This week, My Little Malta interviewed Jordan (first name changed), a Pokerstars-loving French poker player who moved to Malta in 2017. He tells us how it happened.
Online poker in Malta
The Malta Gaming Authority is the regulatory body for gaming in Malta. Malta’s gaming license is one of the most prestigious, and Malta’s online and land-based casinos are very well known. In 2000, Malta was one of the first countries in Europe to allow and regulate online gambling. Since then, the MGA has licensed more than 100 companies, some of which are well known. These companies include online casinos, casino game software developers and other entities involved in the online gaming industry.
Poker in Malta’s casinos
There are 4 land-based casinos in Malta and poker is a big part of it. Dragonara casino, Casino Malta, Oracle casino and Portomaso in Paceville, St Julian’s. Each casino organizes events, battles and pokers tournaments and professionals are frequent. One of the main events is the Malta Poker Festival, literally, the poker festival in Malta. The final always pits very good pro players against each other to win a big package.
Find the list of casinos in Malta here.
Why do poker players come to live in Malta?
Malta’s tax advantages for poker players and other gamers and entrepreneurs are often a big part of this. If your bank account went boom during a main event or tournament on Pokerstars and you are considering moving to Malta, we recommend that you seek advice before taking any steps. For this purpose, a specialized firm in Malta is called Malta Consulting.
When did you start playing poker?
I started in 2008, it’s a friend who taught me to play, at the beginning I wasn’t really into it. I didn’t want to learn a new game, all the rules etc., it’s always easier to play a game you already know and love. And at that time, I preferred to do console parties. But one day, he said to me: “There is a poker night at a friend’s house, do you want to come? If you don’t like it, don’t stay long”. I went there and found it nice. After that, I started to play on the internet.
How often did you play online?
At first, I didn’t have internet at my parents’ house so I had to wait a few months before I could play online. As soon as I had broadband internet, I started playing really often, and it was the summer vacations. I started with small amounts.
And you continued to play with your friends?
Much less because I spent a lot of time playing online.
Do you prefer to play online?
For fun I prefer to play with friends, but to make money I prefer to play online. Besides, if I’m doing 35 hours of online poker a week, if I’m offered a poker night, it adds more poker to my week, I’d rather do something else.
When you started, did you play that many hours a week?
No, 3-4 hours a day, I would come back from class or from an internship and play. It was the beginning, I didn’t know how to play too much, I had a lot of things to learn, I went on forums, I read books…
Were you already making money?
It wasn’t huge. I started with 100 euros that a friend lent me, I paid him back and then I borrowed again, and paid him back. Then I put in 300 euros and from there, it’s gone. But over a year, a year and a half, I must have earned 2000 €, which is not much.
When did you start to make it your main activity?
I hadn’t earned much yet, I must have earned 4000 euros. I was in training and I lost my license, the training course was 30km from my home, I could not go there anymore. Besides, I was fed up with classes, I was in my first year of BTS at the time. I said to myself I’ll give it a try, I’ve been thinking about it for 6 months, it was the opportunity.
Did you live with your parents?
Yeah. And as I had about 4000 euros, I told myself that I was going to live on that at the beginning, at my parents’ I didn’t have many expenses. So I had something to look forward to.
When did you decide to come to Malta? Why?
I have a friend who came to Malta with his girlfriend to learn English. I came to visit him on vacation for a week and I really liked the country, the way of life, the party. At the same time, in France, the law had changed on poker, you could no longer play on the .com sites where there were all the players in the world. The French government wanted to take its share of the cake and split up all the poker sites into .fr where only French people could play. As a result, there were less people on the tables and therefore less interesting, because there was less traffic. And also, I was already thinking of changing countries to be able to continue playing on .com and the countries where you could play on .com, there weren’t many. There was Malta, I think there was Thailand, England, and the US before Black Friday. So I came to Malta and moved in with my buddy in September 2013.
And here you play about 35 hours a week, right?
I would have to play at least 30 hours, but I can play less or not play for a week. I am more often sure of the 25-30h week.
And so you earn enough to pay your rent, your outings etc.?
Yes, I earn a decent living.
Do you like your life like this?
Well yes, I am young, life in Malta is really good when you like to party. Plus, I hang out with people who do the same thing I do.
Can you see yourself staying here?
As long as I like it, yes, the return to France is not planned, unless the law changes which would surprise me. For the moment I don’t see myself going anywhere else.
If the law changed, would you return to France?
I don’t know, I’m from the North, it’s not the best region in terms of climate… But there’s family and childhood friends, that’s what’s missing the most.
How do you see your future?
If poker doesn’t work anymore or if, for example, we are not allowed to play it anymore, I will have to go back to school. Unless I got rich first! It’s going to be hard…
Why is it going to be hard?
Because I am not one of the players who earn 40,000 euros a month. To get to that point, you have to work on your game time, analyze your game, watch videos, read articles. And it takes time to change your game, to try different things.
And you don’t read articles etc. like you used to?
Yes, sometimes.
Are you passionate about it or is it just a way to make more money?
At the beginning, it’s very exciting because as you read, you discover things and it clearly increases your level. Now, it’s more of the pointy stuff, which can make very small differences… I’d clearly rather not have to do that and be good straight away! But hey, you have to go through it. But I prefer to play.
Can you see yourself doing this all your life?
If someone says to me now, you can play poker all your life, and win what you win or more, I definitely say yes!
Do you prefer poker to a more traditional job?
That’s right. You get up at the time you want. You take your days off whenever you want. If you don’t want to play for 4 months, well, you don’t play for 4 months, you leave. You can travel, you can do all the parties there are… It’s really not bad.
Any advice for Foreign people who would like to come to Malta, for poker or anything else?
No, I tell them, come on, we’re having fun! Practice your drinking!
