The iconic Battle of Malta festival left the shores of the island for the first time this week, venturing to Card Casino Samorin for the Battle of Malta Slovakia Edition, with a marquee €400 buy-in, €400,000 Main Event. It is safe to say the event was a huge success, with hordes of players from all over the world descending on the stunning venue, and 1,510 entries creating a €402,840 prize pool.

Only 15 players returned for the final day on September 14, and when the dust settled on a rollercoaster final table, Vienna native and online grinder Mario Klaic had secured his maiden live victory and was crowned as the first international Battle of Malta champion.

Klaic banked €46,900 in the process after a heads-up deal with his final adversary, Henrich Miculik of Slovakia, secured both players €40,000 and left only the destination of the trophy and the final €6,900 of the prize pool to be determined.

While the result was not Klaic’s biggest score, having secured a number of cashes in the $40,000-$65,000 range online, the project manager was emotional after his win, and savored finally getting his hands on a live poker trophy.

Klaic had spent the entirety of his starting flight, and Day 2, with his laptop open beside him grinding multiple tables online, and took down a tournament for $5,000 during Day 2. However, he set the online grind aside for the final day, and truly played for the win.

The final table was explosive, with the chip lead changing hands on multiple occasions between numerous players, and ICM considerations seemed to go out the window at various points, while huge, barely believable coolers erupted.

Battle of Malta Slovakia Edition Main Event Final Table Results

The final table results for the event are set out below:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Mario Klaic	Austria	*€46,900
2	Henrich Miculik	Slovakia	*€40,000
3	Markus Skalicky	Austria	€23,000
4	Alexander Geischlaeger	Austria	€15,000
5	Peter Kadlec	Slovakia	€9,800
6	Hassibullah Hafizi	Austria	€7,600
7	Daniel Georgiev	Bulgaria	€6,300
8	Norbert Kerepesi	Hungary	€5,296
9	Radoslav Herman	Slovakia	€4,400

 

*Denotes Heads-Up Deal

In addition, the top four received €1,500 tickets to the WSOP Circuit event at Card Casino in February 2027, while fifth to ninth received a €1,200 package to the €2,000,000 guaranteed Battle of Malta festival, running from 27 October to 4 November.

Winner’s Reaction

After he had been presented with the trophy, a beaming Klaic said “Amazing, I mean I have no words for this experience. It’s my first live title, I’m usually a button clicker, so it means a lot. There was lots of swings, ups and downs, I was chip leader for a while, but you have to be confident in these situations. You never know what happens, there was of course some luck, you can’t win a tournament without some, but I was confident and wasn’t particularly scared of any opponent.”

“My game plan was just be crazy, crazy enough to beat those I would say quite tight players, it was a lot of money I think for most of them. I was playing for the title if I’m honest, I was not playing for the prize pool. I shipped a tournament online during Day 2, I had no fear. I just wanted the title, and it’s now in my arms, so I’m really happy.”

“I don’t think this will change too much for my poker plans. I’ve been thinking about switching more to live tournaments, I’m an online player for sure, but I enjoy the social aspect of live, the experience is quite different and I’ve really started enjoying it, so yes I just want to keep up with the grind and play my best.”

Recap of Final Day Action

The final 15 returned with €3,200 locked up, and Hassibullah Hafizi of Austria and Peter Kadlec of Slovakia, who had already secured their biggest live scores, started with a big lead over the rest of the field, while Klaic was in the top four, along with Marcus Skalicky.

The first elimination came in the very first hand of the day, as short-stack Marian Flesar got it in good versus Alexander Geischlaeger, but was overtaken on the flop. Kadlec was the beneficiary of an astonishing cooler, when Marek Grinaj and Otto Hiebel committed their stacks to the middle, both holding pocket kings, but ran into Kadlec’s aces, resulting in a double knockout and vaulting the Slovakian into the chip lead.

Kadlec took a hit when he lost a flip with ace-king to double Zdenek Svoboda, and Hafizi got in on the action when he eliminated Sandor Rabi of Hungary in 12th. Kadlec promptly got his revenge on Svoboda when Svoboda three-bet jammed with a suited ace over an open, but ran into Kadlec’s kings in the big blind.

The final table was set when Geischlaeger disposed of short-stack Norbert Alin, and Kadlec held a substantial lead over Skalicky and Klaic.

Final Table Action

Play started relatively cautiously, and Klaic moved up the standings when he damaged Hafizi with two pair, but then sustained damage in successive pots against Geischlaeger and Miculik.

It took around 90 minutes before Radoslav Herman of Slovakia became the first casualty of the final table, running into Miculik’s overpair, and Klaic claimed his first scalp when he pipped Hungarian Norbert Kerepesi.

The players with the biggest regrets from the finale will probably be Kadlec and Geischlaeger. Kadlec had started Day 3 on fire, but matters started to go wrong when he ran ace-queen into the ace-king of Daniel Georgiev, surrendering the chip lead to Geischlaeger. The top two then went to war, with ICM considerations going out the window, as Kadlec back-jammed pocket nines in the face of Geischlaeger’s three-bet with ace-queen suited, who instantly called.

Geischlaeger smashed the flop, hitting top pair with the nut flush draw, but Kadlec made a set on the turn in brutal fashion, and improved to a full house on the river. Geischlaeger had thumped the table in fury when the turn hit, and was thoroughly disgusted with the outcome. That gave Kadlec a third of the chips in play, and the trophy seemed his to lose, but he got unlucky against Klaic, in what was with hindsight the most significant hand of the tournament.

In a three-bet pot, Kadlec check-called an all-in from Klaic on the turn with second pair. Klaic only had a wrap draw, but drilled it on the river to take the overall chip lead. Kadlec still had a healthy stack, but the bad beat seemed to have a significant impact, and shortly after he was in a three-bet pot with Skalicky with a weak holding, and jammed bottom pair into Skalicky’s top two, sending Kadlec tumbling to the bottom of the counts.

The ultimate champion proceeded to pick up cowboys to extend his lead, but was usurped by Skalicky just before dinner break, where there were still 7 players left. The break seemed to recharge everyone, and the pace went from cautious to chaotic almost instantly, as the field was reduced to the final three in rapid fashion on their return.

First, Miculik busted short-stack Georgiev in a button versus big blind spot, before Hafizi jammed into Klaic’s dominating hand to depart in sixth. Skalicky busted Kadlec in fifth in a blind on blind spot, and Geischlaeger’s run ended in fourth when he jammed the button with an ace, but ran into Miculik’s rockets in the small blind.

Skalicky had the lead three-handed, and the players battled for a good two hours, with Klaic showing he was playing for the win by jamming the turn with air in a three-bet pot versus Skalicky, giving the victor a reasonable lead over Skalicky at the third break.

However Miculik came back with renewed energy from the break, and suddenly went on a charge, taking a number of pots against Klaic to take the lead. Skalicky started to be squeezed by both Miculik and Klaic, and he was on the ropes and eventually eliminated by Klaic after essentially being forced all-in from the big blind, leaving Klaic and Miculik to face off for the title.

Despite having a 3:2 chip advantage, Miculik was content to agree a €40,000 even chop of the remaining prize pool, with €6,900 reserved for the winner. It didn’t take long for Klaic to reverse the position, and he sealed the title when he defended the big blind and flopped two pair versus Miculik’s top pair, with the chips hitting the middle on the turn, crowning Klaic as a deserved champion.

Battle of Malta Slovakia Edition €400 Main Event Results

The full results for the event are below:

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Mario Klaic	Austria	*€46,900
2	Henrich Miculik	Slovakia	*€40,000
3	Markus Skalicky	Austria	€23,000
4	Alexander Geischlaeger	Austria	€15,000
5	Peter Kadlec	Slovakia	€9,800
6	Hassibullah Hafizi	Austria	€7,600
7	Daniel Georgiev	Bulgaria	€6,300
8	Norbert Kerepesi	Hungary	€5,296
9	Radoslav Herman	Slovakia	€4,400
10	Norbert Alin	Romania	€3,700
11	Zdenek Svoboda	Czechia	€3,700
12	Sandor Rabi	Hungary	€3,200
13	Marek Grinaj	Slovakia	€3,200
14	Otto Hiebel	Austria	€3,200
15	Marian Flesar	Slovakia	€3,200
16	Silviu Nemes	Romania	€2,800
17	Bubo	Slovakia	€2,800
18	Alexandru Popa	Romania	€2,800
19	Sandor Korodi	Hungary	€2,800
20	Petko Stamatov	Bulgaria	€2,400
21	Martin Sedilek	Slovakia	€2,400
22	Martin Lechner	Austria	€2,400
23	Reinhard Antretter	Austria	€2,400
24	Zsolt Zanati	Hungary	€2,100
25	Gergo Fekete	Hungary	€2,100
26	Emil Trenkov	Bulgaria	€2,100
27	Vladimir Cocis	Romania	€2,100
28	Ivan Nagy	Hungary	€1,850
29	Rudolf Kosa	Austria	€1,850
30	Martin Rus	Czechia	€1,850
31	Zsolt Csipkes	Hungary	€1,850
32	Maksym Ronshyn	Ukraine	€1,650
33	Anton Lichvar	Slovakia	€1,650
34	Erik Polyak	Slovakia	€1,650
35	Jakub Bubeliny	Slovakia	€1,650
36	Andras Ezsoel	Hungary	€1,650
37	Lubos Svoboda	Czechia	€1,650
38	Marian Nemec	Slovakia	€1,650
39	Mark Kristoffy	Slovakia	€1,650
40	Alex Rosa	Brazil	€1,450
41	Dragos Iosub	Romania	€1,450
42	Petr Lepka	Czechia	€1,450
43	Roman Okolicany	Slovakia	€1,450
44	Andor Weidlich	Hungary	€1,450
45	Jaroslaw Chimel	Poland	€1,450
46	Sergii Baranov	Ukraine	€1,450
47	Andrej Desset	Slovakia	€1,450
48	Lubor Priesol	Slovakia	€1,300
49	Edmond Ala	Albania	€1,300
50	Matus Gabzdil	Slovakia	€1,300
51	Nikola Janic	Serbia	€1,300
52	Mark Pinter	Slovakia	€1,300
54	Sejdefa Hodzic	Slovenia	€1,300
55	Georgi Stoyanov	Bulgaria	€1,300
56	Filip Marchand	Czechia	€1,150
57	Vladimir Velikov	Bulgaria	€1,150
58	Csaba Kiss	Hungary	€1,150
59	Tibor Varga	Hungary	€1,150
60	Maciej Blazejewski	Poland	€1,150
62	Peter Gubala	Slovakia	€1,150
63	Raphael Greiml	Austria	€1,150
64	Marius Farcas	Romania	€1,050
65	Michelle Gross	Austria	€1,050
66	Matej Riszdorfer	Slovakia	€1,050
67	Florian Foucek	Austria	€1,050
68	Martin Koppl	Austria	€1,050
70	Michal Zamani	Slovakia	€1,050
71	David Urban	Slovakia	€1,050
72	Guoqing Zhao	China	€950
73	Philipp Nikolic	Austria	€950
74	Mehmet Sarigoz	Turkey	€950
75	Marek Miklos	Slovakia	€950
76	Gabriel Otescu	Romania	€950
77	Efim Dorfman	Israel	€950
79	Deniz Surucu	Turkey	€950
80	David Savocka	Slovakia	€950
81	Peter Tordai	Hungary	€950
82	Petr Segl	Czechia	€950
83	Vitalii Shcherba	Ukraine	€950
84	Pedram Mafi	Austria	€950
85	Rostyslav Sabishchenko	Ukraine	€950
87	Daniel Falus	Hungary	€950
88	Lajos Vardai	Hungary	€860
89	Nenad Velisavljev	Serbia	€860
90	Lubomir Cicko	Slovakia	€860
91	Balazs Zsidi	Hungary	€860
92	Andre Djuric	Serbia	€860
93	Jozef Mozsi	Slovakia	€860
94	Milomir Bubulj	Serbia	€860
95	Zsolt Szabo	Hungary	€860
96	Artur Meburnutov	Ukraine	€860
97	Constantin Dumitru	Romania	€860
98	Istvan Buderer	Hungary	€860
99	Jan Svagerko	Slovakia	€860
100	Franz Ziegerhofer	Austria	€860
101	Marius Rusu	Romania	€860
102	Joonas Holm	Finland	€860
103	Szabolcs Dala	Hungary	€860
104	Igor Remenar	Slovakia	€800
105	Ferenc Limpar	Hungary	€800
106	Yiping Chen	China	€800
107	Markus Cerny	Austria	€800
108	Szilvia Popper	Hungary	€800
109	Zakir Heyushev	Ukraine	€800
111	Richard Kapun	Austria	€800
112	Thomas Dorner	Austria	€800
113	Thomas Bonness	Austria	€800
114	Zonglei Zhao	China	€800
115	Tibor Hegedues	Hungary	€800
116	Tomas Svoboda	Czechia	€800
117	Daniele Renzi	Italy	€800
118	Vihren Manolov	Bulgaria	€800
119	Jonny Tapia	Austria	€800
120	Salvatore Oliveri	Italy	€750
121	Mladen Crvenko	Serbia	€750
122	Martin Figlar	Slovakia	€750
124	Samuele Matarazzi	Italy	€750
125	Christian Sykora	Austria	€750
126	Christian Zeindlhofer	Austria	€750
127	Jozef Stern	Austria	€750
128	Andreas Resch	Hungary	€750
129	Tamas Losonczi	Hungary	€750
130	Killian Braud-Chevalier	France	€750
131	Ovidiu Popa	Romania	€750
132	Miklos Zsuffa	Hungary	€750
133	Maros Kral	Slovakia	€750
134	Martin Kuran	Slovakia	€750
135	Steve Trizis	United States	€750
136	Amir Juwan	Austria	€750
137	Batman	Slovakia	€750
138	Oleh Vasylyuk	Ukraine	€750
139	Lukas Eimanatas	Lithuania	€750
140	Milan Ruzicka	Czechia	€750
141	Stavros Passias	Greece	€750
142	Shay Namimi	Israel	€750
144	Norbert Bugar	Slovakia	€700
145	Andrii Skryp	Ukraine	€700
146	Lukas Kouril	Czechia	€700
147	Jozef Bartalos	Slovakia	€700
148	Ozren Cvijanovic	Serbia	€700
149	Lucas Knar	Austria	€700
150	Maximus	Austria	€700
151	Konstantinos Nanos	Greece	€700
153	Ondrej Lon	Czechia	€700
154	Christoph Hillinger	Austria	€700
155	Antonin Homola	Czechia	€700
156	Martin Zlatny	Slovakia	€700
157	Adrian Sieradzki	Poland	€700
158	Marcus Heindrich	Germany	€700
159	Jonathan Meshumar	Israel	€700
160	Hakan Saglam	Turkey	€700
161	Andrei Pocol	Romania	€700
162	Tomas Rous	Czechia	€700
163	Robert Otruba	Slovakia	€700
164	Jan Turjak	Slovakia	€700
166	Dang Nguyen	Vietnam	€700
167	Stevan Gvozdenovic	Montenegro	€700
168	Wolfgang Foglar	Austria	€700
169	Vittorio Morello	Italy	€700
170	Daniel Nagy	Hungary	€700
171	Israfil Abdullaiev	Ukraine	€700
172	Andrea Mazza	Italy	€700
174	Barnabas Lelkes	Slovakia	€700
175	Vincent Botlo	Slovakia	€700
176	Feodor Plamadeala	Romania	€700
177	Luka Skare	Croatia	€700
178	Tomas Varszegi	Hungary	€700
179	Weiqiang Hu	Austria	€700
180	Piotr Wasilewski	Poland	€700
181	Rubin Okotie	Austria	€700
182	David Kristek	Czechia	€700
183	Robert Kiss	Hungary	€700
184	Yasen Dichev	Bulgaria	€700
185	Tasho Sehitaj	Albania	€700