Friday was all about setting up Day 2 of the inaugural WSOP Circuit Malta €1,500 Main Event. The final two opening flights ran at the InterContinental Malta, bringing the total to 879 entries across four flights and a €1,115,451 prize pool that cleared the €1 million barrier and kept going.
All 134 survivors returning Saturday are already in the money, guaranteed at least €3,000, with €200,000 waiting for the winner when Jason live streams the final day with guests from the final table.
Denmark’s Christoffer Jensen leads the field into Day 2 with 1,338,000 chips, while the six ring events crowned so far at the festival have produced six different country winners, making Malta one of the most diverse stops of the 2026 Circuit season.
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Six Rings Awarded at WSOP Circuit Malta
Before the Main Event takes center stage, six rings have already found new homes at the inaugural WSOP Circuit Malta stop. Russia’s Ivan Botvinkin launched the festival in style by winning the €300 Mini Main Event for €35,000 over an 808-player field. Lithuania’s Jonas Lapinskas, who enters Day 2 of the Main Event in third place, added a Seniors ring to go alongside his earlier 2026 Circuit title.
Tuesday produced three champions in a single day, including Malta’s own Shaun Decesare in the Mystery Bounty and two women taking top honors: the Netherlands’ Alcira Lagerwerf in the Ladies Event and Denmark’s Mette Downer in the Knockout. Austria’s Pablo Garcia topped a 187-entry High Roller field for €93,225 to claim the series’ biggest ring to date.
2026 WSOP Circuit Malta Ring Winners
| Event | Tournament | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €300 NLH Mini Main Event |  Ivan Botvinkin | Russia | €35,000 |
| 2 | €550 NLH Seniors (50+) |  Jonas Lapinskas | Lithuania | €12,263 |
| 3 | €550 NLH Mystery Bounty |  Shaun Decesare | Malta | €23,586 |
| 5 | €300 NLH Ladies Event |  Alcira Lagerwerf | Netherlands | €4,410 |
| 6 | €500 NLH Knockout |  Mette Downer | Denmark | €13,750 |
| 7 | €2,500 NLH High Roller |  Pablo Garcia | Austria | €93,225 |
Day 1C: Pilitteri Bags the Biggest Flight
Thursday’s Day 1C was the largest of the four opening flights by a clear margin. A total of 386 players took their shot at the afternoon session, sending 58 survivors through to Day 2. Italy’s Fabrizio Pilitteri bagged the flight chip lead with 1,200,000 and enters Day 2 second overall heading into Saturday.
Among those who played but could not advance was five-time WSOP bracelet winner and 1998 Main Event champion Scotty Nguyen, who made the trip to Malta for the inaugural Circuit stop on the island but couldn’t find enough chips to survive the flight.
€1,500 buy-in | Day 1C: 386 entries | 58 survivors advancing
| Position | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Fabrizio Pilitteri | Italy | 1,200,000 |
| 2 |  Andreas Stocker | Switzerland | 816,000 |
| 3 |  Ivan Saul Conti | Spain | 683,000 |
| 4 |  Maria Koutsouki | Greece | 635,000 |
| 5 |  Franck Bain | France | 625,000 |
| 6 | Antoine Talvard | France | 557,000 |
| 7 |  Alkan Aydingoez | Germany | 516,000 |
| 8 |  Ivelin Kolev | Bulgaria | 515,000 |
| 9 |  Vilmos Farkas | Hungary | 514,000 |
| 10 |  Radoslaw Kopec | Poland | 498,000 |
| 11 | Emmanouil Sarris | Greece | 479,000 |
| 12 |  Andreas Liperis | Cyprus | 465,000 |
| 13 | Giacomo Raddi | Italy | 453,000 |
| 14 | Lucio Zappala | Italy | 437,000 |
| 15 | Mathis Corbari | France | 431,000 |
| 16 |  Saulo Sabioni | Brazil | 426,000 |
| 17 | Matteo Montanari | Italy | 425,000 |
| 18 |  Andreas Olympios | United Kingdom | 402,000 |
| 19 | Robert Binek | Poland | 390,000 |
| 20 | Max Hurley | Malta | 388,000 |
| 21 | Alessandro Di Girolamo | Italy | 370,000 |
| 22 |  Jenna Murray | Canada | 363,000 |
| 23 | Messina Renato | Italy | 362,000 |
| 24 |  Matiss Celmins | Latvia | 361,000 |
| 25 |  Tal Chagage | Israel | 354,000 |
| 26 | Julian Micallef | Malta | 344,000 |
| 27 | Danilo D Ettoris | Italy | 327,000 |
| 28 | Tomasz Kolodziejski | Poland | 323,000 |
| 29 | Matteo Ricco | Italy | 318,000 |
| 30 | Julien Stropoli | France | 311,000 |
| 31 | Norman Butterfield | Canada | 300,000 |
| 32 |  John Martino | United States | 291,000 |
| 33 | Vitali Bibik | Poland | 265,000 |
| 34 | Marco Bognanni | Italy | 231,000 |
| 35 |  Mitja Rudolf | Slovenia | 230,000 |
| 36 |  Karl Sandoff | Sweden | 223,000 |
| 37 | Daniele Grasso | Italy | 216,000 |
| 38 | Herve Gouzil | France | 213,000 |
| 39 |  Danielle Noja | Australia | 210,000 |
| 40 | Christopher Agius | Malta | 205,000 |
| 41 | Matteo Intiso | Italy | 197,000 |
| 42 | Stefano Bonci | Italy | 196,000 |
| 43 |  Valerii Mishchuk | Ukraine | 195,000 |
| 44 | Nikolaos Vouldis | Greece | 186,000 |
| 45 | Yiannis Liperis | United Kingdom | 180,000 |
| 46 |  Zoltan Farkas | Romania | 178,000 |
| 47 | Ronen Avraham | Israel | 174,000 |
| 48 | Eduard Litskan | Ukraine | 170,000 |
| 49 | Arnaud Batrick | France | 154,000 |
| 50 | Victoria Ailloud | France | 148,000 |
| 51 | Callum Gordon | United Kingdom | 131,000 |
| 52 | Fabio Peluso | Italy | 127,000 |
| 53 | Christos Patras | Greece | 109,000 |
| 54 | Michele Portannese | Italy | 106,000 |
| 55 | Radoslaw Wielewicki | Poland | 91,000 |
| 56 | Emmanuel Houssais | France | 84,000 |
| 57 | Ioannis Panagopoulos | Greece | 79,000 |
| 58 | Christos Leantzis | Cyprus | 75,000 |
Day 1D: The Evening Flight Closes Registration
Friday evening’s Day 1D closed out the Main Event registration period with 156 entries, sending 24 survivors through to join the 110 players already locked in for Day 2. Italy’s Luca Topazio led the evening flight with 845,000 chips going into the combined standings.
Finland’s Linda Lahdenpaa bagged 672,000 to arrive in the top 15 overall, and Brazil’s Bianka Abade (477,000), the Netherlands’ Tom Talboom (435,000), and Norway’s Morten Godaker (145,000) all punched their tickets for Saturday.
€1,500 buy-in | Day 1D: 156 entries | 24 survivors advancing
| Position | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luca Topazio | Italy | 845,000 |
| 2 | Mike Laskar | France | 841,000 |
| 3 | Ioannis Droushiotis | Cyprus | 698,000 |
| 4 |  Linda Lahdenpaa | Finland | 672,000 |
| 5 | Francesco Gisolfi | Italy | 586,000 |
| 6 | Bianka Abade | Brazil | 477,000 |
| 7 | Tom Talboom | Netherlands | 435,000 |
| 8 | Benjamin Chiss | France | 340,000 |
| 8 | Tal Herzog | Israel | 340,000 |
| 10 | Angelo Censabella | Italy | 327,000 |
| 11 | Liutauras Armanavicius | Lithuania | 324,000 |
| 12 | Alkiviadis Stamatis | Greece | 293,000 |
| 13 | Lin Chen | United Kingdom | 261,000 |
| 14 | Tom Adjers | Sweden | 168,000 |
| 15 | Daniel Purvis | United Kingdom | 159,000 |
| 16 | Sebastian Mortensen | Denmark | 152,000 |
| 17 |  Morten Godaker | Norway | 145,000 |
| 18 | Richard Mead | United Kingdom | 144,000 |
| 19 | Sofia Madsen | Sweden | 139,000 |
| 20 | Antonio Barrera | Italy | 129,000 |
| 21 | John Macdonald | United States | 123,000 |
| 22 | Salvatore Senapa | Italy | 104,000 |
| 23 | Lucas Van Den Belt | Netherlands | 85,000 |
| 24 | Emil Jacobsen | Denmark | 18,000 |
Christoffer Jensen Leads 134 Into WSOPC Malta Main Event Day 2
When Day 2 gets underway Saturday at 1 p.m. local time, 134 players return with blinds at 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante. The first four levels of the day run 40 minutes each before shifting to 60-minute levels for the rest of the way, with play scheduled to continue until a final table is reached.
Denmark’s Christoffer Jensen leads the combined field with 1,338,000 chips (223 big blinds), holding a clear edge over Italy’s Fabrizio Pilitteri in second. Lithuania’s Jonas Lapinskas, who bagged a WSOP Circuit ring earlier in the series when he won the €550 Seniors event, sits third with 992,000 and carries strong momentum into the money rounds.
Italy has four players in the top 10 alongside Pilitteri: Mikel Calo (940,000), Luca Topazio (845,000), Alberto Cigliano (761,000), and Fausto Tantillo (721,000). France’s Mike Laskar (841,000), Switzerland’s Andreas Stocker (816,000), and Cyprus’s Ioannis Droushiotis (698,000) round out a leaderboard spanning nine countries.
€1,500 buy-in | 879 entries | €1,115,451 prize pool
| Position | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christoffer Jensen | Denmark | 1,338,000 |
| 2 | Fabrizio Pilitteri | Italy | 1,200,000 |
| 3 | Jonas Lapinskas | Lithuania | 992,000 |
| 4 | Mikel Calo | Italy | 940,000 |
| 5 | Luca Topazio | Italy | 845,000 |
| 6 | Mike Laskar | France | 841,000 |
| 7 | Andreas Stocker | Switzerland | 816,000 |
| 8 | Alberto Cigliano | Italy | 761,000 |
| 9 | Fausto Tantillo | Italy | 721,000 |
| 10 | Ioannis Droushiotis | Cyprus | 698,000 |
Saturday Schedule at WSOP Circuit Malta
Saturday is the biggest day yet at the InterContinental Malta. The Main Event resumes in the afternoon with all 134 remaining players in the money, and plays until a final table is set.
Two new ring events also launch Saturday evening, with the €1,000 Deepstack and the €550 PLO both getting underway, while the long-running €300 Colossus adds another flight.
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, October 3 | 13:00 | €1,500 Main Event Day 2 (134 survivors — play to final table) |
| Saturday, October 3 | 15:00 | €1,000 NLH Deepstack Day 1 (Event #9) |
| Saturday, October 3 | 19:30 | €550 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 (Event #10) |
| Saturday, October 3 | 20:00 | €300 NLH Colossus Flight E (Event #4) |
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