Malta Poker Festival

Malta has more live poker than almost any other place in Europe, and the Malta Poker Festival (MPF) has its own clear identity there. It isn’t built for high-stakes grinders. It’s built for recreational players who want a well-run Grand Event, a long list of affordable side events, and a week by the Mediterranean.

Official schedule: themaltapokerfestival.com/schedule

This page covers:

• the official Autumn 2026 schedule and fees
• what each tournament format means
• trip cost planning
• every past Grand Event result we could verify

We update the results tracker as each event finishes.

What Is the Malta Poker Festival?

The MPF is a live poker festival held twice a year at Portomaso Casino in St. Julian’s, Malta. It was founded in 2018 by Ivonne Montealegre, who wanted to make it the most spectacular poker destination on the island. She has always aimed it at recreational and newer players, with a focus on dealer quality, casino security and a fair tournament room, things she says are often missing at events of €500 or less.

Edition	Dates	Grand Event buy-in	Entries	Winner	1st Prize
2018 (1st)	November	€550	1,366	Emanuele Onnis (Italy)	€150,000
2019	November	€550	1,324	Tomas Sujeta (Lithuania)	€150,000
2020	May (online)	€150	293	Kenneth Valentine (Ireland)	€15,729
Spring 2022	Apr 25 – May 2	€550	–	Daniel Lakerveld (Netherlands)	€71,000
Autumn 2022	October	€550	1,326	Mirko Mostaccio (Italy)	€136,670
Spring 2023	Apr 24 – May 1	€550	1,226	Lewis Coffin (Scotland)	€100,600
Autumn 2023	October	€550	1,444	Arthur Navellou (France)	€115,000
Spring 2024	April	€550	1,460	Jordan Dumas (France)	€100,900
Autumn 2024	Oct 26 – Nov 4	€550	2,045	Domenico Lando (Italy)	€140,000
Spring 2025	April – May	€550	1,202	Aurelio Vallone (Italy)	€94,600*
Autumn 2025	Oct 26 – Nov 3	€550	1,987	Joris Ruijs (Netherlands)	€141,000
Spring 2026	Apr 19–27	€600	1,451	Robert McAdam (UK)	€104,750*
Autumn 2026	Oct 23 – Nov 4	€600	TBA	TBA	TBA

After a final table deal. In 2020 the live festival was cancelled because of COVID-19 and replaced by the online Malta Poker Championships on Pokio. There was no live festival in 2021.

MPF by the Numbers

These figures come from official PokerNews results pages.

Metric	Autumn 2024	Autumn 2025	Spring 2026
Grand Event buy-in	€550	€550	€600 (with half-price flights)
Guarantee	€500,000	€500,000	€500,000
Entries	2,045	1,987	1,451
Prize pool	€941,568	€903,498	€684,390
Prize pool per entry	~€460	~€455	~€472
1st prize	€140,000	€141,000	€104,750*
Places paid	–	298	202

After a deal.

What the numbers show:

• Autumn editions have generally attracted larger fields. Autumn 2024 was about 40% larger than Spring 2024, and Autumn 2025 was about 65% larger than Spring 2025.
• Recent autumn fields have nearly doubled the guarantee. Both the 2024 and 2025 autumn Grand Events blew past their €500,000 guarantees.
• Use about €455–€460 per entry as a benchmark when looking at past prize pools. In 2026, €530 of each full €600 buy-in goes into the prize pool.
• The 2026 guarantee needs a record field. The €1,000,000 guarantee needs about 1,890 full-price entries to cover itself. The 2025 field would have been enough at the new buy-in level, so it’s realistic, but not certain.

MPF Autumn 2026 Schedule and Dates

All times are local Malta time (CET, UTC+1), taken from the official schedule. Buy-ins are shown as listed: prize pool + fee, plus the bounty portion where there is one.

MPF Grand Event (€1,000,000 GTD)

Date	Time	Event	Buy-in	Levels
Fri Oct 23	14:00	Grand Event Day 1A	€530 + €70	40 min
Sat Oct 24	14:00	Grand Event Day 1B	€530 + €70	40 min
Sun Oct 25	14:00	Grand Event Day 1C	€530 + €70	40 min
Mon Oct 26	14:00	Grand Event Day 1D	€530 + €70	40 min
Tue Oct 27	14:00	Grand Event Day 1E	€530 + €70	40 min
Wed Oct 28	14:00	Grand Event Day 1F	€530 + €70	40 min
Thu Oct 29	14:00	Grand Event Day 1G	€530 + €70	40 min
Sat Oct 31	14:00	Grand Event Day 1H	€530 + €70	40 min
Sun Nov 1	14:00	Grand Event Day 1I	€530 + €70	40 min
Sun Nov 1	22:00	Grand Event Day 1J (Turbo)	€530 + €70	15 min
Mon Nov 2	12:30	Grand Event Day 2	–	45 min
Tue Nov 3	12:00	Grand Event Final Table	–	Hand-for-hand levels

IPS (€1,500,000 GTD) and Mini IPS (€500,000 GTD)

Date	Time	Event	Buy-in	Stack / Levels
Oct 23–29	19:00 / 20:00	Mini IPS Day 1A to Day 1G	€210 + €40	40K / 30 min
Fri Oct 30	10:00	Mini IPS Day 1H (Speed)	€210 + €40	40K / 20 min
Fri Oct 30	16:00	Mini IPS Day 2	–	30 min
Sat Oct 31	16:00	Mini IPS Final Day	–	30 min
Oct 29 – Nov 2	Various	IPS Day 1A to Day 1I	€340 + €50	50K / 40 min (30 min on Speed flights)
Tue Nov 3	10:00	IPS Day 1J (Turbo)	€340 + €50	50K / 15 min
Tue Nov 3	17:00	IPS Day 2	–	50 min
Wed Nov 4	13:00	IPS Final Day	–	50/60 min

The official schedule notes “50 TKT MPF 1H” next to several IPS flights, and “50 TKT MPF 1I” next to Day 1D. This appears to mean 50 Grand Event tickets are included in the IPS prize pool. Confirm the details with the organisers.

Side events

Date	Time	Event	Buy-in	Host
Mon Oct 26	17:00	PLO Knights	€270 + €30	–
Tue Oct 27 – Wed Oct 28	15:00	The Hendon Mob Championship (2 days)	€200 + €30	–
Tue Oct 27	18:00	Sviten Special	€270 + €30	Sone Vanelderen
Oct 27 – Nov 3	00:00	Midnight KO Hyper Turbo (nightly)	€70 + €100 + €30	–
Wed Oct 28	16:00	MPF Knockout	€200 + €200 + €50	–
Wed Oct 28	17:00	H.O.R.S.E. (5-game mix)	€200 + €30	Jon Kyte
Thu Oct 29	15:00	MPF Seniors (50+)	€270 + €30	Paul “Rinty” Monaghan
Thu Oct 29	16:00	Betsson One Bullet (freezeout)	€220 + €30	–
Thu Oct 29	18:00	MPF 8 Games	€170 + €30	–
Fri Oct 30	14:30	Ladies First!	€180 + €20	Kerryjane Craigie
Fri Oct 30 – Sun Nov 1	Various	APAT Maltese Championship	€125 + €25	–
Sat Oct 31	20:00	MPF Halloween	€220 + €30 + €10	Tanya Masters
Sun Nov 1	21:00	Byblos Party	–	–
Mon Nov 2	16:00	MPF Bounty Hunters	€100 + €100 + €30	–
Mon Nov 2	17:00	High Roller Mystery Bounty (€2,200 Costa Rica package added for the winner)	€500 + €500 + €150	Ivonne Montealegre
Mon Nov 2	21:00	MPF PLO Night	€220 + €30	–
Tue Nov 3	18:00	High Roller	€600 + €100	–
Tue Nov 3	20:00	Scandinavian Open Poker Championship	€220 + €30	–
Wed Nov 4	16:00	MPF Last Chance	€270 + €30	–

Satellites: Grand Event satellites cost €60 + €10 (15K stack, 15-minute levels) and run at 21:00 from October 23 to 28. IPS satellites cost €78 + €22 and run from October 29 to November 2.

Grand Event: €600 MPF Championship

Detail	Official information
Buy-in	€530 + €70 (€600 total)
Guarantee	€1,000,000
Starting stack	60,000 (as listed on the Autumn schedule)
Levels	40 minutes on Day 1 (15 minutes on the Turbo flight); 45 minutes on Day 2
Late registration	Listed as until level 10. Confirm at registration
Re-entry	Unlimited
Starting flights	10 starting flights between October 23 and November 1
Day 2	Monday, November 2, 12:30
Final table	Tuesday, November 3, 12:00
Host	Michael Mizrachi, 2025 WSOP Main Event champion

The blind structure graphic on the official schedule page shows a 50,000 stack and a €500,000 guarantee. That appears to be carried over from the spring edition, so check the current structure sheet when you register.

How Day 1 works:

• You can play as many flights as you like until you bag chips.
• In past editions, Day 1 flights have played down to about 15% of the field, with survivors in the money. Check the current structure sheet to confirm how this year’s flights work.
• Ten flights between October 23 and November 1 means you can fit the Grand Event around most travel plans.
• The Turbo flight (Day 1J, November 1 at 22:00) is the last chance to enter. With 15-minute levels, it’s faster and more of a gamble.

Can you play the Grand Event and the IPS? Yes. The IPS has its own flights from October 29 to November 3, so you can bag in the Grand Event early in the week and fire IPS flights later.

Buy-ins, Fees and Trip Cost

The table below shows the total cost per bullet for each event. Prize pool contribution, fee and bounty portion are all included.

Event	Total per bullet
APAT Maltese Championship	€150
Midnight KO Hyper Turbo · MPF 8 Games · Ladies First!	€200
The Hendon Mob Championship · H.O.R.S.E. · MPF Bounty Hunters	€230
Mini IPS · Betsson One Bullet · Scandinavian Open · PLO Night	€250
MPF Halloween	€260
PLO Knights · Sviten Special · Seniors · Last Chance	€300
IPS	€390
MPF Knockout	€450
MPF Grand Event	€600
High Roller	€700
High Roller Mystery Bounty	€1,150

How much does an MPF trip cost?

Tournament costs only, one bullet each:

Plan	Events	Total
Grand Event only	Grand Event	€600
Guarantee hunter	Grand Event + IPS + Mini IPS	€1,240
Budget week	Mini IPS + Grand Event + Hendon Mob + Bounty Hunters	€1,310
Mixed-game week	Grand Event + H.O.R.S.E. + 8 Games + Sviten Special	€1,330
High roller add-on	Grand Event + High Roller + HR Mystery Bounty	€2,450

On top of tournament costs, budget for:

• flights to Malta International Airport (MLA)
• hotel nights in or near St. Julian’s
• meals
• taxis (typically around 20–25 minutes from the airport, depending on traffic)

Prices change daily, so check fares when you book. Unlimited re-entry events can cost much more than one bullet, so set your maximum number of entries before you travel.

Which MPF Events Suit You?

Event	Fit	Why
Mini IPS	✅ Beginners	Low buy-in, many flights, big guarantee
APAT Maltese Championship	✅ Amateurs	Amateur-focused event at €150 with a 100K stack
Ladies First! / Seniors	✅ Social players	Friendly, hosted, smaller fields
MPF Grand Event	✅ Everyone	The headline event: deep stack and ten flights
IPS	✅ Value seekers	€1.5M guarantee at €390
Betsson One Bullet	✅ Disciplined players	Freezeout format, so one entry only
H.O.R.S.E. / 8 Games / Sviten Special	⚠️ Learn first	Mixed games, so you need to know each variant
PLO Knights / PLO Night	⚠️ For Omaha players	Pot-Limit Omaha only
MPF Knockout / Bounty Hunters / Midnight KO	⚠️ Bounty formats	Prize money depends on knockouts
High Roller / HR Mystery Bounty	❌ Experienced players	Higher buy-ins and tougher fields

Tournament Formats Explained

• Re-entry: If you bust during late registration, you can buy in again. “Unlimited” means there’s no cap.
• Freezeout: One entry only. Once you bust, you’re out.
• Flights: Separate starting days for the same tournament. Survivors from every flight combine on Day 2.
• Speed and Turbo flights: Shorter levels. They’re faster to finish but rely more on luck.
• Knockout (KO): Part of each buy-in becomes a bounty on your head. Whoever eliminates you collects it. In “€200 + €200 + €50”, the middle figure is the bounty portion.
• Mystery Bounty: You don’t know what a bounty is worth until you knock someone out and draw an envelope.
• Hyper Turbo: Very short levels (10 minutes here) and a fast finish.
• Satellite: A cheaper qualifier that awards seats into a bigger event.
• Guarantee (GTD): The organisers promise a minimum prize pool. If entries fall short, the casino pays the difference, which is called an overlay.
• H.O.R.S.E.: A rotation of Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Stud Hi-Lo.
• Sviten Special: A Nordic Omaha-style variant.

New to mixed games? See our European Mixed Poker Championship coverage for explanations of each variant.

Registration, Payments and Satellites

• Where to register: Online through the official MPF website, or at the Portomaso Casino tournament desk during the festival.
• ID: Bring a valid passport or government photo ID. Check Portomaso’s entry age rules for your nationality before you travel.
• Payment and payouts: Confirm accepted payment methods and payout options with the casino or organisers before you go.
• Live satellites: €60 + €10 Grand Event satellites from October 23 to 28, and €78 + €22 IPS satellites from October 29 to November 2.
• Online satellites:
  • RedStar Poker (iPoker network) ran €125 qualifiers for 22 MPF Autumn packages worth €2,250 each, from August 24 to October 11, 2026.
  • Grosvenor Poker has offered MPF packages for past editions.
• Travel packages: Main Event Travel offers hotel-and-tournament bundles.
• Questions: Use the contact page on themaltapokerfestival.com.

Venue, Travel and Accommodation

Detail	Information
Venue	Portomaso Casino
Location	Portomaso, St. Julian’s, Malta
From the airport	Malta International Airport (MLA), roughly 20–25 minutes by taxi depending on traffic
Currency	Euro (€)
Language	Maltese and English (English is widely spoken)
Visa	Schengen rules apply. Non-EU players should check their requirements

Portomaso Casino sits on the St. Julian’s waterfront, surrounded by hotels, restaurants and nightlife. It reopened after a major renovation in January 2026.

The Battle of Malta 2026 runs at Casino Malta in the same town at the same time (October 27 to November 4). Many players enter flights at both festivals on one trip.

Weather in late October and early November is usually mild, but conditions vary, so check the forecast before you pack.

MPF Autumn 2026 Results and Winners

Last updated: November 2, 2026. We’ll add official entries, prize pools and winners as soon as they’re published.

Event	Date	Status	Entries	Prize pool	Winner	1st Prize
€250 Mini IPS (€500K GTD)	Final Oct 31	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
PLO Knights	Oct 26	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
The Hendon Mob Championship	Final Oct 28	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
Sviten Special	Oct 27	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
MPF Knockout	Oct 28	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
H.O.R.S.E.	Oct 28	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
MPF Seniors	Oct 29	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
Betsson One Bullet	Oct 29	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
MPF 8 Games	Oct 29	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
Ladies First!	Oct 30	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
APAT Maltese Championship	Final Nov 1	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
MPF Halloween	Oct 31	Completed – awaiting official results	–	–	–	–
€600 MPF Grand Event (€1M GTD)	Day 2 Nov 2	In progress – final table Nov 3, 12:00	–	–	–	–
€390 IPS (€1.5M GTD)	Final Nov 4	In progress	–	–	–	–
MPF Bounty Hunters	Nov 2	Today	–	–	–	–
High Roller Mystery Bounty	Nov 2	Today	–	–	–	–
MPF PLO Night	Nov 2	Today	–	–	–	–
High Roller	Nov 3	Scheduled	–	–	–	–
Scandinavian Open Poker Championship	Nov 3	Scheduled	–	–	–	–
MPF Last Chance	Nov 4	Scheduled	–	–	–	–

Previous Champions and Past Results

MPF Spring 2026 – Portomaso Casino (April 19–27)

The €600 Grand Event, with half-price flights available, drew a spring-record 1,451 entries against a €500,000 guarantee. That built a €684,390 prize pool, and 202 players were paid.

Britain’s Robert McAdam, a satellite qualifier, came back from ten big blinds at the start of the final table to win after a four-handed deal.

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

Four-handed deal. Fourth place earned more than second and third because Mazza-Boussemart was the chip leader when the deal was made.

Other Spring 2026 winners: England’s Bev Nicholson won the APAT Maltese Championship, and Greece’s Stergios Alexandrakis won The Hendon Mob Championship.

MPF Autumn 2025 – Portomaso Casino (October 26 – November 3)

The €550 Grand Event drew 1,987 entries for €903,498, more than 80% above the €500,000 guarantee. Joris Ruijs (Netherlands) won €141,000. These were the official final table payouts:

Place	Prize
1	€141,000 (Joris Ruijs)
2	€86,420
3	€61,560
4	€47,220
5	€36,330
6	€28,650
7	€22,070
8	€17,040

MPF Spring 2025

There were 1,202 entries and a €555,940 prize pool. Italy’s Aurelio Vallone, a full-time cash game pro, won €94,600 after a heads-up deal with Germany’s Carsten Mawick (€68,400).

MPF Autumn 2024 – Record Field (October 26 – November 4)

There were 2,045 entries and a €941,568 prize pool.

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

Earlier Grand Events

Edition	Entries	Prize pool	Winner	1st Prize
Spring 2024	1,460	€700,800	Jordan Dumas (France)	€100,900
Autumn 2023	1,444	€693,120	Arthur Navellou (France)	€115,000
Spring 2023	1,226	€586,760	Lewis Coffin (Scotland)	€100,600
Autumn 2022	1,326	€636,450	Mirko Mostaccio (Italy)	€136,670
Spring 2022	–	–	Daniel Lakerveld (Netherlands)	€71,000
2019	1,324	€642,140	Tomas Sujeta (Lithuania)	€150,000
2018	1,366	€662,510	Emanuele Onnis (Italy)	€150,000

MPF Records and All-Time Leaders

• Biggest field and prize pool: Autumn 2024, with 2,045 entries and €941,568.
• Largest first prize: €150,000, won in both 2018 and 2019.
• Most Grand Event titles by country: Italy with four (Onnis, Mostaccio, Lando and Vallone).

MPF all-time money list (Hendon Mob, in US dollars):

Rank	Player	Country	Earnings
1	Domenico Lando	Italy	$192,747
2	Emanuele Onnis	Italy	$172,986
3	Joris Ruijs	Netherlands	$172,453
4	Tomas Sujeta	Lithuania	$167,773
5	Kjetil Hanstvedt	Norway	$146,182

Most MPF cashes: Malta’s Andrew Cutajar, with 8.

Players to Watch at Autumn 2026

This section will be replaced with notable Autumn 2026 performances once the festival ends.

• Domenico Lando: The 2024 champion tops the MPF all-time money list.
• Joris Ruijs: The 2025 champion won the PokerStars Open Main Event at EPT Monte Carlo in 2026 for €317,398.
• Robert McAdam: The reigning spring champion has also been in action at the Battle of Malta this week.
• Sebastian Mortensen: The Spring 2026 finalist is joint second on the all-time MPF cashes list, with six.

Grand Event Strategy and Preparation

• Choose your flight wisely. Weekday flights are usually smaller and calmer. Weekend flights and the final Turbo flight draw bigger, looser fields.
• Know where the money line is. Check the structure sheet for where each flight ends and when the money starts, and adjust your play near the end of the day.
• Set a bullet limit. Unlimited re-entry makes it easy to overspend. Decide on two or three bullets maximum before you arrive.
• Use the deep stack. A deep starting stack with 40-minute levels gives you time. You don’t need to gamble early.
• Prepare for a deal. Four-handed and heads-up deals are common at MPF final tables. Learn the basics of how ICM deals work so you know what your stack is worth.
• Watch the guarantee. If the Grand Event or IPS falls short of its guarantee, every entry is worth more. Check the running totals during late registration.

Planning more poker this autumn? See our Battle of Malta 2026 coverage and our list of the best poker tournaments in the world.

FAQs