Poland’s Adrian Ziemchod etched his name on the Battle of Malta’s Wall of Fame after winning the five-day 2025 Battle of Malta Spring Edition €600 Main Event for €120,000 at the plush surrounding of Casino Malta and the InterContinental Hotel Malta. The 30-year-old Krakow resident has graced many final tables in the two years since he started playing live mtts. He has been a cash game player for many years, but in 2023 he began to take an interest in tournament strategy.
Ziemichod’s victory in the 1,542-entry event is the biggest of his career to date. He’s now cashed for over $300,000 and doesn’t intend to stop winning any time soon. He played steadily in the early stages of the final table, with selective aggression, when required. At no point did he look uncomfortable and from a viewer’s perspective, he did indeed look like he would be the eventual winner from a long way out.
By the time Ziemichod had busted Giovanni Caggia in third place, he had a 9-1 chip lead over Rob Perelman when the heads up battle began. It was always going to be a tough task for Perelman to come back, especially against such a finely tuned opponent as Adrian, who barely put a foot wrong during the last two days of the championship.
Our team at poker.pro was the right-arm in the form of media to the Battle of Malta throughout the event with Christoffer Karlen, Alek Gillies, and poker.pro contributor and Global Poker Award winner Jonathan Raab reporting at the BattleofMalta.com website while Jason Glatzer as head of English media and final table commentator, social media guru Lorena Antunes, and friend of poker.pro and Redtooth’s very own Glenn Brown as the event’s host.
The Main Event Final Hand
The heads up encounter in the 2025 Battle of Malta Spring Edition Main Event was short, lasting less than twenty hands. After an exchange of cagily played hands, they got it all in for Rob’s last 3.4m chips. Adrian put his American opponent all-in holding Q♣9♥ and Perelman made the call, flipping over J♦9♦.
The flop of J♠4♣Q♠ hit both players, but left Perelman drawing pretty thin, with just two outs left in the deck.
The A♣ on the turn didn’t help give Rob any more outs, and by the time the 3♠ fell on the river, Ziemichod had already made his way to the other side of the table to shake hands with vanquished opponent, who left with a very consoling €70,000 to take back to Texas.
After Ziemichod had been awarded the trophy, his serious demeanour cracked, to be replaced with joy, cracking a few smiles and affording himself a moment of indulgence by lifting the trophy aloft in celebration.
In the post-event interview with Glenn Brown Ziemichod said that getting a lot of good cards helped, but having such a good chip lead he had to play aggressively against his smaller stacked opponents. When asked whether he will be back in the autumn to defend his title he gave a wry smile and simply said: “Yes, of course, back to back!”
How The Final Table Panned Out
Ziemichod had gone into the final with almost a third of the chips in play and although it took almost two hours of play before the first exit of the day, the champion-to-be was already quietly increasing his stack.
The most active player in the early exchanges of the final table was Rasmus Lundström. The 25-year old Finn had a rollercoaster tournament throughout and his final table experience was much the same. He accounted for the first two exits, busting Luca Tonarelli with kings versus queens. Not long after he sent another Italian, Oscar Arezzo, to the rail. However Lundström’s rollercoaster wasn’t ready to slow down and he didn’t hold his new found chips for long, losing a chunk to a resurgent Giovanni Caggia.
Attila Szucs had been the short stack going into the day and did double up early, however he exited in sixth, at the hands of Flaviano Cammisuli. The €22,500 prize, which is by far the biggest cash of his life will be some consolation.
Cammisuli himself was the next player to see his tournament life cut short. The unofficial best-dressed man in the tournament became Lundström’s third victim of the final when his K♠J♠ failed to improve against the Sicilian’s pocket queens.
It was then the Finn’s turn to be on the rough side of an all-in when his pocket sevens were bested by Caggia’s Aces. This left Lundström with under 2m in chips, and Caggia completed the execution a few hands later, sending Rasmus back to Finland with €35,000 for his considerable efforts.
But the last standing Italian would be the next to hit the rail when his dominated 9♦8♦ remained dominated against Ziemichod’s J♣9♠. Caggia’s third-place finish earned him a cool €50,000.
2025 Battle of Malta Main Event Spring Edition Final Table Results
| Pos | Player Name | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Adrian Ziemichod | Poland | €120,000 |
| 2 |  Robert Perelman | United States | €70,000 |
| 3 |  Giovanni Caggia | Italy | €50,000 |
| 4 |  Rasmus Lundstroem | Finland | €35,000 |
| 5 | Flaviano Cammisuli | Italy | €28,000 |
| 6 |  Attila Szucs | Hungary | €22,500 |
| 7 | Oscar Arezzo | Italy | €16,670 |
| 8 | Luca Tonarelli | Italy | €12,760 |
Festival Overview
It’s been another great week of poker at Casino Malta and the Intercontinental Hotel. Although the event did not set any attendance records, it was a busy week overall with 617 entries in the Mystery Siege of Malta and 261 in the Amazingbet High Roller.
The event’s everlasting theme is fun, and if it had a catchphrase, it might emulate the iconic words of the legendary Spinal Tap drummer, namely, “Have a good time, all the time.” A good time was indeed had by all, not just at the poker tables but also at the players’ party.
Another new feature that was rolled out at this edition was a daily talk show, hosted by Glenn Brown and poker.pro’s own Jason Glatzer, with different guests each day. It was named the Battle Booth and is fully expected to make a return at the Autumn Edition, which takes place from October 28 to November 5 later this year.
To view all episodes of the Battle Booth, visit the Battle of Malta’s YouTube channel.
The results of all events at Battle of Malta Spring Edition can be found in the results section of the BoM blog, where there are also galleries to view.
In addition, the social media coverage of the Battle of Malta Spring Edition reached new levels in 2025, with a stream of informative and entertaining content flowing throughout the event. Glenn Brown fronts the coverage with his energetic brand of infectious enthusiasm, which can be found on the Battle of Malta’s Instagram and Facebook pages.
Dates Announced for €2M GTD 2025 Battle of Malta Autumn Edition
The Battle of Malta is about to celebrate a milestone with its 10th event hosted at Casino Malta on October 28 to November 5 for the 2025 Battle of Malta Autumn Edition. The festival will have a new theme and more tables than ever before with a whopping €2 millions in guarantees announced including a €1.5 million guaranteed Battle of Malta Main Event.
We recommend you book your hotels as soon as you confirm your plans with heavy demand expected for what promises to be a record-breaking event.
