Have you put it in your calendar yet?
November 2-7 are the official dates for the 2016 Battle of Malta and, apart from our signature €550 main event, PokerListings has a lot more in store.
Side events, cocktails by the pool, blow-out parties, breakfasts, blackjack tournaments, world-class DJs, Karaoke, the inimitable Maria Ho ... the Battle is now so big it’s much more than just a poker tournament.
It's the ultimate poker destination holiday. Here's a quick overview of everything that awaits you at the best-value poker tournament in Europe.
The Poker
Where else to start but with the primary purpose (for most, anyway) of the whole thing? Not including the Main Event the 2016 BoM will feature eight (!) side events – more than ever before.
And that’s not even including the satellites.
The Main Event will have three starting days - Nov 2, 3 and 4. The final table will play on Monday, Nov 7.
As always the buy-in is €550 and the prize pool is €500,000 guaranteed. With 1,804 runners last year, however, that guarantee was easily smashed and reached a staggering €875,000.
Expect a similar number for 2016.
The Siege of Malta Second Chance Tourney has already established itself as the second-largest tournament of the festival. Last year 393 players put up the €250+€20 and the final six players split up over €66,000!
There will also be the Grandmaster High Roller, the PLO Knight Crusader, the 888poker Win the Button, a Deepstack Turbo and a Crazy Pineapple tournament.
On Monday we’ve added an IPC Turbo event and there will also be the special Blackjack Casino Crusaders tournament sponsored by Betsafe.
In addition to these there will be low buy-in satellites for both the main and the high roller event from Monday through to Friday night.
Register Early!
Registration for the main event opens Monday, October 31 at 4 PM.
From November 2-7 the registration desk will open at 12 PM. We strongly recommend you register early as there will be queues later in the day.
There will also be cash games at different levels all through the week at the Portomaso Casino.
Get Social
No day is complete at the Battle of Malta without some form of celebration.
There will be a Karaoke night, a cocktail reception, a pool party, a VIP party and the All-in Friday at Club 22, from where you have the most amazing views of the island.
Maria Ho will be present at all the events and we can attest she is one of the most kind-hearted, considerate people on Earth when it comes to chatting with fans and taking pictures.
That might be part of the reason why, according to our recent poll, she’s the second-most important reason players are looking forward to this year's Battle of Malta.
Make sure to secure yourself a complete package to get free access to all the events!
Get Oriented
All 2016 BoM events will take place at the Portomaso Casino in St. Julian’s. All package players will stay at the beautifully refurbished 5-Star Hilton or another of the luxury hotels in the area.
Because of the size of the BOM one hotel isn’t enough to accommodate all the players anymore.
The district of St Julian’s and in particular the district of Paceville is the epicentre of Maltese nightlife. The area is brimming with clubs, bars and restaurants, so boredom won't be an issue for you should you bust from events early.
Check back later this week in the Battle of Malta news section where we'll reveal the list of pros and celebs joining the events.
As a teaser: Dutch DJ duo Deepend will drive the action at the VIP Players Party on Saturday night. As a frame of reference, their hit track dropped just last month already has 1.8m views on YouTube.
Check the Battle of Malta schedule page right here for all the fine details for the events including buy-ins, starting times and days.
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