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Robert McAdam Credits Support Network for Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event Win (*€104,475 After Deal)
Robert McAdam has emerged from a final-day field of 12 hopefuls to be crowned Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event champion, the Brit taking home €104,475 after a four-way deal left only the destination of the final €30,000 of the record-breaking €684,390 prize pool, and the trophy, to be determined.
McAdam's final opponent was Austrian Pascal Inkert, who was the short-stack when the deal was struck, and took the lowest payout of the four. Giuseppe Mazza-Boussemart held a commanding lead at that point, and it was perhaps surprising a deal was agreed, but he took slightly more than the ICM value of his stack. The Frenchman crashed out in fourth however, after being on the wrong end of a brutal cooler with the champion.
The result represents a new career-best and first six-figure score for McAdam, a huge milestone in any poker career. McAdam’s ROI was even better as he satellited into the event.
2026 Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert McAdam | United Kingdom | €104,750* |
| 2 | Pascal Inkert | Austria | €60,000* |
| 3 | Erik Ostergaard | Denmark | €62,710* |
| 4 | Giuseppe Mazza-Boussemart | France | €87,055* |
| 5 | Davide Raschella | Italy | €30,040 |
| 6 | Vito Romei | Italy | €23,080 |
| 7 | Abdellah Baali | Algeria | €17,980 |
| 8 | Sebastian Mortensen | Denmark | €13,840 |
| 9 | Dario Barone | Italy | €10,260 |
(*Denotes four-handed deal)
Winner's Reaction
McAdam, an electronic payments consultant who has just moved to North Wales from Chester, is on a hot run in Spring 2026, having finished second in the Manchester GUKPT Main Event, and third in a WSOP-C event in Amsterdam, both last month. He is also a relatively new father, having welcomed Alfie into the world 14 months ago with partner Ewa, and credited the support of his better half, and a happy family life, for his recent focus.
At the start of the final table, McAdam had ten big blinds, and commented to PokerNews at the restart, "Only one thing to do now". Asked how it felt to be standing with the trophy and a six-figure score four hours later, he said "That's poker for you, amazing. That pretty much summed up the entire tournament, well Day 2 and Day 3, Day 1 was a bit more smooth sailing. They were rollercoasters, chip leading to ten bigs, chip leader again 2 hours later, back to short. Really cool experience, that's definitely the biggest field I've won in before.
On the cooler with Mazza-Boussemart and the consequences of the deal, he said "Yeh you have to get in there and play. You have to look after your chips to a degree but you have to take risks with winner takes all. Pretty much everyone seemed to be prepared to do it. That was a pure cooler, it was funny it was kings. Feel like I've got pretty unlucky with those over the years, but over the two days I woke up with them so many times when I needed it, and maybe I'll have to change my mind about them! He was definitely there to battle, the momentum shifted with that, and that's when I really thought there's a good chance of winning it."
"I've been trying to play more recently, a better balance with work and spending more time with my son. My girlfriend, Ewa, is amazing, she encourages me to play, despite having a one-year old at home. So whenever a decent tournament comes up she's just like yeh if you want to go, go, she's unbelievable, I'm so so lucky.
I feel like something's clicked recently with poker, I've had the second and third places, so first in a big field, feels really nice. I'm running really good for sure. Alfie is 14 months and the first six months I didn't play, and since I came back I've been on this crazy run. She let me go to the World Series for ten days, which was a big ask, but that's what I mean she's amazing. I've got a few things mapped out, I've got two seats for the Main already, but yeh I definitely hope to be playing a lot more in the next while, I'll definitely be back in Malta, and yeh results like this obviously help."
On the festival in general, "Yeh I really enjoyed the event, terrific staff and location, Malta always has good vibes, it won't be long before I'm back!"
Final Day Action
Only 12 players returned to Portomaso Casino from a record-breaking field of 1,451 runners, with Erik Ostergaard in the lead, but with the title completely up for grabs in a condensed field.
Short-stacks Riccardo Saraniero and Federico Petruzzelli clashed early, and Petruzelli was severely damaged, resulting in him being the first casualty of the day shortly after, falling to Inkert.
Massa-Boussemart had a strong start to take the overall lead, and McAdam's rollercoaster journey to the title started off on a downswing when he lost a blind confrontation with Davide Raschella.
Mazza-Boussemart extended his lead when he woke up with rockets to bust Thibaut Thevenet, before Saraniero exited to Ostergaard to set the final table, where McAdam was at the very bottom of the standings, with Mazzo-Boussemart leading the way from Ostergaard.
Mazzo-Boussemart leveraged his stack early, but McAdam doubled through him in a blinds battle to halt his momentum. The champion then busted Dario Barone with a dominating ace to get things moving at the final table.
Mazza-Boussemart and McAdam tangled in the blinds, the Frenchman check-raising with air and showing the semi-bluff.
McAdam began to close the gap on Mazza-Boussemart when he was on the right end of a three-way cooler with kings that eliminated Sebastian Mortensen, and damaged Mazza-Boussemart. However, Mazza-Boussemart won the classic race to eliminate Abdellah Baali, and put himself back in command.
McAdam busted Vito Romei with ace-king, and when now short-stacked Raschella ran into the wall versus Mazza-Boussemart to bust in fifth, the players immediately paused to discuss a deal.
After about 20 minutes matters were agreed, with big stack Mazza-Boussemart taking the most. The deal undoubtedly affected the play thereafter, all parties playing for the win and increasing their opening sizes, and ranges.
After McAdam coolered Mazza-Boussemart, he was presented with a huge 9:1 lead over Inkert heads-up, when Ostergaard snap three-bet jammed for 52 big blinds over a raise from the small blind from McAdam, who called with an ace that meant Ostergaard only had one live card.
While Inkert doubled once, it was always going to be a tall order for him to overhaul the deficit, and the end came when McAdam jammed second pair in a three-bet pot, and held versus Inkert's gutshot and two overcards.
That concludes PokerNews coverage of this event, but check out our continuing coverage of tournaments across the world, and be sure to keep an eye out for the schedule for the 2026 Autumn Grand Event, if you fancy joining the Malta Poker Festival action at the beautiful Portomaso Casino.