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Bengtsen Turns Heads-Up Deficit Into €65K Win at Record-Breaking Festival Malta
- Terje Bengtsen wins Main Event after comeback, earning €65,001.
- Record 804 entries and €381,900 prize pool set new Malta benchmarks.
- Graham Clarkson claims two mixed-game titles; Mystery Bounty yields surprise payouts.
Mehdi Yazdanpanah spent most of the final day at the Battle of Malta looking like the player everyone else needed to catch but as the sun went down, Terje Bengtsen did more than that.
The Norwegian came from 12th in chips among the final 16, survived a heads-up match in which Yazdanpanah controlled around 80% of the chips, and ultimately won the €550 Main Event for €65,001. The victory closed a record edition of The Festival Malta, where 804 entries built a €381,900 prize pool at Portomaso Casino.
Bengtsen Comes From Behind to Win the Main Event
Yazdanpanah entered the final day with 6.42 million chips, more than 2.3 million clear of his nearest challenger, while Bengtsen returned much further down the order on 1.53 million.
The Swede continued building once play resumed and was the only player above 10 million when the official final table began.
Bengtsen worked his way up while the eliminations came around him. His run included a hand in which he made quad aces to eliminate Davide Biondo, and he eventually reached three-handed play alongside Yazdanpanah and Sebastian Mortensen.
Mortensen went in third after getting ace-nine in ahead of Yazdanpanah’s queen-ten, only for the Swede to flop a queen. That left Yazdanpanah with a commanding advantage going into heads-up.
The match nearly ended quickly. Bengtsen was all-in with pocket nines against ace-eight and flopped a set, only for Yazdanpanah to turn a straight. A six on the river paired the board and gave Bengtsen a full house, keeping him alive just long enough.
the balance changed from there. Bengtsen doubled twice in succession, first with two pair and then with a straight, before taking the lead. The decisive pot saw Bengtsen’s seven-five flop two pair against Yazdanpanah’s nine-eight on a 5-9-7 board. Yazdanpanah was left with only 75,000 and was eliminated on the next hand.
Main Event Final Table
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terje Bengtsen | Norway | €65,001 |
| 2 | Mehdi Yazdanpanah | Sweden | €40,100 |
| 3 | Sebastian Mortensen | Denmark | €28,900 |
| 4 | Bas De Laat | Netherlands | €21,915 |
| 5 | Davide Biondo | Italy | €17,429 |
| 6 | Sami Pulliainen | Finland | €13,375 |
| 7 | Pel Nieuwenhuis | Netherlands | €10,150 |
| 8 | Jozsef Hegyi | Hungary | €8,110 |
| 9 | Serhii Ivanenko | Ukraine | €6,810 |
The result gave Bengtsen his first Festival Series title. Yazdanpanah missed a second major win of the year but still banked €40,100 after leading for much of the final day.
Clarkson Completes a Mixed-Game Double
Graham Clarkson had already won the €550 TORSES Main Event earlier in the week. By Sunday night, the Scot had added the €1,100 10-Game Mix as well.
Only four players made the money, with Clarkson controlling much of the action once the field reached three-handed play. Konstantinos Vatseris departed in third, leaving Clarkson heads-up with Germany’s Jens Voertmann.
The title was decided during a round of Razz, where Clarkson made a seven-low to finish the job. The result made him the first player in Festival Series history to win both the TORSES Main Event and the €1,100 10-Game Mix at the same stop.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graham Clarkson | Scotland | €10,400 |
| 2 | Jens Voertmann | Germany | €7,200 |
| 3 | Konstantinos Vatseris | Greece | €4,600 |
| 4 | Barrie Dear | Scotland | €2,500 |
Clarkson’s two titles made him one of the standout performers of the Malta week, particularly in a schedule where mixed games occupied a much larger role than at most live festivals.
Quinlan Wins Mystery Bounty, but Not the Biggest Payout
The €350 Mystery Bounty produced one of the stranger payout sheets of the closing day.
Britain’s Kevin Quinlan won the title and received €9,810 including bounties, but three other players left the tournament with larger totals. Norway’s Ken Egeland collected €17,850 despite finishing fourth, while runner-up Panagiotis Grammatikakis earned €14,884.
A total of €101,897 was distributed between standard prizes and bounty envelopes.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Quinlan | United Kingdom | €9,810 |
| 2 | Panagiotis Grammatikakis | Greece | €14,884 |
| 3 | Dennis Mercier | Netherlands | €5,890 |
| 4 | Ken Egeland | Norway | €17,850 |
| 5 | Marc Hunter | United Kingdom | €4,720 |
| 6 | Mathias Jordi | Switzerland | €3,495 |
| 7 | Lin Chen | China | €6,659 |
| 8 | Piotr Swietek | Poland | €1,250 |
| 9 | Karl Magnusson | Sweden | €8,900 |
Malta Main Event Sets Another Record
The Main Event had already set a Malta record in 2025 when 666 entries generated €316,350. This year pushed both numbers considerably higher.
| Edition | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | First Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 666 | €316,350 | Nuno Morais | €61,001 |
| 2026 | 804 | €381,900 | Terje Bengtsen | €65,001 |
The field grew by 138 entries, or roughly 21%, while another €65,550 was added to the prize pool.
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