your scavenger hunt submissions on social media, don’t forget to use the hashtag #PokerNewsinMalta so we can follow along and give your post a shoutout.
Level 1
: Blinds 100/200, 200 ante
Saviour Spiteri limped from middle position, and Alexander Maskell raised to 1,200 from the button. Action folded back to Spiteri, who called.
On the K♣9♠2♥ flop, Spiteri check-called versus a bet of 1,000 from Maskell.
The same pattern followed on the A♦ turn, this time in respect of a bet of 2,500 from Maskell.
The J♥ river completed the board, and Spiteri changed approach, leading out with a bet of 5,500. Maskell said "Ugh, if you have queen-ten its so sick", before making the call.
Spiteri tabled A♠8♠ for a pair of aces, but Maskell was good with A♣K♠ for two pair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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64,000
64,000
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64,000 |
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36,000
36,000
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36,000 |
