A new record was set at The Battle of Malta on Sunday 2nd November, 2025. By the time registration closed in the final turbo starting day of the €600 showpiece event, a further 992 players had joined, bringing the final total up to 6,039 entries. This represents an increase of 240 buy-ins on the 2024 Autumn Edition. The final prize pool stands at €2,728,270 with a first prize of over €250,000 awaiting the winner, who will be crowned on Wednesday.

A further 149 players from the final flight joined those who had already booked their seats in Day 2. In the evening Day 2 began, with 811 players taking their seats, all assured of a payout of at least €900. Their number included six former Battle of Malta champions, including Cosme Gomez Martinez, who won the Autumn edition in 2024. Also through, with the third biggest stack at the start of Day 2, was Vasileios Zisis, who Gomez Martinez defeated heads-up this time last year, when his Greek opponent fell just short of retaining the title he won in the Spring edition.

Defending champion Adrian Ziemichod also made it into Day 2, as did 2023 Champion Gabriele Re and Nicodemo Piccolo, the winner of the very first Battle of Malta in 2012. Dimitrios Anastasakis, the 2022 Autumn winner completed the line of of former champions looking to become the first double winner.

Overall it was another very busy day in the Eden Arena and Casino Malta, at the Intercontinental Hotel in St Julian’s. Hundreds of players were seated throughout the day, with many of the side events also bursting at the seams. Over 500 players entered the €300 Shark Bay EuroRounders Bounty and close to 400 took their seats in the €1,100 High Roller. Both of these events will grow further on Monday as registration in each remains open during the first three levels after the restart.

Six levels were played on Day 2 in the Main Event, with the clock increased to 60-minutes. As is always the case, the exits came thick and fast at the start of the day, which was preceded by a short memorial ceremony for the much loved dealer Gianni Bevitori, who died earlier this year. A chef, a musician and an all-round wonderful person who is very much missed by all. RIP Gianni.

Five Champions Eliminated, One Remains

Over a quarter of the field were eliminated in the first level of the day, including Nicodemo Piccolo. When he became the inaugural Champion in 2012, he outlasted a field of 349 players. He scooped €35,000 back then, which is less than the 7th place finisher will receive this year.

Three of the other former champions were also eliminated as the day progressed. Cosme Gomez Martinez found the rail later in the day, departing in 396th for €1,800. The next to go was defending champ Adrian Ziemichod, who finally succumbed in 305th, collecting €2,300 after nursing a below average stack for most of the day. Soon after, Dimitrios Anastasakis departed in 317th, collecting the same amount.

Vasileios Zisis went close to making it into Day 3, but was taken out in 226th place during the last level of the day. He cashed for €2,600 but also won a €1,500 package to the Spring 2026 edition, as a bonus for being the chip leader from his starting day.

The only former champion who made it into Day 3 is Gabriele Re, who ended the day 1.15m chips, in 65th place of the 196 who will return on Monday.

Angelos Michael Bags Day 2 Chip Lead

Cypriot Angelos Michael ended the day as the chip leader, having amassed 4.76m chips by the time play was suspended. He is over a million chip ahead of Brit Anthony Hughes, who bagged up 3.5m, with Italian Nico Diperna on 3.37m.

Day 2 Top10 Chip Counts

Position	Name	Country	Chips	Big Blinds
1	Angelos Michael	Cyprus	4,760,000	159
2	Anthony Hughes	England	3,500,000	117
3	Nico Diperna	Italy	3,370,000	112
4	Jan Gompers	Germany	3,200,000	107
5	Ioannis Diamantopoulos	Greece	3,170,000	106
6	Rafal Lubczynski	Poland	3,135,000	105
7	Darren Harbinson	England	2,915,000	97
8	Charalampos Siakaras	Greece	2,845,000	95
9	Ruggero Magri’	Italy	2,530,000	84
10	Paulo Jorge Dos Santos Castelo	Portugal	2,460,000	82

Side Event Winners

Only two tournaments were played out to a conclusion on Sunday. The second outing of the White Knight was much busier than its first iteration. Just shy of 200 players entered the €400 buy-in tournament, creating a prize pool in excess of over €60,000. It ended after a six-way even chop, that left a bit more for the top three to play for. Petros Taki from Cyprus took down the trophy and the €8,500 first prize. The Sviten had 60 entries and was won by Edvin Ujhazi for €5,000.

Full results of these events can be found in the results section of the blog.

Monday’s Itinerary at the Battle of Malta

Apart from the third day of the Main Event, which resumes play at 1pm, Monday has a packed schedule, with ten tournaments running throughout the day.

• The day gets underway at 11am, with the last satellite of the week, into the High Roller.
• At 1pm, the remaining 196 Main Event warriors will resume combat, all now eyeing up a place in Day 4. The clock is increased to 75-minutes today and five levels will be played.
• At 2pm, the High Roller resumes, with still three levels of play until registration closes. Close to 400 entries were made on the first day and the $300k guarantee has already been surpassed.Almost 550 entries were made into the first day of this €300 buy-in tournament, which is likely to become a lot busier when registration closes after a further three levels of play on Monday. Play resumes at 3pm.
• Several other tournaments begin on Monday, including the €2,000+€200 Super High Roller at 8pm and another €330 Pot Limit Omaha at 5pm.
• It’s also the day of the €135+€15 Ladies at the Battle of Malta’s Ladies Event, which begins at 5pm. The top three finishers in this will receive added prizes of seats into the Ladies event at the next Battle of Malta.

Here’s the full schedule of play for Monday.

Time	Tournament Name	Buy-in	Stack	Levels
11:00	NLH Satellite One Shot to High Roller €300,000 GTD	€110+€20	10K	20 min
13:00	BOM Day 3 1,500,000 GTD	–	–	75 min
14:00	NLH – High Roller €300,000 GTD Day 2 (reg open till level 12)	€1,000+€100	50K	30/40 min
15:00	Shark Bay EuroRounders Bounty €50,000 GTD Final Day (reg open till 12)	€110+€150+€40	30K	20 min
16:00	NLH Novibet Ultradeep ‘PKO’ €30,000 GTD Bounty	€150+€150+€30	40K	20 min
17:00	Pot Limit Omaha	€300+€30	30K	25 min
17:00	NLH ACR Ladies Event 5,000 GTD (Added Prizes:Top 3 get Ladies BOM Buy-in 2026)	€135+€15	20K	20 min
18:00	Qui Gioco – NLH	€160+€40	30K	20 min
20:00	ACR Poker Super High Roller Day 1	€2,000+€200	50K	40 min
21:00	NLH Hyperturbo	€130+€20	20K	10 min