Satellite Winner Spins Up €104,475 Victory in Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event

Robert McAdam has emerged from a final-day field of 12 hopefuls to be crowned Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event champion, the Brit taking home €104,475 after a four-way deal left only the destination of the final €30,000 of the record-breaking €684,390 prize pool, and the trophy, to be determined.

McAdam’s final opponent was Austrian Pascal Inkert, who was the short-stack when the deal was struck, and took the lowest payout of the four. Giuseppe Mazza-Boussemart held a commanding lead at that point, and it was perhaps surprising a deal was struck, but he took slightly more than the ICM value of his stack. The Frenchman crashed out in fourth however, after being on the wrong end of a brutal cooler with the champion.

The result represents a new career-best and first six-figure score for McAdam, a huge milestone in any poker career. McAdam’s return on investment (ROI) was even better as he satellited into the event.

2026 Malta Poker Festival Spring Grand Event Final Table Results

_{*Denotes four-handed deal}

Crediting His Support System

McAdam, an electronic payments consultant who has just moved to North Wales from Chester, is on a hot run in Spring 2026, having finished second in the Manchester GUKPT Main Event, and third in a WSOP-C event in Amsterdam, both last month. He is also a relatively new father, having welcomed Alfie into the world 14 months ago with partner Ewa, and credited the support of his better half, and a happy family life, for his recent focus.

At the start of the final table, McAdam had ten big blinds, and commented to PokerNews on his return to the table at the restart, “Only one thing to do now”. Asked how it felt to be standing with the trophy and a six-figure score four hours later, he said “That’s poker for you, amazing. That pretty much summed up the entire tournament, well Day 2 and Day 3, Day 1 was a bit more smooth sailing. They were rollercoasters, chip leading to ten bigs, chip leader again 2 hours later, back to short. Really cool experience, that’s definitely the biggest field I’ve won in before.

On the cooler with Mazza-Boussemart and the consequences of the deal, he said “Yeh you have to get in there and play. You have to look after your chips to a degree but you have to take risks with winner takes all. Pretty much everyone seemed to be prepared to do it. That was a pure cooler, it was funny it was kings. Feel like I’ve got pretty unlucky with those over the years, but over the two days I woke up with them so many times when I needed it, and maybe I’ll have to change my mind about them! He was definitely there to battle, the momentum shifted with that, and that’s when I really thought there’s a good chance of winning it.”

“I’ve been trying to play more recently, a better balance with work and spending more time with my son. My girlfriend, Ewa, is amazing, she encourages me to play, despite having a one-year old at home. So whenever a decent tournament comes up she’s just like yeh if you want to go, go, she’s unbelievable, I’m so so lucky.

I feel like something’s clicked recently with poker, I’ve had the second and third places, so first in a big field, feels really nice. I’m running really good for sure. Alfie is 14 months and the first six months I didn’t play, and since I came back I’ve been on this crazy run. She let me go to the World Series for ten days, which was a big ask, but that’s what I mean she’s amazing. I’ve got a few things mapped out, I’ve got two seats for the Main already, but yeh I definitely hope to be playing a lot more in the next while, I’ll definitely be back in Malta, and yeh results like this obviously help.”

On the festival in general, “Yeh I really enjoyed the event, terrific staff and location, Malta always has good vibes, it won’t be long before I’m back!”

_{*Photos courtesy of Malta Poker Festival}