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Mai Takes Early Main Event Lead as The Festival Malta Reaches Midweek

By Samantha Doyle

17 Sep 2026

Samantha Doyle 17 Sep 2026

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Andreas Mai leads Main Event with 1.25M chips after Day 1B.
Dmitri Dudakov wins back-to-back Hendon Mob Championships.
Graham Clarkson and Simon Hansen earn major event victories.

The Festival Malta has reached the point where several storylines are beginning to meet.

The €550 Main Event is gathering pace, the first major trophies are already spoken for, and a record has fallen in The Hendon Mob Championship. At the centre of the current Main Event picture is Denmark’s Andreas Mai, who carries the biggest stack through the first two starting flights.

Andreas Mai Leads the Main Event After Two Flights

Mai emerged from Day 1B with 1.25 million chips after a flight that drew 165 entries.

Only 21 advanced, with Italy’s Alessandro Siena second on 870,000 and Estonia’s Argo Garamaga close behind on 865,000.

Mai’s stack also overtook the 1.09 million accumulated by Ukrainian Serhii Ivanenko on Day 1A.

That opening flight brought 87 entries and 11 survivors, leaving the combined numbers at 252 entries and 32 Day 2 qualifiers before Day 1C.

Player	Country	Chips
Andreas Mai	Denmark	1,250,000
Serhii Ivanenko	Ukraine	1,090,000
Alessandro Siena	Italy	870,000
Argo Garamaga	Estonia	865,000
Lars Svanbom	Sweden	761,000

Day 1C began at noon on Thursday. Friday brings Day 1D followed by a turbo final flight before Day 2 starts Saturday. The tournament is scheduled to reach its final 16 before Sunday’s closing day.

Dudakov Goes Back-to-Back in The Hendon Mob Championship

Dmitri Dudakov has become the first repeat champion in The Hendon Mob Championship’s history.

The Estonian defeated a 456-entry field at Portomaso Casino to win €15,470 from the €95,304 prize pool.

Dmitri Dudakov Wins THMC The Festival Malta — The Festival Malta: Dmitri Dudakov Wins The Hendon Mob Championship

His previous victory came at The Festival Rozvadov earlier this year.

Dudakov began Malta’s final day with the chip lead, survived an active final table and eventually met Germany’s Spielomeister heads-up.

Spielomeister briefly found his way in front, but Dudakov recovered before calling the final shove with ace-seven. It held against queen-ten to secure another Hendon Mob trophy.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Dmitri Dudakov	Estonia	€15,470
2	Spielomeister	Germany	€11,400
3	Christian Clemens	Denmark	€8,530
4	Lars Jensen	Denmark	€6,540
5	Joel Fritz	Sweden	€5,020

The field was also one of the larger Hendon Mob Championships held as part of The Festival Series, coming close to the 467 entries recorded in Bratislava.

Clarkson Gets It Done in TORSES

The €550 TORSES Main Event brought together 87 entries across its two opening flights.

Scotland’s Graham Clarkson began the final day with the chip lead after bagging 459,000 and maintained his position deep into the tournament.

Poland’s Mateusz Szymanski ultimately joined him heads-up, where the pair agreed an ICM deal.

Clarkson took the title and €10,835, while Szymanski received €8,500. Germany’s Jens Voertmann finished third for €5,820.

The 87-entry field was the largest TORSES Main Event held at the Malta stop so far, improving on last year’s 69 entries.

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Graham Clarkson	Scotland	€10,835*
2	Mateusz Szymanski	Poland	€8,500*
3	Jens Voertmann	Germany	€5,820
4	Thomas Eckerstorfer	Austria	€4,020
5	Peter Kepplinger	Austria	€2,950

*Heads-up deal.

Simon Hansen Moves Ahead in the 8-Game

Another Danish result followed in the €350 8-Game.

Simon Hansen won the event for €6,270, moving to 84 points and first place in the Player of the Series standings after Day 3. Lars Jensen sits second on 77.5 points, while Clarkson remains in the hunt in third with 69.5.

With the Main Event still in its starting-flight phase and several larger tournaments still to come, the first half of the week has settled some trophies without settling much else.