Malta Poker Festival 2019 Is Around the Corner — Oct. 29 to Nov. 4

The Malta Poker Festival returns stronger than ever between October 29 and November 4, 2019, for its second annual edition. The festival will take place in Portomaso Casino — the most luxurious casino resort on the island.

This year’s poker festival will keep players entertained with a large number of cash games and tournaments, as well as exciting parties players can attend.

The destiny of MPF is still not completely clear, but that might change this year. If player attendance decides so, the festival will become a permanent fixture on the poker tournament schedule, turning into a guaranteed annual poker show.

The MPF Grand Event: €500,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool

During the six days over which the tournament will take place, players will have a chance to enter many exciting and unique tournaments.

The winner of the show is definitely the Malta Poker Festival Grand Event that will begin on October 30 and end on November 4. The buy-in for this tournament is €550, with a guaranteed prize pool of €550,000.

According to Ivonne Montealegre, the Event Director and an interview she gave for calvinayre.com, the buy-in structure is what sets MPF apart from other similar events:

“Eight years ago, my team came up with the €550 buy-in, now it is the low tournament buy-in. I refuse to play by the rules and I also like to have some fun with my own creative process, so I like changes. Poker is a game of convention and if players agree and like new formats, why not?”

However, the breathtaking guarantee is probably just the beginning if the event follows last year’s example. The MPF 2018 attracted 1,366 participants who managed to ramp-up the guarantee to €662,510.

Fast-Paced Grand Event Structure

The massive prize pool is not the only thing that makes the Malta Poker Festival’s Grant Event attractive to players. It also features an interesting and fast-paced structure that will have four opening flights.

The gameplay will be sped up thanks to the well-known “big blind ante” format that will lead to fitting in more hands per each blind level.

Players will begin with 30,000 in chips, playing with blinds that increase every 45 minutes during the first three flights. The final flight will step up the pace with blinds that increase every 20 minutes.

Unlike in other tournaments with high buy-ins, only one re-entry per day will be allowed. According to Ivonne Montealegre, this is the reason behind it:

“Tournament structures are important, so I stay away from multiple re-entries. Tournaments that love big numbers sacrifice a lot of quality and structure playability to reach ambitious and high targets. I prefer a slow, steady and organic growth with big prize-pools, significant guarantees and a good field.”

Malta Poker Festival 2019 to Promote Female Players

The Women’s Poker Association (WPA) has recently named Ivonne Montealegre their International Affairs Director. Because of that, she will try to improve the attendance of female players at the festival by organizing events tailored specifically toward women.

I am very excited to be hosting the “Ladies First” event at @the_malta! It’s going to be a great festival all round & I look forward to seeing some of you there!?? #mpfestival19 pic.twitter.com/RXB7xIdhlt

— Daiva Byrne (@baltic_blonde) September 24, 2019

One of these is the €100 Ladies First! tournament that will take place on November 2. The buy-in structure for this event is €90+€10, with a €20,000 stack and a €20 blind. There is no guaranteed prize pool and only one re-entry is allowed.

Apart from that, players can attend several parties, the biggest one of which is the MPF Player’s Party at Club Level 22, scheduled for November 2, 11 PM.