Battle of Malta poker tournament
Current season, competition or edition: Battle of Malta 2016 | |
|
Official logo | |
| Sport | Poker |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2012 |
| Owner(s) | PokerListings.com |
| Motto | Let the battle begin! |
| Country | Malta |
| Venue(s) | Portomaso Casino, St Julian's, Malta |
| Most recent champion(s) | Robert Berglund (2016 Main Event) |
| Official website | http://www.pokerlistings.com/battle-of-malta |
The Battle of Malta is a no-limit hold'em poker tournament held at the Portomaso Casino in Malta.[1]
The debut event took place in November 2012. After the success of the first event, PokerListings decided to make the Battle of Malta an annual event.[2] Designed for the low- to mid-stakes poker player, the 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 edition had the same low buy-in (€550) and a larger prize pool.
History
Battle of Malta 2012
In the inaugural 2012 tournament, there were a total of 349 entries paying the entry fee of €550 to the main event, creating a total prize pool of €169,265.
A retired doctor, Nicodemo Piccolo took home the first-ever Battle of Malta title, trophy and €35,000 first prize.[2]
Battle of Malta 2013
The 2013 Battle of Malta main event took place from September 26 to 29 featuring the return of Kara Scott as host and appearances by pro players Daniel Cates and Andreas Hoivold. Battle of Malta 2013, turned out to be the largest Poker tournament ever to take place in Malta. With a record 888 entrants at €550 each, the prize pool was €430,680. The first place prize of €68,000 was won by Louis Cartarius, a Frankfurt based online player.[3]
Battle of Malta 2014
The 2014 Battle of Malta took place from Nov. 6-9 and broke its own record for the biggest poker tournament ever held in Malta with 1,447 entries. The €550 buy-in main event easily smashed the €500,000 guarantee with a total prize pool crof €701,795. A record €140,000 was set aside for the winner and €90,000 for second place. Bulgarian Antoan Katsarov was the eventual winner with Malta local Alan Brincat finishing in second place.
In an unusual turn of events Katsarov actually won the tournament without busting Brincat. When play reached nine players and action was expected to run into the Casino’s hard cutoff time of 5 a.m., players were given the option of stopping and returning the following day or continuing play. Players unanimously agreed to play on and play did reach the hard stop with just Katsarov and Brincat left.
As per the rules set down by the Tournament Director and agreed to by the players, Katsarov was declared the winner and the final prize money was allocated according to chip counts. Katsarov collected €122,750 and the Battle of Malta trophy and Brincat collected €107,250.
Katsarov also had the rare opportunity of choosing the winning hand of the tournament. He picked the Jack-Ten of hearts to display for the winner photos.
2014: Over 30 Professional Players in Attendance
The 2014 BOM attracted more professional poker players than ever before. American Maria Ho took over hosting duties from ESPN host Kara Scott.
Johnny Lodden, Thor Hansen, Fabrice Soulier, Gaëlle Garcia Diaz, Leo Margets, Luca Moschitta, Sofia Lovgren, Dominik Panka, Luca Pagano, Rupert Elder, Dominik Nitsche, Marcin Horecki, Hugo Lemaire, Andreas Hoivold and Konstantin Puchkov were all in attendance.
Norwegian actor Fridtjov Såheim, from the Netflix Tv series Lilyhammer also played. Eight different countries were represented at the 10-man final table. Sweden, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, France, Ireland, Poland and Italy all had players while Brincat represented his home country of Malta. 2014 Spirit of Poker Awards
The 2014 PokerListings Spirit of Poker Awards were also handed out at the Battle of Malta. Accepting awards in person were Rising Star Dominik Panka and Living Legend Thor Hansen. Accepting his award via submitted video was 2014 Most Inspiring Player Shannon Shorr.
Four Side Events Added to 2014 Battle of Malta Festival
The side events featured the following winners:
€200+20 Siege of Malta Alexey Kovalev - €24,000
€300+30 DeepStack Turbo Tomasz Olszewski - €21,000
€150+15 Knight’s Crusade PLO Aarno Bror Kivellio - €4,300
€3800+380 Grandmaster High Roller Arsens Sakanjans - €15,300
Battle of Malta 2015
The 2015 Battle of Malta again broke its own record for biggest poker tournament ever held on Malta.
The main event saw 1,804 entries and a prize pool of over €875,000. The three top finishers all earned over €100,000 after a three-way deal. France’s Nicolas Proust was the champion after he defeated Norwegian Henrik Jacobsen heads-up. Third-place finisher Hendrik Koops, of the Netherlands, actually took the biggest prize of €125,000 because of the deal. Because of the size of the field the final table was played on Monday. Celebrities and poker pros in attendance included American Idol star William Hung, Olympic Field Hockey Gold Medallist Fatima Moreira de Melo, former tennis professional Raemon Sluiter, Italian reality TV performer Sabina Hiatullah, Norwegian TV star Tone Damli, Finnish singer/model Kim Herold and Costa Rican poker legend Humberto Brenes.
Poker pros Anatoly Filatov, Charlie Carrel and Brenes received the 2015 PokerListings Spirit of Poker Awards.
Amazing Race 15 contestant Maria Ho returned for her second year as host.
Battle of Malta 2016
The 2016 Battle of Malta once again broke its own record for biggest poker tournament ever held on Malta for the fifth consecutive year. The main event saw 1,813 entries this time around and a record prize pool of €879,305.
The winner, Robert Berglund from Falun, Sweden, took home the biggest Battle of Malta payout to date €160,000. A deal was briefly discussed when play was six-handed but eventual runner-up, John Finnighan Linkins from Ireland, wasn’t happy with the terms and said no. He ended up taking home the second-place prize of €110,000. Incredibly Berglund’s best friend from Falun, Rasmus Eriksson, also made the final table and finished third for €67,000.
Six nationalities were represented at the final table with 3 players from Sweden, one from Norway, two from Italy, one from Spain, one from Ireland and one player, Lawrence Brandt, all the way from the USA.
For the first-time ever the final table (and feature table from the day before) was live streamed for viewers on PokerListings.com and Twitch.tv. The live stream was sponsored by Betsafe, NordicBet and Betsson. Global Poker League host Roland Boothb, Rikard Åberg, NordicBet poker manager Jostein Grødum and PokerListings’ Matt Showell, Dirk Oetzmann and Maria Ho commentated
All of the 2016 Battle of Malta festival side events shattered records as well with €1,295,853.15 in total prize pools paid out across all events.
The fourth annual PokerListings Spirit of Poker Awards were also handed out. Brazil’s Felipe ‘Mojave’ Ramos was named Most Inspiring Player. Norway’s Silje Nilsen was named Rising Star and Russia’s Konstantin Puchkov won the Living Legend award.
Amazing Race 15 contestant Maria Ho returned for her third year as host.
Celebrity and pro guests included 2016 WSOP November Niner Fernando Pons, Fabrice Soulier, Leo Margets, Claire Renaut, Sofia Lovgren, Andreas Hoivold, Konstantin Puchkov, Finnish DJ Amanda Harkimo and Norwegian rapper and TV star Petter Katastrofe.
The 2014 Battle of Malta won the European Poker Award for Best Poker Event Under €2,000 Buy-In. The 2015 Battle of Malta was also nominated for the award.
Main Event results
| Year | Winner | Winning hand |
First place prize € | Entrants | Runner-up | Losing hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Nicodemo Piccolo | 35,000 | 349 | Giulio Astarita | ||
| 2013 | Louis Cartarius | 68,000 | 888 | Konrad Abela | ||
| 2014 | Antoan Katsarov | 122,750 | 1,447 | Alan Brincat | ||
| 2015 | Nicolas Proust | 110,000 | 1,804 | Henrik Jacobsen | ||
| 2016 | Robert Berglund | 160,000 | 1,813 | John Finnighan Linkins |
References
- ↑ "Battle of Malta". Portomasocasino.com. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
- ↑ "PokerListings Battle of Malta Poker Tournament, No Limit Hold'em: Hendon Mob Poker Database". Pokerdb.thehendonmob.com. 2012-11-25. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
- ↑ "2013 PokerListings Battle of Malta".