Third Time's the Charm for Malta Poker Festival; Full Schedule Released

Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Live Events Executive
4 min read
MPF Trophy

The third time's the charm for the Malta Poker Festival (MPF). After a series of postponements, the much-awaited Malta Poker Festival is officially taking place from April 25 through to May 2, 2022 at the Portomaso Casino, Malta.

Established in 2018, the series was founded by Ivonne Montealegre who said that she wanted to take the tournament "to the next level" and make the Malta Poker Festival "the most spectacular destination [on the island]."

The MPF is one of the most exciting and popular low buy-in poker festivals in Europe, with players at the forefront of every decision the MPF makes, prioritising quality over quantity.

Notable Tournaments

Malta Poker Festival Poker Room

The highlight of the MPF is always the Malta Poker Festival €550 Grand Event, with both of its instalments eclipsing 1,300-entries. The upcoming MPF Grand Event is 'powered' by UNIBET Deepstack Open and is expected to be most attended ever, with a whopping six starting flights planned.

Day 1A gets underway on Tuesday, April 26 at 2 p.m. CET with Day 1B starting at the same time the following day. The remaining starting flights all play out then from April 27-30 with the fields merging for Day 2, which plays on Sunday, May 1. The final day of the MPF Grand Event takes place the day after where play will close once a winner is crowned.

Other notable events on the MPF schedule include:

  • €220 The Hendon Mob Championship
  • €120 Amateur Poker Association & Tour (APAT) Maltese Championship
  • €1,100 MPF Highroller
  • €100 Ladies First! (€1,000 for men)

Malta Poker Festival Grand Event Schedule

DATETIME (CET)BUY-INEVENT
Tue, 26 Apr2 p.m.€ 550MPF Grand Event Day 1A
Wed, 27 Apr2 p.m.€ 550MPF Grand Event Day 1B
Thurs, 28 Apr2 p.m.€ 550MPF Grand Event Day 1C
Fri, 29 Apr2 p.m.€ 550MPF Grand Event Day 1D
Sat, 30 Apr2 p.m.€ 550MPF Grand Event Day 1E
Sat, 30 Apr9 p.m.€ 550MPF Grand Event Day 1F
Sun, 1 May2 p.m.-MPF Grand Event Day 2
Mon, 2 May2 p.m.-MPF Grand Event Day 3

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2020 Malta Poker Championships

It's no secret that the live poker scene was decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, and the MPF was one of several events cancelled because of it.

Not to be deterred, the Malta Poker Championship was announced in its place. Following a joint announcement from Qufan Internet Technology Ltd, Malta Poker Festival and The Hendon Mob. The event was held online on Pokio in May 2020.

The Malta Poker Championships €150 Main Event saw a total of 293-entries, generating a final prizepool of €64,200. Ireland's Kenneth "fulltiltken" Valentine was the last player standing in the event and walked away with the €15,729 first-place prize.

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PokerNews at the Malta Poker Festival

PokerNews is once again live reporting the Malta Poker Festival €550 Grand Event, having been in attendance in 2018 and 2019.

Italy's Emanuele Onnis was the inaugural MPF Main Event winner, outlasting 1,365 other entries. He took home the €150,000 top prize after despatching Fabian Gumz at heads-up. Tomas Sujeta was the Grand Event champion in 2019 and collected the €150,000 up top. The 2019 field attracted a healthy 1,324-entries with Israel's Dmitri Dan finishing as the runner-up.

Past Malta Poker Festival Grand Event Champions

Past MPF Grand Event Champions Emanuele Onnis (Right) and Tomas Sujeta (Left)
Past MPF Grand Event Champions Emanuele Onnis (Left) and Tomas Sujeta (Right)
YearNameCountryEntriesEventPrize (EUR)Prizepool
2018Emanuele OnnisItaly1,366MPF Grand Event 2018€150,000€662,510
2019Tomas SujetaLithuania1,324MPF Grand Event 2019€150,000€642,140

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2022 Malta Poker Festival Full Schedule

DateTime (CET)Buy-InEvent
Mon, 25 Apr7 p.m.€60Satellite to MPF Grand Event
Tue, 26 Apr2 p.m.€550MPF Grand Event Day 1A
Tue, 26 Apr7 p.m.€60Satellite to MPF Grand Event
Wed, 27 Apr12 p.m.€60Satellite to MPF Grand Event
Wed, 27 Apr2 p.m.€550MPF Grand Event Day 1B
Wed, 27 Apr7 p.m.€60Satellite to MPF Grand Event
Thurs, 28 Apr2 p.m.€60Satellite to MPF Grand Event
Thurs, 28 Apr4 p.m.€550MPF Grand Event Day 1C
Thurs, 28 Apr6 p.m.€220Bounty Hunter Days Malta
Thurs, 28 Apr7 p.m.€60Satellite to MPF Grand Event
Fri, 29 Apr12 p.m.€60Satellite to MPF Grand Event
Fri, 29 Apr2 p.m.€550MPF Grand Event Day 1D
Fri, 29 Apr4 p.m.€220The Hendon Mob Championship Day 1
Fri, 29 Apr6 p.m.€150MPF Highroller Satellite
Sat, 30 Apr1 p.m.-The Hendon Mob Championship Day 2
Sat, 30 Apr2 p.m.€550MPF Grand Event Day 1E
Sat, 30 Apr3 p.m.€120APAT Maltese Championship Day 1
Sat, 30 Apr4 p.m.€100Ladies First!
Sat, 30 Apr9 p.m.€550MPF Grand Event Day 1F
Sun, 1 May1 p.m.-APAT Maltese Championship Day 2
Sun, 1 May2 p.m.-MPF Grand Event Day 2
Sun, 1 May3 p.m.€150MPF Highroller Turbo Satellite
Sun, 1 May4 p.m.€1,100MPF Highroller
Sun, 1 May6 p.m.€150Win the Cross
Sun, 1 May7 p.m.€200PLO Knight Crusaders
Mon, 2 May2 p.m.-MPF Grand Event Day 3
Mon, 2 May5 p.m.€120MPF Last Chance
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Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Live Events Executive

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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