OCTOBER’S BATTLE OF MALTA NOTCHES UP MORE THAN €3.5 MILLION IN PRIZE MONEY

The stats are in – and it’s clear that October’s Battle of Malta was one of the biggest yet! The festival as a whole attracted a total of 12,438 entries, creating an overall prize pool of €3,581,415.
Dimitrios Anastasakis became Battle of Malta’s first-ever Greek champion when he took down the Main Event for €285,900. Anastasakis, who finished 28th in the Battle of Malta Main Event back in 2019, cut a three-way deal with eventual runner-up Toivo Rinne from Finland and Malta-based Brit Will Jarman who finished third. The trio had banked their ICM (Independent Chip Modelling) share of the remaining prize pool leaving €100k up top to play for.
Anastasakis’s latest cash now propels him into Greece’s top 20 all-time money list. Before even arriving in Malta, he had more than $400k in live tournament winnings to his name with cashes accrued all over Europe as well as Vegas. In June he was runner-up in a $1,600 NLHE side event at the Wynn Summer Classic but Battle of Malta is his first major tournament victory – and his second biggest ever cash.
Battle of Malta was hosted by Casino Malta at the InterContinental Conference Centre in St Julian’s from October 4 to October 12. The huge turnout for the €555 buy-in Main Event meant the event easily smashed its €1,000,000 guarantee with the eventual prize pool reaching a massive €2,171,000. The festival featured 34 tournaments in total, including the €150 Ladies Event and Battle of Malta’s first ever €210 + €40 + 200 Mystery Bounty.

The Battle of Malta Main Event attracted a total of 4,342 entries – with 2,573 unique players – making this year’s Autumn Battle of Malta the second biggest ever held in the event’s ten-year history. Italians accounted for by far the biggest percentage of players in the Main Event with 984 taking part, more than four times the next closest nationality – the UK with 236 players. There were 132 Maltese nationals on board for the Main Event – a great showing from the host country – while Greek players were also out in force with 127 taking part.
Among others who cashed in the Main Event were EPT Vienna finalist Konstantinos Nanos, who finished ninth for €25,120, and Unibet Malta runner-up Luca Beretta. A total of 650 players made the money, with a min-cash worth €1,000.
Main Event final table results:
Place | Name | Prize |
1 | Dimitrios Anastasakis | €285,900 |
2 | Toivo Rinne | €165,900 |
3 | William Jarman | €125,200 |
4 | Emmanuel Houssais | €72,540 |
5 | Cristiano Zambonelli | €52,420 |
6 | Gabriele Re | €40,260 |
7 | Claudio Barone | €33,220 |
8 | Omer Azulay | €28,200 |
9 | Konstantinos Nanos | €25,120 |
History of the Battle of Malta
2012: Winner Nicodemo Piccolo, Italy, €35,000, 349 entries, total prize pool €169,265
2013: Winner Louis Cartarius, Germany, €68,000, 888 entries, total prize pool €430,680
2014: Winner Antoan Katsarov, Bulgaria, €122,750, 1,447 entries, total prize pool €701,795
2015: Winner Nicolas Proust, France, €110,000, 1,804 entries, total prize pool €875,000
2016: Winner Robert Berglund, Sweden, €160,000, 1,813 entries, total prize pool €879,305
2017: Winner Nadav Lipszy, Israel, €200,000, 2,074 entries, total prize pool €1,005,890
2018: Winner Julien Stropoli, France, €168,500, 3,816 entries, total prize pool €1,850,760
2019: Winner Serghei Lisii, Moldova, €247,167, 4,657 entries, total prize pool €2,258,645
2022 Spring edition: Winner Giuseppe Rosa, Italy, €200,340, 2,592 entries, total prize pool €1,244,160
2022 October edition: Winner Dimitrios Anastasakis, Greece, €285,900, 4,342 entries, total prize pool €2,171,000
Casino Malta spokesperson Slawomir Switalski said: “Congratulations to our new and very worthy champion Dimitrios Anastasakis. It was a sensational festival and we would like to thank the thousands of players who came to compete here. Many thanks also to all our floor staff, the dealers, hotel and casino representatives and all the media for their hard work – plus our fabulous sponsors. We look forward to welcoming everyone back again in 2023 for the next Battle of Malta festival.”