Day 3

The daily talk show is a new feature for this edition of the Battle of Malta and has been a roaring success. It began with no name and suffered four episodes of identity crisis and has finally got a name it will be known by for the remaining episodes. That name is The Battle Booth.

In episode 5 of The Battle Booth, Jason and Glenn were joined by FLIP (Fantastic Ladies In Poker) founder Daiva Byrne and defending FLIP Ladies Event champion Gia Carnestroem. Enjoy!

Yes, it’s Loony Tunes time here. There’s still five events taking place, but the media team is saving most of its energy for Day 4 of the Main Event, so we won’t be covering the conclusion of the High Roller, although we will deliver news tomorrow of how it panned out.

The chip leader at the dinner break is Phil Pearson, who has amassed 606,000, just ahead of Gustav Soederholm on 592,000. They are the only two stacks that have broached the half a million mark. Alessandro Siena, the only Main Event player left in is one of the short stacks, on just 41,000.

The FLIP Ladies event is now on the final table with seven players left and all in the prize money. Coverage continues on PokerPro.

The busiest side event of the festival is also still in play. It’s the Poker Fever Tour €170 (€150+€20) NLH and attracted a field of 353, 107 of whom are still playing. The winner will collect just short of €10,000 and 53 will be in the money.

The other event still in play is the Novibet Road to Greece NLH, which is a quiet affair with just 14 runners so far, but still has some time before late registration closes. The €150 Hyperturbo has just begun.

We’ll be back in the morning with a roundup of everything that happened on this day, Monday 7th April. Until then, sleep tight and don’t let the poker bugs bite.

The €1,100 Amazingbet High Roller is now on its dinner break, with 67 of the 261 entries that it reached when late registration finally closed. The prize pool ended up just shy of a quarter of a million, with the top 40 players making it into the payouts.  The winner will depart €45,000 richer.

As Day 3 of the Main Event ended early today, several of the players who had secured their seats into Day 4 decided to make late entries to the High Roller. Most of them have now busted, but Alessandro Siena is still in. This is likely to be a very late finishing event, so he might not get much sleep before the Main Event restarts.

The FLIP Ladies Event is now on the final table of nine players. Only seven will be paid and the winner will pocket €1,650. The tournament has been played in the Eden Arena up until now, but is now being relocated to the poker room on the lower floor of the Intercontinental Hotel.

Rebecca Rivoli has the chip lead as they go into the final, with former double champion Flavioa Guedes still in. To follow the action on the final table, check out the live blog on PokerPro.

FLIP Ladies Event

The First Ladies In Poker €170 Ladies Event has now gone on a 75-minute dinner break with 12 of the 41 players who entered still in. Defending champion Gia Carnestroem won’t be repeating the feat this time, as she has already hit the rail. FLIP founder Daiva Byrne has also been eliminated, as has double champion Emzy Oliver. The Battle of Malta’s Instagram genius Lorena Antunes has just exited in14th, having been short stacked for some time.

However two time champion Flavia Guedes is also still in and is one of the chip leaders at this stage. Maili Tannbum and Rebecca Rivoli are also still there. For in depth coverage of this event, check Alek Gillies’ blog on PokerPro.

Lorena Antunes

The Novibet €200 (€180+€20) Road to Greece event was originally scheduled for 5pm, but has now been rescheduled for a later start at 7pm.

After yesterday’s Day 2 flight in the 2025 Battle of Malta Main Event, 58 players returned today to resume the battle. Cards were in the air by 13:00, and the goal was to play until 24 players remained.

Kuhn Can Compete

Demetrio Polimeno came into Day 3 as the short stack, bagging a sole 5,000 chip from Day 2. Logically, he was the first one to bust on Day 3. From this moment on, Day 3 was an absolute blockbuster of a flight. Many players entering fairly short-stacked, there were bust-outs left and right, mixed in with some sick hands. In fact, during the first level of the day, Rasmus Lundström hit a crucial one-outer on the river, which gave him great presumptions for the rest of the day.

Benoit Kuhn, who is the chip leader going into Day 4, displayed some great poker Day 3 throughout and won some crucial all-ins as well.

Benoit Kuhn during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

When Terrence Jordon busted against Clement Kerrien, Day 3 ended, and the 24 survivors bagged their chips. Alongside the aforementioned chip leader Kuhn, players such as Kerrien and Shai Biner are still in the mix; all three of these players ended their respective Day 1 flights as chip leaders.

The chip counts for Day 4 indicate that there’ll be heavy action from the get-go tomorrow, and we can’t wait to see Day 4 unfold. The live coverage will go live around 13:00, and we’ll see you then.

With the day now over let’s take a look at the credentials of some of those who’ve made it through the day.

Day 1 Chip Leaders

Three of the five starting day chip leaders are still battling away and one of them is the chip leader. Benoit Kuhn ended Day 1d with 675,000, which earned him a €5,000 bonus prize and he has now parlayed that up to 7.45m and is in good shape to fire for a place on Wednesday’s final table.

Clement Kerrien, who topped the Day 1e chip chart sits in mid-division with a slightly below average stack of 1.9m. Shai Biner, the Day 1c chip leader is also still in, but is at the lower end of the table, currently in 21st place with 1.215m cookies to his name.

2024 Autumn Edition Final Table Players

Two players left are still chasing back-to-back final tables. Bulgarian Ivaylo Eftimov is a very lively player and it’s no surprise to see him go deep again. He dominated proceedings for much of the penultimate day of that event, eventually finishing in 8th place for €26,300.

Alessandro Siena was the fourth place finisher in the Autumn Edition, for a very cool €91,170 payday. He managed to come back from being a short stack at the end of the day and goes into Tuesday lying in 18th place with 1.725m chips.

Mystery Siege of Malta Bounty Scooper

Rasmus Lundstroem made BOM headlines earlier in the week in the Mystery Siege of Malta, where he won the most in bounties, despite not making the final table. His haul of €12,700 in bounties included the second biggest prize of €7,500 and a chop of the third biggest €5,000 ticket. Her also bagged one worth €2,000. He is now in a strong position to exceed his Mystery Siege earnings, which he will achieve if he makes it to the final and get 7th place or higher. He is in 3rd place with 5.535m chips.

Big Casher on TheHendonMob

There’s also a player with some good previous results in other worldwide events. American Rob Perelman, who has over $400,000 in lifetime cashes. His best ever score was a victory in the Heartland Poker Tour way back in 2011, where he banked $158,755.

Robert Perelman during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

These were the final eliminations from Day 3. The players in positions 28-31 cashed for €3,060, while those who exited 25-27th received €3,600. These last unfortunates included Terry Jordan from the UK, who had been third in chips going to the day.

Terence Jordon during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Below are the chip counts from Day 3. The 24 players will return tomorrow for Day 4. The first Level of day 4 will be Level 26: 25,000/50,000 (50,000).

The Amazingbet High Roller did indeed make it above 200 entries. Well above in fact, as there have now been 231 pay the €1,100 entry. There are still two more levels to play and the next target is 250, will it get there?

Level 24: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Entries: 26/1,542

Clement Kerrien during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Clement Kerrien raised from the Hi-jack to 120,000. From the Button, Terence Jordon decided to go all in for 650,000. Kerrien made the call.

Terence Jordon: Q♥4♦
Clement Kerrien: Q♦Q♠

“Bollocks”, Jordon said as he saw Kerrien’s hand*. No miracle on the J♥8♥8♣5♠4♠ runout and as Jordon busted in place 25, the remaining 24 players will bag their chips for Day 4, which will be played tomorrow at 13:00.

We will soon be back with chip counts, seat draw, and a recap of the day.

*He didn’t say “Bollocks”.

Level 24: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Entries: 26/1,542

Giovanni Caggia during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Vedran Sujkovic went all in from the Cut-off for roughly 750,000. From the Button, Giovanni Caggia made the call.

Vedran Sujkovic: A♣K♠
Giovanni Caggia: 8♥8♦

The board ran out 7♦5♠Q♠J♦Q♦. No dice for Sujkovic and he was sent to collect his €3,600 payout.

Giovanni Caggia: 2,655,000
Vedran Sujkovic: 0

Level 24: 30,000/60,000 (60,000)
Entries: 27/1,542

Benoit Kuhn during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Benoit Kuhn opened to 125,000 from the Lo-jack. Massimo Centola went all in for roughly 1,200,000 from the Button. After a minute’s worth of consideration, Kuhn made the call.

Massimo Centola: A♣2♠
Benoit Kuhn:  A♠T♥

2♦ appeared in the window, but the full 2♦T♠T♣ flop was then revealed. No miracle for Centola on the 2♦T♠T♣J♠5♠ runout, and he busted in place 28 for €3,060.

Benoit Kuhn: 5,500,000
Massimo Centola: 0

The exits are coming thick and fast and at this rate it doesn’t look like it will be a late finish, with just seven more players to go before the day will draw to a close. This next batch of foot soldiers were felled during the last level of play, each cashing for €2,640.

One of the unfortunates to see their tournament life fizzle out was Antoine Talvard. He’s a regular attendee of the Battle of Malta and has cashed many times in the main event and side events. He notched up another flag, but doesn’t yet get the really deep run he’s been grinding for.

Level 23: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 31/1,542

Dimitar Syarov during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

From the Cut-Off, Fedran Sujkovic opened to 80,000. Dimitar Syarov then went all in from the Small Blind for 575,000. Sujkovic made the call.

Dimitar Syarov: A♥J♦
Fedran Sujkovic: 8♥8♦

Saved by the river, Syarov hit a straight on the Q♦7♠K♥7♦T♦ board. Such, he doubled up during the last hand before the first break of the day.

Full chip counts of all 31 players will be shared as soon as possible.

More players are now ex-participants, however they have €2,220 to console themselves with.

Level 23: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 32/1,542

Robert Perelman during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Marco Venturi opened to 80,000 from the Cut-off, and Gabriele Carro called from the Button. When action was on Robert Perelman, he went all in for 930,000. Venturi made the call, prior to Carro folding.

Robert Perelman: A♦J♣
Marco Venturi: A♠Q♣

Venturi looked good all the way up ’til the river. The full board 8♥2♣6♠8♦J♦ saw Perelman hitting a 3-outer on the river. He doubled up as Venturi was left somewhat short.

Robert Perelman: 2,000,000
Marco Venturi: 600,000

Level 23: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 34/1,542

Rasmus Lundström during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

There were 1,400,000 in the middle when the board read Q♣8♣9♠7♠4♦. Aristeidis Aftias moved all in for 1,185,000. After receiving a count, Rasmus Lundström made the call.

Aristeidis Aftias: K♥T♣
Rasmus Lundström: Q♠5♥

A huge call at a crucial moment. Lundström won a big pot and sent Aftias to the rail, who went to collect his €2,640 paycheck.

Rasmus Lundström: 7,000,000
Aristeidis Aftias: 0

The clock is now running for Day 2 of the €1,100 High Roller, however it has been rolled back five levels and they begin today on level 8 once again, despite having made it to the end of level 12 when play was adjourned on Sunday.

The 49 players who bagged up on Day 1 have already been joined by 38 new entrants, but there will be many more, as there are three levels plus a break for more players to join the tournament. In total there have now been 160 entries, but will it breach the 200 mark?

These are the chip counts of the Day 1 Survivors:

Amazingbet High Roller Day 2

Level 23: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 40/1,542

Terence Jordon during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Shai Biner opened to 80,000. Artur Gjoka made the call, and so did Terence Jordon.

The flop came 5♠4♠A♥. Biner continued for 80,000, and Gjoka and Jordon both made the call. Biner bet 150,000 on the 3♣ turn, Gjoka called, Jordon went all in for 850,000, and both players called.

Terence Jordon: Q♠2♥
Shai Biner: 3♠3♦
Artur Djoka: A♠J♠

The river Q♣ completed the full 5♠4♠A♥3♣Q♣ board, resulting in a huge pot for Jordon. Biner survived with five Big Blinds, and Djoka busted in place 41 for €2,220.

Terence Jordon: 3,500,000
Shai Biner: 210,000
Artur Djoka: 0

The Fantastic Ladies In Poker €170 (€150+€20) event has now begun and in a change to the original logistical plan, it is now being held in the Eden Arena upstairs rather than in the downstairs conference space.

Before play began, there was an afternoon tea party in the stylish lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel, with some rather good looking sandwiches and snacks to go with.

There are 19 fantastic ladies already competing, including defending champ Gia Carnestrom. Danica Byrne, Emzy Oliver, Valeria Tamburin and Lisa McNamara are amongst the early entrants.

We will keep a regular glance at what’s going on, but for in depth coverage, check out the live blog on PokerPro, being covered by Alek Gillies.

Afternoon Tea before the FLIP Ladies Event

Level 23: 20,000/40,000 (40,000)
Entries: 41/1,542

Wayne Thomas during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Artur Gjoka opened to 80,000, prior to Wayne Thomas moving all in for 355,000 from the Hi-jack. Attila Szucs then re-shoved a monster stack. 13-7 folded and it was time for showdown.

Wayne Thomas: 5♥5♦
Attila Szucs: A♦Q♠

The board 7♠J♣K♥4♣9♠ secured a double-up for Thomas.

Attila Szucs: 4,900,000
Wayne Thomas: 810,000

These players will sadly (for them) play no further part in the tournament, as they were eliminated in positions 56-71, collecting €1,800 each. Most of these hot the rail late in the day on Sunday.

Level 22: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 45/1,542

Sokratis Oikonomou during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Sokratis Oikonomou raised to 60,000 from the Lo-jack. Seated in the Cut-off, Danilo Scevola went all in for 240,000 and Oikonomou made the call.

Danilo Scevola: T♦T♠
Sokratis Oikonomou: A♣J♥

The board ran out A♠2♥3♠9♥Q♠ and such, Scevola busted in place 46 and earned €2,220 for his feat.

Sokratis Oikonomou:
Danilo Scevola: 0

Level 22: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 47/1,542

Adrian Ziemichod during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Clement Kerrien opened to 60,000 from the Button. Adrian Ziemichod raised to 200,000 from the Small Blind, and Kerrien made the call.

Ziemichod checked the 2♠9♠7♣ flop, and Kerrien bet 160,000. Presumably, Ziemichod’s plan was a check-raise from the get-go as he put in a 470,000 bet. After a minute’s worth of consideration, Kerrien folded.

Adrian Ziemichod: 3,200,000
Clement Kerrien: 1,600,000

Level 22: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 50/1,542

Play has now been underway for 45 minutes on Day 3 of the Main Event of the Battle of Malta Spring Edition. The levels are now 75 minutes long, but despite the slowness of the structure, eight players have already gone AWOL from the Battlefield, leaving 50 poker warriors to contest the final stages of this Battle Royale.

I’ve just been for a wander through the tournament floor to see who I recognise and the first face I saw was that of Alessandro Siena, who took 4th place in the 2024 Autumn edition. When I saw him he was getting fairly short stacked. He told me that I’m lucky for him, remembering some epic hands he won at the Autumn Edition when I had been observing his table.

I wandered off to see who else I could spot and when I returned a few minutes later, he wore a beaming smile, saying

“it worked already, after only 3 minutes.”

While no details of the hand emerged, it was a standard flip situation and Alessandro and although still under the average, Alessandro is no longer nursing a critical stack and his dream of a back-to-back final table is still alive.

Alessandro Siena

Level 22: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 50/1,542

Rasmus Lundström during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Absolutely astonishing scenes at Table 13 as we might have witnessed the cooler of the tournament.

Rasmus Lundström limped from the Small Blind. Christopher Rogers checked in the Big Blind, and the flop came A♣2♥T♦. Lundström bet 30,000, and Rogers made the call. On the turn 4♦, Lundström bet 250,000 into the 150,000 pot. Rogers wasted little time going all in for 700,000, and Lundström made the call instantly.

Christopher Rogers: 2♠2♣
Rasmus Lundström: 4♣2♦

Rogers was a 97,62 % favorite to win the hand, but the 4♥ came on the river, giving Lundström a superior full house. If table mate Oskari Piira is to be believed, Lundström had one out to hit his miracle. Rogers, disappointed by the runout, was sent to collect his €2,220 payout.

Rasmus Lundström: 2,400,000
Christopher Rogers: 0

Level 22: 15,000/30,000 (30,000)
Entries: 57/1,542

Demetrio Polimeno during the 2025 Battle of Malta.

Demetrio Polimeno began Day 3 with only 5,000. During the very last hand of Day 2, he was all in for 410,000 with A♠Q♥. He got called by a player who held A♦4♣ with a 405,000 stack, and the runout was not in Polimeno’s favor as a four was apparent on the queen-less board.

He tried to surrender his sole 5,000 chip before leaving yesterday, but this wasn’t allowed by the floor. He returned to Day 3 with a mission to do the comeback of the tournament.

During the first hand of Day 3, he went all in from UTG+1. Ingird Vos raised to 85,000 from the Lo-jack. Federico Cirillo (Hi-jack) and Clement Kerrien (Button) both made the call.

VOs continued for 80,000 on the K♦7♥9♠ flop, and Cirillo made the call before Kerrien folded. Turn was the K♠, and Cirillo folded to a 250,000 bet from Vos. Such, Polimeno and Vos went to showdown.

Demetrio Polimeno: 9♦4♦
Ingird Vos: A♣3♣

The river completed the K♦7♥9♠K♠8♥ board, and Polimeno took down the main pot and his 5,000 grew to 60,000.

On the very next hand, he went all in from UTG. Joseba Gonzalez re-shoved from the Small Blind for 315,000 and after Christoph Tanner folded his Big Blind, it was time for the players to reveal their holdings.

Demetrio Polimeno: K♥Q♥
Joseba Gonzalez: A♥J♠

Polimeno took the lead on the K♠4♦Q♦ flop, but the full board K♠4♦Q♦6♠T♣ gave Gonzalez a straight. Polimeno’s “chip and a chair”-mission came to an end, and he went to collect his €1,800 payout.

Ingird Vos: 2,200,000
Joseba Gonzalez: 450,000
Demetrio Polimeno: 0

The Battle of Malta Spring Edition has now progressed to its third full day of play. There are 58 players left, all with a glint of hope that they might become the next champion of the famous event, which awards €120,000 to the victor.

There was not supposed to be another showing of the intro video on the 27m video wall that looms over the tournament floor, however I for one am very glad they changed their mind on this, as it’s a sight to behold. and that’s how it went down, if you missed it on the day ones, too bad!

It’s not expected to be a long day of play, as it is scheduled to go down to the last 24, but we will closely follow the action as it unfolds. The rate of exits will slow down soon after the start, however there is one shortie who will immediately have his tournaments tested, Demetrio Polimeno. He has just one 5,000 chip, equivalent to half a big blind. We’ll find out soon how he fared.

TD Andy Tillman has now instructed the dealers to “shuffle up and deal”

The Top Ten Chip Counts

Day 3 of the Main Event begins at 1pm when the 58 remaining players will return to maintain their challenge for the €120,000 top prize. The €1,100 Amazingbet High Roller Day resumes at 3pm and players can still enter for the first three levels of the day.

Today is the FLIP (Fantastic Ladies in Poker) Ladies Event, with a €170 (€150+€20) buy-in. It begins at 2pm and although we won’t be covering the womano a womano action, Alek Gillies is reporting on it over at PokerPro.

Today’s non-Hold’em event is Sviten Special, which is a favourite of the Maltese mixed games community. This drawmaha variant originated in Sweden, so we are expecting a Scandinavian flavour for this one.

Here’s today’s full schedule:

Monday 7th April at the Battle of Malta

On Sunday at the Battle 2025 Battle of Malta Spring Edition another busy day of poker action played out. The Eden Arena was the setting for both the final flight and the second day proper of the €500k guaranteed Main Event.

There were multiple event taking place once again at Casino Malta and it was also the day of the players party, which took place at The Eden leisure complex, where fun and games topped the bill.

The early starting Day 1e turbo began super early in the day, at 10 am. A further 37 players out of the 242 who joined the flight, made it into the money. Clement Kerrien bagged the largest stack of 815,000, capturing the €5,000 bonus prize in the process.

Gaetano Moribundo posted the second largest stack (609,000), with Aristeidis Aftias in third (533,000). The UK’s Terry Jordan had only just arrived in Malta, but safely booked his spot in Day 2 with a stack of 373,000.

2025 Battle of Malta Spring Edition Day 1e chip leader Clement Kerrien

Flaviano Cammisuli Takes Huge Overnight Lead Day 2 of the Main Event

With a towering 4.4m in chips, Italian Flaviano Cammisuli commands a massive lead over Jannik Bentsen on 2.675m. The UK’s Terry Jordan sits in third with 2.6m. Four of the five starting day chip leaders also progressed into Day 3, with only Chmielowski failing to secure his continuation.

The day began as expected, with a period of rapid machine gun fire that quickly cut the field down in size. By the first break of the day almost 100 of the 233 who began the day had fallen and many jumped straight into the High Roller.

By the end of play just 58 players remained in the hunt for the €120,000 top prize.The full chip counts of all Day 2 survivors can be found here.

There were some big hands reported on, details of which can be found in Saturday’s blog coverage. Play resumes at 1pm on Monday, when they will play down to 27 players.

Amazingbet High Roller Day 1

The third of the three marquis events at the Battle of Malta Spring Edition is the Amazingbet High Roller with a €1,100 buy-in. It has a regressive structure, which requires a little explanation. What this means is that the clock gets rolled back several levels at the start of Day 2, effectively re-opening registration, allowing more players to join for the first 2 hours of play.

By the time level 12 had been completed, 49 of the 122 entrants had safely negotiated their passage into Day 2, which resumes on Monday at 3pm. The chip leader on 372,000 is Fabio Fatone, who is over 100,000 ahead of Thomas Simmons, who bagged 268,000. James Paris (194,700) and the UK’s Alex Todd (69,000) and Daniel Samson (65,200) also guaranteed their continuation on Monday.

There’s a further satellite taking place at 11am on Monday morning for anyone who fancies joining the event on Day 2.

Side Events

The Novibet Ultradeep is the slowest structured and best value side event of the festival and great value with a €220+€20 buy-in. Mark Selgeveer took the top prize of €8,420, after a relatively lengthy heads up battle against Piers Furnace, who banked €5,730 for his efforts. With 190 entries, this was one of the busiest side events of the week.

Sunday’s Omaha offering was a 4/5 Card version with a €220(€200+€20) buy-in. It was won by Andre Matthes for €2,850. Local resident and Belgian national Soner Vanelderen’s 4th place finish was his third of the festival in non-Hold’em events.

The €150 Hyperturbo was won by Milad Gami for €2,250 after he defeated Yavor Yankov heads up.

Mark Selgeveer (left), winner of Novibet Ultradeep, with runner up Piers Furnace, who looks much happier than the winner

Party Time!

Sunday was also party day at the Battle of Malta and a very fun evening of bowling, darts and karaoke was had by all. OK, so not everyone participated in the Karaoke, which is probably a good thing, judging by the tone deafness of some of those who entered the sing-a-long booth. The drinks were in free flow all night and there was even a cameo appearance by Telly Bartolo, in a shark costume.

As we know that poker players are competitive, a little competition was held, where teams of six players participated in bowling and darts competitions. I was lucky enough to be on the winning team and contributed three strikes to the team effort. I had already returned to continue reporting on the Main Event when the winning team was announced and didn’t even find out until after I had made it home.

Player Party at The Eden