EPT Malta: Where the cream always rises

October 6, 2025

Live Poker

by Howard Swains

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3 Minute Read

When Niall Farrell won the EPT Malta Main Event in October 2015, he had never previously picked up a six-figure tournament score, at least not live. Prior to that, his biggest cash was a €53K pick-up for finishing 15th at EPT Barcelona two years previously. It was, in short, a breakout performance that set a promising talent, with heaps won playing poker online, on the road to established greatness in the bricks and mortar environment as well.

What has become something of a sidenote to history, however, is just how many other players at that final table were in a similar position, namely, promising players with glittering online resumes who went on to blossom into fully-fledged titans in all forms of the game.

BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS…

At the time, Dan Dvoress was still best known by his online moniker “Oxota”, and could point to his third placed finish in a €25K High Roller, also in Malta, six months previously as his biggest tournament score. Flash forward nine years, however, and Dvoress has $45 million in live tournament earnings to his name. Back in October 2015, Dvoress finished seventh.

Dan Dvoress was a relative newcomer when he made the 2015 final table

One place better was Dvoress’ fellow Canadian Sam Greenwood, whose player profile ahead of the EPT final table stated “Greenwood has well over $1.7m in live tournament winnings, $1.25m of that gained this year.” Like Dvoress, it’s only got better for Greenwood from there. His current tally stands at $39.4 million.

Fifth place that year went to a 26-year-old PokerStars qualifier named Rainer Kempe, who was the de facto headliner at the final table because he had previously also made the final at EPT Barcelona a few months before. Back-to-back EPT final tables is still a fine accomplishment, but safe to say Kempe likely talks more about some of his other wins en route to a $23 million Hendon Mob ledger than this purple patch of autumn 2015.

Any final table that boasts Farrell, Dvoress, Greenwood and Kempe is certainly one for the ages, but perhaps there’s something about this venue that helps the cream rise to the top.

SOMETHING IN THE AIR

When Jean Montury won EPT Malta in March 2015 (yes, the EPT came to Malta twice that year), the final table also featured PCA champion Dominik Panka, German star Stefan Schillhabel, future WSOP Main Event winner Hossein Ensan and Spanish star Javier Zapatero. The ninth-placed finisher was also one to watch. Fedor Holz has probably got over his final table bubble in this one.

Fresh-faced Fedor Holz was on a path to greatness despite a final table bubble

It’s obviously far too early to say if the EPT Main Event this time around is going to match the quality of these two previous iterations. But the omens are good. The €1,650 buy-in PokerStars Open, which is playing its final table today, has one of the best line-ups ever assembled for a tournament at that price point.

When the tournament got eight-handed, the chip leader was the EPT regular Gerard Carbo, a player who has had a long string of successes both on PokerStars and the EPT.

But alongside him were two former Team PokerStars Ambassadors, Ana Marquez and Barny Boatman, as well as online crusher Scott Margereson. Although poker tournament buy-ins in general are trending towards the nosebleed, there are still many, many elite players for whom a €1,650 event is very well worth playing. This event proves the point.

EPT Malta March 2015 results

Entries: 895
Prize pool: €4,340,750

1 – Jean Montury, France, €687,400*
2 – Valentin Messina, France, €615,000*
3 – Dominik Panka, Poland, €347,300
4 – Stefan Schillhabel, Germany, €260,500
5 – Javier Gomez Zapatero, Spain, €205,300
6 – Hossein Ensan, Germany, €153,700
7 – Antonin Duda, Czech Republic, €108,200
8 – Remi Wyrzykiewicz, Poland, €76,000

EPT Malta October 2015 results

Entries: 651
Prize pool: €3,157,350

1 – Niall Farrell, United Kingdom, €534,330*
2 – Alen Bilic, Bosnia & Herzegovina, €440,000*
3 – Jaroslaw Sikora, Poland, €265,840
4 – Giulio Spaminato, Italy, €203,640
5 – Rainer Kempe, Germany, €161,340
6 – Sam Greenwood, Canada, €125,660
7 – Dan Dvoress, Canada, €91,550
8 – Nabil Cardoso, Morocco, €62,570