Franke Blows Up the Cash Game Challenge on Day 1 of The Festival Series Malta
The Festival Series kicked off its inaugural visit to Portomaso Casino yesterday with a huge bang with a record already being broken on the first day.
The Festival Series Malta boasts 50 numbered events including poker tournaments, casino games, cash game challenges, and more.
The legendary Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk, who is also the founder of The Festival Series, was one of the stars of the day after booking an amazing €6,300 profit in the €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge last night. Linus Lauermann also shined on the opening day as he was crowned the first champion of The Festival Series Malta after winning the €150 Texas Knockout for €1,700 plus bounties in the early hours of the morning.
Franke Takes Commanding Lead in the Cash Game Challenge
The Cash Game Challenge is one of the many unique aspects of The Festival Series. Each night, The Festival Series will be hosting two separate Cash Game Challenge ring game tables. The player that wins the most big blinds during any single Cash Game Challenge will win one of the six packages valued at €1,600 each on tap this festival for The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.
Hugo Loustrau won the most at the first Cash Game Challenge on Day 1 after he won €416 (208 big blinds) in €2/€2 no-limit hold'em. His lead didn't last long as Franke blew this way with a €6,300 profit (3,150 big blinds) in the later €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge.
While no lead is safe, Franke's win will be tough to beat. Plenty will try and we will keep you updated throughout the week about the challenge.
Meanwhile, the Cash Game Challenge isn't the only way players can win a package to Bratislava.
Here are how are the other paths as to how players can win a package:
- Player of the Festival
- Franke’s Flip Flops Winner
- Cash Game Challenge Winner
- Top Time Raffle for the 20 players that play the most hours in Cash Games from Sunday to Thursday.
- Top Time Raffle for the 20 players that play the most hours in cash games from Thursday to Sunday.
- Raffle for anyone that plays at least one cash game hand.
The last path is something any player can do as you literally just have to play one cash game hand to get involved. We look forward to welcoming the package winners to Bratislava where we promise an amazing The Festival Series for its third visit to Banco Casino.
Linus Lauermann Wins the Texas Bounty (€1,700 + Bounties)
The €150 Texas Bounty was the only tournament to finish to completion yesterday. The event attracted 130 entries to create a €13,986 prize pool including the €50 bounties on each player.
The Festival Series Head of Photography Mairo Toom likely didn't get much sleep as he advanced all the way to the heads-up action. Linus Lauermann got the best of him and shipped the event for €1,700 plus bounties while Toom collected the runner-up prize of €1,230.
Here is a look at all of the payouts:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linus Lauermann | €1,700 |
| 2 | Mairo Toom | €1,230 |
| 3 | Gert Hofman | €820 |
| 4 | Marc Schembri | €670 |
| 5 | Rena Postema | €550 |
| 6 | Vincent Calenti | €450 |
| 7 | Irakli Devadze | €370 |
| 8 | Samuel Dray | €311 |
| 9 | Julius Jurksaitis | €260 |
| 10 | Youcef Temal | €220 |
| 11 | Jesse Hoff | €190 |
| 12 | Martin Klaar | €190 |
| 13 | Maria Recasens | €175 |
| 14 | Andreas Sanden | €175 |
| 15 | Antonino Muratore | €175 |
Events in Progress
The €250 PokerListings Championship completed its second of three opening flights on Day 1. Thus far, the event attracted 215 entries with 32 players advancing to the final day on Wednesday already in the money for at least a min-cash. Hugo Menant leads the way thus far after parlaying his 30,000 opening stack into 503,000 in chips with Sirin Ongurur (421,000) being the only other player to bag more than 400,000.
Meanwhile, the formidable Joshua Stewart leads the final 11 players in the €250 Sviten Special when the action resumes today at 7 p.m. with blinds at 6,000/12,000 and players already in the money with a €350 min-cash. The winner will go home with much more with a €5,200 top prize on the line making it one of the biggest international-open events in Sviten Special tournament history.
Oystein Brenden, Niklas Borg, and Totti Lind also bagged decent stacks with Erik Risberg, Renato Messina, Maxime Chilaud, Nathaniel Brown, Philippe Laval, Marco Sgura, and Allan Arjut also still in contention. Here is a look at all of the final day chip stacks of The Festival Series Malta €250 Sviten Special at Portomaso Casino:
| Player | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|
| Joshua Stewart | 414,000 | 35 |
| Oystein Brenden | 410,000 | 34 |
| Niklas Borg | 329,000 | 27 |
| Totti Lind | 295,000 | 25 |
| Erik Risberg | 187,000 | 16 |
| Renato Messina | 172,000 | 14 |
| Maxime Chilaud | 148,000 | 12 |
| Nathaniel Brown | 143,000 | 12 |
| Philippe Laval | 138,000 | 12 |
| Marco Sgura | 77,000 | 6 |
| Allan Arjut | 55,000 | 5 |
Eidsaeter and Korpela Lead Franke's Flip Flops
The Franke's Flip Flops kicked off yesterday with eight flips taking place yesterday. Coolbet's Svein Olav Eidsaeter and Sami Korpela are tied for the most flips won after each player won two separate flips.
The player that wins the most flips throughout the week will be awarded a package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.
Today's Schedule (May 16)
The much-anticipated The Festival Series Malta Main Event kicks off the first of its five opening flights today. The tournament provides plenty of play with players starting with 30,000 in chips and are allowed to re-enter twice during each opening flight and can even late register during the first two blind levels of Day 2.
Today is also the start of the casino events with the €125 Roulette Tournament kicking off at 4 p.m. Read more about the Roulette Tournament in our dedicated article.
Meanwhile, players with the hospitality package will be heading off for bowling and other activities later in the day. You can read more about the hospitality package here.
This is not all as there are plenty of other events on Day 2 for players to choose from. Here is a full look at today's schedule.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 12 p.m. | Event #8: €550 Main Event Day 1a |
| 1 p.m. | Event #9: €250 Heads-Up Day 1 |
| 1 p.m. | Event #10: €250 PLO Masters |
| 4 p.m. | Event #1: €250 PokerListings Championship Day 1c |
| 4 p.m. | Event #11: €125 Rouette Tournament |
| 7 p.m. | Event #12: €70 Satellite to Main Event |
| 7 p.m. | Event #3: €250 Sviten Special Day 2 |
| 8 p.m. | Event #13: Cash Game Challenge (€2/€2 NLHE) |
| 8 p.m. | Event #14: €125 Half & Half (NLHE/PLO) |
| 9 p.m. | Event #15: €150 Turbo Satellite to PLO High Roller |
| 10 p.m. | Event #16: €125 Win the Button |
| 10:30 p.m. | Event #17: Cash Game Challenge (€2/€2 PLO) |
