Swords Drawn for the Battle of Malta Spring Edition

The Battle of Malta is the most famous poker event on the island and one of the biggest low-stakes tournaments on the planet. It began in 2012 when over 1,700 players entered the €550 buy-in main event. The event has grown almost every year since it began and now they stage two Battle of Malta editions per year. The main festival is in the autumn and that is the really big one, which last year broke its own record with xxxx players in the main event. 

The Battle of Malta Spring edition, which starts on April 3rd and concludes on the 10th, also features a packed schedule of side events and satellites. The spring/summer edition was launched in 2022 and although it is not as big an event as its big brother later in the year, this little sister is also a significant event, with €500,000 guaranteed, for a €600 buy-in. Last year this same event attracted a field of 1,992 in the main event, creating a prize pool of €1,075,112 and was won by Italian Daria Barone for a €156,500 payday. The €530 + €70 main event has five starting days, the first of which is on Thursday April 4th.

As is usual at big poker festivals, there are several satellites included in the schedule, to enable players to win their way into the main event (and later in the festival to the high roller) for a fraction of the usual buy-in. There are two per day for the main event for the first four days of the festival. Satellites are now operating as milestone satellites, whereby players win their seat when they have reached a target of 100,000 chips. Play starts with 10,000 chips per player.

Running alongside the main event for the first few days of the festival is another marquee event with more than one starting day. This is the Mistery (sic) Siege of Malta, which is a mystery bounty tournament with a €450 buy-in that runs on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th. Later in the festival there is also a high roller tournament sponsored by Amazingbet, with a €1,100 buy-in. There are also several other side events sponsored by different online poker rooms.

Fans of Omaha and mixed games, of which there is a thriving community in Malta will also be pleased to see several non-hold’em events make their way onto the tournament schedule. There is one such event every day from 4-9 April, including two H.O.R.S.E tournaments, three Pot Limit Omahas and one Sviten competition.