The Festival Malta confirmed that the return to Portomaso Casino was the right move. The Main Event, with a buy-in of €550, recorded a final count of 804 entries across four flights, making it the largest Main Event ever organized by the series in Malta. The previous record of 666 entries was shattered, and the total prize pool stopped at €381,900!
From the field of players, four managed to surpass the million-chip mark. The current top 10 chip count before Day 2 highlights the event's immense popularity across Europe:
| # | Player | Country | Stack | Flight |
| 1. | Mehdi Yazdanpanah | Sweden | 1,340,000 | 1D |
| 2. | Andreas Mai | Denmark | 1,250,000 | 1B |
| 3. | Pel Nieuwenhuis | Netherlands | 1,130,000 | 1D |
| 4. | Serhii Ivanenko | Ukraine | 1,090,000 | 1A |
| 5. | Alessandro Siena | Italy | 870,000 | 1B |
| 6. | Argo Garamaga | Estonia | 865,000 | 1B |
| 7. | Andri Gunnarsson | Iceland | 808,000 | 1D |
| 8. | Dion Mauritz | Netherlands | 799,000 | 1C |
| 9. | Lars Svanbom | Sweden | 761,000 | 1B |
| 10. | Tamas Toth | Hungary | 730,000 | 1C |
The record-breaking Main Event followed the successful The Hendon Mob Championship, adding another significant moment to the festival. Dmitri Dudakov defended his title from last year, becoming the first player in the series' history to win it twice. Read more about Dudakov's historic triumph in our dedicated article.
Belgian Triumph in High Roller
The €1,100 High Roller was dominated by Belgian Kristof De Deken. The tournament attracted 60 entries and created a prize pool of €57,000, almost doubling the original guarantee of €30,000. The winner took home €15,900, ahead of Finland's Osku Karttunen and Switzerland's Claudio Muller.
Historic Triumph in Open Face Chinese
Swede Ulrika Tengstrom added a remarkable entry to the series' history, becoming the first woman to win an Open Face Chinese title. She defeated Belgian Wouter Schuurbiers in heads-up, securing €3,720.
| # | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1. | Ulrika Tengstrom | Sweden | €3,720 |
| 2. | Wouter Schuurbiers | Belgium | €2,650 |
| 3. | Mati Pirn | Estonia | €1,920 |
| 4. | Jonas Jurksaitis | Lithuania | €1,280 |
| 5. | Loewie Servranckx | Belgium | €890 |
| 6. | Christophe Stammet | Luxembourg | €742 |
| 7. | Eva Jiretorn | Sweden | €742 |
| 8. | Michael Schweitzer | Austria | €595 |
Source and photos: The Festival Series / official live blog The Festival Malta
