Scotland’s Lewis Coffin (pictured with Ivonne Montealegre, Founder of MPF) became the latest Malta Poker Festival (MPF) Grand Event champion after defeating Lithuania’s Martynas Brazdzionis heads-up to win the mouth-watering €100,600.
The 2023 MPF Spring Edition was a massive success at Portomaso Casino with bigger figures in all side events when compared to last Spring. This includes the MPF €550 Grand Event powered by Unibet DeepStack Open, which attracted a banner field of 1,226 entries to create a €588,480 prize pool. This not only nearly doubled the €300,000 guarantee but was more than a 20 percent increase in attendance when compared to last spring.
Coffin was on the top moon as it was Brazdzionis who was in control the entire final day until there were just three players remaining. Coffin doubled through both of his final two opponents in in third-place performer Oliver Said and runner-up Brazdzionis and had both players on thin ice before storming away with the title.
The victory more than quadrupled Coffin’s live tournament earnings as tracked by The Hendon Mob as he came into Malta with a hair over $33,000 in cashes, of which, more than $21,000 came in April 2022 during an event in London.
2023 MPF Spring Edition Grand Event Final Table Results
Place |
Player |
Country |
Prize |
1 |
Lewis Coffin |
United Kingdom |
€100,600 |
2 |
Martynas Brazdzionis |
Lithuania |
€75,690 |
3 |
Oliver Said |
Malta |
€55,420 |
4 |
Angelo Patane |
Italy |
€37,400 |
5 |
Kjetil Hanstvedt |
Norway |
€20,150 |
6 |
La Sengphet |
United States |
€14,850 |
7 |
Tomasz Caba |
Poland |
€11,400 |
8 |
Fabio Aprile |
Italy |
€9,050 |
9 |
Joszef Hegyi |
Hungary |
€7,550 |
Side Events and More
The Malta Poker Festival is more than just about the Grand Event. It is a friendly atmosphere and brings the concept of a poker family to life as not only were there plenty of side events but also activities away from the casino including parties, city tours, and more.
The side events brought tons of excitement and emotion. Many on the island were thrilled straight out of the gate when Antoine Degiorgio won the first side event in the €230 HORSE powered by Martin Smith. Degiorgio is a man of the people and is always helping fellow players and operates the Malta Poker Fish Facebook group.
Alex Montgomery shipped the biggest side event after winning the MPF €1,100 High Roller for €32,600, while Thomas Schaeven managed to bookend two titles at the beginning and end of the MPF with victories in the €120 Texas Special for €4,000 and another win in the €120 Bounty Hunter Days Progressive Closer for €3,650 plus bounties.
Meanwhile, two ladies found their way in the winner’s circle. Suzie Williamson won the €150 Betsson One Bullet for €5,500, while AJ Rudolph shipped the €150 Ladies First! Powered by Chris Read for €2,510.
Rudolph was busy giving back to the poker community before her win as she was hosting a poker seminar for beginners just before the Ladies First! began. Rudolph traveled from the United States representing the female group Poker Power where she is the Director of Education and Technology Check out our interview with Rudolph before the Malta Poker Festival.
Event | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
€230 HORSE | 54 | € 10,368 | Antoine Degiorgio | € 2,900 |
€120 Texas Special | 171 | € 16,416 | Thomas Schaeven | € 4,000 |
€150 Betsson One Bullet | 254 | € 31,700 | Suzie Williamson | € 5,500 |
€230 Crazy Pineapple | 73 | € 14,016 | Fabian Bartuschk | € 4,050 |
€230 Bounty Hunter Days Malta | 330 | € 63,356 | Guilio Spaninato | € 7,400 |
€230 The Hendon Mob Championship | 393 | € 75,456 | Michael Aflalo | € 16,000 |
€250 Friday Shark Deepstack | 124 | € 26,188 | Charles McAllister | € 6,690 |
€150 Ladies First! hosted by Chris Read | 73 | € 9,110 | AJ Rudolph | € 2,510 |
€120 APAT Mediterranean Championship | 318 | € 30,528 | Christian Kempf | € 5,428 |
€230 Seniors | 81 | € 15,552 | Richard Frank | € 3,700 |
€250 Sunday Deepstack | 244 | € 51,532 | Steinar Knutsen | € 7,660 |
€1,100 MPF High Roller | 151 | € 144,960 | Alex Montgomery | € 32,600 |
€200 PLO Knight Crusaders | 87 | € 15,033 | Gyorgy Simon | € 4,500 |
€150 Win the Button | 107 | € 13,353 | Daniel Stancer | € 3,600 |
€120 Progressive Closer | 410 | € 39,360 | Thomas Schaeven | € 3,650 |
€230 Worker's Day Classic | 138 | € 26,496 | Alen Bakovic | € 6,370 |
Photo Credit: Malta Poker Festival, Portomaso Casino