2025 The Festival Malta Day 7

2025 The Festival Malta Day 7

Marcelo Genna Wins Mystery Bounty 21.09.2025 23:14 by Patrick Cole
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Marcelo Genna has won the Mystery Bounty, besting fellow countryman Mattia Festa heads-up for the title. Festa won’t be too upset with second place, as his bounty haul and second-place cash mean he comes away as the tournament’s big winner. Below are the payouts, inclusive of bounties.

#NamePrize
1Marcello Genna€9,937
2Mattia Festa€17,892
3Aliaksei Baravik€9,670
4Sean Godley€4,250
5Jose Gomez€10,710
6Bruno D Andrea€2,920
7Michael Cauchi€2,630
8Egi Adriaans€11,391
9Kasjusz Zycinski€1,050
Heads Up in the Mystery Bounty 21.09.2025 22:37 by Patrick Cole
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Mattia Festa and Marcello Genna are heads-up in the Mystery Bounty. The floor staff are currently dismantling the poker tables across the tournament floor, and the room is the quietest its been since the start of the week.

OFC High Roller Now Heads-up 21.09.2025 22:00 by Patrick Cole
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Newly crowned Player of the Series Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk and Tobias Hausen are heads-up in the OFC High Roller. Below are the payouts so far.

PlaceNamePrize
3Johan Vermot-Gauchy€3,550
4Robert Rohlich€2,499
5Simeon Tsonev€2,050
Nuno Morais Becomes Main Event Champion 21.09.2025 21:42 by Melvin Schroen
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Nuno Morais has become the Main Event Champion, besting Damir Savio heads-up. Savio moved all in with king-six and ran into king-queen.

Morais’ superior kicker saw him hold across the J 9 8 3 7 runout to secure the victory and a whopping €61,001! Below are the final table payouts.

PlaceNamePrize
1Nuno Morais€61,001
2Damir Savio€38,980
3Julius Julenius€27,580
4Dimitrios Chalasa€20,460
5Thomas Jakobsen€15,730
6Arttu Myllys€12,080
7Gustav Ekhagen€9,259
8Olli Kovalainen€7,160
9Emmanuel Houssais€5,740

Morais Extends Advantage, Savio Claws Some Back 21.09.2025 21:33 by Patrick Cole
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Nuno Morais has around 85% of the total chips in play currently. Damir Savio has moved all in multiple times but has not been called in any spots.

Sod’s Law dictates that as I write this post, Savio secured a full double up from 2,400,000 to 4,800,000. Morais’ advantage still remains sizeable.

OFC Update 21.09.2025 21:10 by Patrick Cole
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There will be no successful title defence for Fabian Bartuschk as he fell in eighth place. He was the reigning Festival Series Open Face Chinese High Roller champion.

Play is currently three-handed, and its only The Festival Founder and newly crowned Player of the Series Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk, Tobias Hausen and Johan Gauchy left battling it out for the final High Roller title of the series.

Coincedently, ‘Franke’ won the final High Roller event of the Sviten Special Weekend.

Franke Wins Player of the Series! 21.09.2025 21:00 by Jonathan Raab

The OFC is still in progress, but when Ville Hakala was eliminated in 10th place, a delighted Franke was confirmed as the Player of the Series. The operator and owner of The Festival Series was nine points clear at the start of the day and the Finn needed to cash, with Franke failing to do so, in order to claim the title.

Sportingly, both players agreed not to enter the Mystery Bounty, which had its final flight this morning. Franke joined the game from the start, while Hakala waited until the final level for late entry to make his entrance. With five places being played, making the money was no easy feat. Hakala fell short, ending the POS race, however at the time of writing With 3 players left, Franke is still in and chasing victory in the event as well!

We’ll fully total up all the remaining events and deliver the final scores in the next day or two, but we can confirm that Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk is the Player of the Series at the 2025 Festival in Malta! Congratulations!

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Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, Player of the Series!
Mystery Bounty Update 21.09.2025 20:57 by Patrick Cole
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Here are the counts in the Mystery Bounty and the payouts thus far, inclusive of bounties.

PlaceNameStack
1Marcello Genna1,500,000
2Mattia Festa1,020,000
3Sean Godley960,000
4Aliaksei Baravik895,000
5Jose Gomez540,000
#NamePrize
1Bruno D Andrea€2,920
2Michael Cauchi€2,630
3Egi Adriaans€11,391
4Kasjusz Zycinski€1,050
5Antonio Palumbo€920
6Semen Karyi€1,580
7Celine Eidsto-Nyland€800
8Antonio Privitera€800
9Mantas Petrauskas€1,780
10Ahmed Ibrahimi€1,160
11Neil Higgins€610
12Giuseppe Bellinghieri€610
13Jostein Groedum€530
14Samuel Shepherd€530
15Mathias Jordi€530
16Kalle Kulju€460
17Samuel Saariaho€810
18Chris-Robin Hansen€460
19Eskil Kvamvold€400
20Salvatore Incardona€1,320
21John Jacobs€400
22Wang Chan€400
23Sebastian Curcu€350
24Lars Johansson€350
25Jon Persent€350
26Fabio Berti€350
27Jamie Jones€310
28Jiri Dusek€310
29Michal Janczarski€310
30Jakub Szczotka€310
31Attila Erdei€310
32Maxime Chilaud€310
33Andreas Tolas€310
34Jonas Engedal€310
Heads-Up in the Main 21.09.2025 20:25 by Patrick Cole
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Julius Jelenius and Dimitrios Chalasa have departed in third and fourth, respectively. This leaves Nuno Morais and Damir Savio heads-up. Morais has over a 3:1 advantage over his opponent.

Morais has a stack of 26,175,000 and Savio has 7,100,000.

Updated Counts in the Main 21.09.2025 19:45 by Patrick Cole
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Only four are left in pursuit of Main Event glory here at the Portomaso Casino in Malta. Nuno Morais has a 2:1 advantage over second place occupier Julius Julenius. Below are the counts and the final table payouts so far.

PlaceNameStack
1Nuno Morais16,220,000
2Julius Julenius8,000,000
3Damir Savio4,750,000
4Dimitrios Chalasa4,300,000
PlaceNamePrize
5Thomas Jakobsen€16,730
6Arttu Myllys€13,080
7Gustav Ekhagen€10,259
8Olli Kovalainen€8,160
9Emmanuel Houssais€6,740
We Have Winner in the Seniors 21.09.2025 19:20 by Patrick Cole
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Salvatore Ritrovato has won the Seniors Event here at the Portomaso Casino, besting a field of 41 total entries. Below are the payouts.

PlaceNamePrize
1Salvatore Ritrovato€3,001
2Jari-Pekka Rattya€1,940
3Marion Mizzi€1,330
4Nigel Stentiford€980
5Stefan Mattsson€768
6Eric Bennici€550
Kovalinen Coolered by Morais 21.09.2025 18:44 by Patrick Cole
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Nuno Morais min opened from the button and Olli Kovalinen defended the button. He check-called a bet on K A 6 before leading the K turn. Morais called. Kovalinen then led the river 10 before Morais moved all in. Kovalinen hated the spot but made a crying call.

He had K 6 for a full house, and Morais had A A for the nut boat.

Bjoerke Bubbles Seniors Event – Field in the Money 21.09.2025 18:37 by Patrick Cole
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Here is the lineup in the Seniors Event. The remaining field are in the money. Here is the lineup and the payouts.

PlaceNameSeat Draw
1Jari-Pekka Rattya1/1
2Nigel Stentiford1/2
3Stefan Mattsson1/3
4Marion Mizzi1/4
5Eric Bennici1/6
6Salvatore Ritrovato1/9

Desta and Adriaans Bink the Big Bounties 21.09.2025 18:23 by Patrick Cole
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Over in the Mystery Bounty, the top bounty has been pulled by Hendon Mob Championship winner Egi Adriaans. He pulled a bounty worth €9,191, and has a total haul exceeding €10,000.

Mattia Desta pulled the €5,686 bounty, as well as the €3,148 bounty. The biggest bounty left in play is just just over €4,000.

Check Out the Main Event Final Table Stream on Instagram 21.09.2025 18:10 by Patrick Cole
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The Festival Main Event is currently being streamed on Instagram @TheFestivalOG. Visit the page to check out the cards down action as it unfolds.

Morais Loses Crucial Flip to Savio 21.09.2025 17:57 by Patrick Cole
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Action was picked up with Damir Savio all in and at risk versus Nuno Morais in a button v big blind all in preflop situation. Morais flopped the nut flush draw on 5 Q 6 but couldn’t find another heart, king or ace across the 9 turn and 2 river.

Main Event Chip Counts at First Break 21.09.2025 17:30 by Patrick Cole
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Thomas Jakobsen has a slight advantage at the top of the counts, and there is a decent bit of breathing room between the top two and the rest of the pack.

RankNameScore
1Thomas Jakobsen7,200,000
2Julius Julenius7,120,000
3Olli Kovalainen4,720,000
4Nuno Morais4,300,000
5Gustav Ekhagen2,800,000
6Damir Savio2,600,000
7Dimitrios Chalasa2,520,000
8Arttu Myllys2,000,000
Payouts in the Mystery Bounty Announced 21.09.2025 17:15 by Patrick Cole
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Here are the payouts in the Mystery Bounty from the normal prize pool. The bounty prizes will be released in due course.

RankPrize
1€9,191
2€5,776
3€4,160
4€3,230
5€2,500
6€1,940
7€1,620
8€1,360
9€1,140
10–11€1,010
12–13€890
14–15€790
16–17€700
18–20€620
21–23€550
24–27€490
28–31€440
Houssais Runs into Aces 21.09.2025 17:03 by Patrick Cole
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Action was picked up with Emmanuel Houssais jamming all in over an open from Olli Kovalainen, who snap-called and had Houssais covered.

Kovalainen had A A and Houssais had Q Q . The 10 J 6 5 10 runout was clean for Kovalainen and Houssais departed in ninth place. Here are the payouts so far from today’s session.

RankNamePrize
9Emmanuel Houssais€5,740
10Philip Pearson€4,780
11David Calero€4,780
12Thomas Degimbe€3,990
13Sander Van Wesemael€3,990
14Fan Sun€3,320
15Jon Persent€3,320
16Angelo Vietti€2,920

Main Event Final Table Snaps 21.09.2025 16:33 by Patrick Cole
Morais Jams Flop 21.09.2025 16:30 by Melvin Schroen
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Action was picked up in a single raise pot with Arttu Myllys leading out for 250,000 from the big blind. Nuno Morais then moved all in for around 2,350,000.

During the hand, I approached Melvin Schroen to predict what hand Morais had. I believed he had a set of sevens, but Melvin opted for king-jack. Myllys was in the tank and ultimately folded. Morais then tabled the 7 and the 7 .

Payouts Announced in the Seniors 21.09.2025 16:19 by Patrick Cole
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Here are the payouts for the Seniors Event. Joakim Olin, pillar of the Swedish Poker community, is in contention for his second title of the week.

RankPrize
1€3,001
2€1,940
3€1,330
4€980
5€768
6€550
Mystery Bounty Field Chip Counts and Seat Draw Ahead of Day 2 21.09.2025 16:13 by Patrick Cole
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Here is the full line-up of the Mystery Bounty field ahead of the second and final day here at Portomaso Casino in Malta. Jose Gomez leads the way and has cashed once more this week, adding to cashes in the Main Event, 10-Game, Pot Limit Double Draw 2-7 and PLO 4/5/6.

RankNameScoreSeat Draw
1Jose Gomez750,0001/1
2Kalle Kulju452,0003/4
3Samuel Saariaho404,5004/6
4Jon Persent399,5002/5
5Semen Karyi393,0003/8
6Attila Erdei320,5001/8
7Salvatore Incardona297,0001/4
8Neil Higgins284,0004/1
9Maxime Chilaud245,0001/6
10Michael Cauchi241,0002/3
11Ahmed Ibrahimi240,0005/5
12Kasjusz Zycinski230,5003/5
13Giuseppe Bellinghieri222,5002/4
14Fabio Berti207,0005/4
15Jiri Dusek198,5005/1
16Marcello Genna197,0005/3
17Antonio Palumbo197,0004/8
18Eskil Kvamvold167,0001/5
19Egi Adriaans154,5004/4
20Aliaksei Baravik148,0003/6
21Mantas Petrauskas147,0002/1
22Wang Chan145,0003/7
23Jamie Jones141,0004/5
24Bruno D Andrea139,0005/6
25Chris-Robin Hansen139,0004/3
26Michal Janczarski139,0002/7
27Lars Johansson125,0004/7
28Jakub Szczotka103,5002/8
29Mathias Jordi103,0003/2
30Celine Eidsto-Nyland95,0001/2
31Andreas Tolas94,0003/1
32John Jacobs90,0001/7
33Antonio Privitera89,0002/2
34Sebastian Curcu88,0004/2
35Samuel Shepherd79,0005/2
36Jonas Engedal72,0001/3
37Sean Godley55,0005/7
38Mattia Festa44,0003/3
39Jostein Groedum34,5002/6
Jelenius Takes From Chalasa – Main Event FT 21.09.2025 15:59 by Patrick Cole
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Julius Jelenius opened to 160,000 from middle position. Dimitrios Chalasa three-bet to 550,000. Jelenius called. He check-called a bet of 275,000 on the monotone board of 8 Q 7 , before the 2 turn was checked back. Jelenius checked again on the 10 river. Chalasa then bet 1,000,000 and was called by Jelenius, who had A K for the second nut flush.

Chalasa had 6 5 and bet to try and push Jelenius off a potential chop.

Seniors Event Reg Closing Soon 21.09.2025 15:25 by Patrick Cole
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A field of 22 are left in the one and only seniors event here at the Portomaso Casino in Malta. Johan Ekdahl appears to be the chip leader in this event. The payouts will be confirmed in due course.

Final Table Reached in Main Event 21.09.2025 14:58 by Patrick Cole
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At a blistering pace, the final table has been reached here at the Portomaso Casino. Play will resume at 3.20 p.m., so the chip race, counts, photos and interviews can be conducted. Here is the lineup and chip counts.

RankNameScore
1Emmanuel Houssais5,950,000
2Julius Julenius5,070,000
3Nuno Morais4,600,000
4Arttu Myllys4,380,000
5Thomas Jakobsen3,860,000
6Gustav Ekhagen3,390,000
7Olli Kovalainen2,400,000
8Dimitrios Chalasa2,140,000
9Damir Savio1,470,000

Early Entrants in the OFC High Roller 21.09.2025 14:30 by Patrick Cole
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Here are the early entrants in the Open Face Chinese High Roller. Razz Big Bounty Winner and Sportsbook joint-second Wouter Schuurbiers is in the field, as is Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk, who is currently leading the POS rankings.

RankNameScore
1Scott Kenyon30,000
2Sascha Manns30,000
3Wouter Schuurbiers30,000
4Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk30,000
5Tomasz Walkowi30,000
Two Early Eliminations in the Main 21.09.2025 14:18 by Melvin Schroen
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Angelo Vietti has been eliminated after jamming A 2 blind v blind into the covering stack of Olli Kovalainen who had A K . He made two pair across the 8 K 7 A J .

On the adjacent table, Jon Persent was eliminated by Thomas Jakobsen in a button v small blind preflop all in. Jakobsen had Q Q which held against Persent’s A 9 across the 3 4 7 6 J runout.

Main Event Final Day Underway 21.09.2025 14:06 by Patrick Cole
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The final Day of the Main Event is underway! Good luck to all who are taking part in the pursuit of Main Event Glory!

Here Are the Chip Counts in the Main Event 21.09.2025 13:45 by Patrick Cole
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RankNameScore
1Philip Pearson4,940,000
2Thomas Jakobsen4,190,000
3Julius Julenius3,080,000
4Fan Sun2,450,000
5Nuno Morais2,380,000
6Gustav Ekhagen2,370,000
7Emmanuel Houssais2,260,000
8Dimitrios Chalasa2,090,000
9Thomas Degimbe1,720,000
10Olli Kovalainen1,610,000
11Jon Persent1,280,000
12Arttu Myllys1,280,000
13Angelo Vietti1,190,000
14Sander Van Wesemael1,100,000
15Damir Savio915,000
16David Salamanca Calero905,000
State Of Play so Far 21.09.2025 13:25 by Patrick Cole
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Of the 32 Seniors that entered the Seniors event, only 26 remain. Big O winner Joakim Olin and Gia Carnestrom are just two of the notable names in the one and only Seniors Event.

Concurrently, 22 remain of 69 entrants in the final Flight to the Mystery Bounty, the 1/D Turbo. Day 2 is scheduled to start at 4.30 p.m. local time. Here are the counts from that Flight.

RankNameScore
1Mathias Jordi122,000
2Sascha Manns115,000
3Daniele Degennaro100,000
4Semen Karyi92,000
5Marc Schembri80,000
6Thomas Eckerstorfer75,000
7Christopher Hartley75,000
8Jostein Groedum65,000
9Kare Hallamaa65,000
10Lars Johansson60,000
11Jedrzej Smaruj60,000
12Samuel Shepherd55,000
13Jiany Lu52,500
14Mattia Festa50,000
15Jose Casillas40,500
16Piotr Swietek35,000
17Egi Adriaans25,000
18Tobais Andersen25,000
19Peter Ockenden25,000
20Carlos Preciado Castillo25,000
21Oskar Lindberg22,000
Franke Clinging On at Top of Leaderboard 21.09.2025 11:05 by Jonathan Raab

There’s one day left of The Festival in Malta and the race for the Player of the Series title is still in the balance. On Saturday four events that count towards it were completed, however full results of the sportsbook and slots competitions have not yet been processed. The 10-game and Bomb Pot tournaments have now been included and there is no change in the top two, with Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk maintaining his nine point lead over Ville Hakala

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Franke

Franke and Ville played both played in each of the poker events on Saturday, but neither managed to make the money. Franke now has 153 points to Ville’s 144 and they are well clear of third placed Benjamin Sweetman on 118 points and 4th placed Barrie Dear on 117.

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Ville Hakala

Kare Hallamaa remains in 5th place on 100 points, while fellow Finn Ville-Matti Keranen moves up to 6th on 91 points. He won the 10-game event, in which Sweetman finished 3rd. None of the players in the money in the Bomb Pot tournament feature in the top 25 on the leaderboard.

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Ville-Matti Keranen

Player of the Series Top 25

PositionPlayerPointsEvents Played
1Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk15313
2Ville Hakala14412
3Benjamin Sweetman1187
4Barrie Dear11712
5Kare Hallamaa1009
6Ville-Matti Keränen919
7Peder Behr886
8Frank Visser8310
9Fabian Bartuschk814
9Martin Schamaun814
11Eva Jiretorn808
11Lars Johansson807
11Yurii Rassamakin809
14Jose Gomez Casillas795
15Karl Gialanze774
16Benedict Kaiser767
16Scott Kenyon7610
16Wouter Schuurbiers768
19Yann De Tychey719
20Egi Adriaans684
21Glenn Hasselberg669
21Mika Hautakangas668
21Simeon Tsonev664
24Quinten Spyckerelle654
25Herli Olop608

Read More: Full details on how the leaderboard points are awarded for the Festival in Malta

In addition to the sportsbook and slots tournaments, there are three further tournaments concluding on Sunday that count towards the leaderboard:

  • The Main Event
  • The Mystery Bounty
  • The Open Face Chinese High Roller

The Main Event and the Mystery Bounty have no players left that can usurp either of the top two on the leaderboard, so the destination of the Player of the Series award will likely be decided in the Open Face Chinese High Roller. Will Franke cling on for glory, or will Ville overtake him on the final straight as they race towards the finish line?

Follow the action throughout the day on the live blog and on The Festival’s social channels.

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