+1 to Blue Elephant - best meal I had in my year or so living in Malta.

Is Hugo's that place just at the top of the stairs in Paceville? I thought it was kinda meh, but it has been three years.

What car and / or 125cc scooter rental agency would you guys suggest to use in Malta? I know the prices are somewhat low at all of them so paying a bit extra for reliable service and less trouble could be a good idea. I have heard a couple of bad stories about troubles with scratches that were already there. Taking a few good photographs when renting the vehichle is a good idea of course. I was thinking about Avis but they seem to have only the airport as a pick up location and I would like to pick it up in St. Julians / Sliema / Valletta.

About restaurants, I am still yet to try Blue Elephant / Hugo's but I will post comments about those later on. I just ate at the The Avenue in Paceville and it is just a normal restaurant but the pasta meal was very deliciuous and large. It also seemed to be in favor of the locals which is always a good sign, although the place is very noisy for that same reason.

Another suggestion is for low priced but decent accommodation: Alfonso Hotel in St. Julians, just opposite the park. It promotes itself as 3 star hotel but it is more like clean 2 star hotel or a guesthouse. Rooms are somewhat big and very clean. The staff is also very friendly and will give you a decent room rate for a longer stay.

I still have three weeks to spend here and I am also asking for any suggestions on what interesting there is to do? Any recommendations for a day spa or a place for a good real massage?

There is an Avis station in Msida.

I have been to Blue Elephant only once and I was kind of disappointed. It wasn't bad. I went in with high expectations and it just wasn't great. I still prefer Zest above any other place.

This question has probably been asked a hundred times but here goes:
how much should you expect to spend on living expenses per month? What's the rent for a decent apartment? etc etc.

Only you can know this.

Depends on what you expect. It say probaly 500 Euro for a furnished appartment.

Check out remax-malta.com, saragrech.com or dhalia.com. Look for apartments in St. Julian's or Sliema. This will give you a pretty good idea of what a place you like will cost you.

Thanks. I will look into this.

moneymaker...

if you need any assistance on rentals of apartments just drop me an email on mabar@dhalia.com and i will sort you out..

take care

Hey,

I might be moving to Malta soon. I applied for a job to work for igaming and tomorrow ill be hearing more about it. I also play poker and i already know a few people that live in Malta. But i have a question. How are you guys insured ? Like i have europe assistance will that cover all my hospital bills if i ever get sick and stuff. And much do you like spend your money. Say i have a monthly budget of about 2k maybe more and im looking for a house to rent with my cousin who is moving with me around 800 to 900euro's. How much does internet and electricity cost ?

cheers

So u got the job? If u have a job u pay social security, so you should have free access to public healthcare so I dont have any insurence =D, been here 6months an nothing happened so far. I would use atleast 1k€/month for rent if ur looking for a 2-3bedroom appartment(500 each) and then u can make it with 1,5k if u dont party everyday =D. (electricity ~200€/month and internet ~45€. (u might be able to get that included in the rent))

Yes i have a job but not with igaming...Going to be leaving in a week or so to do a test period and ill stay at a hotel for that time. ( 2 to 3 weeks ) So see y'all soon in malta bitches !

do u guys cook your own food? what about your laundry etc? how much would that cost me each month to get a maid/cook/w/e.
So say my rent is 1K a month. How much do u guess I'll spend besides that? Not going to restaurants every day but mybe like 7-8 times a month avg. Having internet. Having a maid. Going clubbing prlly on avg once a week, going for a drink avg like 3 times a week.

also do u guys rent/buy a car to travel around?

I heard it was possible to get on a plane and go around malta.

Do u guys have some info about that?

Thanks

its malta,normally you wouldnt need a car

Can one do short term rentals easily in Malta? I'm thinking of going there for about a month or two just to check it out.

Yes, that is possible but you will pay a little more and not all the appartments will be available for short term rentals.

Hi folks,

I am planning on moving to Malta in August when my current work contract runs out and play poker instead. I have been offered a full time role where i now work but have to take a big drop in salary which equates to less than what i could earn playing poker full time (going by my current win rate).

Another factor in my decision to move was the death of a friend in a car crash recently and it just hit home that life is short and fragile and you have to follow your heart and do what you think will make you happy. Sunshine and playing poker = happiness for me.

As im 30 i also have 10 years of IT experience behind me so if the poker playing fails miserably i can always fall back on that to get me by, however much i hate the office environment.

It is this hatred of the office environment that i have spent the past 2 years studying poker hoping to get good enough to quit the day job.

anyhow I know i've rambled on there for a while but are their any 2+2'ers living in Malta (or used to live there) that can offer any advice on moving to malta. I have read some of the thread but is bloody huge .

What id like to know is
1. Transport - Will a push bike be enough to get around from town to town during the day time? Its a good way to stay fit and get some sunshine Instead of grinding indoors 10 hours a day!
2. Can i get an apt that has a decent balcony with a sea view for under €500 a month and is internet ready?
3. I have a DELL 2407 monitor that i would like to bring but is it worth the hassle or should i just buy 1 in Malta?
4. I have a new rakeback site and would like to register it for tax in Malta. Can someone tell me how hard it would be to register myself as a maltese plc business and what are the tax rates.
5. From what i have been reading here and else where, poker winnings are tax free in Malta? yes/no?
6. I play poker alot on Betfair and i also sportsbet on Betfair (specialise in National Hunt horse racing during the winter and spring months, class 2 races and above) but am I allowed to use betfair when living in Malta? Will i need a proxy blocker service?
6. Finally as Malta is a small Island, do the grinders who live there every get bored? Is it easy to meet fellow poker players out there to socialise?

Thanks in advance for your help

JPR

1) My friend who already lives in malta says it too hot to ride a bike in malta and the traffic is crazy
2) ive been looking around for a decent apt. with seaview and didnt saw one for under 500euros...( a decent apt...)

riding a bike in malta is one of the best things you can do as long as you dont abuse..pot holes in maltese roads might be abit of a problem but otherwise it is very practical considering all the traffic there is in sliema and st julians.parking is also one of the biggest headaches over here..so i do reccomend bikes...

to find a decent 1 bedroom modern apartment in sliema and st julians, you need to spend at least 450 - 500euros. ( decent modern apartment )..there are only a few apartments with sea views that you can rent for 500euro per month, and too find any of these apartments available - it is very difficult. the reason why this will be so cheap is because the block of apartments will be around 25 years old..you cannot expect to live in the best area of malta and pay 500euro for seaviews..if you would like to move to the south or north of malta then maybe yeah you will find seaview apartments at 500euro..most poker players here in malta pay between 1300 to 4k per month for seaview apartments..to rent a decent 1 bedroom modern apartment you need to pay in the region of 800 euro per month..

short term rentals are possible in malta, however they will be more expensive espescially during the summer reason. if a normal 1 bed apartment costs you 500euro per month (without seaviews), then owners could charge up to twice as much rent. owners decide themselves on how much they want to charge for short lets.renting an apartment for 6 months would be fine and then normal rental rates apply. if its just for a month or two, it might pay you to rent a room in a 3star hotel (onloy because short term rates are expensive during summer time )

Ok cool thanks, I guess I should probably just go somewhere else then. I'm a US citizen so I don't think I can just stay 6 months.

i can live without the sea view but i really would like a balcony or terrace or something that i could enjoy eating dinner outside in the sun shine.
Also i dont want to be located in the centre of the nightlife area as i would like a place that is quieter which i presume would be cheaper as well.

Weather wise what is it like in december and jan? is it very wet and cold?

Im moving out of my spacious 1bedroom apartment with seaview tomorrow, afaik he has no new tenant, its a very nice apartment, perfect location in Sliema, definitely a bargain, paying 600 atm`- 1 min from the beach where me nd my friends go every day, supermarket 1 minute walk, plenty restaurants/bars/beachclubs in the area.

If youre here in Malta and looking for something like this, send me a msg here and ill contact my landlord, see if we can work something out.

Or call/text me 79918298

Has to be tomorrow though, im leaving Malta saturday for 2-3 months at least, maybe not coming back at all, going to miss it here, Malta is awesome, people are the nicest on this planet, the sea is beautiful, girls are awesome (not my ex though, she's a slut! ) and just perfect for pokerplayers, never used a bankaccount while i was here, payed my rent cash, the rest with net+ card

And the igaming companies bring lots of cool people with them and also offer a nice opportunity may you decide to quit poker (i couldnt do it since i have had absolutely no education or office experience at all, had a good shot though, so go figure)

And the weather, 18th of february this year; 26 degrees - already started hanging at the beach and swimming last month, sea i lovely now, crystal clear water, especially in SLiema at the rock beaches, you got spots with stairs, if u jump in the water its already 5-8 meters deep, no sand bull****, love it

Soon the boat parties start again, organized by nordic bar, those are absolutely brilliant, too much alcohol and too many sluts haha excellent, boat takes off around dinner time with 70-90 people, heads over to Comino which is a small island between Malta and Gozo and stays there for 2-3 hours, journey takes 1.5 hour so 5-6 hours on the boat and u return completely ****faced and go out, real messy haha

Paceville is where all the bars are, summer it gets a bit too busy for my likings, i prefer to stay a bit downstairs then, especially at Fuegos, which is my favourite place all year round, its a salsa bar, you got a bar outside, you can stand at the bar there, or sit at a table, you can go inside and dance, and in summer they open up the roof where you can lounge on pillows, best athmosphere ever, all kinds of people go there, young and old, no fights or bull****, always good nights there, and once ur drunk you can go upstairs and u probably dont care about the millions of language students and 12yr olds running around haha joking, not that bad

Uhm once i start typing its kind of hard for me to stop, think im just gonna continue haha, need to stay up since i have to catch a real early flight satudaymorning so have to pull an allnighter tomorrow :/

I know most pokerplayers who live(d) here, think germany is at the moment most represented, all very cool guys, timstone for instance who also posts here.

Dutch group is unfortunately less outgoing than the germans, but all very serious and good players, they all rent penthouses in the same block as timstone, guess its easier to stay in if u live with roommates in a massive penthouse with a bigass jacuzzi on the huge balcony.

fatafghan is british, and always out drinking in the weekends, never stays in, you can recognize him by his unusual appearance, he pretty much looks like a drunk hairy midget hahah and had way too much sun

bfl4me also moved here recently, one of the few pokerplayers i havent met


Anyways, dont expect too much from it and youre gonna love it, its not paradise, just slightly better than where you are living at the moment, no doubt

ok guys im off, its 5 in the morning and have to continue cleaning my freezer (my neightboors love me lol)

peace!

Im here in Malta since tuesday, I work here for coinflip =) Love it here. First party weekend comming up ! Going to check some penthouses next week.

peaaaceee

I'm thinking about trying to find a job in Malta after the summer (I'm going to Malta on the summer for vacation). How hard is it to find job if you're from Sweden? I've heard from people that the betting industry is looking for swedes but I'm not sure. How are my chances of finding a job in Malta? How is it to be working as support on betting sites? I finished upper secondary school last summer and I'm living with my parents and grinding so I want a change and studying isn't a option since my motivation for that is bad as hell. I'm 19 if it matters.

And as I'm heading to Malta this summer, where do I want to party? What other activities can't I miss? I think we'll be living in Sliema but going to other citys shouldn't be a problem.