With a €1 million guarantee for the flagship Main Event, Battle of Malta 2018 certainly set a high bar for success. But what a week it was! With 3,816 entries for the Main Event – nearly double the expected number – and 13,000 tournament entries overall, the tournament venue was packed throughout the six-day festival and made this year’s Battle of Malta a spectacular success. Now run by Casino Malta, MainEventTravel had a pivotal role at the event providing a wide range of services including event consultancy, event services, digital marketing, and providing media content.
The event took place October 25-30 in a brand new venue – the spacious Eden Arena at the InterContinental Arena Conference Centre.
The new Battle of Malta champion is Malta-based French player Julien Stropoli who won €168,500 after cutting a five-way deal. He bested a tough final table featuring previous MPN Poker Tour finalist Mantas Urbonas, two-time Unibet Open champion Mateusz Moolhuizen and Grosvenor Ambassador Andy Hills, as well as fellow French pro Maxime Canevet (who was runner-up) and a clutch of talented amateurs.
With 3,816 entries over four starting flights, the €550 buy-in event smashed the previous record for a poker tournament in Malta, which was held by last year’s 2,074-entry Battle of Malta. The total prize pool was €1,850,760, shared by 570 players.
Main Event Travel CEO Fraser MacIntyre said: "We were absolutely thrilled to be part of this year's record-breaking Battle of Malta. The numbers went through the roof and it was fantastic to be part of such an amazing event. Main Event Travel provided a wide range of services for Battle of Malta and obviously everyone was thrilled to nearly double the expected field.
“Planning is already under way to improve on the event for 2019. This will include a revision of the registration process, to vastly reduce queuing times – more tables, to allow an even bigger prize pool and bigger side events - as well as introducing a host of other innovations to make next year's Battle of Malta even bigger and better. The Eden Arena is an amazing venue and we congratulate our partners - Casino Malta by Olympic Casino – on hosting such a terrific event. Well done to Event Director Diane Fenech, Event Coordinator Telly Bartolo and all their team. We are now looking forward enormously to Battle of Malta 2019."
Event Director Diane Fenech said: "We'd like to thank absolutely everyone who contributed to making Battle of Malta 2018 such an outstanding success - all the players, their friends and families, the tournament, casino and hotel staff, our many sponsors and all the media. The numbers were simply staggering this year - not just in the Main Event but also in all the side events.”
Event Coordinator Telly Bartolo added: "The Eden Arena is a spectacular venue for a poker tournament and we're just delighted that it was so full of players throughout the festival. We are very aware that queuing and registration was an issue at the event and plans are already underway to ensure that registration at next year's Battle of Malta will be a lot easier. Do come join us in 2019 and let's break records yet again!"
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