Scott Margereson Opens EPT Malta With $495,729 Victory

Action has been underway for nearly a week now at the 2025 European Poker Tour Malta festival at Casino Malta. It’s taken just that long for the opening spotlight tournament, the €1,650 no-limit hold’em PokerStars Open Malta main event, to crown a champion.

England’s Scott Margereson emerged triumphantly from a field of 1,845 entrants that turned out across the six starting flights. The $495,729 top prize was the second-largest of Margereson’s career. Back in 2018, Margereson took down the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in South Florida for $696,740.

In addition to the spade trophy and the money, Margereson also earned 1,080 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race presented by CoinPoker for this latest win. That pushed him just outside the top 100 in the standings.

This was Margereson’s fourth career title in a PokerStars-branded event. He’s previously earned wins at PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (2016), UKIPT Nottingham (2022), and EPT Barcelona (2025) stops.

A Long Road To Victory

There were 14 players in contention when day 4 action began in Malta, each battling for the biggest shares of a prize pool that surpassed $3.1 million. That included a couple of familiar faces, like two-time WSOP bracelet winner and 2024 EPT Paris champion Barny Boatman, as well as Spanish pro Ana Marquez.

Both ultimately joined Margereson at the final table. All three players looked up at runaway chip leader Gerard Carbo and Siarhei Sochneu, who combined to hold more chips than the other seven remaining players combined.

Barny Boatman

Margereson started his climb up the chip counts by eliminating Ioannis Oikonomidis in ninth place ($45,689). His A♦J♦ held off Oikonomidis’ Q♥J♣, and Margereson inched closer to the lead pack.

Marquez was among several short stacks to find early double-ups. Boatman wasn’t quite so lucky. With less than 10 big blinds, he shoved with A♦5♦ and ran into Carbo’s A♠J♥ in the big blind. The board offered no help and Boatman was eliminated in eighth place ($59,319).

Margereson won a sizable pot off of Sochneu with a rivered nut flush just before the first break of the final table. That set a clear hierarchy, with Carbo well out in front, Margereson a solid second, and the rest of the pack chasing.

Carbo Continues Climb, But So Does Margereson

Marquez’s run from short stack was dashed in a heartbeat. Just after the break, her pocket eights ran into the Carbo buzzsaw, as his pocket tens could not be cracked. She earned $77,162 for her seventh-place showing, growing her career haul to over $2.3 million in the process.

Carbo next picked off a perilously short-stacked Modar Alsoud. Carbo was behind with Q♣2♣ to Alsoud’s 3♠3♣, but the Q♠9♣7♣ flop was plenty good enough to knock Alsoud out in sixth ($101,205).

Donato De Bonis managed several pay jumps, despite being on fumes himself. His last three big blinds went in good, holding A♣8♥ to Carbo’s Q♠8♣. But the Q♣ on the turn spelled the end for De Bonis in fifth place ($130,865).

Margereson broke up Carbo’s string of eliminations with some good luck of his own. The action folded to Margereson in the small blind, he shoved to put Evaldas Aniulis all-in, and Aniulis woke up with J♥J♣. Not to be deterred, with A♥8♠, he took a page out of Carbo’s book and smashed an A♠10♦8♦ flop. No jack or straight materialized for Aniulis, and his elimination in fourth place ($170,060) brought the field down to three.

Margereson promptly made it a heads-up affair. His A♦J♥ outran Sochneu’s (3rd – $221,013) 7♠7♣, turning a queen-high straight.

Margereson’s Ride To Victory

All of the momentum fell in Margereson’s favor from the moment heads-up play began. If he was ahead, he stayed ahead. If he needed a river card, Margereson found it.

With Carbo quickly reduced to 20 big blinds, Margereson put the pressure on maximum. He shoved his button to put Carbo at risk, and Carbo woke up with A♦9♦. Margereson was behind with 7♠6♥, and remained so on the J♦5♥2♠ flop. The 6♦ turn paired him, while giving Carbo additional outs to a diamond flush.

According to the CardPlayer hold’em odds calculator, Margereson had a 65.91% chance of winning the tournament. The J♠ river kept Margereson’s pair of sixes on top, sending Carbo packing with a career-best score of $309,641 for his runner-up performance.

Final Table Results

Photo credits: Danny Maxwell, Eloy Cabacas / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.