• »
  • Malta
  • »
  • Road To Malta: Everything You Need To Know

Road To Malta: Everything You Need To Know

Road To Malta: Everything You Need To Know

We are just a couple days away from the start of The Festival Serie in Malta! Between September 8 and 15, players from all around the globe will be gathering on the island of Malta for some epic poker action, including many mixed game events, hospitality events, and more!

If you are looking for great poker action on the island of Malta, then The Festival Series is your ballpark! To top it all off, the week prior to our event, the Vamos Poker Tour will be played out at the Portomaso Casino as well, including a Main Event with €100,000 guaranteed prize pool!

The Venue

The Portomaso Casino is located in Portomaso, St. Julians. The casino got the status of best-known casino in Malta, and is home to many live poker series, including The Festival Series. The location is to be called very convenient, as it's close to many of the top hotels in St. Julians and is easy to reach from all over the island.

Wether you are travelling by foot, taxi, car, or even by bus, it is literally in the middle of it all. Besides being easy to access, there are several bars and restaurants just around the corner.

The Portomaso Casino also hosts a buffet throughout the day, which offers plenty of varieties and is a great place to take a much-needed break from all the poker action.

Tournaments

The Festival Series is known to offer an action-packed tournament schedule during our live events. This time over 50 events will be organized between September 8 to 15. But that's not all, there will be 7 live satellite tournaments included which lead to all the major tournaments such as The Hendon Mob Championship, Main Events, and the High Rollers.

Check out the schedule right here, and be sure to select your tournaments well! It's one of the most important topics in poker, and it will make you more relaxed throughout the series, once you already have made your own personal tournament schedule, in line with your preferences.

Click Image for full PDF

Casino Game Tournaments

DateTime (CET)NameBuy-in
Tuesday, Sept 1015:30Roulette Championships€125
Wednesday, Sept 1116:00Blackjack Championships€125
Thursday, Sept 1221:00Slots Championships€125
Saturday, Sept 1413:00Sportsbook Championships€125

Player Of The Series

The Player of the Series ranking is part of The Festival Series to raise the stakes even more! All players participating in the eligible events, earn points towards this leaderboard, and the winner will walk away with a full package worth €1,600 for the next live event of The Festival Series Bratislava!

The formula behind this ranking is made in a way to give all players as much equal chances as possible. This means that the Main Event winner will not automatically also win the Player of the Series ranking, but it's based on the 'best all-round player' of The Festival. Among the previous winners are Thomas Gugerbauer, who was crowned as the winner during our event in Rozvadov, Scott 'Pokerbrahs' Kenyon, who took it down during Bratislava 2023, and Hungarian superstar Balasz Somodi, who was crowner Player of the Series during our previous Malta event.

Scott Kenyon

Cash Games

Cash Games at the Portomaso Casino will be available 24/7. The cash games are usually adapted to The Festival Series, meaning that you will find also mixed games tables, and for example Dealer's Choice tables (when the need is there).

On top of all the usual cash game action, players can participate in the Cash Game Challenge! This challenge is part of The Festival Series from the very beginning, and the winner will be awarded a full package worth €1,600 for the next available live event of The Festival Series. One of the previous winners, Daniel Hong, won the challenge during The Festival Nottingham, securing his package to The Festival Malta 2023!

The Cash Game Challenge setup has been adjusted a little bit this time! There are twelve available sessions, divided over six days, each having a duration of 120 minutes. The overall Daily Winner is being decided on whoever wins the most big blinds in pure profit. It is of vital importance to understand that you will be eligible to participate in this challenge when entering the challenge with the minimum buy-in and still be at the table at the end of the session.

The Daily Winner will qualify for the Grand Final on Sunday, which will be a 'Final Flip' of six winners in total. Mark: you are eligible to win multiple seats for the final. The final will be played with a shootout format, meaning that the winner of a flip at the final, will bust out. Whoever remains, wins the challenge, and thus the package of €1600 for the next Festival Series event!

Note: you will not qualify once you will leave the table halfway through the challenge, even when the pure profit remains the highest during the entire challenge.

Every player is able to participate in this event.

DateTime (CET)FormatStakesMin. Buy-in
Monday, Sept 920:00NLHE€2/€2€250
22:30PLO€2/€2€250
Tuesday, Sept 1020:00NLHE€2/€2€250
22:30PLO€2/€2€250
Wednesday, Sept 1120:00PLO€2/€2€250
22:30NLHE€2/€2€250
Thursday, Sept 1220:00NLHE€2/€2€250
22:30PLO€2/€2€250
Friday, Sept 1320:00NLHE€5/€5€500
22:30PLO€5/€5€500
Saturday, Sept 1420:00NLHE€5/€5€500
22:30PLO€5/€5€500

Franke's Flip Flops - New Format!

Not in the mood for a long satellite grind? No problem! Franke's Flip Flop games have you covered. These quick and exciting one-hand satellites are taking place every night from Sunday, June 2nd, to Friday, June 7th, between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM local time. They're designed for those who want a shot at winning a tournament ticket with minimal effort.

Here’s how it works:

  • Buy-in: €25 (for chips only, or register at the cash desk).
  • Prize: The winner takes it all, and the prize value depends on the total number of players. A minimum of five players is required for the game to run.
  • Format: The player who wins the most flip games during that exact day, will qualify for the Final Flip, being held on Sunday, September 15. In this final, you can score a €1,600 package for the next stop of The Festival Series.
  • Bonus: The top winner also gets a unique trophy—Franke’s very own Flip Flops!
  • Flip Final: The Flips Final will be held on Sunday, September 15. It is not needed to be there in person, we will have it covered! The Final will be played out in the following way: Every daily winner of the flips (six in total), will get a seat to the final. Whoever wins the flip, goes out. This means there will be five rounds played out until we have the last one standing! He or she, will be crowned as winner, and will get a package worth €1,600 for our next live event.
  • Important: You can win multiple seats for the Flips Final!

If you have any questions about the rules, formats, or prizes, just ask at Franke’s Flip Flop table during the games. It’s a fun and easy way to jump into the action!

Other Activities

Players who have a hospitality package included in their full package will be able to participate in the hospitality events, one of our flagship activities during our live poker events. The full schedule of the Hospitality Activities will be released tomorrow, but we can assure you that the activities are completely in sync with what Malta has to offer!

The activities are spread out over the entire week, with the intention of not interfering with any of the tournaments happening at Portomaso Casino, or at least keeping it to a bare minimum.

This time, we have a new host to introduce to you at all of the hospitality events! So make sure to check out the next upcoming article, where we will introduce the new host as well!

Food Recommendations

The very first recommendation will be of course the restaurant within the Portomaso Casino, where players can enjoy a wide variety in the shape of a buffet. It is also possible to order a la carte.

Other recommendations will be The Avenue, The Aft Galley, Sabbagata, L'Ostricaio, and Peperino Malta, all within walking distance of the casino.

If you look for a quick bite, there are plenty of food options around the corner of Portomaso, that are perfect for a quick bite within a short break of the tournament.

Besides the Portomaso Casino Restaurant, it is also possible to order a la carte throughout the day. Just head over to any of the bars at the ground floor of the casino. Additionally, between the tournament areas, there are also options to order food and drinks.

Hotel Recommendations

Live poker tournaments always have hotel options available, giving players some more affordable options during the events. Unfortunately, due to the high demand for bookings, we can only refer you to take a look at Onyx Hotel for now, where you can get a discount of up to 25% with the promo code 'Franke'. This code is valid throughout the entire year, so also usable during other events.

Other hotels who will be receiving poker players of The Festival Series are:

You can read everything about these hotels right here!

Other Recommendations

If you are looking for a nice pool to relax, have some time off the tables, or just enjoy with family and friends, then we recommend to you Flo Sky Pool. And of course, the best 'tea house' of the island, we cannot forget to mention: The Brew House!

Malta is an island of great hidden treasures, check out the website of Damiano Nigro (The-Rounder.net), where you can find all these hidden treasures! And not to forget, pure quality images of everything that will come with The Festival Series!

Social Media & Liveblog

All social media channels of The Festival Series will be showcasing most of the action during our event, and everything around it. The channels are mainly Instagram, Facebook, and X (Former Twitter).

Pictures taken by our photographer Mairo Toom, videos shot by the crew of 24h Production, and all content created by the social media crew, can be found on the channels mentioned above. Make sure to give your best smile when you see one of these crew members running around, as it will increase the beauty of it!

Besides the social media activities, the live blog cannot be left aside. Same as during the previous events, you can find the live blog through our website, giving you more detailed information about the tournaments, insights into the winner circle, and much more!