This contract is with Prima Poker Limited, and any player that registers or takes part in the MPN Poker Tour, agrees to be bound by these MPN Poker Tour Terms and Conditions. The Terms and Conditions for play in Vienna are relevant for both the MPNPT online qualifiers and the live event held in Vienna in January 2016. Live tournament poker is on its way to Tallinn next month as the MPN Poker Tour descends on the Estonian capital for the next stop in its 4th season, with qualifiers from over 20 countries planning to fight it out for the €150,000 guaranteed prizepool in the €550 Main Event. The MPN Poker Tour came to a. This a wonderful end to the tour.” A live stream was broadcast for the last. Coverage can be found on the MPN Poker Tour Blog with pics.
The €1 million guarantee Battle of Malta will be live streamed in its entirety when it gets underway next week. Fans will be able to follow all the action on Twitch, Facebook and the Battle of Malta website – with hole cards visible right from the start of the feature table. External sites will be able to broadcast the stream on their pages and the stream will also be featured on the Facebook pages of online partners 888poker and the MPN Poker Tour.
Battle of Malta is being hosted by Casino Malta at the luxurious InterContinental Hotel in St Julian’s from October 15-22. The festival attracts recreational and professional players alike and this year features 35 action-packed tournaments with buy-ins ranging from €60 to the new €5,300 Mega High Stack tournament.
Last year’s Main Event nearly doubled its €1 million guarantee with a massive field of 3,816 entries generating a €1,850,760 prize pool.
Yet again, the live stream is being produced by HDpokerStream, well-known in the industry after servicing major events such as the MPN Poker Tour, 888poker, Olybet, Paf, NordicBet, Unibet, Aspers Casino, WPTDeepStacks, PokerStars, and the Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge.
“We are excited to be live streaming the seven-day Battle of Malta Main Event,” said HDpokerStream Co-Founder Heimar Lill. “It was an amazing project for us last year and we are thrilled to be back again providing viewers with an inside look into the Main Event.”
The first six days of coverage will involve a single fixed camera with RFID graphics for displaying all of the hole cards of the players battling it out on the feature table on a 30-minute delay. The Final Table will feature a full production with seven cameras.
PokerNews Editor Jason Glatzer and Phil “The Tower” Heald will be hosting the action from the commentary booth alongside many special guests throughout the seven-day affair.
“I am thrilled to lead the coverage after an amazing event last year,” said Glatzer. “The Battle of Malta is second to none when it comes to recreational poker festivals in Europe. We have many prestigious guests planned throughout the seven days, so be sure to tune in.”
Poker presenter and actress Laura Cornelius will be back once again as the Battle of Malta host. Not only will Cornelius release special footage and interviews throughout the festival, but live stream viewers will also be treated to highlights coverage during the breaks.
“The Battle of Malta is a ‘can’t miss’ event for poker players from all over Europe and beyond,” said Cornelius. “I couldn’t be more excited to be back once again as the festival’s host. This year will certainly be one to remember with 35 tournaments and plenty of parties.”
This year’s Main Event looks set to be even bigger than last year’s record-breaking field with hundreds of online qualifiers already assured of their seats – and many more buying into the tournament directly. Battle of Malta 2019 is already set to be the biggest poker tournament ever held in Malta.
The MPN Poker Tour came to a spectacular end last night with the crowning of the 23rd – and last ever – MPNPT champion.
Estonia's Martin Piik, who is only 23 years old, took down the €550 Main Event in Madrid for €52,000 after besting one of the biggest fields the tour has known.
There were 575 entries in the Main Event, with 71 players paid from the €278,875 prize pool. The final table demonstrated the MPN Poker Tour’s wide appeal with players from six different countries and very varied backgrounds. The finalists included two full-time poker players, an MPN bot detection specialist, a recruitment consultant, a firefighter, an extreme travel specialist and two guys who work in finance.
Place | Player | Country | Payout (EUR) | Payout (USD) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Martin Piik | Estonia | € 52,000 | $57,200 |
2 | Yu Cheng “Richard” Liu | China | € 38,000 | $41,800 |
3 | Raido Ounapuu | Estonia | € 28,000 | $30,800 |
4 | James Sudworth | United Kingdom | € 20,000 | $22,000 |
5 | Mikael Gronvik | Sweden | € 14,000 | $15,400 |
6 | Stylianos Kollatos | Greece | € 10,500 | $11,550 |
7 | Sebastian Lohunko | Poland | € 8,100 | $8,910 |
8 | Jay Yerby | United Kingdom | € 5,600 | $6,160 |
9 | Stuart McCormack | United Kingdom | € 4,575 | $5,033 |
Piik, who has only played ten live tournaments in his life and won his trip to Madrid on Olybet, beat Chinese player Yu Cheng “Richard” Liu heads-up to win the very last MPNPT trophy. Piik, who works at Olympic Casino in Tallinn and is one of the organizers for the upcoming Kings of Tallinn tournament, first started playing poker as a kid with his parents and classmates.
'It’s incredible. I won my seat on Olybet and came here with my Dad,' said Piik. 'To be honest, the money doesn’t mean anything – it’s the title and trophy I care about. It’s just amazing.'
More than 200 players won their entry to the event online via MPN partner sites such as OlyBet, Betsafe, Betsson, 32Red, Paf, Guts, NordicBet, Triobet and Grosvenor.
Among those who cashed in the Main Event were UCOP champion Mateusz Moolhuizen, Deborah Worley-Roberts, and award-winning podcaster David Lappin.
Despite the presence of several previous winners in the 575-entry field, the elimination of 2017 MPNPT Tallinn winner Keimo Suominen in 11th place meant there was no chance of the tour witnessing its first two-time MPNPT champion in Madrid.
The final event in Madrid was an emotional time for many. The MPN Poker Tour is well-regarded, much-loved and, over a total of 23 events, has clearly made its mark on a wide range of players from full-time pros to tournament regulars, online qualifiers and hundreds of recreational players.
In addition to the Main Event, this weekend’s festival in the heart of the Spanish capital also featured several well-attended side events including three very boisterous tournaments on the final day: the Doubles tourney, Ladies Event and a SuperKnockout event with Bose headphones as bounties on seven of the 12 MPN staffers who competed.
Worley-Roberts won the Ladies Event for €1,780 while Grosvenor Ambassador Katie Swift took down the Madrid Cup on Saturday for €6,345. Finland’s Joni Liimatta and partner won the Doubles tourney for €2,340.
Alex Scott, Managing Director Poker at MPN, said: “Since its launch, the MPN Poker Tour really has been a very special series of events and that’s entirely down to our staff, partners, media, sponsors, venues and, of course, the players. I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved on the tour; we’ve been very fortunate in having a really amazing team. These are people who really do put players first and work incredibly hard to give them an exceptional experience. I’m delighted that our very last event here in Madrid has proved such a huge success and I’d like to thank everyone who came and helped make this a wonderful end to the tour.”
A live stream was broadcast for the last three days of the event with commentators Padraig Parkinson and Jesse May joined on twitch.tv/thrillofpoker and Facebook by numerous special guests.
Full coverage can be found on the MPN Poker Tour Blog with pics and other posts on the MPN Poker Tour Facebook page and Twitter: @MPNPokerTour.
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