Casino Malta acquires Battle of Malta
New addition will guarantee a €1,000,000 Prize Pool
Casino Malta, the country’s newest and largest casino, recently announced that it has acquired the Rights related to the famed Poker tournament Battle of Malta. This tournament started in 2010 and has grown in participants from year to year culminating in over 2,000 entries in the 2017 edition.
The previous owners, Poker Listings, had reluctantly decided to sell the event and focus on its core competencies as an Affiliate company in the Gaming industry. An agreement has also been reached with the new owners and Poker Listings to continue to provide crucial marketing functions.
The 2017 event took the tournament to new heights, as a result Poker Listings realised that it had grown as much as it could grow within its current premises and hence the tournament had to change strategic direction or it required new owners.
Casino Malta is owned by the Eden Leisure Group and Olympic Entertainment Group who also manage the casino through a management agreement. ELG’s businesses includes the InterContinental Malta, the largest five-star hotel in Malta, the Holiday Inn Express and the InterContinental Arena Conference Centre (3,000m2 of conference area on one level, formerly Bay Arena) as well as a number of other entertainment businesses. OEG is a leading operator of casinos throughout Europe. Operating over 100 gaming locations in seven different countries, it is uniquely placed to take the tournament to a distinctive new level.
Casino Malta owner Kevin De Cesare said: “Being the owners of the hotel, casino and event organisation puts us in a unique position to be able to elevate this tournament to the next level. Our two hotels provide the largest number of rooms situated around a casino in Malta, while our Arena can easily take some 140 poker tables all on one level. Moreover, Casino Malta is significantly larger than any other casino in Malta.
“Our Casino Partners, Olympic, will also be hugely instrumental in successfully growing this tournament. Its experience and network of poker events in the Baltics and around the world will attract players who were typically underrepresented in previous tournaments.”
The 2018 edition of the tournament will be held between 25 and 30 October, with a guaranteed prize fund of €1,000,000 and a buy-in of €550.