With the first day of spring just passed, Pokerstars is already thinking about summer with the Summer Festival in Malta. The week-long festival runs from June 27 through July 2 on the Mediterranean island, becoming known as one of the world’s poker hotspots.
There will be loads of poker action in Malta as Pokerstars starts summer with a big poker festival in late June. While this year’s event schedule is not finalized, the operator has announced plans to run Main Event and High Roller games for the series.
This Festival is a redux of the 2022 edition of the Summer Festival, and Pokerstars has announced that last year’s schedule will provide some clues as to what to expect this year. Last year there were 28 games on the main schedule with buy-ins ranging from €220 to €5200.
So far, no satellites are showing in the PokerStars client for the Summer Festival, but players can rest assured that there will be chances to get to Malta cheaply by playing online poker. Watch the client as the Festival approaches to see how to get your Main Event packages at a discount.
- Deposit $20 and get $30 worth of free play
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What to Expect from the 2023 Event
As mentioned, the schedule for the 2023 edition of the Summer Festival is yet to be finalized. Still, PokerStars indicates that clues to this year’s program can be found in last year’s events. 2022 saw 28 feature events and awarded around €2 million in prizes.
Among the standout events on the 2022 schedule was, of course, the Main Event. That €1,100 game ended up with the biggest field and prize pool of the festival last year, when 815 entries combined for €782,400 in prizes, with the winner, Bulgaria’s Zlatin Penev, pocketing €144,630.
While the 815 entries in the Main Event were by far the biggest field of the series last year, a couple of smaller events did pretty well in terms of numbers. The €440 NLH Mystery Bounty Cup near the end of the week drew a second-place field of 452 and €173,568 in prizes, while the opening €275 Summer Kick Off Knock Out got 391 entries for the final prize pool of €93,840.
The Mystery Bounty Cup also hit the series’ third-best prize pool, with the €2,200 High Roller taking the second-place spot with €330,240 collected from 172 entries. Four tournaments last year topped €100k in prizes, with a €550 NLH Deep Stack event taking fourth place with 241 entries and a prize pool of €115k.
While the 2023 edition of the series may have a few changes from last year’s games, it seems likely this year will see similar or better numbers. Stay tuned here and on the PokerStars client for more upcoming schedule details.
- Deposit $20 and get $30 worth of free play
- One of the best mobile apps
- Biggest MTT guarantees
Malta Fun Off the Felt
One of the joys of traveling for poker is that, in addition to the exciting action on the casino floor, there are chances to see historic locations, take in the nightlife of a new city, spend some time on the beach in the sun, or explore fascinating and unfamiliar food options. The Summer Festival in Malta is no different — the island boasts almost 3,000 hours of sunshine yearly, so plenty of beach action will be available for players who want it.
This year’s Festival is at the Intercontinental Hotel in St Julian’s. Players will find all the nightlife they can handle in the city’s plentiful bars and restaurants. And if something a bit more highbrow is on the agenda, there is a bounty of cultural excursions around the historic island, including a tour of Mdina or a day trip to Gozo.
It will be hard to go wrong with the Summer Festival from PokerStars — on or off the felt. Between the hot poker action and Malta’s natural and cultural beauty, there will be something for everyone this summer from June 27 through July 2.
Sign up for PokerStars and get ready to play your way to Malta this summer!
