Overview
After a marathon 12-hour finale at Portomaso Casino, Italy’s Davide Iannaco captured the €400 buy-in, €150,000 guaranteed SiGMA Poker Tour Malta Main Event title. Starting the final table in the middle of the pack, Iannaco outlasted a field of 411 entries and overturned a heads-up deficit against Poland’s Tomasz Brzezinski to claim the trophy and €28,500 top prize.
The heads-up duel lasted around two hours, and momentum swung Iannaco’s way at the right time. He consistently made the best hand against a confident Brzezinski, who arrived in Malta fresh from a near €500,000 score in the EPT Barcelona Main Event. The victory marks Iannaco’s first recorded live tournament win.
Event Summary
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Buy-in | €400 |
| Guarantee | €150,000 |
| Venue | Portomaso Casino, Malta |
| Entries | 411 |
| Final day length | 12 hours |
| Winner | Davide Iannaco (Italy) |
| Runner-up | Tomasz Brzezinski (Poland) |
| First prize | €28,500 |
Final Table Payouts
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davide Iannaco | Italy | €28,500 |
| 2 | Tomasz Brzezinski | Poland | €19,000 |
| 3 | Romain Gachet | France | €12,800 |
| 4 | Joachim Vaesen | Belgium | €9,100 |
| 5 | Jon Persent | Norway | €7,500 |
| 6 | Guillaum Otto | Belgium | €5,600 |
| 7 | Christopher Convery | South Africa | €4,300 |
| 8 | Agostino Vitiello | Italy | €3,600 |
| 9 | Terje Bremseth | Norway | €3,000 |
Winner’s Reaction
Iannaco, an Italian now based in Malta, was elated to break through for his first live title.
“I’m very happy, I’m not a pro, I don’t study like they do, but I have a good group of friends who are professionals or coaches and I like to talk about the game with them.
This won’t change much in terms of my poker plans, I’ll play everything in Malta like I always do, and see where things take me. It was a fantastic tournament, I played well and ran well. Thank you to the organizers, it was a great event.”
Final Day Action
The tournament drew 411 entries, coming up just shy of the €150,000 guarantee. A total of 60 players returned for Day 2 from 61 qualifying stacks after Ashley Scott double-bagged and ultimately collected two minimum cashes worth €600 each.
Eliminations arrived early and often. Remy Hordan suffered a brutal beat against Massimo Rizzoglio, while Day 2 chip leader Sebastian Mortensen started brightly but bowed out in 11th place to Guillaum Otto.
Day 1e chip leader Romain Gachet surged during the second session, seizing the overall lead after picking up rockets in a blind-versus-blind clash. Fellow big stack Micaela Arcusin also found a premium around the same window. Gachet kept the pressure on into the late stages, spiking the river to bust Salvatore Incardona in a crazy hand, and remained out in front heading to the final table. He eventually saw his run end in third, falling to Iannaco.
Along the way, Brzezinski claimed the scalp of WSOP Online bracelet winner Jonathan Therme. The final table was set when Gachet won a flip against Fredrik Eggen.
Once nine-handed, Gachet led from Brzezinski. The Pole drew first blood at the final by rivering Terje Bremseth to seize the chip lead. Gachet then dispatched short stack Agostino Vitiello in eighth.
Iannaco’s title push ignited when he woke up with cowboys to knock out Christopher Convery in seventh. He followed by eliminating Otto in sixth, while Brzezinski took out Jon Persent in fifth.
After the third break, Iannaco snowballed further, first sending Joachim Vaesen to the rail and then ousting Gachet—both with rockets in quick succession—to set up the heads-up showdown with Brzezinski.
Heads-Up Showdown
Brzezinski began with the advantage, but Iannaco wrested back control as the duel developed, repeatedly connecting at key moments. After around two hours of back-and-forth play, Iannaco closed it out to lift the SiGMA Poker Tour Malta Main Event trophy and €28,500.
Around the SiGMA Poker Tour
The SiGMA Poker Tour’s broader calendar is gathering pace, with the series having kicked off in Brazil with an Orpaz victory.
