The Malta Poker Festival’s 2024 Spring Edition unfolded spectacularly from April 22 to 29 at the iconic Portomaso Casino, located on the sun-drenched Mediterranean island of Malta. Known for its rich history, stunning landscape, and vibrant nightlife, Malta once again proved to be a perfect host for the event. The community of ex-pats creates a unique mosaic that contributes significantly to the festival’s dynamic atmosphere, eagerly anticipating a return to St. Julian’s every year.
The festival’s centerpiece, the MPF Grand Event, featured a €550 buy-in and promised a €300,000 guarantee. However, participation exceeded all expectations, attracting a record-breaking 1,460 entries, pushing the prize pool to a whopping €700,800.
France’s Jordan Dumas was in the festival’s brightest spotlight. He navigated through a colorful final table with a dominant performance, including a short-thrilled heads-up against Denmark’s Sebastian Mortensen. Pocketing €100,900 for the win, this marked Dumas’ first-ever six-figure score in what might be a life-changing victory.
2024 Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition Final Table Results
Place | Player | Country | Prize |
1 | Jordan Dumas | France | €100,900 |
2 | Sebastian Mortensen | Denmark | €63,300 |
3 | Flotre Roar | Norway | €42,300 |
4 | Petteri Miettinen | Finland | €31,350 |
5 | Vilde Ekren | Norway | €24,400 |
6 | Krystian Nalepka | Czech Republic | €19,400 |
7 | Ludovic Uzan | France | €16,010 |
8 | Jake Allen | United Kingdom | €13,100 |
9 | Kevin Rothlisberger | Switzerland | €10,400 |
2024 Malta Poker Festival Spring Edition Final Table Recap
The final day of the 2025 Malta Poker Festival Grand Event saw 24 hopeful returns, all vying for a six-figure first-place prize. As the day progressed and Indre Stanaityte exited in tenth place, the stage was set for a final table of nine.
Krystian Nalepka from the Czech Republic initially held the chip lead. Still, it was Jordan Dumas who swiftly overtook him, establishing a lead he would not relinquish throughout the remainder of the tournament. The final table action kicked off with an unfortunate hand for Kevin Rothlisberger, who, after opening the pot and betting on the flop of 7♥4♥8♠, faced an all-in by Nalepka. Rothlisberger called, only to discover Nalepka’s 7♣7♠ for a flopped set against his own 9♠9♥, resulting in his early exit.
The eliminations continued as Jake Allen departed next, his ace-queen falling short against Petteri Miettinen’s ace-king. Dumas then widened his lead by knocking out fellow Frenchman Ludovic Uzan, as he couldn’t overcome Dumas’ pocket threes, who flopped yet another set.
Next to go was the start-of-the-final table chip leader Nalepka, who first lost a major pot to Dumas’ bold bluff, then doubled Sebastian Mortensen. The remainder of the chips went to Dumas for a big chip lead.
The Ladies First! champion Vilde Ekren was next to fall against Jordan in a clash of king-queen against ace-king. The board bricked, and Dumas held three-quarters of the chips in play. Mortensen found some life by eliminating Petteri Miettinen with pocket eights in fourth place. The Finn pushed all-in with A♠10♦ on a 5♣J♦8♦5♠ board, finding himself drawing dead.
Roar Flotre’s tournament run ended in third place after a failed bluff with jack-ten on an A♦9♠4♣5♠ board, where Dumas held a made straight with three-deuce. This left Dumas and Mortensen to face off in heads-up, with Dumas holding “only” a 2:1 chip lead, but he quickly extended it to 5:1.
Mortensen pushed all-in with ten-nine on the final hand, and Dumas snap-called with pocket jacks. The flop K♠3♥8♦ looked grim for the Dane, but the turn 7♦ gave him six outs for a straight. The river was a blank, sealing Dumas’ victory as he celebrated his first major tournament win at the 2024 Malta Poker Festival’s Spring Edition €550 Grand Event.
* Images and hand courtesy of Malta Poker Festival and Jason Glatzer