Chips flew in all directions on Day 2 of the Battle of Malta Slovakia Edition Main Event at Card Casino Samorin on September 13, with a Day 2 field of 185 players reduced to the final 15 combatants after thirteen 40-minute levels of play.

When play concluded after the elimination of the €220 Mystery Bounty winner Silviu Nemes of Romania in the last hand of the day, Hassibullah Hafizi of Austria (9,710,000) and Peter Kadlec of Slovakia (9,425,000) had opened up a significant lead over the rest of the field, with their closest challenger being Marcus Skalicky of Austria (4,820,000), and they will be the favorites to land the chunky €51,400 first-place prize in the final day.

Hafizi and Kadlec have already secured career-best tournament scores, while Skalicky is a WSOP-C ring holder having taken the title in the Mystery Bounty event in Rozvadov in January 2025. Marian Flesar and Zdenek Svoboda appear to be the most experienced of the remaining players, with over $384,000 and $236,000 in recorded cashes respectively.

Battle of Malta Slovakia Edition Main Event Chip Counts Start of Day 3 Chip Counts

Play concluded with one minute left in Level 28, with blinds of 80,000/160,000 (160,000), and the full counts are set out below. The clock is increased to 50-minute levels for the final day.

Position	Player	Country	Chip Count	Blinds
1	Hassibullah Hafizi	Austria	9,710,000	80
2	Peter Kadlec	Slovakia	9,425,000	78
3	Marcus Skalicky	Austria	4,820,000	40
4	Mario Klaic	Austria	4,580,000	38
5	Daniel Georgiev	Bulgaria	4,560,000	38
6	Alexander Geischlaeger	Austria	4,335,000	36
7	Sandor Rabi	Hungary	4,045,000	33
8	Norbert Kerepesi	Hungary	3,680,000	30
9	Zdenek Svoboda	Czech Republic	3,575,000	29
10	Henrich Miculik	Slovakia	2,525,000	21
11	Radoslav Herman	Slovakia	2,285,000	19
12	Marek Grinaj	Slovakia	2,265,000	18
13	Norbert Alin	Romania	1,965,000	16
14	Marian Flesar	Slovakia	810,000	6
15	Otto Hiebel	Austria	515,000	4

 

Battle of Malta Slovakia Edition Main Event Day 3 Seating Draw

The seating draw for the final day is set out below, with Table 111 being the streamed feature table. The final day will be live streamed on Card Casino’s YouTube channel on a 30-minute delay, with commentary provided by Jason Glatzer of poker.pro, and our coverage will be synced with the stream to avoid spoilers.

The Day 3 seating draw is set out below:-

Table	Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Blinds
111	1	Otto Hiebel	Austria	515,000	4
111	2	Peter Kadlec	Slovakia	9,425,000	78
111	3	Marian Flesar	Slovakia	810,000	6
111	4	Marek Grinaj	Slovakia	2,265,000	18
111	5	Alexander Geischlaeger	Austria	4,335,000	36
111	6	Norbert Alin	Romania	1,965,000	16
111	7	Norbert Kerepesi	Hungary	3,680,000	30
111	8	Zdenek Svoboda	Czechia	3,575,000	29
40	1	Henrich Miculik	Slovakia	2,525,000	21
40	2	Hassibullah Hafizi	Austria	9,710,000	80
40	3	Radoslav Herman	Slovakia	2,285,000	19
40	4	Sandor Rabi	Hungary	4,045,000	33
40	5	Mario Klaic	Austria	4,580,000	38
40	6	Marcus Skalicky	Austria	4,820,000	40
40	7	Daniel Georgiev	Bulgaria	4,560,000	38

 

Remaining Payouts

All players have guaranteed a €3,200 payday, while a spot at the final table is worth €4,400, with the remaining payouts up for grabs as follows:

Place	Prize
1	€51,400
2	€35,500
3	€23,000
4	€15,000
5	€9,800
6	€7,600
7	€6,300
8	€5,296
9	€4,400
10-11	€3,700
12-15	€3,200

 

In addition, the final four will receive a €1,500 ticket to the WSOP Circuit event in Bratislava in February 2027, and fifth to ninth will receive a €1,200 package to the Battle of Malta in October. All prizes are deducted from the prize pool.

Recap of Day 2 Action

A total of 1,510 entries across nine starting flights created a €402,840 prize pool, and 185 players returned for Day 2 with a €700 minimum cash secured, but all with their sights firmly fixed on the €51,400 reserved for the champion.

They were led by Rudolf Kosa of Austria and Sergii Baranov of Ukraine, while Kadlec was sitting in fifth, and Hafizi was in the middle of the pack. Tthe action was fast and furious from the outset, with over 60 players sent to the rail by the first break, including Andrei Pocol, Ondrej Lon and Christoph Hillinger.

Kosa maintained his lead through the first two breaks, but ultimately came unstuck in 29th, shortly after Baranov and hometown hero Andrej Desset hit the rail. Radoslav Herman soared to the top of the standings when he spiked a two-outer to claim a double knockout, and he was joined by Austrian Mario Klaic by the time of the third break.

Geischlaeger secured a crucial triple-up with a low pair, leaping out his chair and celebrating with passion when the river hit, and Skalicky was then the beneficiary of an aces versus queens cooler to vault up the standings.

The final three tables were set when Otto Hiebel disposed of Emil Trenkov, by which stage Flesar had moved into the lead. Thereafter, Hafizi and Kadlec started to catch some momentum to pull away from the field. Hafizi found a two-outer to bust Martin Sedilek. Kadlec then went to war with Nemes, doubling through him twice in successive hands to take the chip lead.

Klaic sent Petko Stamatov to the rail in 20th in a button versus big blind spot, before Hafizi disposed of Flesar with a turned full house.

A huge three-way all-in resulted in Marek Grinaj tripling up, and Hafizi busting Alexandru Popa in a more significant side pot, before Kadlec cracked ‘Bubo’ with a nut flush and Hafizi secured the elimination of Nemes to bring play to a close.

Ross Whitelaw Wins Second Chance One-Day Event (€4,560)

The penultimate side event of the festival, the €200 Second Chance event, attracted 115 entries creating a €19,000 prize pool, and it was Ross Whitelaw of the United Kingdom who took the trophy and €4,560 first-place prize, defeating Filip Lakatos of Slovakia heads-up. It caps a stellar week for Whitelaw, who also final tabled the High Roller.

The full results are as follows:-

Place	Name	Country	Prize
1	Ross Whitelaw	United Kingdom	€4,560
2	Filip Lakatos	Slovakia	€4,275
3	Marin Dragutan	Moldova	€2,300
4	Tamas Varszegi	Hungary	€1,650
5	Mehmet Sarigoz	Turkey	€1,225
6	David Savocka	Czechia	€975
7	Mihail Minev	Bulgaria	€800
8	Angelica Llacuna	Austria	€675
9	Zhiqiang Lun	Austria	€575
10	Vladimir Shlyakhetsky	Israel	€500
11	Tomas Rous	Czechia	€450
12	Roman Trnka	Austria	€450
13	Christoph Sajdowski	Germany	€410
14	Balazs Zsidi	Hungary	€410
15	Jonathan Meshumar	Israel	€410

 

Battle of Malta Slovakia Edition – Schedule, Monday, September 14

The final day of the festival also sees the final side event take place, with the €150 Closer kicking off at 5 p.m., featuring a 30,000 starting stack and 20-minute levels, and late registration is open until the start of Level 11.

Date	Time	Buy-In	Event	Stack	Clock	Late Reg	Prizes
Sept. 14	16:00	—	Main Event Final Day	—	00:50	—	€400,000
Sept. 14	17:00	€150	Closer	30,000	00:20	10	—

 

Our coverage of the final day will kick off at 4.30 p.m. keeping in sync with the stream delay, so stay tuned for all your coverage of what is sure to be a thrilling finale to the Battle of Malta Slovakia Edition.