Your Guide to The Festival Series Malta (May 15-21)
The Festival Series is about to visit the majestic island of Malta for the first time with the luxurious Portomaso Casino hosting The Festival Series Malta from May 15-21.
The Festival Series Malta was announced during the successful The Festival Series Nottingham earlier this year and right away many players began making their arrangements to come. Our dedicated team has compiled dozens of articles about different aspects of the event between then and now. If you haven't been reading them throughout the last few months we have your back as we will summarize everything in "Your Guide to The Festival Series Malta" with links to learn more.
The Festival Malta Schedule Highlights
The Festival Series Malta boasts 50 action-packed events at Portomaso Casino. There is literally something for everyone with so many different poker and casino tournament formats on tap with buy-ins ranging from €120 to €1,100 and satellites at the casino starting at just €40.
Many players have their eyes on winning The Festival Series Malta €550 Main Event thanks on May 16-21 thanks to its amazing structure and promises for massive payouts to those that run deep. The Main Event boasts five opening flights from May 16-19 before players will battle for two more days until one player wins the trophy. The event is a deep-stacked affair with players starting with 30,000 in chips. Blinds will increase every 40 minutes during the first four opening flights with the turbo-charged Day 1e boasting 20-minute blind levels. Players can re-enter up to two times during each opening flight and have the chance to get into the action or re-enter during the first two blind levels of Day 2.
Ignacio Menedez is the current defending Main Event champion after defeating a field of 609 entries to generate a healthy £236,292 prize pool. We expect the prize pool in Malta to be at least double this amount.
The Main Event isn't the only big event on tap as here is a look at some of the others including the newly added €250 49+ Seniors on May 21 or head to The Festival Series Malta schedule landing page for more information.
Of course, our signature Blackjack and Roulette Tournaments are back as are the return of the Matching Visions Slots Tournament and the Sports Wagering Tournaments. All four of these casino-related tournaments boast a very affordable €125 buy-in to allow every players at a chance at glory in something a bit different.
Hundreds of satellite winners confirmed there trip to Malta. So expect plenty of action in all of the events on our schedule.
- €250 Pokerlistings Championship: May 14-17
- €1100 PLO High Roller: May 17 (Depends on the number of players, might be a 2-Day event)
- €550 MAIN EVENT: Main 16-21
- €125 Roulette Tournament: May 16
- €125 Blackjack Tournament: May 17
- €125 Match Visions Slots Tournament: May 18
- €250 H.O.R.S.E Deepstack: May 18
- €1100 HighRoller: May 18 (Depends on the number of players, might be a 2-Day event)
- €250 The Hendon Mob Championship: May 19-20
- €125 The Festival Queens hosted by Laura Cornelius: May 19
- € 250 Texas Mystery Bounty: May 20-21
- €1,100 OFC High Roller: May 21
- €250 49+ Seniors: May 21
- If you don't want to spend too much time when registering for the first time at Portomaso Casino, please read this article on how to speed up the process.
Franke's Flip Flops
Franke's Flip Flops was an amazing twist added to The Festival Series last year. It has proven to be popular and, of course, it will be back for The Festival Series Malta.
Every day, a designated table will be created for rake-free flips to a variety of events. Players can get lucky without a house edge to enter an event of their choosing for a fraction of the cost and win something even more significant. The player that wins the most flips will win a package to The Festival Series Bratislava on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 at Banco Casino and a coveted framed pair of Franke's actual flip flops.
Alexandru Talica won the most flips in the Franke's Flip Flops at The Festival Series and will attend The Festival Series Malta compliments on the house. The emotions run high in these flips and we recommend giving them a try or at least watching some of the action from the rail.
Cash Game Challenge
Cash Games will be running non-stop on the casino floor. However, there will be two special designated cash game tables each evening from May 15-20 where players will be battling it out on the live stream during most of the sessions.
The player that wins the most big blinds in a single Cash Game Challenge session will win a package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Bratislava.
Daniel Hong won the challenge at The Festival Series Nottingham after booking a win of 1,003 big blinds in £2/£5 no-limit hold'em for more than £5,000 profit.
Player of The Festival
Players can also win a package to The Festival Series Bratislava valued at €1,600 if they are what we deem based on our formulas The Player of The Festival.
It appeared that Alexandru Talica, who won a package via the Franke's Flip Flops would also win this as he proved he was not only a master flipper but also had some talent when skill came into play as well. He was surpassed on the final day with Sean O'Donnell winning the Player of the Festival and The Festival Series Bratislava package after an impressive runner-up performance in The Festival Series Nottingham Main Event.
Accommodation
While, some of our hotel deals are sold out, there are still a handful of rooms available via our special hotel rates.
- Check out our special hotel deals for The Festival Series Malta.
What to Do in Malta?
Malta is a beautiful and majestic island that has its own allure with windy streets, a beautiful old town in Valetta, sunny beach, boat trips to Gozo, and much more. The Festival Series founder, Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk has years of experience in finding just the right activities as he has organized weekly party events in his hometown of Tallinn and organized legendary events away from the tables at both the Cash Game Festival and previous The Festival Series events. The Hospitality Package is included for many package winners for them and a guest and others can purchase it by inquiring with The Festival Series team. This is the perfect way to meet likeminded poker players while also involving others outside the poker world on your poker holiday to remember.
Of course, you may choose to explore the island on your own. If this is the case, you should check out our guide to Malta.
