Swedish player Robert Berglund has won the Battle of Malta Main Event for €160,000, the single biggest payout in the event’s history. Berglund beat Irishman John Finnighan heads-up while his friend Rasmus Eriksson finished third for €67,000. Berglund and Eriksson came to Malta together and will be taking a combined €227k back to their hometown of Falun in Sweden. The pair had a last longer bet (for an undisclosed sum) so Berglund’s haul may even exceed €160k.
Scandis dominated what has been described as a “crazy final table”. Including fellow Swede Jonas Hahnert and Norway’s Robert Sverre Eik, there were four Nordic players at the final however this was the first time a Scandinavian has won. It was by far the biggest payday of Berglund’s live poker career; his previous best finish was fourth at the Poker-SM Main Event in June for SKr 225,350 ($27,131).
Finnighan earned €110k for his runner-up finish. It was another record-breaking year for the Battle of Malta with 1,813 entries to create a nearly €900,000 prize pool.
The award-winning Battle of Malta took place at Portomaso Casino and has broken its own attendance records every year since it launched in 2012. If you fancy a trip to this beautiful balmy Mediterranean island, the next event there is less than a month away: The Deepstack Open runs from the 2nd-4th of December