€600 MPF Grand Event Day 1f | 2026 Malta Poker Festival Spring

21 hours 9 minutes ago

Zen Frey Jams Flop

Richard Hayes

Level 6 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Around 9,000 had made its way into the middle on a flop of 10♥9♥6♣, in a button versus big blind spot between Naith Hanchard and Martyn Frey.

Frey checked and Hanchard fired out an overbet of 16,500. Frey responded with a check-jam to 75,100, which seemed to absolutely perplex Hanchard.

He spent the next 90 seconds in a monologue, surmising that he couldn't work out what hand would take that course of action bar jacks or a flush draw. Frey was getting a head massage and looked perfectly zen.

Eventually, Hanchard sighed and folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Martyn Frey	101,000
Naith Hanchard	45,800 59,200	59,200

Tags: Martyn Frey Naith Hanchard

21 hours 20 minutes ago

Nordberg Bluff-Catches

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Richard Hayes

Level 6 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Mats Norderg opened to 3,500 from the hijack, and received calls from Vincent De Luca on the button, and Kevin Quinlan and Pierre Chambon in the blinds.

The flop was a freaky 6♥6♣6♠, and action was checked to Nordberg, who was undeterred by the sign of the beast, and fired out an appropriate bet of 6,000.

Only Quinlan called to see the 9♣ turn, which was checked to the 7♥ river. Quinlan led out with a bet of 10,500, and Nordberg called after a fair bit of thought.

Quinlan tabled K♥J♣ for king-jack high to compliment the board trips, but Nordberg had found a good call with A♠Q♠.

Quinlan was left with 25,000, but was seen exiting the tournament area not long after this hand.

Player	Chips	Progress
Mats Nordberg	120,000 120,000	120,000
Kevin Quinlan	Busted

Tags: Kevin Quinlan Mats Norderg Pierre Chambon Vincent De Luca

21 hours 25 minutes ago

Keren Puts Le Borgne in Blender

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Richard Hayes

Level 6 : Blinds 1,000/1,500, 1,500 ante

Samuel Le Borgne opened to 3,000 from the cutoff, and was faced with a three-bet to 8,000 from Chen Keren on the button.

Action folded back to Le Borgne, who called to see the 7♣5♣3♦ flop, where he check-called versus a continuation bet of 6,000 from Keren.

The 2♦ hit on the turn, and Le Borgne checked once more. Almost as soon as he had knuckled his option, Keren ripped his remaining stack of 42,000 into the middle.

Le Borgne had 31,200 behind, and was pained. He spent the next two minutes with his chin resting on both hands in contemplation, glancing at the board and giving his opponent the evil side-eye.

He went for the classic "If I fold you show?", and Keren responded with an instant shake of the head, but said nothing.

Eventually the clock was called, and with five seconds remaining, Le Borgne folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Chen Keren	80,000 80,000	80,000
Samuel Le Borgne	31,200 6,800	6,800

Tags: Chen Keren Samuel Le Borgne

Level: 6

Blinds: 1,000/1,500

Ante: 1,500

21 hours 47 minutes ago

Flashback: Aurelio Vallone Wins 2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event

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Richard Hayes

Level 5 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

After a quick-fire final day, Aurelio Vallone of Italy emerged triumphant in the 2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event. The Italian cash game specialist sealed 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, took 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 Autumn Grand Event to play for.

2025 Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event Final Table Results

Place	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

Read the Full Recap Here

21 hours 54 minutes ago

Bathe Jams River

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Richard Hayes

Level 5 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

A chunky pot of 40,000 had brewed by the river on a board of A♦8♦5♦K♠9♠, in a button versus big blind spot between Stacey Bathe and Sokratis Oikonomou.

Oikonomou led out with a bet of 35,000, and was faced with a jam from Bathe with the covering stack.

Oikonomou, who had around 45,000 behind, went deep into thought. "It'll be a good fold, yes?", asked Oikonomou, smiling at his opponent.

Bathe remained staring intently at the board, and Oikonomou eventually tapped the table and folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Stacey Bathe	165,000 85,000	85,000
Sokratis Oikonomou	45,000

Tags: Sokratis Oikonomou Stacey Bathe

21 hours 59 minutes ago

Flush for Mihajlovski

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Richard Hayes

Level 5 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Around 15,000 had made its way into the middle on a completed board of K♠K♣J♣2♠4♠. Action checked to Oliver Mihajlovski, who fired out a bet of 12,700.

Knut Gronli called, and Georgios Angelinas folded.

Mihajlovski tabled A♠7♠ for the nut flush, and Gronli mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Oliver Mihajlovski	180,000 50,000	50,000
Knut Gronli	86,000 30,300	30,300
Georgios Angelinas	31,600 5,600	5,600

Tags: Georgios Angelinas Knut Gronli Oliver Mihajlovski

22 hours 7 minutes ago

Broadway for Mulligan

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Richard Hayes

Level 5 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Lee Mulligan opened to 2,200 from under the gun, and received action from Roderick Macneil and Sergei Cutajar in the blinds.

The K♠Q♥5♠ flop and 5♥ turn were checked to the J♠ river. Cutajar led out with a bet of 7,000, and only Mulligan called.

Cutajar had 6♠3♦ for air and Mulligan tabled A♣10♥ for the broadway straight.

Player	Chips	Progress
Lee Mulligan	68,000 68,000	68,000
Sergei Cutajar	64,000 64,000	64,000
Roderick Macneil	41,700 41,700	41,700

Tags: Lee Mulligan Roderick Macneil Sergei Cutajar

22 hours 10 minutes ago

Aboussaad Forces River Fold

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Richard Hayes

Level 5 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Alejandro Ruiz opened to 2,000 from the button, and Youssef Aboussaad defended in the big blind.

On the K♣7♣5♥ flop, Aboussaad led out with a bet of 1,500, which failed to shake off Ruiz.

The J♦ hit on the turn, and Aboussaad checked. Ruiz slid out a bet of 2,500, and Aboussaad responded with a check-raise to 7,500.

Ruiz quickly called to see the J♠ river, where he quickly folded to a bet of 11,500 from Aboussaad.

Player	Chips	Progress
Youssef Aboussaad	132,000 2,000	2,000
Alejandro Ruiz	31,000 9,500	9,500

Tags: Alejandro Ruiz Youssef Aboussaad

22 hours 22 minutes ago

Etay's STOLEN WPT Wynn Poker Trophy Listed For Sale? | PokerNews Podcast #958

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Chad Holloway

Level 5 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

In the 958th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow are back to talk about a poker mystery. How did Esther Taylor's 2022 WPT Wynn trophy end up on eBay without her knowledge? Chad actually brought it to her attention, and after some investigating, there are more questions than answers. Was the trophy stolen? Hear from Etay herself as she shares what she thinks happened.

From there, they talk about WrestleMania weekend in Las Vegas, which included Jared Bleznick (AKA Blez) meeting WWE superstar The Miz and discussing a $1.5 million sports card. From there, it's a look back at online poker's Black Friday on its 15th anniversary, plans for the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP), a big win by poker photographer Katerina Lukina, and winners from the 2026 PGT U.S. Poker Open, including Brock Wilson and Joao Simao.

Finally, Chad shares video highlights from his trip to the record-setting Irish Open in Dublin.

Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.

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