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2023 The Festival Bratislava Live Blog

2023 The Festival Bratislava Live Blog

Gabriel Rymar Wins TFS Bratislava Main Event (€80,000) 06.12.2023 14:54 by Franke

The 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava was a massive success at Banco Casino thanks to an amazing vibe and tons of excitement at the tables with 54 numbered events in poker tournaments and casino championships including Blackjack, Roulette, and Slots Championships at Banco Casino from Nov. 26 to Dec. 3, 2023.

While Gabriel Rymar may not have won the Player of the Series he will be forever remembered for a huge week. He came into The Festival Series as a relatively unknown player from Poland with just crumbs appearing on his The Hendon Mob profile. His rise to The Festival Series fame and glory all began when he recorded by far his largest cash to date when he defeated a field of 354 entries to win the two-day Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack for €14,400.

While this was one of the largest tournament prizes awarded, Rymar was far from done. Rymar began the final day of the four-day €500,000 guaranteed The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event in sixth place with 16 players remaining and was the chip leader by the time the final table kicked off. He maintained the chip lead for nearly the entire final table and amassed more than seven times the chips of Greece’s Christoforos Christoforou during heads-up play. Rymar made quick work of his opponent to win the €80,000, while Christoforou secured a healthy €57,750 runner-up prize.

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Gabriel Rymar

Before the final table began, there was buzz brewing throughout the poker community with Michel Molenaar still in action with a quest to become the first two-time The Festival Series Main Event champion. He bowed out early on the final day after his ducks didn’t win a flip against WSOP bracelet winner from North Macedonia Ilija Savevski. Shortly after, Molenaar joined The Festival Series commentator George Sandford in the booth to analyse the late game of the Main Event including witnessing Savevski advance to the podium with an impressive third-place finish for €36,750.

2023 The Festival Series Bratislava Final Table Results

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The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event Final Table

The 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event attracted 1,025 entries to create a €486,785 prize pool. Check out the final table results below:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Gabriel RymarPoland€80,000
2Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus€57,750
3Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia€36,750
4Peter JeskoSlovakia€22,750
5Laszlo BuranyHungary€16,850
6Tommy AlmSweden€13,345
7David TruebaSpain€10,900
8Nicolas SieversGermany€8,800
9Marios PavlouCyprus€7,300

Three The Festival Packages Awarded

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Keito Kaljulaid wins Franke’s Flip Flops

Despite winning nearly €100,000, another player is believed to have won the Player of the Series as Rymar didn’t enter too many side events and focused on two of the bigger ones. The Player of the Series was a tight contest with Lithuania’s Rinatas Suleimanovas holding a one-point lead over British Twitch streamer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon. It is believed that Kenyon likely pulled ahead to win the competition, which he was also in the running for at the previous The Festival Series stop in Malta. It is also plausible that Andrew Hanak is in the running after winning three side events. Organizers will run through the figures with a fine-tooth comb before the official winner is announced as there is a bit on the line with a package to the next The Festival Series from Feb. 25 to March 3 valued at €1,600.

Meanwhile, The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk became the first two-time winner of the Cash Game Challenge after winning 1,239 big blinds in the €5/€5 PLO4 Cash Game Challenge table a few evenings ago. Franke gave away the package in The Festival Photo Competition after winning the package in Malta and already shared plans to do something similar with the package he earned this time around after securing back-to-back victories.

Estonia’s Keito Kaljulaid also won a package to the next stop thanks to winning 11 flips during the nightly Franke’s Flip Flops. These were unraked affairs at €20 a flip. Kaljulaid ran hot early and held on. Assuming he ran at least break-even on the plethora of side bets he accepted against fellow flippers, chances are he won more than just the package in the process.

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Franke wins Cash Game Challenge

Hanak, Ponnio, and Smith Win Titles on Final Day

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Andrew Hanak wins Low Roller

Andrew Hanak pulled off an unheard-of trifecta (or hattrick for football fans) at The Festival Series Bratislava as he won three separate events. Early in the week, he shipped the €125 Half n’ Half for €2,800. He followed this up with a victory in the €250 PLO Freezeout near the end of the week for €4,620. His third and final cash was also a victory on the final day when he won the €60 Low Roller for €1,450. This is not all as even though it seems unlikely despite the three victories that Hanak wins a package for winning the Player of the Series, he won a package anyway as a fourth free package to the next The Festival Series was generously added for the winner of the Low Roller.

Meanwhile, Risto Ponnio bested a field of 15 players in the €1,100 OFC High Roller on the final day to win the €7,150 top prize and Daniel Smith came out on top of the two-day €250 Mystery Bounty for €6,290.

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Daniel Smith wins Mystery Bounty

Get Ready for Four Stops in 2024

The Festival will be back for four more stops in 2024. You should reserve the dates now and stay tuned as we release the locations one by one from the latest to the earliest over the next week or two. Check out the dates below:

  • February 25 to March 3, 2024
  • May 31 to June 9, 2024
  • September 9-15, 2024
  • November 18-24, 2024
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Gabriel Rymar Wins Main Event (€80,000); Christoforos Christoforou Finishes in Second Place 03.12.2023 22:04 by Franke
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Gabriel Rymar

Poland’s Gabriel Rymar found himself in a familiar spot. Earlier this week, he was on the final table in the two-day €250 Bratislava Deepstack before going on to win the event in front of the lights and cameras of the t.v. table for €14,400. Today, Rymar led the way most of the final table of the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event at Banco Casino. Rymar had Christoforos Christoforou dominated chip-wise to start the heads-up play before he quickly sealed the deal to win the €80,000 top prize and entering his name into The Festival Series history books. Meanwhile, Christoforou had a fantastic day and will go home with an extra €57,750 thanks to finishing runner-up.

This concludes our coverage for this evening but we will be back tomorrow to wrap up the results of the other ongoing side events along with a recap of the Main Event and the rest of the day. A massive congrats to Gabriel Rymar for winning both the Bratislava Deepstack and the Main Event to cap off an amazing week of poker action.

It has been my pleasure this week and looking forward to seeing you again the next time. In the meantime, check out the Day 3 results from the Main Event.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Gabriel RymarPoland€80,000
2Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus€57,750
3Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia€36,750
4Peter JeskoSlovakia€22,750
5Laszlo BuranyHungary€16,850
6Tommy AlmSweden€13,345
7David TruebaSpain€10,900
8Nicolas SieversGermany€8,800
9Marios PavlouCyprus€7,300
10Nidal DawoudDenmark€6,080
11Mohammed El KhatibDenmark€6,080
12Krisztian KisHungary€4,500
13Michel MolenaarNetherlands€4,500
14Ziga KlopcicSlovenia€4,500
15Madged AzizEgypt€4,500
16Samuel StranakSlovakia€4,500
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Christoforos Christoforou
WSOP Bracelet Winner Ilija Savevski Eliminated in 3rd Place (€36,750) 03.12.2023 21:38 by Franke

North Macedonia’s Ilija Savevski was one of the most accomplished poker players to enter the Main Event with $807,070 in tournament winnings to put him on top of his country’s All Time Leaderboard at The Hendon Mob. Defending The Festival Bratislava champion Michel Molenaar advanced to the final day but was one of the early casualties of the day after unsuccessfully three-bet jamming his ducks into Savevski’s ace-nine suited and headed to the commentating booth with The Festival Series commentator George Sandford to commentate the end of the event.

Meanwhile, Savavski was one of two players to advance to the final day who earned WSOP hardware after winning a bracelet at the WSOP Europe Event #3: €1,350 Mini Main Event in 2022 for his largest career live tournament cash of €255,669. He has also had some success at Banco Casino as around this time last year he won the €199 The Hendon Mob Championship for €28,742. This is no longer his largest cash at Banco Casino as he just hit the rail in the Main Event on the podium in third place for €36,750 after losing his final hand as follows against Gabriel Rymar.

Savevski limped with A A from the button with blinds at 150,000/300,000 with a 300,000 big blind ante before Rymar checked back his option with the Robbi Jade Lew J 4 . Rymar check-called a min-bet by Savevski after improving to bottom pair on the K 5 4 flop before both players checked the J turn. Savevski led out for 500,000 on the J river. Rymar tanked for about 30 seconds before he jammed with his two pair. Savevski had 3,200,000 behind and tanked for a couple of minutes before he found a call only to get the bad news that his Main Event end was over after his pocket rockets proved to be no good.

Rymar has been putting on a dominating display and holds a massive 7:1 chip advantage over Christoforos Christoforou to start heads-up play.

SeatPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
2Gabriel RymarPoland27,025,00090
4Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus3,700,00012
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Ilija Savevski
Players in the Money in the OFC High Roller 03.12.2023 21:08 by Franke

Wouter Schuurbiers and Risto Ponnio were playing deuce-seven, Badugi in the middle progressive OFC pineapple with Johnny Johansen in the lobby as a warm-up before the start of the €1,100 OFC High Roller.

Johansen was the big winner in that game but gave it all back and then some by missing out on the money cut in the OFC High Roller. Meanwhile, Schuurbiers and Ponnio join Liking Saiyasely as the final three players in the money for at least a €2,850 min-cash. Tonight’s runner-up will bank €4,250 while the eventual winner of the final event to start at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava will take home €7,150.

Updated Chip Counts of Final Three at Break 03.12.2023 20:23 by Franke
PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
2Gabriel RymarPoland17,225,00086
4Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus8,225,00041
9Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia5,275,00026
Photos From the Low Roller 03.12.2023 20:18 by Franke
Final Day Main Event Payouts With Three Players Remaining 03.12.2023 20:03 by Franke
PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1€80,000
2€57,750
3€36,750
4Peter JeskoSlovakia€22,750
5Laszlo BuranyHungary€16,850
6Tommy AlmSweden€13,345
7David TruebaSpain€10,900
8Nicolas SieversGermany€8,800
9Marios PavlouCyprus€7,300
10Nidal DawoudDenmark€6,080
11Mohammed El KhatibDenmark€6,080
12Krisztian KisHungary€4,500
13Michel MolenaarNetherlands€4,500
14Ziga KlopcicSlovenia€4,500
15Madged AzizEgypt€4,500
16Samuel StranakSlovakia€4,500
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Peter Jesko Eliminated in 4th Place (€22,750) 03.12.2023 20:00 by Franke
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Peter Jesko

Slovakia’s Peter Jesko’s poker history goes back for 15 years with $155,123 in cashes. He just nailed down the biggest cash of them after finishing one spot short of the podium in fourth place for €22,750 in the Main Event. Unfortunately, the hand was missed on the stream, but you can watch the interview with the start-of-the-day chip leader from before the start of the day below:

Laszlo Burany Eliminated in 5th Place (€16,850) 03.12.2023 19:48 by Franke

Laszlo Burany had a handful of tournament cashes, all in Bratislava, heading into the Main Event and secured his largest score of them all with a fifth-place finish worth €16,580. It could have potentially been more if not for a cooler of a hand against chip leader Christoforos Christoforou but at the end of the day it was an amazing result for the Hungarian.

Burany’s last stand took place after he got a walk through with ace-ten and the blinds increased to 100,000/200,000 with a 200,000 big blind ante. Christoforou opened the button for 500,000. Burany three-bet shoved for 1,200,000 from the small blind before the start-of-the-day chip leader Peter Jesko four-bet shoved for 2.1 million from the big blind. Christoforou folded A 8 and Burany was behind and at risk.

Laszlo Burany: Q J
Peter Jesko: A J

Jesko’s ace-jack held on the 6 8 10 3 8 board to increase his stack to 4.1 million in chips and end Burany’s Main Event run.

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Laszlo Burany
Christoforou Doubles Into Chip Lead With Set Over Set 03.12.2023 19:42 by Franke

Christoforos Christforou opened for a min-raise with blinds at 80,000/160,000 with a 160,000 big blind ante and was called by Laszlo Burany from the button.

Christoforou led out for 450,000 on the K 9 J flop. Burany raised to 1,400,000 and Christoforou called. Both players checked the 3 turn before Christoforou jammed the A river for 4,800,000. Burany called for most of his stack only to get some bad news. Christoforou held the A A and nearly lost a big pot and perhaps his tournament life if not improving to a set of aces on the river as Burany was ahead on the flop and turn with his 9 9 only to be down to crumbs in his stack.

Meanwhile, Christoforou snagged the chip lead from Gabriel Rymar with around 13 million chips to 11 million.

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Christoforos Christoforou
Tommy Alm Eliminated in 6th Place (€13,345) 03.12.2023 19:21 by Franke

The Festival Series €550 Main Event title won’t be heading to Sweden as Tommy Alm recently hit the rail in sixth place for €13,345. This was one spot better than Alm secured in an earlier multiday event this festival when he took seventh place in the €250 Bratislava Deepstack.

Chip leader and Bratislava Deepstack champion Gabriel Rymar opened for 375,000 from under the gun with blinds at 80,000/160,000 along with a 160,000 big blind ante. Tommy Alm three-bet to 850,000 from the big blind and Rymar called for both players to see the 5 3 Q flop. Alm shoved for 3.3 million into a pot of a bit less and Rymar didn’t waste too much time before he called.

Tommy Alm: 7 7
Gabriel Rymar: K K

It was horrific timing for a shove for Alm as he was down to just two outs or a pair of runners for a straight to stay alive. Instead, the A turn and 10 river completed the board and Rymar had more than 1/3 of the total chips in play with 11 million in chips after the hand.

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Tommy Alm
More Final Day Main Event Photos 03.12.2023 19:13 by Franke
Updated Final 6 Chip Counts in Main Event at Break 03.12.2023 19:10 by Franke
SeatPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
2Gabriel RymarPoland7,665,00048
3Tommy AlmSweden3,715,00023
4Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus7,070,00044
6Laszlo Vaczy BuranyHungary2,950,00018
8Peter JeskoSlovakia5,945,00037
9Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia3,315,00021
David Trueba Eliminated in 7th Place (€10,900) 03.12.2023 19:07 by Franke

Spain’s David Trueba has notched up a bunch of smaller cashes, mostly at Banco Casino, to accumulate $14,294 in live poker tournament earnings tracked by The Hendon Mob. Trueba just notched his largest cash after finishing in seventh place for €10,900.

He got involved from the cutoff with A 7 with a min-raise. Christoforou woke up with A Q from the big blind before the live stream went out for a hand. By the time the stream came back, Trueba was on the rail with his biggest career cash tracked by The Hendon Mob.

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David Trueba
Nicolas Sievers Eliminated in 8th Place (€8,800) 03.12.2023 18:54 by Franke

Germany’s Nicolas Sievers was quietly trucking away in the Main Event before he bowed out in eighth place for €8,800. Things could have turned out differently if he was able to win the following flip against Peter Jesko.

David Trueba opened for a min-raise from early position with 10 9 before Sievers jammed the button for 2 million with blinds at 60,000/120,000 along with a 120,000 big blind ante with A Q . Jesko woke up with J J from the big blind and four-bet shoved for 3.3 million. Trueba folded and Sievers was flipping to stay alive.

Sievers improved to top pair on the 6 Q J flop. However, Jesko was far ahead as this flop improved his hand to a set. The 10 turn provided four outs for Broadway but Sievers’ Main Event run was in the books after the 10 river paired the board to further improve Jesko to an unnecessary full house.

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Nicolas Sievers
Marios Pavlou Eliminated in 9th Place (€7,300) 03.12.2023 17:42 by Franke

The Main Event lost its first player at the final table with Marios Pavlou from Cyprus exiting in ninth place after around 2 hours of nine-handed action.

Pavlou came into the Main Event with $30,929 in poker tournament earnings as tracked by The Hendon Mob and came just shy of notching his biggest overall cash which still stands as a third-place finish in the 2021 The Hendon Mob €250 Championship for €14,965 here at Banco Casino.

Pavlou bet on all three streets including getting his stack on the river with a set holding 9 9 with the 2 4 A K 9 on the board. Tommy Alm rivered a flush with Q 10 to win the hand and was near the chip lead of Gabriel Ryman with 5.9 million in his stack with blinds at 60,000/120,000 along with a 120,000 big blind ante.

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Marios Pavlou
Will Pokerbrahs Stream His Way to Player of the Series? 03.12.2023 17:19 by Franke

ACR Stormer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon was one point behind Lithuania’s Rinatas Suleimanovas in the Player of the Series competition heading into today with the winner of the competition earning a package valued at €1,600 to the first The Festival Series stop in 2024 at a located to be announced soon from Feb. 25 to March 3.

Kenyon entered the final event of The Festival Series Bratislava in Event #54: €1,100 OFC High Roller and is at least for now on the top of the leaderboard based on entry points alone with no sign of Suleimanovas. Of course, it is possible a player in the Main Event or from the Mystery Bounty will pass Kenyon, but at least for now, he is streaming at his Pokerbrahs Twitch channel his OFC action.

The OFC High Roller grew to 12 entries thus far. There has been no sign of Franke, but Coolbet streamer Oskar Wedde and Juuso Keskitalo both joined the action recently.

In other news, the Main Event is still at nine players. Head to TheFestivalOG Twitch channel to watch the action unfold.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon
Bratislava Deepstack Champion Gabriel Rymar Leads Final Table of Main Event 03.12.2023 16:27 by Franke
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Gabriel Rymar

Earlier this week, Gabriel Rymar shipped the two-day €250 Bratislava Deepstack for €14,400. He has already locked up €7,300 more in the Main Event and is in the driver’s seat to win much more with the chip lead and an €80,000 top prize on the line.

Players are represented from eight different countries with no play with too short of a stack. Check out the final table seat draw below and click on the Stream tab within our coverage or head to TheFestivalOG on Twitch to watch the action unfold.

SeatPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1David TruebaSpain4,925,00062
2Gabriel RymarPoland6,530,00082
3Bo AlmSweden3,895,00049
4Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus2,000,00025
5Nicolas SieversGermany1,550,00019
6Laszlo Vaczy BuranyHungary1,210,00015
7Marios PavlouCyprus1,955,00024
8Peter JeskoSlovakia3,825,00048
9Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia4,835,00060
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The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event Final Table
Where’s Franke? Will Pokerbrahs Lock Up Player of Series? 03.12.2023 16:17 by Franke

Players with the hospitality package had fun playing “Find Anastasia” as she hid in various pubs and other locales throughout Bratislava as a fun hide-and-seek type of game. Now, we might need to play “Find Franke” instead as he is noticeably missing from the final event of The Festival Series Bratislava in the €1,100 OFC High Roller.

The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk found out that he won the Cash Game Challenge for a second straight The Festival Series after also winning this prize at The Festival Series Malta in May. He was up most of the night celebrating and we did see him win a pot or two earlier today in cash games. He typically doesn’t miss the €1,100 OFC High Roller, but today might be a first.

Meanwhile, Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon pulled ahead by default in the Player of the Series competition simply by entering the High Roller. Wouter Schuurbiers, Risto Ponnio, and Johnny Johansen were all warming up with games leading up to the event with a fun variant involving both deuce-seven and badugi for the middle hand.

Best of luck to all of the OFC aficionados. The field currently stands at nine entries but is bound to grow before late registration closes.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon

Nidal Dawoud Eliminated in 10th Place (€6,080) 03.12.2023 16:05 by Franke

Back-to-back players from Denmark hit the rail to leave just a final table of nine players. The latest casualty was Nidal Dawoud, who made his first trip to The Festival Series and had a deep run in the Main Event only to bow out in 10th place for €6,080.

Not much was known about Dawoud until recently. He was witnessed squeaking into the final table at the Malta Poker Festival €550 Main Event but wasn’t able to get any further for a ninth place finish for €10,380. He was playing for much more today but it wasn’t meant to be. Better luck next year to run even deeper at The Festival Series and across the globe!

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Nidal Dawoud
Mohammed El Khatib Eliminated in 11th Place (€6,080) 03.12.2023 15:58 by Franke

Denmark’s Mohammed El Khatib wasn’t a well-known player in the poker world or at The Festival Series. We hope this is the first of many trips to The Festival Series for El Khatib.

El Khatib nearly made the final table but instead settled for the 11th-place prize of €6,080. Moments later, the final Danish player hit the rail. Stay tuned for the next post about the final table bubble that occurred on stream the very next hand.

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Mohammed El Khatib
Krisztian Kis Eliminated in 12th Place (€5,275) 03.12.2023 15:03 by Franke

Krisztian Kis was one of two Hungarian players to advance to the final 16 players on the final day of the €550 Main Event alongside countrymate Laszlo Vaczy Burany.

Kis, who is also seen playing at this venue’s sister casino at Banco Casino Kosice, came into the Main Event with $109,567 in cashes tracked at The Hendon Mob and added another €5,275 to this total after bowing out in 12th place in the Main Event.

He would have notched his biggest career live tournament score if he went on to win the event but as it stands his podium third place finish in the Euro Poker Million €490 Main Event at King’s Resort in €72,126 in 2021 will still remain as he biggest live poker tournament haul.

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Krisztian Kis
Michel Molenaar Eliminated in 13th Place (€5,275) 03.12.2023 14:52 by Franke

Those hoping for the first two-time The Festival Series Main Event champion are bound to be disappointed but were at least let out of their misery early. This will prove to be no consolation for the Dutch poker beast Michel Molenaar who just hit the rail in the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event for €5,275.

Molenaar, who has been crushing online poker tournaments for many years, became a household name in European poker circles after he won the 2022 The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event for €126,650 a little more than a year ago. Molenaar has been on an absolute live tear from there with several big cashed including his biggest one earlier this month when he shipped the Irish Poker Festival partypoker LIVE Dublin €3,000 Main Event for €210,000. These scores and many others pushed Molenaar to $753,480 in cashes to crack the top 50 players on The Netherlands All-Time Money List at The Hendon Mob.

We look forward to witnessing Molenaar dominate more events at both The Festival Series and other stops around the globe and congrats for another impressive run at The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino.

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Michel Molenaar
Ziga Klopcic Eliminated in 14th Place (€4,500) 03.12.2023 14:31 by Franke

Slovenia’s Ziga Klopcic had deep runs in both the €250 Bratislava Deepstack and the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship only to fall short of the big money on the second and final day of both events.

Klopcic came into the day with his hopes alive for a big score in the €550 Main Event and added to his $10,615 in The Hendon Mob tracked poker tournament cashes with a 14th place performance worth €4,500.

This was the second biggest score for Klopcic, who had the honor of having Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon on his rail and the rail of Kenyon’s other friend in defending The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champion Michel Molenaar. Klopcic’s biggest score came when he took sixth place in the €250 SharkBay Main Event at Perla Casino in his home country of Slovenia for €6,500.

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Ziga Klopcic
Madged Aziz Eliminated in 15th Place (€4,500) 03.12.2023 14:23 by Franke

Egypt’s Madged Aziz is often at Banco Casino as it consistently offers quality poker close to his home in Vienna, Austria. Aziz dazzled the crowd with the second-biggest win in live poker with a runner-up performance in September at the €550 Coolbet Open for €38,690.

Although Aziz was able to add to the $293,854 in lifetime poker tournament cashes tracked at The Hendon Mob, he would have likely preferred to add a zero to the end as he had to settle for being the second player out of the €550 Main Event on the final day to bank the 15th place prize of €4,500.

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Madged Aziz
WSOP Bracelet Winner Samuel Stranak Eliminated in 16th Place (€4,500) 03.12.2023 14:07 by Franke

The €550 Main Event lost its first player on the final day with local Slovakian player Samuel Stranak exiting in 16th place for €4,500.

Stranak is an accomplished poker player with $261,858 in tournament cashes according to The Hendon Mob. The local hero also has a WSOP Europe bracelet to his name after shipping Event #4: €2,000 Pot Limit Omaha for €101,764 in 2021.

This marks the second straight festival that Stranak had a deep run in The Festival Series Main Event. He finished in 10th place in The Festival Series Malta at Portomaso Casino for €4,100. Hopefully, we will see him get one table further at The Festival Series’s next stop in February.

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Samuel Stranak
Peter Jesko Leads Main Event Entering Final Day of TFS Bratislava 03.12.2023 14:00 by Franke

It has been an amazing week at Banco Casino to say the least at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava with all guarantees met, side events booming, cash games running around the clock, and, of course, the €550 Main Event attracting a banner field of 1,025 entries to create a €486,785 prize pool.

Local Slovakian Peter Jesko leads the way with defending The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champion Michel Molenaar still in the mix with hopes still alive with just 16 players remaining heading into the final day to become the first two-time The Festival Series Main Event winner.

The final day will be broadcasted at TheFestivalOG Twitch channel starting at 1:30 p.m. until a winner is crowned. So be sure to tune in.

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Michel Molenaar

Main Event Final Day Seat Draw

TableSeatPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
11Laszlo BuranyHungary2,570,00051
12Maged AzizEgypt1,125,00023
13Nicolas SieversGermany1,195,00024
14Marios PavlouCyprus2,070,00041
15Krisztian KisHungary1,235,00025
16David TruebaSpain3,015,00060
17Samuel StranakSlovakia685,00014
18Gabriel RymarPoland2,355,00047
231Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus1,660,00033
232Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia2,650,00053
233Michel MolenaarNetherlands1,270,00025
234Mohammed El KhatibDenmark1,180,00024
235Peter JeskoSlovakia3,255,00065
236Nidal DawoudDenmark1,510,00030
237Ziga KlopcicSlovenia1,795,00036
238Bo AlmSweden3,250,00065

Franke & Kaljulaid Win The Festival Series Packages

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Franke wins Cash Game Challenge

Saturday was full of action with tons of side events. Before we get into the tournaments, congratulations are in order for The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk for winning the Cash Game Challenge for a second time in a row after his 1,239 big blind he won at a televised €5/€5 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge table proved to be enough to win the leaderboard. The package he won, valued at €1,600 to the next The Festival Series at a location to be announced soon from Feb. 25 to March 3, will be given away in a contest similar to what happened with The Festival Photo Competition after Franke won the same title in Malta.

Meanwhile, Keito Kaljulaid won 11 flips in the Franke’s Flip Flop challenge by Thursday night and this was enough to stay on top of the leaderboard to win the second The Festival Series package valued at €1,600. A third package will be given away for the player that wins the Player of the Series award with Lithuania’s Rinatas Suleimanovas and British poker streamer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon just one point apart heading into the final day.

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Keito Kaljulaid wins Franke’s Flip Flops

Other Winners

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Andrew Hanak wins PLO Freezeout

Many other players had a day to remember on Saturday, including the aforementioned Suleimanovas who won one of the side events last evening. Check out yesterday’s winners below:

  • Event #46: €250 PLO Freezeout – Andrew Hanak (United Kingdom) – €4,620
  • Event #47: €250 NL Texas Freezeout – Henri Piironen (Finland) – €5,797
  • Event #50: €125 Saturday Turbo PLO5 Midnight Madness – Rinatas Suleimanovas (Lithuania) – €2,915
  • Event #52: €125 Saturday Turbo Texas Midnight Madness – Omer Yozgat (Germany) – €2,403
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Rinatas Suleimanovas Wins PLO5 Midnight Madness

Day 8 Schedule (Dec. 3)

The final day boasts two new tournaments in the €60 Low Roller and the €1,100 OFC High Roller. The Low Roller won’t count towards the Player of the Series calculations while both the OFC High Roller and the two ongoing tournaments in tlhe Main Event and Mystery Bounty will count. Check out the schedule for the final day of the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino:

TimeEvent
12 p.m.Event #53: €60 Low Roller (€1,600 TFS Package Added)
1 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 3
1:30 p.m.Event #48: €250 Texas Mystery Bounty Day 2
4 p.m.Event #54: €1,100 OFC High Roller
Who Will Collect the €5,650 Top Mystery Bounty 03.12.2023 13:39 by Franke

The €250 Mystery Bounty just kicked off with the final 35 players already in the money. One of these players will draw the lucky top mystery bounty prize of €5,650. Time will tell who that will be. Check out the seat draw below for the second and final day of the €250 Mystery Bounty.

TableSeatPlayerChipsBig Blinds
1011Ruben Korab583,00058
1012Eftychios Georgiou127,00013
1013Viliam Bartakovic86,0009
1014Knut Gronli61,0006
1015Daniel Smith258,00026
1017Fabio Muhr375,00038
1018Theodoros Karagiannis589,00059
1019Stephen Jarvie172,00017
1021Axel Howe132,00013
1022Nikolaus Grubmayr399,00040
1023Angelos Valilis187,00019
1024Erwin Hammer478,00048
1025Nicolai Ejstrud101,00010
1026Erik Hamre64,0006
1027Asterios Kokompelis144,00014
1028Cypriot Eleftherios97,00010
1029Georgiou Antonios332,00033
1031Sascha Manns314,00031
1032Nikolaos Ktenas672,00067
1033Simon Bozhinoski213,00021
1034Daniel Stacey127,00013
1035Adrian Ivasiuc120,00012
1036Dionysios Aletras185,00019
1037Francesco Canzonieri267,00027
1038Wouter Schuurbiers372,00037
1039Ofir Gavriely225,00023
1041Nicolas Mastrantonas320,00032
1042Kjell Hoiseth110,00011
1043Mitja Rudolf90,0009
1044Jeroen Aarts635,00064
1045Alexandros Michas84,0008
1046Nunzio Lagana179,00018
1047Peter Hanke275,00028
1048Oskar Wedde48,0005
1049Nicklas Jensen121,00012
Omer Yozgat Wins Saturday NLH Turbo Midnight Madness 03.12.2023 13:20 by Franke

Event #52: €125 Saturday NLH Turbo Midnight Madness kicked off at midnight and eventually attracted 84 entries to create a €8,778 prize pool.

Omer Yozgat earned the title after he defeated Leif Hetland heads-up to claim the €2,403 top prize.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Omer YozgatGermany€2,403
2Leif HetlandNorway€1,550
3Robert KontkanenSweden€1,100
4Bjorn JonssonSweden€850
5Emmanouil ZacharakisGreece€700
6Christos KechagiasGreece€575
7Svein Olav EidsaeterNorway€450
8Brian KlindrupDenmark€350
9Vesa VaistomaaFinland€300
10Ole-Johnny KarlsenNorway€250
11Scott KenyonUnited Kingdom€250
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Omer Yozgat
Main Event Resumes 03.12.2023 13:09 by Franke

Cards are in the air for the final day of the €550 Main Event with 16 players remaining and 19 minutes left on the clock for the 25,000/50,000 (50,000) blind level. After this level, blinds will increase every 50 minutes.

Will chip leader Peter Jesko hold on to seal the deal? Will we potentially witness the first two-time The Festival Series Main Event champion with Michel Molenaar going for back-to-back titles after winning The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event in 2022 or will it be a new player among the final two tables thrust into the spotlight?

Time will tell, but we recommend you click on the Stream tab in our coverage or head to TheFestivalOG Twitch channel to watch along with George Sandford behind the microphone.

Best of luck to all of the remaining players in achieving The Festival Series Main Event glory!

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Peter Jesko
Rinatas Suleimanovas Wins Saturday Turbo PLO5 Midnight Madness 03.12.2023 13:01 by Franke
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The €125 Saturday Turbo PLO5 Midnight Madness attracted 103 entries to create a €10,765 prize pool. Lithuania’s defeated Serguei Palomera heads-up to win the title and the €2,915 top prize. This was just enough to push him to the top of the Player of the Series leaderboard. He is just one point ahead of Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, who will get at least that point as he plans to play the €1,100 OFC High Roller on Sunday at 4 p.m. for his final shot at The Festival Series glory and valuable leaderboard points.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Rinatas SuleimanovasLithuania€2,915
2Serguei PalomeraSweden€1,975
3Peter La TerraSweden€1,400
4Krzysztof KordusPoland€1,050
5Robert KontkanenSweden€800
6Milos DjuricAustria€600
7Jukka JuvonenFinland€450
8Anu LiljaFinland€350
9Joni SavolainenFinland€275
10Morten AntonsenNorway€275
11Frank StukenGermany€225
12Pawel MadynskiPoland€225
13Bartel KarsNetherlands€225
Ktenas Leads Final 35 in Mystery Bounty 03.12.2023 12:33 by Franke

Event #48: €250 Mystery Bounty attracted 283 entries on its Day 1 on Saturday to create a €60,135 prize pool to blow past the €50,000. The final 35 players locked up at least a €250 min-cash with a €6,410 top prize on the line for Sunday’s champion.

That is just half the story as there will be tons of excitement with the mystery bounty envelopes introduced on Day 2. A player earns a choice at an envelope after they eliminate an opponent. The prize could be €315 but could also be as high as €5,650.

Nikolaos Ktenas leads the way with 672,000 followed by Jeroen Aarts with 635,000. But it is anyone’s game on Day 2. Check out the final Day 1 chip counts and keep your eyes peeled for the seat draw before cards are in the air at 1:30 p.m. for the second and final day of the Mystery Bounty.

PlacePlayerChipsBig Blinds
1Nikolaos Ktenas672,00067
2Jeroen Aarts635,00064
3Theodoros Karagiannis589,00059
4Ruben Korab583,00058
5Erwin Hammer478,00048
6Nikolaus Grubmayr399,00040
7Fabio Muhr375,00038
8Wouter Schuurbiers372,00037
9Georgiou Antonios332,00033
10Nicolas Mastrantonas320,00032
11Sascha Manns314,00031
12Peter Hanke275,00028
13Francesco Canzonieri267,00027
14Daniel Smith258,00026
15Ofir Gavriely225,00023
16Simon Bozhinoski213,00021
17Angelos Valilis187,00019
18Dionysios Aletras185,00019
19Nunzio Lagana179,00018
20Stephen Jarvie172,00017
21Asterios Kokompelis144,00014
22Axel Howe132,00013
23Eftychios Georgiou127,00013
24Daniel Stacey127,00013
25Nicklas Jensen121,00012
26Adrian Ivasiuc120,00012
27Kjell Hoiseth110,00011
28Nicolai Ejstrud101,00010
29Cypriot Eleftherios97,00010
30Mitja Rudolf90,0009
31Viliam Bartakovic86,0009
32Alexandros Michas84,0008
33Erik Hamre64,0006
34Knut Gronli61,0006
35Oskar Wedde48,0005
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Jeroen Aarts
Henri Piironen Wins NL Texas Freezeout 03.12.2023 12:21 by Franke

Event #47: €250 NL Texas Freezeout attracted 125 unique players to create a €26,718 prize pool. A three-way deal between Scandanavian neighbors occurred near the end of the event. Sweden’s Thomas Videll and John Bonds both collected €4,348, while Finland’s Henri Piironen won the title after the deal was made and banked €5,797 in the process.

Check out the 15 players that cashed in the €250 NL Texas Freezeout.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Henri PiironenFinland€5,797*
2Thomas VidellSweden€4,348*
3John BondsSweden€4,348*
4Maiiia FesiaItaly€2,600
5John ForsmanSweden€2,050
6Annette O’CarrollIreland€1,600
7Lorenzo Di MaggioItaly€1,250
8Phillip HuxleyUnited Kingdom€975
9Jesse LiljegrenFinland€750
10Steinn Thanh Du KarlssonIceland€550
11Robin TonebySweden€550
12Niklas NymanSweden€550
13Dainius KudarauskasLithuania€450
14Sami PeisanenFinland€450
15Petra GotzAustria€450

*Reflects three-way deal at final table.

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Henri Piironen wins NL Texas Freezeout
Penultimate Tournament Begins 03.12.2023 12:12 by Franke

The second to last event at The Festival Series Bratislava has just kicked off in Event #53: €60 Low Roller. This event has a small buy-in and doesn’t count towards the Player of the Series leaderboard standings. However, there is tons of value as the winner will not only go home with a lion’s share of the prize pool but also an added package valued at €1,600 to the next The Festival Series on Feb. 25 to March 3 at a location to be announced soon.

Jason Kiselis, Stig Moen, Per Gjelten, and Gia Carnestroem are among the early entrants.

Meanwhile, Day 3 of the Main Event will kick off at 1 p.m. It will be streamed from the beginning, so our updates will mostly also be on a 30-minute delay in that event due to the live stream. Click on the Stream tab within our coverage or head to TheFestivalOG Twitch channel to follow along.

The second and final day of the €250 Mystery Bounty begins at 1:30 p.m. following by the final event in Event #54: €1,100 OFC High Roller at 4 p.m.

TimeEvent
12 p.m.Event #53: €60 Low Roller (€1,600 TFS Package Added)
1 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 3
1:30 p.m.Event #48: €250 Texas Mystery Bounty Day 2
4 p.m.Event #54: €1,100 OFC High Roller
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Jason Kiselis
Andrew Hanak Wins PLO Freezeout 03.12.2023 12:04 by Franke

On Saturday evening, Andrew Hanak defeated Vesa Heikkinen in Event #46: €250 PLO Freezeout for €4,620. The event attracted 72 entries for a €15,390 prize pool. Check out all of the players that cashed in the PLO Freezeout below:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Andrew HanakUnited Kingdom€4,620
2Vesa HeikkinenFinland€3,050
3Arjan van BavelNetherlands€2,100
4Mark AdamsUnited Kingdom€1,570
5Gabor SkrinyarHungary€1,200
6Johnny JohansenNorway€900
7Alexander ZirkelbachAustria€700
8Benjamin BinyaminovAustria€550
9Savvas HayiannisCyprus€450
10Michail TastanisGreece€250
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Andrew Hanak wins PLO Freezeout
Main Event Final Day Seat Draw 03.12.2023 02:22 by Franke
TableSeatPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
11Laszlo BuranyHungary2,570,00051
12Maged AzizEgypt1,125,00023
13Nicolas SieversGermany1,195,00024
14Marios PavlouCyprus2,070,00041
15Krisztian KisHungary1,235,00025
16David TruebaSpain3,015,00060
17Samuel StranakSlovakia685,00014
18Gabriel RymarPoland2,355,00047
231Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus1,660,00033
232Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia2,650,00053
233Michel MolenaarNetherlands1,270,00025
234Mohammed El KhatibDenmark1,180,00024
235Peter JeskoSlovakia3,255,00065
236Nidal DawoudDenmark1,510,00030
237Ziga KlopcicSlovenia1,795,00036
238Bo AlmSweden3,250,00065
Peter Jesko Leads Final 16 Player in Main Event 03.12.2023 02:20 by Franke
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Peter Jesko

The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event added 90 new entries during the first two blind levels of Saturday’s Day 2 to blossom to 1,025 entries for a €486,875 prize pool. The 398 Day 2 entries whittled past the money bubble to just 16 hopefuls remaining.

Slovakia’s Peter Jesko bagged the overnight chip lead with 3,255,000 for one physical chip more than Sweden’s Bo Alm who managed to advance with 3,250,000. Spain’s David Trueba (3,015,000) also finished the penultimate day with more than 3 million.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on Netherlands’ Michel Molenaar who advanced with a shorter stack of 1,270,000. The Dutch poker hero won The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event last year when at Banco Casino and has been hungry to become the first two-time The Festival Series Main Event champion by winning the same event in back-to-back years.

The start of the day chip leader Kelly Kellner made a grand entrance but hit the rail near the bubble after losing what he described as six flips in a row. JJ Hazan had a similar story with his fifth place stack. Meanwhile, players including The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, The Festival’s Karev Tralla, and Adam Tomasson managed to cash today despite starting off with fresh stacks.

Check out the final Day 2 chip counts below and stay tuned for the Day 3 seat draw. Cards will be in the air shortly after 1 p.m. with the live stream kicking off 30 minutes later at TheFestivalOG Twitch channel and other social media.

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Peter JeskoSlovakia3,255,00065
2Bo AlmSweden3,250,00065
3David TruebaSpain3,015,00060
4Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia2,650,00053
5Laszlo BuranyHungary2,570,00051
6Gabriel RymarPoland2,355,00047
7Marios PavlouCyprus2,070,00041
8Ziga KlopcicSlovenia1,795,00036
9Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus1,660,00033
10Nidal DawoudDenmark1,510,00030
11Michel MolenaarNetherlands1,270,00025
12Krisztian KisHungary1,235,00025
13Nicolas SieversGermany1,195,00024
14Mohammed El KhatibDenmark1,180,00024
15Maged AzizEgypt1,125,00023
16Samuel StranakSlovakia685,00014
Full Day 2 Payouts in Main Event 03.12.2023 02:00 by Franke

Players have bagged their chips on the penultimate day of the Main Event with just 16 players. The remaining players locked up €3,855 with a shot at nailing down a whopping €80,000 haul tomorrow. Check out all of the payouts during Saturday’s Day 2 of the €550 Main Event.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
17Richard KoppelEstonia€3,855
18Jiri StanaCzech Republic€3,855
19Michael WehnerGermany€3,855
20Dushko BogoevskiNorth Macedonia€3,355
21Andras HalasiHungary€3,355
22Tadeusz RaczynskiPoland€3,355
23Drea KarlsenNorway€3,355
24Jonatan WeddeNorway€2,955
25Panagiotis PapstefanouGreece€2,955
26Simon KuntzNetherlands€2,955
27Sylvere PaillotFrance€2,955
28Mario GalicBosnia & Herzegovina€2,955
29Thomas HammerlAustria€2,955
30Grzegorz WyrazPoland€2,955
31Vesa VaistomaaFinland€2,955
32Tomas ChrobakCzech Republic€2,600
33Jiri NogaCzech Republic€2,600
34Ville PohjalainenFinland€2,600
35Andrea AtzeniItaly€2,600
36Eirik BjorbaekNorway€2,600
37Georgios ManekasGreece€2,600
38Daniel PolukAustria€2,600
39Max LohseDenmark€2,600
40Jiri HorakCzech Republic€2,300
41Tibor BenkoHungary€2,300
42Kasper WuertzDenmark€2,300
43Nicklas JensenDenmark€2,300
44Revo KinkEstonia€2,300
45Miroslav LelekSlovakia€2,300
46Aleksandrs GolobevsUnited Kingdom€2,300
47Jostein GroedumNorway€2,300
48Allan ArjutEstonia€2,055
49Raymond de GrootNetherlands€2,055
50Karol RajnikPoland€2,055
51Nick ThomsenDenmark€2,055
52Ronni MindelundDenmark€2,055
53Petr LiteraCzech Republic€2,055
54Bart DilNetherlands€2,055
55Michal HavavkaSlovakia€2,055
56Martin KanakerSweden€1,830
57Per AlstigSweden€1,830
58Steven GooseUnited Kingdom€1,830
59Steven ToolEstonia€1,830
60Leonardo BurdinoItaly€1,830
61Isak FinnbogasonIceland€1,830
62Eyal SaidofIsrael€1,830
63Jarkko SoukasFinland€1,830
64Bas de LaatNetherlands€1,635
65Thomas HarnesNorway€1,635
66Svein Olav EidsaeterNorway€1,635
67Jimmy DewerdtFrance€1,635
68Igor NarajczykPoland€1,635
69Karl LundqvistSweden€1,635
70Tarmo TammelEstonia€1,635
71Pawel MadynskiPoland€1,635
72Nikolaos TsitosGreece€1,450
73Gani WeissIsrael€1,450
74Robert KontkanenSweden€1,450
75Runar BorgeNorway€1,450
76Marius IgnatRomania€1,450
77Marjan MitrovskiNorth Macedonia€1,450
78Mats RosqvistSweden€1,450
79Pavel ChapulkaSlovakia€1,450
80Michel PetersenDenmark€1,300
81Nicklas DehliDenmark€1,300
82Boris MartanovicSlovakia€1,300
83Markus CernyAustria€1,300
84Igor MatarugaSerbia€1,300
85Stanislav KolenoSlovakia€1,300
86Ivan RochevRussia€1,300
87Henrik BrunDenmark€1,300
88Erik NygrenSweden€1,175
89Vasilijus PiskunovasLithuania€1,175
90Simon WileniusDenmark€1,175
91Peder BehrSweden€1,175
92Eymard BonnetFrance€1,175
93Claes LangSweden€1,175
94Alexandros TasoulisGreece€1,175
95Daniel DelposAustria€1,175
96Karev TrallaEstonia€1,075
97Lior MarkovIsrael€1,075
98Serguei PalomeraSweden€1,075
99Daniel StaceyUnited Kingdom€1,075
100Rostyslav SabaishchenkoUkraine€1,075
101Andre BergNorway€1,075
102Charalampos ChalkiotisGreece€1,075
103Nikolaos KtenasGreece€1,075
104Mats OrstadNorway€1,000
105Bo LindahlSweden€1,000
106Polys ChristouCyprus€1,000
107Isak ErikssonSweden€1,000
108Ruslan VolkovUkraine€1,000
109Martin von ZweigbergkEstonia€1,000
110Riku KoivurinneFinland€1,000
111Jacob Dideriksen-NielsenDenmark€1,000
112Martin TothSlovenia€955
113Jari KarkkainenFinland€955
114Jari HaemaellaeinenFinland€955
115Michal JanczarskiPoland€955
116Marek HomolaSlovakia€955
117Michael HawlikAustria€955
118Dominik AsztemborskiPoland€955
119Ofir GavrielyIsrael€955
120Adam TomassonSweden€955
121Dimitrios KatsikasGreece€955
122Joost MelkertNetherlands€955
123Jan IversenNorway€955
124Adrian IvasiucRomania€955
125Slobodan TrajkovskiNorth Macedonia€955
126John BondsSweden€955
127Simon BozhinoskiNorth Macedonia€955
128Peter HajszanAustria€955
Drea Karlsen Last Woman (and Norwegian) to Hit Rail in Main Event 02.12.2023 23:33 by Franke

Drea Karlsen was the final woman in the Main Event until she bowed out in 23rd place for €3,355. Also collecting the same prize were Dushko Bogoevski, Andras Halasi, and Tadeusz Raczynski. The final 19 players locked up €3,855 with players bagging their chips into tomorrow’s Day 3 when there are just 16 hopefuls remaining.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
20Dushko BogoevskiNorth Macedonia€3,355
21Andras HalasiHungary€3,355
22Tadeusz RaczynskiPoland€3,355
23Drea KarlsenNorway€3,355
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Drea Karlsen
Four More The Festival Series Stops in 2024 02.12.2023 23:09 by Franke
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In case you missed it, The Festival Series announced the dates for its tour for next year in 2024. The actual locations are a closely guarded secret and will be revealed from the latest to the earliest over the next week or so.

For now, save the following dates on your itinerary, and see you at The Festival Series in 2024!

  • February 25 to March 3, 2024
  • May 31 to June 9, 2024
  • September 9-15, 2024
  • November 18-24, 2024
Wedde and Seven Others Cash for €2,955 in Main Event 02.12.2023 23:03 by Franke

The tables rebalanced with 24 players remaining in the Main Event. Shortly after, Jonatan Wedde ended his deep run in 24th place for €2,955 leaving Drea Karlsen as not only the last female remaining but the last Norwegian in the Main Event.

Seven others cashed for €2,955 alongside Wedde while the remaining 23 players include Karlsen and defending The Festival Series Bratislava champion Michel Molenaar €400 richer as they all locked up €3,355.

As a reminder, players will bag and tag their stacks on Day 2 after the field is down to 16 players or less. The final two tables of players will resume their battle for the title and the €80,000 top prize on Sunday at 1 p.m. We will provide some updates along the way in the blog, however, the entire day will also be live-streamed at TheFestivalOG Twitch channel from the beginning until a winner is crowned.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
24Jonatan WeddeNorway€2,955
25Panagiotis PapstefanouGreece€2,955
26Simon KuntzNetherlands€2,955
27Sylvere PaillotFrance€2,955
28Mario GalicBosnia & Herzegovina€2,955
29Thomas HammerlAustria€2,955
30Grzegorz WyrazPoland€2,955
31Vesa VaistomaaFinland€2,955
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Jonatan Wedde
Bubble Time in the PLO Freezeout 02.12.2023 22:37 by Franke

The €250 PLO Freezeout attracted 72 unique players to create a €15,390 prize pool. The action is on the money bubble with 10 players remaining and just nine of them adding to their wallets at least a €450 min-cash. Tonight’s winner will go home with a much bigger prize of €4,770.

Mark Adams, Benjamin Binyaminov, Andrew Hanak, Savvas Hayiannis, Vesa Heikkanen, Johnny Johansen, Gabor Skrinyar, Michael Tastanis, Arjan van Bavel, and Alexander Zirckelbach are still alive and competing for one of the final titles of The Festival Series Bratislava. Best of luck to all of the remaining players and check out photos below by The Festival Series photographer Mairo Toom.

Players Cashing for €2,600 in Main Event 02.12.2023 22:22 by Franke

The following players cashed for €2,600 in the Main Event. Players now banked a bit more with the top 31 players locking in at least €2,955.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
32Tomas ChrobakCzech Republic€2,600
33Jiri NogaCzech Republic€2,600
34Ville PohjalainenFinland€2,600
35Andrea AtzeniItaly€2,600
36Eirik BjorbaekNorway€2,600
37Georgios ManekasGreece€2,600
38Daniel PolukAustria€2,600
39Max LohseDenmark€2,600
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Daniel Poluk
Players Cashing for €2,300 in Main Event 02.12.2023 21:09 by Franke

The following players cashed for €2,300 in the Main Event including Betsson’s Jostein Groedum who ended another impressive run in 47th place and The Festival Series veteran Kasper Wuertz who took 42nd place.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
40Jiri HorakCzech Republic€2,300
41Tibor BenkoHungary€2,300
42Kasper WuertzDenmark€2,300
43Nicklas JensenDenmark€2,300
44Revo KinkEstonia€2,300
45Miroslav LelekSlovakia€2,300
46Aleksandrs GolobevsUnited Kingdom€2,300
47Jostein GroedumNorway€2,300
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Jostein Groedum
Players Cashing for €2,055 in Main Event 02.12.2023 20:40 by Franke

Allan Arjut and seven others cashed for €2,055 on Day 2 of the Main Event. The remaining 47 players each locked up at least a €2,300 min-cash.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
48Allan ArjutEstonia€2,055
49Raymond de GrootNetherlands€2,055
50Karol RajnikPoland€2,055
51Nick ThomsenDenmark€2,055
52Ronni MindelundDenmark€2,055
53Petr LiteraCzech Republic€2,055
54Bart DilNetherlands€2,055
55Michal HavavkaSlovakia€2,055
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Allan Arjut
Photos From Day 1 of the Mystery Bounty 02.12.2023 20:33 by Franke
Players Cashing for €1,830 in Main Event 02.12.2023 20:26 by Franke

The following players, including Value Town’s Martin Kanaker, hit the rail for €1,830 in the Main Event. The remaining 55 players locked up at least a payout of €2,055. Kanaker we learned lost a big 2 million pot on stream with aces vs. kings. Quite a brutal way to go.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
56Martin KanakerSweden€1,830
57Per AlstigSweden€1,830
58Steven GooseUnited Kingdom€1,830
59Steven ToolEstonia€1,830
60Leonardo BurdinoItaly€1,830
61Isak FinnbogasonIceland€1,830
62Eyal SaidofIsrael€1,830
63Jarkko SoukasFinland€1,830
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Martin Kanaker
Two Midnight Madnesses Tonight (One is at Midnight) 02.12.2023 19:41 by Franke

There are not one, but two €125 Midnight Madness tournaments on Saturday evening. The €125 Saturday 5-Card PLO Turbo Friday Midnight Madness kicks off at 10 p.m. followed by the €125 Saturday Texas Turbo Midnight Madness at midnight.

Player of the Series leaderboard captain Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon already confirmed he will enter both events even if he needs to play them at the same time running from table to table.

Good luck to everyone joining in on the midnight fun. Remember to double your pleasure and double your fun. Or perhaps leave the multi-tabling to Pokerbrahs.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon
Players Cashing for €1,635 in Main Event 02.12.2023 19:20 by Franke

Two players from Norway, two from Poland, and Netherlands’ Bas de Laat were among the eight players to cash for €1,635 in the Main Event. The remaining 63 players each locked up at least a €1,830 payout.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
64Bas de LaatNetherlands€1,635
65Thomas HarnesNorway€1,635
66Svein Olav EidsaeterNorway€1,635
67Jimmy DewerdtFrance€1,635
68Igor NarajczykPoland€1,635
69Karl LundqvistSweden€1,635
70Tarmo TammelEstonia€1,635
71Pawel MadynskiPoland€1,635
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Bas de Laat
Final Two Chances to Dethrone Franke in Cash Game Challenge 02.12.2023 19:17 by Franke

The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk is in the driver’s seat in his hunt to win back to back Cash Game Challenges at The Festival Series. He won the challenge by winning the most big blinds in a Cash Game Challenge session in Malta and gave the package away in The Festival Series Photo Competition.

The other night, Franke won 1,239 big blinds in €5/€5 pot-limit Omaha to take the lead in the Cash Game Challenge at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino. This puts him in the lead in the competition and Franke already shared he will give away this package as well if he wins the prize.

There are two more chances to stop our hero from becoming the first player to win two Cash Game Challenges at The Festival Series. First, there is a €10/€10 no-limit Hold’em Cash Game Challenge starting at around 8 p.m. followed by a €10/€10 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge starting at around 10:30 p.m. Players can sign up for these special tables on the casino floor. They will not be televised this evening as TheFestivalOG Twitch channel is busy with Day 2 of the Main Event instead.

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Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk
Players Cashing for €1,450 in Main Event 02.12.2023 19:01 by Franke

Two players from Sweden in Robert Kontkanen and Mats Rosqvist cashed for €1,450 in the Main Event alongside players from six other nationalities. The final 71 players now locked up at least a €1,635 payout.

Defending The Festival Series Main Event champion Michel Molenaar is among the players still battling it out and has one of the bigger stacks from around the room with more than 1 million in chips with blinds at 6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 big blind ante.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
72Nikolaos TsitosGreece€1,450
73Gani WeissIsrael€1,450
74Robert KontkanenSweden€1,450
75Runar BorgeNorway€1,450
76Marius IgnatRomania€1,450
77Marjan MitrovskiNorth Macedonia€1,450
78Jonas RosqvistSweden€1,450
79Pavel ChapulkaSlovakia€1,450
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Robert Kontkanen
Three Danish Players Hit Rail for €1,300 02.12.2023 18:50 by Franke

Players are dropping out quickly including three players from Denmark in Michel Petersen, Blackjack Championship winner Nicklas Dehli, and Henrik Brun who all collected €1,300 for their efforts along with the below players. The top 79 players will go home with at least a €1,450 payout.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
80Michel PetersenDenmark€1,300
81Nicklas DehliDenmark€1,300
82Boris MartanovicSlovakia€1,300
83Markus CernyAustria€1,300
84Igor MatarugaSerbia€1,300
85Stanislav KolenoSlovakia€1,300
86Ivan RochevRussia€1,300
87Henrik BrunDenmark€1,300
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Nicklas Dehli
Players Cashing for €1,175 in the Main Event 02.12.2023 18:44 by Franke

The following players cashed for €1,175 in the Main Event including The Festival Series veteran Peder Behr. The remaining 87 players bumped up their payouts to at least €1,300.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
88Erik NygrenSweden€1,175
89Vasilijus PiskunovasLithuania€1,175
90Simon WileniusDenmark€1,175
91Peder BehrSweden€1,175
92Eymard BonnetFrance€1,175
93Claes LangSweden€1,175
94Alexandros TasoulisGreece€1,175
95Daniel DelposAustria€1,175
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Peder Behr
Players Cashing for €1,075 in the Main Event 02.12.2023 18:41 by Franke

The following players, including The Festival Series’s Karev Tralla, hit the rail for €1,075 in the Main Event. The remaining 95 players each locked up €100 more with at least €1,175 secured.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
96Karev TrallaEstonia€1,075
97Lior MarkovIsrael€1,075
98Serguei PalomeraSweden€1,075
99Daniel StaceyUnited Kingdom€1,075
100Rostyslav SabaishchenkoUkraine€1,075
101Andre BergNorway€1,075
102Charalampos ChalkiotisGreece€1,075
103Nikolaos KtenasGreece€1,075
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Karev Tralla
Players Cashing for €1,000 02.12.2023 18:34 by Franke
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Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen

The Festival Series founder and The Festival Series co-commentator Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen both hit the rail recently to collect a €1,000 prize along with all of the other following players.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
104Mats OrstadNorway€1,000
105Bo LindahlSweden€1,000
106Polys ChristouCyprus€1,000
107Isak ErikssonSweden€1,000
108Ruslan VolkovUkraine€1,000
109Martin von ZweigbergkEstonia€1,000
110Riku KoivurinneFinland€1,000
111Jacob Dideriksen-NielsenDenmark€1,000
Franke First Out of Mystery Bounty 02.12.2023 18:25 by Franke

The two-day €250 Mystery Bounty kicked off moments ago with 73 entries. This event will get big as late registration is open for 12 blind levels.

The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk earned some unneeded (they are unneeded since he isn’t in the running) Player of the Series points by entering but won’t get any more points unless he re-enters as he was the first player to hit the rail.

There is a generous €50,000 guarantee slapped on this event with half reserved for the prize pool and the other half going towards the mystery bounty pool. The excitement heats up further in this event on Sunday when players will be in the money and doing their best to grab the biggest mystery bounty envelopes every time they eliminate a player.

While Franke is on the rail, many others are just beginning their battles including JJ Hazan, Georgiou Antonios, Simon Dodd, Per Gjelten, Sturla Hiller, Sascha Manns, Risto Ponnio, and Andre Sorm. While Hazan entered this event after busting his big stack in the Main Event before the money, the start-of-the-day chip leader Kelly Kellner who also didn’t make the money is continuing his break away from the tables.

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JJ Hazan
Players Eliminated for a Min-Cash (€955) 02.12.2023 17:32 by Franke

The following players were eliminated from the Main Event for a min-cash of €955. The rest of the field (including Franke!!?!?!) locked up a little more with at least a €1,000 prize awaiting them.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
112Martin TothSlovenia€955
113Jari KarkkainenFinland€955
114Jari HaemaellaeinenFinland€955
115Michal JanczarskiPoland€955
116Marek HomolaSlovakia€955
117Michael HawlikAustria€955
118Dominik AsztemborskiPoland€955
119Ofir GavrielyIsrael€955
120Adam TomassonSweden€955
121Dimitrios KatsikasGreece€955
122Joost MelkertNetherlands€955
123Jan IversenNorway€955
124Adrian IvasiucRomania€955
125Slobodan TrajkovskiNorth Macedonia€955
126John BondsSweden€955
127Simon BozhinoskiNorth Macedonia€955
128Peter HajszanAustria€955
Flips Maestro Keito Kaljulaid Bubbles Main Event 02.12.2023 16:39 by Franke

Estonia’s Keito Kaljulaid has a comfortable lead in the Franke’s Flip Flops competition with just one day of flips remaining. While he isn’t a lock just yet, it’s pretty close, and it appears he is in line to win a free The Festival Series package valued at €1,600 to the first The Festival Series stop next year on February 25 to March 3, 2024.

This might soften the blue for Kaljulaid who just bubbled the Main Event in 129th place after several hand-for-hand hands were played out at all of the tables. Meanwhile, a massive congrats to the remaining 128 players including The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk for cashing in the Main Event. We will have more photos of the Main Event, including the bubble, to share with you shortly.

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Keito Kaljulaid bubbles Main Event
Main Event Bubble Time 02.12.2023 16:02 by Franke

The Main Event is getting close to the money with the action down to 130 players with 128 players earning at least a €955 min-cash. We will report who that unlucky bubble person was shortly after it goes down with photos by our experienced team.

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€80,000 Top Prize in Main Event 02.12.2023 15:17 by Franke

The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event attracted 1,025 entries for a €486,875 prize pool. The payouts have just been announced. The action is down to just 160 entries with 128 of them going home with at least a €955 min-cash. The pay jumps move up from there until the last player standing on Sunday will go home with an €80,000 top prize.

As a reminder, Day 2 is scheduled to end when there are just 16 players remaining. The action will be deep into the money with just two tables of players when the action resumes on the live stream starting at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Here is a look at the payouts of the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event:

PlacePrize
1€80,000
2€57,750
3€36,750
4€22,750
5€16,850
6€13,345
7€10,900
8€8,800
9€7,300
10-11€6,080
12-13€5,275
14-16€4,500
17-19€3,855
20-23€3,355
24-31€2,955
32-39€3,600
40-47€2,300
48-55€2,055
56-63€1,830
64-71€1,635
72-79€1,450
80-87€1,300
88-95€1,175
96-103€1,075
104-111€1,000
112-128€955
€250 NLH Freezeout Begins 02.12.2023 15:10 by Franke

The second freezeout event of the day in the €250 NLH Freezeout just kicked off with 42 players. Like the Omaha version that kicked off, late registration will be allowed for the first four blind levels. However, no re-entries will be permitted as this is a freezeout affair.

Heidi Bekker, Matthew Adams, Tone Fester, Pia Jeppesen, Brian Klindrup, Dominik Ostrowski, and Sandor Mate are among the early players in action.

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Brian Klindrup
Pokerbrahs Leading Player of the Series 02.12.2023 14:51 by Franke

Ola Brandborn, who left Banco Casino more than a day ago, relinquished his spot on the top of the Player of the Series leaderboard’s unofficial standings and slid down to third place.

Scott Kenyon managed another runner-up finish, this time in the €250 PLO Masters to claim the top spot while Lithuania’s Rinatas Suleimanovas, who took fourth place in that event, climbed up to second place.

Neither player remains in the Main Event, so it could be someone else that pushes past both of them with some impressive names on the leaderboard including Michal Janczarski, Alexander van Dijk, Andre Sorm, Pawel Keller, Jon Kyte, Paul Berthet, and Robert Kontkanen all in the top 10 heading into today.

Keep in mind the below results aren’t official and as of now do not include all bounty tournaments which will be added later. Events not open to everyone including The Seniors 49+ and The Festival Queens do not count towards the leaderboard. This is the same for qualifiers and any tournaments with a buy-in under €125 also not included on the leaderboard. Check out the top 10 players on the Player of the Series leaderboard at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino.

PlacePlayerCountryPoints
1Scott KenyonUnited Kingdom118
2Rinatas SuleimanovasLithuania100
3Ola BrandbornSweden93
4Michal JanczarskiPoland80
5Alexander van DijkNetherlands79
Andre SormEstonia79
Pawel KellerPoland79
8Jon KyteNorway73
9Paul BerthetFrance71
Robert KontkanenSweden71
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Save the Dates for The Festival Series 2024! 02.12.2023 14:31 by Franke

The Festival Series Bratislava is booming in style for its last stop in 2023 at Banco Casino. The Main Event met its lofty €500,000 guarantee with 1,025 players getting into the mix despite a heavy focus on mixed games and casino games throughout The Festival Series Bratislava.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled with the attendance,” shared The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk. “Players, including qualifiers from nearly 20 partners, came from just about every country in Europe and from as far away places such as Canada and Australia to join in on a fun week of poker full of poker and casino events. We look forward to providing an even better experience next year in 2024.”

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Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk

With that being said, The Festival Series is thrilled to announce its dates for next year. There will be plenty of hold’em action including Main Events with big guarantees while still providing plenty of action for all mixed-game enthusiasts and casino fans with Blackjack tournaments, Roulette tournaments, Slots tournaments, and sports wagering competitions to continue and just get bigger. This year boasted stops at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, UK, Portomaso Casino in Malta, and Banco Casino in Bratislava, Slovakia. Next year’s locations for now will be a closely guarded secret and released one-by-one starting with the last stop of the year over the course of the next week to add to the suspense. That being said, qualifiers will already start running in just 10 days with full packages to the next The Festival Series stop on tap.

Without further ado, here is a look at the schedule for the 2024 The Festival Series.

So be sure to save the dates, keep your eyes peeled for the locations to be released in reverse order throughout the next week, and join us for even more excitement in 2024.

PLO Freezeout Begins 02.12.2023 14:12 by Franke

While most of the tournaments at The Festival Series have allowed re-entries, the €250 PLO Freezeout is an exception to that rule. Players can still late enter for the first four blind levels but can’t re-enter during that time.

The event kicked off with 20 players including Zoltan Gal, Jari Hurri, Jaroslav Peter, and Georgi Voomets. Both Player of the Series leader Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon and runner-up Rinatas Suleimanovas recently shared they both plan to play. We will see if this changes anything at the top of the leaderboard.

Best of luck to all of the PLO Freezeout players!

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Zoltan Gal
Jade Walker Wins The Festival Queens 02.12.2023 13:48 by Franke
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Jade Walker wins The Festival Queens

The €125 The Festival Queens attracted 35 female entries to create a €3,657 prize pool. Valerie Slavickova was awarded a bubble prize of €122 while Gia Carnestroem took home €400 for fourth place before the final three ladies agreed to a deal. Jade Walker went on to win the event for €1,180, while the Norwegian duo in Siv Vekseth and Catherine Snildan took home €970 and €985 respectively.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Jade WalkerUnited Kingdom€1,180
2Siv VeksethNorway€970
3Catherine SnildalNorway€985
4Gia CarnestroemSweden€400
5Valerie SlavickovaCzech Republic€122
Late Registration About to Close in Main Event 02.12.2023 13:45 by Franke

Players are on their first break of Day 2 of the Main Event with late registration closing after the break. There were 1,024 entries with 239 players remaining at the break with the prize pool reaching €486,400. It will grow a little during the break and shortly after the break we will have the final prize pool and payouts.

Best of luck to all of the Main Event players as now is for keeps with no more second chances.

Theodoros Ampelikiotis Wins €15K GTD NLH 02.12.2023 13:33 by Franke
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Theodoros Ampelikiotis wins €15K GTD NLH

The €125 NLH proved to be popular with 238 entries creating a €27,027 prize pool to nearly double the €15,000 guarantee.

Greece’s Theordoros Ampelikiotis made the most of the event by defeating Denmark’s Michel Petersen to win the €5,950 top prize. Check out the list of all 31 players who cashed in this event:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Theodoros AmpelikiotisGreece€5,950
2Michel PetersenDenmark€4,150
3Tobias KeilGermany€2,580
4Erwin HammerAustria€2,040
5Burany VaczyHungary€1,650
6Alexander van DijkNetherlands€1,350
7Bernd JahnkeGermany€1,075
8Roland GotzAustria€825
9Americ StillerGermany€620
10Oskari PiiraFinland€484
11Aleksandar KamendolievNorth Macedonia€484
12Andrea AtzeniItaly€484
13Patrick MoslingerAustria€385
14Rene RoseggerAustria€385
15Roman ErhartAustria€385
16Jari KarkkainenFinland€335
17Robert KontkanenSweden€335
18Phillip HuxleyUnited Kingdom€335
19Hubert HacklAustria€295
20Marjan MitrovskiNorth Macedonia€295
21Anu LiljaFinland€295
22Bernhard BerglerAustria€260
23Aleksiy BaranovskiyRussia€260
24Samuel FluryAustria€260
25Erik NygrenSweden€230
26Sylvere PaillotFrance€230
27Kristian HolmgrenNorway€230
28Jakke SchraalNetherlands€205
29Marko MakkonenFinland€205
30Fredric LydersenNorway€205
31Craig HaugheyIreland€205
Capitano Wins Friday Turbo Midnight Madness 02.12.2023 13:20 by Franke

The €125 Friday Turbo Midnight Madness attracted 88 late-night runners to create a €9,196 prize pool. Giovanni Capitano defeated Robin Olsen to win the €2,245 top prize.

While congratulations are in order for all of the players that cashed, we will give an even more special one to our friend in The Hendon Mob’s Hans Kleinsman who min-cashed this event.

For many years, Kleinsman was joked around with about his lack of The Hendon Mob cashes considering he works at The Hendon Mob. He resolved this issue with a few cashes over the past few years but all those cashes have had someone else’s money at least partially involved. However, his min-cash in this event was the first The Hendon Mob recorded cash for Kleinsman where he put up the entire buy-in himself. Congrats to Kleinsman for unlocking your latest achievement!

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Giovanni CapitanoItaly€2,245
2Robin OlsenSweden€1,840
3Erik HamreNorway€1,200
4Britt RobertsenNorway€921
5Richard KoppelEstonia€740
6John BondsSweden€600
7Jacob WittDenmark€475
8Marius HogtunNorway€375
9Pantelis PolyzosGreece€300
10Emmanouil ZacharakisGreece€250
11Hans KleinsmanNetherlands€250
Franke Re-Enters Main Event After €500K GTD Reached 02.12.2023 13:16 by Franke

The €500,000 slapped on the Main Event has been reached with the 1,000th player awarded a free The Festival Series Main Event ticket for the first stop of next year. Many of the last few players to enter before the guarantee was reached were awarded free The Festival Series merchandise.

Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk was patiently waiting for the guarantee before he entered.

“I will watch the first hand,” said Franke’s good friend Peter La Terra. “He will be all-in for sure.”

“What happens if he doubles up or, even better, double up twice?” we asked.

“That won’t happen but if it does I will go take a bath,” we replied.

Franke did indeed shove the first two hands. The first hand was a good one with king-queen. He got folds both times and actually folded the third hand. He was quickly on 55,000 from his 30,000 starting stack and, at least for now, La Terra is still on his rail.

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Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk
Janczarski Defeats Recently Arrived Nyman in PLO/PLO8 02.12.2023 12:46 by Franke
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Michal Janczarski wins the PLO/PLO8

Event #42: €125 PLO/PLO8 rotated between regular PLO and PLO h/l Eight or Better throughout the event which attracted 79 entries for a €8,255 prize pool.

Michal Janczarski was the star of the show after defeating Niklas Nyman heads-up to win the title and the €2,405 top prize. Nyman arrived with a small crew including Antoine Degiorgio early Friday morning from Malta to provide fresh reinforcements to the existing crew and their lack of results thus far. He made the most of his day and nearly won the title. Instead, he will have to settle for the €1,550 runner-up prize.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Michal JanczarskiPoland€2,405
2Niklas NymanSweden€1,550
3Anders Mora RingstadNorway€1,125
4Bozovic RadojcicSlovakia€850
5Nikolaos TsitosGreece€700
6Asle BloemacherNorway€575
7Morten AntonsenNorway€450
8Frank StukenGermany€350
9Piotr PietrychPoland€250
Kaimakamis Denies Pokerbrahs First Win in PLO Masters 02.12.2023 12:30 by Franke
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Vangelis Kaimakamis wins PLO Masters

Scott Kenyon, also known as Pokerbrahs at Twitch, came into the Player of the Series leaderboard competition only behind Paf’s Ola Brandborn. Brandborn went home leaving it up to Kenyon to take charge.

Kenyon did just that as he took yet another runner-up spot in an event this festival after he was eliminated by Vangelis Kaimakamis in second place for €3,600 in the €250 PLO Masters, while Kaimakamis won the trophy and the €5,828 top prize. Lithuania’s Rinatas Suleimanovas also moved up the rankings to second place thanks to a fourth-place performance in this event for €2,100.

The €250 Masters attracted 101 entries to create a €21,588 prize pool. It was an international affair, especially at the end with the final 12 players boasting 12 different nationalities.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Vangelis KaimakamisGreece€5,828
2Scott KenyonUnited Kingdom€3,600
3Jozef MlcochSlovakia€2,700
4Rinatas SuleimanovasLithuania€2,100
5Franz LaemmerhoferAustria€1,700
6Mohammed El KhatibDenmark€1,300
7Eyal SaidofIsrael€980
8Paul BerthetFrance€780
9Pawel KellerPoland€640
10Kristin FlatakerNorway€530
11Benedikt HausmannGermany€530
12Hans KaronenSweden€450
13Andre BergNorway€450
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PLO Masters Final Table
30 New Entries Before the Start of Day 2 02.12.2023 12:12 by Franke

It appears that the lofty €500,000 guarantee will be smashed as there are already 30 new entries getting into the mix before the start of Day 2 to bring the total field up to 965 entries. Players can still get into the mix with late registration open for the first two blind levels of Day 2.

Cards are in the air after speeches spanning multiple rooms.

Best of luck to all of the players in The Festival Series Main Event.

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Tomasz Walkowiak Wins €250 OFC 02.12.2023 11:45 by Franke
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Tomasz Walkowiak wins OFC

On Friday evening, Tomasz Walkowiak defeated OFC beast Risto Ponnio heads-up in Event #37: €250 OFC Pineapple for €4,300. The event attracted 54 entries to create a €11,542 prize pool and paid out the following eight players at least a €450 min-cash.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Tomasz WalkowiakPoland€4,300
2Risto PonnioFinland€2,442
3Sami PeisanenFinland€1,500
4Paal SkansenNorway€1,000
5Josef SteinbockAustria€700
6Jukka JuvonenFinland€700
7Riku KoivurinneFinland€450
8Krzysztof KordusPoland€450
Mitja Rudolf Ships The Hendon Mob Championship 02.12.2023 02:21 by Franke
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Mitja Rudolf wins The Hendon Mob Championship

The two-day €250 The Hendon Mob Championship attracted 172 on its opening day on Thursday to create a €36,765. A total of 22 players returned Friday evening already in the money for at least a €450 min-cash.

Slovenia’s Mitja Rudolf achieved the max result in this event by defeating Germany’s Frederic Max heads-up en route to the title and the €9,100 top prize. Check out the payouts below from The Hendon Mob Championship:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Mitja RudolfSlovenia€9,100
2Frederic MaxGermany€5,300
3Kristine HeltveitNorway€3,830
4Ohad FreundIsrael€3,050
5Mikolaj DomanskiPoland€2,450
6Daniel SmithUnited Kingdom€1,950
7Sturla HillerNorway€1,550
8Johannes HalbkramAustria€1,200
9Quinten SpyckerelleLuxembourg€955
10Bartosz WesolekPoland€750
11Ziga KlopcicSlovenia€750
12Oemer YozgatTurkey€750
13Vitaliy KryzaUkraine€600
14Charles CalfelisSwitzerland€600
15Eirik BjorbaekNorway€600
16Nidal DawoudDenmark€500
17Claes LangSweden€500
18Jacob WittDenmark€500
19Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom€450
20Marnix ReijersNetherlands€450
21Robin OlsenSweden€450
22Jacob Dideriksen-NielsenDenmark€450
Deeper Structure for Day 2 in the €500K GTD Main Event 02.12.2023 01:43 by Franke

Event organizers decided to roll back blind levels for a repeat of the 1,000/2,000 (2,000) blind level for the start of Day 2 with late registration closing at the end of Level 14 with blinds at 1,000/3,000 (3,000). After these two blind levels, the floor will announce the total prize pool and payouts of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event.

Players will continue to battle with longer 45-minute blind levels until just two tables remaining before returning on Sunday for even deeper 50-minute blind levels.

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Cerny & Poluk Bag Day 1f Chip Lead in Main Event 02.12.2023 01:39 by Franke

The final opening flight is in the books with 120 more entries getting into the mix for a total of 935 entries with still two blind levels of late registration permitted on Saturday’s Day 2 with cards in the air at 12 p.m.

Markus Cerny and Daniel Paluk each managed to bag 180,000 from their 30,000 starting stack to end the day on top of the 52 survivors, meaning a total of 308 unique players found a bag into Day 2 when taking account all the player that survived the first five opening flights.

Canada’s Kelly Kellner still leads the way after bagging up 349,000 on Day 1c. Check out all of the Day 1e chip counts below and stay tuned for the Day 2 seat draw.

PlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
Markus CernyAustria180,00060
Daniel PolukAustria180,00060
Simon BozhinoskiNorth Macedonia171,00057
Tarmo TammelEstonia143,00048
Ruurd NautaNetherlands135,00045
Jiri NogaCzech Republic131,00044
Martin TothSlovenia114,00038
Yamen GhanemIsrael101,00034
Vesa VaistomaaFinland101,00034
Sven VidellSweden98,00033
Leif HetlandNorway93,00031
Gabriel RymarPoland92,00031
Georgiou AntoniosCyprus91,00030
Nicolas SieversGermany90,00030
Steven GooseUnited Kingdom86,00029
Igor NarajczykPoland85,00028
Dushko BogoevskiNorth Macedonia82,00027
Karl LundqvistSweden82,00027
Daniel DelposAustria78,00026
Zsolt PentekHungary78,00026
Cristian BeleRomania77,00026
Max LohseDenmark74,00025
Christian SykoraAustria73,00024
Isak FinnbogasonIceland69,00023
Jan BobakSlovakia59,00020
Jiri HorakCzech Republic59,00020
Istvan BudererHungary55,00018
Daniel ShakerAustria55,00018
Claes PlambechDenmark54,00018
Ivan SebelediSlovakia53,00018
Michael KossovUnited Kingdom52,00017
Habip YilmazTurkey50,00017
Dionysios AletrasGreece46,00015
Alexandros MichasGreece44,00015
Andres AllsaluEstonia42,00014
Ilija SavevskiNorth Macedonia41,00014
Martin BartosSlovakia40,00013
Roman PekarSlovakia40,00013
Adam SzentmihalyiHungary39,00013
Hans SchonningSweden38,00013
Martin LoebergNorway37,00012
Arjan van BavelNetherlands36,00012
Per AlstigSweden33,00011
Stefan FabianRomania33,00011
Oskar WeddeNorway32,00011
Konstantinos KertikidisGreece30,00010
Emmanouil ZacharakisGreece26,0009
Abdurrahman KilicTurkey23,0008
Mark AdamsUnited Kingdom21,0007
Pavel ChalupkaSlovakia21,0007
Ofir GavrielyIsrael17,0006
Jari HurriFinland15,0005
Krisztian Kis Bags Day 1e Chip Lead in Main Event 01.12.2023 22:34 by Franke
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Krisztian Kis

Day 1e nearly doubled the size of the €500,000 guaranteed The Festival Series €550 Main Event on Friday with 405 new entries getting into the mix to grow the field up to 815 entries with still Day 1f and the entries coming in during the first two blind levels of Saturday’s Day 2.

A total of 129 players survived to more than double the previous total of 127 survivors to 256 Day 2 players thus far. Krisztian Kis with 311,000 and Christoforos Christoforou with 300,000 became the second and third players to advance with at least 300,000 in chips, albeit both players are behind Day 1c chip leader Kelly Kellner with 349,000.

The Festival Series regular JJ Hazan also had an impressive day showing he can do more than just play Omaha and mixed games with 256,000, while Raymond de Groot (168,000), Mats Orstad (108,000), Matiss Celmins (80,000), and Jon Kyte (39,000) were among some of the many other players to find a bag.

Day 1f is still ongoing and our next update will likely be either when that concludes to provide the final chip counts and hopefully the Day 2 seat draw as well if available or the results of an ending side event. In the meantime, feel free to say hello while this reporter is mingling around the casino floor.

PlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
Krisztian KisHungary311,000104
Christoforos ChristoforouCyprus300,000100
JJ HazanUnited Kingdom256,00085
Jan IversenNorway230,00077
John ForsmanSweden221,00074
Kowalski RajnikPoland217,00072
Aneta KalikovaCzech Republic192,00064
Georgios ManekasGreece192,00064
Peter JeskoSlovakia190,00063
Mario GalicBosnia & Herzegovina182,00061
Gani WeissIsrael179,00060
Raymond de GrootNetherlands168,00056
Thomas HarnesNorway167,00056
Dominik AsztemborskiPoland151,00050
Edmund KarzerAustria148,00049
David KleinSlovakia147,00049
Nikolaos KtenasGreece147,00049
Bo LindahlSweden146,00049
Antoine ManzelllaFrance145,00048
Erik NygrenSweden145,00048
Jari HaemaelaeinenFinland144,00048
Rudolf KosaAustria140,00047
Dimitrios StampoultzisGreece140,00047
Grzegorz WyrazPoland138,00046
Michael HawlikAustria137,00046
Joseph JacksonUnited States137,00046
Jiri StanaCzech Republic134,00045
Martin IlavskySlovakia133,00044
Mike HansenDenmark132,00044
Michal JanczarskiPoland132,00044
Bart DilNetherlands129,00043
Aleksandrs GolubevsUnited Kingdom128,00043
Nicolai EjstrudNorway119,00040
Michail TastanisGreece119,00040
Ondrej JakubcikCzech Republic117,00039
Panagiotis PapastefanouGreece117,00039
Revo KinkEstonia114,00038
Matus BasaSlovakia112,00037
Thomas HammerlAustria111,00037
Richard VladarSlovakia111,00037
Hrvoje MitrovicCroatia110,00037
Kamil SkawinskiPoland110,00037
Sorin TircRomania110,00037
Milan TopolySlovakia110,00037
Sami PulliainenFinland109,00036
Jarkko SuokasFinland109,00036
Mats OrstadNorway108,00036
Ivan RochevRussia107,00036
Marko ZerakSlovenia107,00036
Nidal DawoudDenmark106,00035
Julius KettunenFinland106,00035
Simon KuntzNetherlands104,00035
Demyan ShcheglovAustria103,00034
Nicklas JensenDenmark102,00034
Alexandros TasoulisGreece99,00033
Keito KaljulaidEstonia98,00033
Marjan MitrovskiNorth Macedonia98,00033
Henrik BrunDenmark95,00032
Gabriel IzoSlovakia95,00032
Trueba SayagoSpain89,00030
Angelos ValilisGreece89,00030
Matas KubiliusLithuania88,00029
Kristine HeltveitNorway86,00029
Elia FerrandinaItaly84,00028
Nick ThomsenDenmark84,00028
Hessel BreeuwsmaNetherlands80,00027
Matiss CelminsLatvia80,00027
Lukas PribylCzech Republic80,00027
Michal HekeleCzech Republic78,00026
Nihat MuldurAustria78,00026
Madged AzizEgypt77,00026
Samuel StranakSlovakia77,00026
Kasper WuertzDenmark76,00025
Adrian ZiemichodPoland75,00025
Americ StillerGermany74,00025
Benjamin BinyaminovAustria73,00024
Tibor BenkoHungary72,00024
Niccolo CadoniItaly72,00024
Dalibor DulaCzech Republic72,00024
Eymard BonnetFrance70,00023
Patrick SykalaAustria70,00023
Ion DraguRomania69,00023
Ivo LungaCzech Republic69,00023
Simon WileniusDenmark69,00023
Mario DemoSlovakia67,00022
Jozef KrajanSlovakia67,00022
Sandor MateHungary66,00022
Biniam MesfinSweden66,00022
Viktor RusnakSlovakia66,00022
Boris MartanovicSlovakia64,00021
Peter HankeAustria63,00021
Vytautas KacerauskasLithuania62,00021
Tom MaidenSweden60,00020
Joost MelkertNetherlands60,00020
Dimitris GiannakouCyprus59,00020
Bartosz WesolekPoland59,00020
Mile GjorgoskiNorth Macedonia58,00019
Maiiia FesiaItaly56,00019
Anargyros LoizosGreece55,00018
Pantelis PolyzosGreece54,00018
Tommy ErikssonNorway53,00018
Janos MateHungary51,00017
Georgios GarnelisGreece48,00016
Walter SchwarzingerAustria46,00015
Joel KelonevaFinland45,00015
Lorenzo PannunziItaly45,00015
Erik WeissmannSlovakia44,00015
Daniyel DesticiSweden43,00014
Tomas ChrobakCzech Republic43,00014
Toivo OjasooEstonia40,00013
Jon KyteNorway39,00013
Petr LiteraCzech Republic39,00013
Dominik ZnasikSlovakia37,00012
Gabor KissHungary36,00012
Mikko RustaniusFinland35,00012
Leonardo BurdinoItaly34,00011
Richard WilliamsUnited Kingdom34,00011
Anders AashammerNorway32,00011
Joao Goncalves de BritoPortugal31,00010
Eduard RauGermany29,00010
Theodoros AmpelikiotisGreece24,0008
Zsolt GyukHungary23,0008
Zoran SesumRussia23,0008
Tadeusz RaczynskiPoland20,0007
Patrick BeuterDenmark19,0006
Cypriot EleftheriosCyprus18,0006
Shin Hyun-UkAustria17,0006
Patrik KunikSlovakia16,0005
Peter HajszanAustria11,0004
The Hendon Mob Championship Resumes with Smith in the Lead 01.12.2023 21:24 by Franke

United Kingdom’s Daniel Smith was the brightest star on Day 1 after bagging the chip lead among the 22 survivors after bagging the chip lead. He is back to battle along with 21 others including The Festival Series commentator Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen and Sturla Hiller with the action just resuming in hopes of locking down the €9,100 top prize.

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Daniel Smith
More PLO Action 01.12.2023 21:10 by Franke

The €125 PLO/PLO8 kicked off with 16 runners at 9 p.m. Sascha Manns, birthday boy Allan Arjut, Craig McLuckie, Per Gjelten, and William Lynch are among the early players in action.

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Per Gjelten
Franke’s Flip Flops Beginning 01.12.2023 21:07 by Franke

Tired of skill games? Why not give Franke’s Flip Flops a chance. It is the best “luck” game in the casino as these are rake-free €20 flips for tournament vouchers to be used at The Festival Series Bratislava. The vouchers are transferrable to friends, so don’t worry if you are leaving as this might be the perfect fun for you this evening.

To add a little more fun, The Festival Series juiced up the competition as the player that wins the most flips throughout the week will become the Franke’s Flip Flops champion and be awarded a framed pair of Franke’s actual flip flops that he wore all week at The Festival Series Bratislava. This player will also be awarded a package valued at €1,600 to the first stop of The Festival Series in 2024.

Keito Kaljulaid currently leads the way after winning 11 flips. But there is still time to catch up to him with two more nights of flips. Best of luck to all of the flippers in the Franke’s Flip Flops challenge.

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Cash Game Challenge About to Resume 01.12.2023 20:35 by Franke

The Cash Game Challenge will resume any minute with stakes at €5/€5 no-limit hold’em with a later session of €5/€5 pot-limit Omaha hosted by George Sandford and guests including Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund and perhaps also Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen depending on whether he can run up his short stack on Day 2 of the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship which resumes with 22 players and a €9,100 top prize at 9 p.m.

The player that wins the most big blinds throughout the week during a single Cash Game Challenge will be crowned the contest’s winner and be awarded a free package valued at €1,600 to the next The Festival Series. The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk took the lead last night after winning 1,239 big blinds in a televised €5/€5 pot-limit Omaha affair.

You can check out the stream by clicking on the ‘Stream’ tab within our coverage or by heading to TheFestivalOG Twitch channel. Best of luck to all of the players in passing Franke in the dust to take the lead.

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Franke
Final Main Event Opening Flight Begins 01.12.2023 20:20 by Franke

Cards are in the air with 41 players in their seats to start Day 1f. Blind levels will be 20 minutes instead of the 40 minutes during most of the opening flights. Players will still start with 30,000 in chips and be allowed to re-enter twice during the entire day of a dozen blind levels. In addition, players will be able to re-enter tomorrow for Day 2 with a short stack during the first two blind levels.

Dan Kothari, Andres Leppik, Mark Adams, Robert Kucma, Harald Redl, David Spacek, Martin Toth, and Paul Johnson are among the players in their seats from the start.

Best of luck to all of the Day 1f players in finding a big bag into tomorrow’s Day 2.

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Harald Redl
NL Texas €15,000 GTD Begins 01.12.2023 19:07 by Franke

The €125 NL Texas €15,000 guarantee just kicked off with 63 entries. Late registration will remain open for eight blind levels of 20 minutes each.

Markus Ganglbauer, Brian Klindrup, Anu Lilja, Toni Sarkama, and Andre Sorm are among the early players in their seats after the welcome announcement by The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk.

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Anu Lilja
400 Entries on Day 1e of Main Event 01.12.2023 19:02 by Franke

Day 1e of the Main Event has reached 400 entries with about half of them still in their seats to nearly double the size of the Main Event. The final opening flight in the Turbo Day 1f will kick off in an hour at 8 p.m. Check out some photos from Day 1e by The Festival Series photographer Mairo “EstonianWeirdo” Toom.

Dinner Time for the Ladies 01.12.2023 18:52 by Franke

The €125 Festival Queens just went on dinner break. The field grew to 35 entries with late registration closing as soon as the players reconvene for action.

Anastasia Bukstynovic, Pia Jeppson, Slots Championship winner Marita Magi, Annette O’Carroll, Trang Le, Vanessa Webley, and Coolbet streamer Ylva Thorsrud are among the players returning for action with chips.

We wish all the ladies a good dinner and the best of luck when the action resumes.

Photos From the Bowling 01.12.2023 18:12 by Franke

The Festival Series hospitality host Anastasia hosted a bowling outing for those with the hospitality package. Check out the photos from The Festival Series photographer Mairo Toom below:

Day 1e Absolutely Massive 01.12.2023 18:10 by Franke

The Day 1e field of the 2023 The Festival Series €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event has reached 387 entries during the closing minutes of Level 8. It has a good chance to match the 410 entries attracted during the first four opening flights with the current field at 797 with one more opening flight and the first two blind levels of Day 2 to go before we know the final figures.

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Sviten Special
Photos From Yesterday’s Hospitality Lunch for the Ladies 01.12.2023 17:35 by Franke

The €125 Festival Queens is up to 27 entries. Yesterday, some of the ladies joined The Festival Series for a hospitality lunch. Check out the photos below.

PLO Masters Begin 01.12.2023 17:14 by Franke

The fun €250 PLO Masters has kicked off with 27 entries. Birthday boy Allan Arjut kept his promise and entered this event as did Sviten Special guru Peter La Terra, Georgi Voomets, and the recently arrived Niklas Nyman.

Nyman flew in from Malta with Malta Poker Fish administrator Antoine Degiorgio to the delight of many here in Bratislava. Degiorgio is out with friends, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see him get into the action later. Meanwhile, Nyman went straight to business in hopes of securing a title in his first event of the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino.

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Photos From OFC 01.12.2023 17:04 by Franke

The €250 OFC Pineapple attracted 54 entries to create a €11,542 prize pool. While notable players such as birthday boy Allan Arjut, Twitch streamer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, and Wouter Schuurbiers, all hit the rail many others rage on including Morten Antonsen, Johnny Johansen, Sviten Special champion Harald Redl, and Mixed Main Event HORSES champion Jon Kyte.

Check out some photos from the event by Mairo Toom.

Day 1e Might Double the Main Event Field 01.12.2023 16:31 by Franke

There were 410 entries entering the action of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event heading into Friday’s final two opening flights. Day 1e could double that figure by itself with already 338 entries midway through Level 6.

We expect a decent crowd coming in for the final opening flight this evening with the Turbo Day 1f kicking off at 8 p.m. In the meantime, check out some photos of Day 1e by The Festival Series photographer Mairo Toom.

Bakers Dozen in the Festival Queens 01.12.2023 16:24 by Franke

Ladies alert! The €125 Festival Queens just kicked off with 13 ladies in their seat eager for the title including Vanessa Webley, Anu Lilja, Katre Kokk, Annette O’Carroll, Anastasija Bukstynovic, Gia Carnestroem, Malin Johansen, Drea Karlsen, Marthe Lyngvaer, Jill Mellstroem, Lisbeth Sunde, Siv Vekseth, and Jade Walker.

Late registration will be open for about two hours in this event that features 25 minute blind levels. Players that lose their stacks from Level 7 and beyond will be permanently eliminated from the event. Best of luck to all of the ladies in earning the Festival Queens title.

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Drea Karlsen
Watch Pokerbrahs Stream OFC at Twitch 01.12.2023 15:45 by Franke

If you want to learn more about Open Face Chinese Poker or already know some about it and want to check out more, we recommend you check out the Pokerbrahs Twitch stream by Scott Kenyon who is battling it out live on his own stream in the €250 OFC Event.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon
Happy Birthday to Allan Arjut 01.12.2023 15:17 by Franke

It is a special day every day during The Festival Series but even more so for Estonia’s Allan Arjut.

“Should we sing?” asked Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund.

“Perhaps not,” we were thinking but keeping this to ourselves.

Instead, we will wish him a happy birthday in the blog. He is busy battling it out in the 35-entry field €250 Open Face Chinese in hopes of winning a title today.

“This is my birthday treat to myself,” Arjut shared. “It is my first time playing this in a tournament format and having fun.”

Arjut’s birthday poker run won’t necessarily end with the OFC event as he also shared he planned to play the €250 PLO Masters and/or the €125 PLO/PLO8 events. But let’s be clear, he did share he wouldn’t be playing them at the same time. We will leave that to the likes of Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon who shared he will likely do this in the evening to earn Player of the Series leaderboard points where he resides in second place behind Paf Poker’s Ola Brandborn.

Brandborn has left the building, so the leaderboard is anyone’s game. We wouldn’t even be surprised to see the birthday boy Arjut climb his way up the ladder as he is putting in the volume and has shown he can get results to match.

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Kaljulaid Still Leads Franke’s Flip Flops Leaderboard 01.12.2023 14:45 by Franke

The Franke’s Flip Flops have been a blast every night from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. from Monday until Saturday. Players enjoy rake-free flips for €20 and if they win they not only get the full prize in tournament money for a The Festival Series event but also are part of a leaderboard competition.

The winner of the Franke’s Flip Flops leaderboard will be the player that wins the most flips throughout the week and will be awarded a free package valued at €1,600 to the first The Festival Series stop of 2024.

The top two spots on the leaderboard remained unchanged with Keito Kaljulaid still leading the way with 11 flips run out of the 82 that ran and Erik Hamre in second place with seven flips won.

Meanwhile, Allan Arjut won two flips for a third day in a row and moved up to third place on the leaderboard with six flips won. Check out the leaderboard of everyone who won at least two flips in the Franke’s Flip Flops this week so far:

PlayerFlips Won
Keito Kaljulaid11
Erik Hamre7
Allan Arjut6
Marcin Puczylowski3
Joseph Jackson3
Sturla Hiller2
Annette O’Carroll2
Karev Tralla2
Svein Olav Eidsaeter2
Mairo Toom2
Andreas Roder2
Toni Sarkama2
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Keito Kaljulaid
The Hendon Mob Championship Day 2 Seat Draw 01.12.2023 14:03 by Franke

Event #29: €250 The Hendon Mob Championship returns for its second and final day at 9 p.m. with just 22 players from the 174 entries remaining. All returning players are in the money for at least a €450 min-cash after battling it out hand-for-hand on the money bubble to end yesterday’s action.

Check out the seat draw for Day 2 of The Hendon Mob Championship below:

TableSeatPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
11Quinten SpyckerelleLuxembourg225,00023
12Ziga KlopcicSlovenia237,00024
13Sturla HillerNorway522,00052
15Mitja RudolfSlovenia139,00014
16Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom94,0009
17Jacob Dideriksen-NielsenDenmark62,0006
18Robin OlsenSweden164,00016
21Frederic MaxGermany160,00016
22Mikolaj DomanskiPoland71,0007
23Oemer YozgatGermany479,00048
24Vitaliy KryzaUkraine175,00018
25Eirik BjorbaekNorway11,0001
26Marnix ReijersNetherlands95,00010
27Daniel SmithUnited Kingdom615,00062
28Claes LangSweden99,00010
32Johannes HalbkramAustria509,00051
33Charles CalfelisSwitzerland52,0005
34Nidal DawoudDenmark478,00048
35Jacob WittDenmark32,0003
36Ohad FreundIsrael492,00049
37Bartosz WesolekPoland187,00019
38Kristine HeltveitNorway167,00017
More Than 200 Entries on Day 1e 01.12.2023 13:49 by Franke

Day 1e is easily the biggest opening flight of them all with the field already at 221 entries midway through Level 3. Late registration is open all opening flight long and will stay open during the first two blind levels of Day 2, but as of now, the field is up to 631 entries and counting.

As has become tradition, we will ‘honor’ the first player out on Day 1e in Umut Bicakci. While he was the only player out on Level 1, eight others have joined him on the rail.

Meanwhile, Alexander van Dijk, Kaspar Valk, Thomas Udness, Franke Flip Flops leaderboard captain Keito Kaljulaid, Vytautas Kacerauskas, and Nunzio Lagana were among the players in the field on their first Day 1e bullets.

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Vytautas Kacerauskas
Kenyon Closing Gap on Brandborn for Player of Series 01.12.2023 13:25 by Franke

Paf’s Ola Brandborn came into Thursday on top of the leaderboard of the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava Player of the Series. He is still on top, but thanks for the consistent cashing going on by Twitch streamer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, the gap is narrowed with Kenyon knocking down his door in hopes of securing the honor.

The player that wins the Player of the Series will win a free package valued at €1,600 to the first The Festival Series in 2024. Kenyon shared he might multitable events this evening in hopes that he can push his name to the top of the leaderboard before Saturday’s action.

Check out the top 10 of the leaderboard below. Keep in mind that for now the bounty tournaments are not included but will be added later. Satellites, tournaments with buy-ins of less than €125, and tournaments not open to all including the Seniors 49+ and the Festival Queens are not part of the competition.

PlacePlayerCountryPoints
1Ola BrandbornSweden93
2Scott KenyonUnited Kingdom82
3Andre SormEstonia74
4Jon KyteNorway70
Rinatas SuleimanovasLithuania70
6Anders BeckmanSweden65
7Michael WehnerGermany60
Nicolai EjstrudNorway60
9Robert KontkanenSweden59
10Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom58

Open Face Chinese Begins 01.12.2023 13:15 by Franke

The €250 Open Face Chinese Poker began with players starting with 24 players including the likes of OFC beasts Johnny Johansen, Wouter Schuurbiers, and Risto Ponnio. Bas de Laat shared he was playing his first OFC tournament while Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, Allan Arjut, Sascha Manns, and Julius Jurksaitis were all noticed in the field.

Late registration is open for six blind levels of 30 minutes each. So expect the field to grow including The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk planning to get into the mix.

It is a friendly affair, so feel free to drop by to watch a hand or two as there is no bluffing and pure strategy. In the meantime, you can check out the rules of the game and how the OFC tournament works.

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Johnny Johansen
Sancak Defeats Zerjav to Win Largest TFS Bratislava Prize on Day 5 01.12.2023 12:50 by Franke

There was no shortage of poker and casino action on Thursday with tons of events at The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino and cash games running around the clock at a variety of stakes and games.

Two more opening flights in the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event were played out in the main ballroom with the field growing to 410 entries after four opening flights with two more opening flights to go on Friday and late registration permitted during the first two blind levels of Saturday’s Day 2. Canada’s Kelly Kellner leads the 127 survivors as he was the only player to pass 300,000 in chips after parlaying his 30,000 opening stack on Thursday’s Day 1c into 375,000 in chips.

Ersin Sancak earned his time in the spotlight on Thursday as well after defeating Slovenian poker beast Blaz Zerjav heads-up in the €1,100 High Roller to win the €18,000 top prize for the biggest thus far this festival.

Meanwhile, The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk found himself in familiar territory as he powered his way in the final few hands to take the lead in the Cash Game Challenge with a 1,239 big blind profit in the televised €5/€5 PLO Cash Game Challenge session last night to pass WSOP Europe 8-Game champion Dainius Antanaitis who amassed 1,068 big blinds earlier in the week in €2/€2 PLO.

Daniel Smith leads the final 22 players in the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship with players already in the money heading into Day 2 in hopes of securing the €9,100 top prize, while others managed to win customized framed sketched trophies in other side events. Read on to learn more about what happened on Thursday at The Festival Series Bratislava.

Ersin Sancak Wins High Roller

The €1,100 NLH High Roller sported a €30,000. This was blown out of the water with 51 entries creating a €48,750 prize pool.

Michel Molenaar, who won the last The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event and bagged big already this year, was hoping to add a High Roller title to his already impressive and growing poker resume. The Dutch poker superstar ran deep once again before hitting the rail in fifth place for €3,750.

Meanwhile, Twitch streamer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon was on the rail rooting on his friend in Slovenian poker hero Blaz Zerjav. It came down to just Zerjav and Ersin Sancak with Sancak coming out on top to win the largest prize thus far this The Festival Series of €18,000. While Zerjav fell one short from the title, he will be able to wipe any tears away from not winning the customized framed sketch trophy with a runner-up prize of €11,500.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Ersin SancakAustria€18,000
2Blaz ZerjavSlovenia€11,500
3Michal JanczarskiPoland€7,500
4Nicolai EjstrudDenmark€5,200
5Michel MolenaarNetherlands€3,750
6Per AlstigSweden€2,500
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Blaz Zerjav

Igor Narajczyk Wins PLO 4/5/6

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Igor Narajczyk wins PLO 4/5/6

Event #32: €250 4/5/6 generated the second biggest prize pool of the day of tournaments that were completed with 94 entries competing in rotating PLO action for a piece of the €20,092.

The Festival Series veterans JJ Hazan and Johnny Johansen both managed to cash but missed out on the big money near the top. Lithuania’s Rinatas Suleimanovas’ deep run ended in third place for €2,600 leaving two players from Poland in Igor Narajczyk and Pawel Keller to battle for pot-limit Omaha supremacy. Narajczyk defeated his countrymate to win the €5,400 top prize while Keller settled for the healthy €3,542 runner-up prize.

Check out all of the payouts of the €250 PLO 4/5/6 below:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Igor NarajczykPoland€5,400
2Pawel KellerPoland€3,542
3Rinatas SuleimanovasLithuania€2,600
4Mika HalmetojaFinland€2,000
5Asterios KokompelisGreece€1,500
6Serguei PalomeraSweden€1,100
7JJ HazanUnited Kingdom€800
8Johnny JohansenNorway€600
9Daniel van EderenAustria€600
10Zoltan GalHungary€600
11Jari HaemaelaeinenFinland€450
12Hans KaronenSweden€450
13Gia CarnestroemSweden€450
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Marita Magi wins Slots Championship

In other news, Marita Magi defeated 16 skilled fun slots enthusiasts to win the €125 Slots Championship for the entire €1,672 prize pool.

Italy’s Dario De Toffoli came out on top of a field of 88 entries to win the €125 HORSE for €2,800, while Finland’s Toni Sarkama was the last player standing in a bigger field of 147 entries in the €125 Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness for €3,760.

Despite not winning any flips on Thursday, Keito Kaljulaid still maintains a four flip lead with 11 flips won in the Franke’s Flip Flop challenge. Also, the preliminary Player of the Series standings show Paf’s Ola Brandborn on top with Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, who finished runner-up to Brandborn on Wednesday in the €250 8-Game, hungry to push past him in second place.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon

Day 6 Schedule (Dec. 1)

TimeEvent
12 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 1e
1 p.m.Event #37: €250 Open Face Chinese
4 p.m.Event #38: €125 Festival Queens
5 p.m.Event #39: €250 PLO Masters
7 p.m.Event #40: €125 NL Texas €15K GTD
8 p.m.Event #41: €5/€5 NLHE Cash Game Challenge
8 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Turbo Day 1f
9 p.m.Event #29: €250 The Hendon Mob Championship Day 2
9 p.m.Event #42: €125 PLO/PLO8
10:30 p.m.Event #43: €5/€5 PLO Cash Game Challenge
11 p.m.Event #44: €125 Friday Texas Turbo Midnight Madness
Cards in the Air for Day 1e of the €500K GTD Main Event 01.12.2023 12:18 by Franke

The Festival Series host Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund made some announcements to the Main Event crowd before cards were in the air for Day 1e of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event.

The action began with 80 entries in the mix including Andres Allsalu, Leonardo Burdino, Mikolaj Domanski, Sandor Mate, Stig Moen, Arthur Navellou, and Heidi Bekker.

Players can re-enter twice throughout the day with players bagging their stacks after 12 blind levels of 40 minutes each. Tonight’s last chance turbo Day 1f will move faster with 20-minute blind levels. In both cases, players start with 30,000 in chips and can re-enter twice each flight at any point during the day. Additionally, players advancing to Day 2 can also re-enter until the late registration closes after the second blind level of the day.

Best of luck to all of the Main Event players and check out the schedule of Friday, Dec. 1 below:

TimeEvent
12 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 1e
1 p.m.Event #37: €250 Open Face Chinese
4 p.m.Event #38: €125 Festival Queens
5 p.m.Event #39: €250 PLO Masters
7 p.m.Event #40: €125 NL Texas €15K GTD
8 p.m.Event #41: €5/€5 NLHE Cash Game Challenge
8 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Turbo Day 1f
9 p.m.Event #29: €250 The Hendon Mob Championship Day 2
9 p.m.Event #42: €125 PLO/PLO8
10:30 p.m.Event #43: €5/€5 PLO Cash Game Challenge
11 p.m.Event #44: €125 Friday Texas Turbo Midnight Madness
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Stig Moen
Defending Cash Game Challenge Champion Franke Takes Lead in Bratislava 01.12.2023 11:38 by Franke

The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk ran hot played well during the last The Festival Series at Portomaso Casino in Malta when he won more than 3,000 big blinds in a Cash Game Challenge session to win the Cash Game Challenge title.

Franke was known to win several titles at the Cash Game Festival that he also founded and wanted to become the first player to win back-to-back titles. On Thursday morning, he shared with us that WSOP champion Dainius Antanaitis, who was coming into the day on top of the leaderboard with 1,068 big blinds in profit, better watch out as he was going to take the lead.

Sometimes we hope for things that wind up happening and sometimes we don’t. In this case, Franke followed through and won 1,239 big blinds on the televised €5/€5 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge session on Thursday evening to take the lead.

Meanwhile, Tahsin Malumder won 358 big blinds in the early €5/€5 no-limit hold’em Cash Game Challenge session. While this wasn’t big enough to be in the leaderboard conversation, it still was a nice win in front of friends and family on TheFestivalOG Twitch channel.

Two more televised Cash Game Challenge sessions will take place on Friday with the games and stakes the same as Thursday. Sign-up on the casino floor if interested in joining the fun.

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Toni Sarkama Wins Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness 01.12.2023 11:29 by Franke
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Toni Sarkama wins Thursday Midnight Madness

Event #37: €125 NLH Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness attracted plenty of late-night poker players with 147 entries competing for a piece of the healthy €15,360 prize pool.

Although it was a turbo event with 15-minute blind levels, it turned out to be a long one and it wasn’t until nearly 6 a.m. when Finland’s Toni Sarkama defeated Austria’s Harald Pabisch to win the €3,760 winner’s prize. Check out who were among the 18 players to cash in Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Toni SarkamaFinland€3,760
2Harald PabischAustria€2,350
3Niccolo CadoniItaly€1,650
4Robin TonebyNorway€1,275
5Pia JeppesenDenmark€1,050
6Benjamin BinyaminovAustria€825
7Ole-Johnny KarlsenNorway€675
8Jade WalkerUnited Kingdom€550
9Ferry SparlaNetherlands€450
10Scott KenyonUnited Kingdom€375
11Joost MelkertNetherlands€375
12Tarmo TammelEstonia€375
13Robert KontkanenSweden€300
14Axel HoweGermany€300
15Patrick MalmNorway€300
16Minh NgoiFinland€250
17Berci VeghSweden€250
18Adrian IvasiucMoldova€250
Igor Narajczyk Wins PLO 4/5/6 01.12.2023 11:14 by Franke
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Igor Narajczyk wins PLO 4/5/6

Event #32: €250 PLO 4/5/6 witnessed 94 enjoying a rotation of pot-limit Omaha battling it out for a €20,092 prize pool. A total of 13 players finished in the money including JJ Hazan and Johnny Johansen.

It was two players from Poland battling it out after Lithuania’s Rinatas Suleimanovas hit the rail on the podium in third place for €2,600. Igor Narajczyk won the title for €5,400 after defeating Pawel Keller, who settled for the healthy runner-up prize of €3,542. Check out all of the payouts of the €250 PLO 4/5/6 below:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Igor NarajczykPoland€5,400
2Pawel KellerPoland€3,542
3Rinatas SuleimanovasLithuania€2,600
4Mika HalmetojaFinland€2,000
5Asterios KokompelisGreece€1,500
6Serguei PalomeraSweden€1,100
7JJ HazanUnited Kingdom€800
8Johnny JohansenNorway€600
9Daniel van EderenAustria€600
10Zoltan GalHungary€600
11Jari HaemaelaeinenFinland€450
12Hans KaronenSweden€450
13Gia CarnestroemSweden€450
Sancak Defeats Zerjav to Win NLH High Roller 01.12.2023 11:01 by Franke
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Ersin Sancak wins NLH High Roller

The €1,100 NLH High Roller was another success story at The Festival Series Bratislava with 51 entries creating a €48,750 prize pool to destroy the €30,000 guarantee.

Defending The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champion Michel Molenaar ran deep once again before hitting the rail in fifth place for €3,750. At the end, it was Austria’s Ersin Sancak battling the experienced Slovenia Blaz Zerjav heads-up for the title with both players already locking up a five-figure haul of €11,500. Sancak won the battle to bank the €18,000 top prize and will forever be known as the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava High Roller champion.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Ersin SancakAustria€18,000
2Blaz ZerjavSlovenia€11,500
3Michal JanczarskiPoland€7,500
4Nicolai EjstrudDenmark€5,200
5Michel MolenaarNetherlands€3,750
6Per AlstigSweden€2,500
Daniel Smith Leads Final 22 in The Hendon Mob Championship 01.12.2023 10:46 by Franke

Event #29: €250 The Hendon Mob Championship attracted 172 entries on the opening day to create a €36,765 prize pool. Just 22 players advanced into Friday’s Day 2 with the action resumes at 9 p.m. with at least a €450 min-cash locked up with Day 1 ending after the money bubble broke. They will be playing for much more on Friday with a €9,100 top prize on the line.

United Kingdom’s Daniel Smith is in the captain’s chair to start the action with 615,000 in chips followed by The Festival Series veteran Strual Hiller with 522,000. Meanwhile, Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen, whose voice you’ve heard if you’ve tuned into TheFestivalOG Twitch channel to watch the t.v. tables at The Festival Series, is among the shorter stacks with some work ahead if he wants to see the final table and beyond.

We will confirm the seat draw with Banco Casino prior to publishing.

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Daniel SmithUnited Kingdom615,00062
2Sturla HillerNorway522,00052
3Johannes HalbkramAustria509,00051
4Ohad FreundIsrael492,00049
5Oemer YozgatGermany479,00048
6Nidal DawoudDenmark478,00048
7Ziga KlopcicSlovenia237,00024
8Quinten SpyckerelleLuxembourg225,00023
9Bartosz WesolekPoland187,00019
10Vitaliy KryzaUkraine175,00018
11Kristine HeltveitNorway167,00017
12Robin OlsenSweden164,00016
13Frederic MaxGermany160,00016
14Mitja RudolfSlovenia139,00014
15Claes LangSweden99,00010
16Marnix ReijersNetherlands95,00010
17Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom94,0009
18Mikolaj DomanskiPoland71,0007
19Jacob Dideriksen-NielsenDenmark62,0006
20Charles CalfelisSwitzerland52,0005
21Jacob WittDenmark32,0003
22Eirik BjorbaekNorway11,0001
Greek Domination on Day 1d of Main Event 01.12.2023 10:29 by Franke

Day 1d of the €500,000 guaranteed The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event was a turbo-charged affair that witnessed 48 entries from countries across the globe battle it out in hopes of securing a healthy stack for Saturday’s Day 2.

Greece’s Charalampos Chalkiotis bagged the overwhelming Day 1d chip lead with 259,000 to place him in second place only behind Day 1c chip leader Kelly Kellner from Canada with 349,000.

Fellow Greek countrymate Christos Vettas bagged 138,000 for the second biggest stack on Day 1d with Pedr Behr (106,000) and Slobodan Trajkovski (103,000) also compiling six-figure stacks.

Jason Kiselis has made the most of his trip from Australia with 69,000, while defending champion in The Festival Series Malta Main Event champion Oystein Brenden advanced with 66,000.

The Main Event currently attracted 410 entries across the first four starting days with many more to come with the final two opening days taking place on Friday. Players will also be permitted to late register and re-enter during the first two blind levels of Saturday’s Day 2. Check out all of the Day 1d chip counts below:

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Charalampos ChalkiotisGreece259,00086
2Christos VettasGreece138,00046
3Peder BehrSweden106,00035
4Slobodan TrajkovskiNorth Macedonia103,00034
5Andre SormEstonia91,00030
6Juraj PicekSlovakia86,00029
7Renato RusmigoCyprus72,00024
8Jason KiselisAustralia69,00023
9Oystein BrendenNorway66,00022
10Michal HavavkaSlovakia65,00022
11Rafael BenIsrael60,00020
12Dainius KudarauskasLithuania55,00018
13Kristoffer WintersteinSweden51,00017
14Wouter SchuurbiersBelgium50,00017
15Pawel MadynskiPoland42,00014
16Gyula RapoltiHungary41,00014
17Darius JacukeviciusLithuania40,00013
18Aleksandar KamendolievNorth Macedonia35,00012
19Nicos SotiriouCyprus17,0006

Dario De Toffoli HEROS the HORSE 30.11.2023 22:54 by Franke
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Dario De Toffoli wins the HORSE

Event #28: €125 HORSE played in the order of HEROS between the five mixed rotating games. The event proved to be popular among first-time mixed-game players and experienced veterans alike with 88 runners creating a €9,196 prize pool

Dario De Toffoli led all of the ‘HEROS’ in the HORSE event after defeating Germany’s Michael Wehner heads-up en route to the title and the €2,300 top prize. The 2023 The Festival Series Malta Main Event champion Oystein Brenden proved he can play with more than two cards as he earned a podium third-place finish worth €1,200. Congrats to all that cashed and check out all of the payouts of the €125 HORSE event below.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Dario De ToffoliItaly€2,300
2Michael WehnerGermany€1,600
3Oystein BrendenNorway€1,200
4Lars Olav HoleNorway€900
5Pia JeppsenDenmark€700
6Juuso KeskitaloFinland€524
7Stephen JarvieUnited Kingdom€400
8Peter La TerraSweden€300
9Bo LindahlSweden€300
10Scott KenyonUnited Kingdom€300
11Philippe LavalFrance€224
12Liking SaiyaselyFrance€224
13Grzegorz WyrazPoland€224
Kellner Leads Main Event After Day 1c 30.11.2023 21:46 by Franke
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Kelly Kellner leads Main Event after Day 1c

Day 1c of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event attracted 166 entries to bring the total up to 362 entries when taking into account the 196 entries that hopped into action during the first two opening flights.

Less than one-third of the field bagged chips with Canada’s Kelly Kellner leading the 49 survivors with 349,000 to push him miles ahead of the 207,000 that Day 1b chip leader Daniel Nagy advanced with. So far, 108 players have bagged and tagged chips with many more to come with three more opening flights to go.

Hungary’s Attila Leeb with 219,000 would have bagged the overall lead if not for Kellner performing better and Daniel Stacey (210,000) and Theodoros Karagiannis (202,000) also advanced with more than 200,000.

The Festival Series Tallinn Main Event champion Eirik Kristiansen got into the mix in hopes of starting his path to becoming the first two-time TFS Main Event champion. He bowed out during the seventh level of the day and will need to try again in other to join two other Main Event champions who bagged yesterday on Day 1b in 2022 The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champion Michel Molenaar (176,000) and 2021 The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champion Martin Mauthner (44,000).

This brings an end to the core part of our blog for the evening, although we will update some of the side events if they end at a reasonable time. Also, we will update later this evening the final chip counts from the turbo Day 1d and the final chip counts from the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship after it plays down to 22 players or less. Rest assured that whatever we don’t update tonight, we will be back to update last night’s results in the morning. 

For those still looking for some late-night action, the €125 Thursday Turbo Madness is about to kick off in a few minutes.

In the meantime, check out the final Day 1c chip counts of the Main Event below:

PlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
Kelly KellnerCanada349,000116
Attila LeebHungary219,00073
Daniel StaceyUnited Kingdom210,00070
Theodoros KaragiannisGreece202,00067
Nicolas MastrantonasGreece192,00064
Ville PohjalainenFinland168,00056
Ruslan VolkovUkraine158,00053
Drea KarlsenNorway157,00052
Allan ArjutEstonia156,00052
Aleksiy BaranovskiyRussia151,00050
Lior MarkovIsrael151,00050
Riku KoivurinneFinland146,00049
Igor MatarugaSlovakia135,00045
Mats RosqvistSweden131,00044
Bas de LaatNetherlands116,00039
Matteo SpozioItaly114,00038
Mohammed El KhatibDenmark108,00036
Svein EidsaeterNorway106,00035
Markus GanglbauerAustria106,00035
Jari KarkkainenFinland103,00034
Attila ErdeiHungary102,00034
Dimitrios KatsikasGreece101,00034
Miroslav LelekSlovakia100,00033
Marek HomolaSlovakia99,00033
Nikolaos TsitosGreece91,00030
Erwin HammerAustria89,00030
Ufuk YildirimDenmark82,00027
Nicklas DehliDenmark81,00027
Zoltan GalHungary75,00025
Sascha MannsGermany73,00024
Toni HannukselaFinland66,00022
Eyal SaidofIsrael65,00022
Giovanni CapitanoItaly60,00020
Janos KubatHungary60,00020
Michal ZimaniSlovakia60,00020
Oskari PiiraFinland59,00020
Siegfried RathAustria57,00019
Eftychios GeorgiouCyprus54,00018
Adrian IvasiucMoldova52,00017
Burany VaczyHungary52,00017
Luka CakarevicSlovakia46,00015
Eriksson JaerverudSweden44,00015
Marios PavlouCyprus42,00014
Michel PetersenDenmark36,00012
Arto LoikkanenFinland35,00012
Vangelis KaimakamisGreece30,00010
Miroslav DrugaSlovakia28,0009
Athanasios KechagiasGreece28,0009
Andrea AtzeniHungary27,0009
Marita Magi Wins €125 Slots Championship 30.11.2023 21:34 by Franke
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Marita Magi wins Slots Championship

The €125 Slots Championship generated quite the buzz with a noisy 16 players battling it out in a winner-takes-all format.

Slots professionals streamers Marco Ljubisic, Guillaume Font, and others were in the mix. However, it was a slots amateur showing her experience counts as well in Marita Magi to win the event to claim the entire €1,672 prize pool.

In all fairness, the Slots Championship is all about fun, so congrats to all of the players in enjoying their experience.

Flip Your Way to the Next Festival Series 30.11.2023 21:02 by Franke

Franke’s Flip Flops are back once again. You can enjoy €20 rake-free flips for vouchers for future tournaments at The Festival Series Bratislava. As an added bonus, The Festival Series is adding a package valued at €1,600 to the player that wins the most flips.

Currently, Keito Kaljulaid holds the flip lead with 11 flips won over the first three days followed by Erik Hamre with seven flips won and Allan Arjut with four flips. Check out the leaderboard below and may the best flipper win the most flips this evening.

PlayerFlips Won
Keito Kaljulaid11
Erik Hamre7
Allan Arjut4
Joseph Jackson3
Sturla Hiller2
Annette O’Carroll2
Karev Tralla2
Svein Olav Eidsaeter2
Mairo Toom2
Jill Mellstrom1
Antonio Sapio1
Gjelten Pererik1
Tanel Tammela1
David Mcleay1
Kasper Wurtz1
Harald Harm1
Taune Loodus1
Joost Melkert1
Juuso Keskitalo1
Mark Adams1
Paul Johnson1
William Lynch1
Theodoros Karogionnis1
Toni Sarkama1
Anu Lilja1
Andre Sorm1
Emmanouil Chalkiotis1
Aron Adalbjornsson1
Harley Adams1
Martin Steen1
Joel Baxter1
Marcin Puczylowski1
Lars Olav Mole1
Paul Millin1
Ruud van Fessen1
Vesa Vaistoman1
Jake Schrall1
Kurt Skimmeland1
Leif Iversen1
Asle Blomacher1
Kjell Hoiseth1
Cash Game Challenge Begins 30.11.2023 20:43 by Franke

The first Cash Game Challenge session kicked off in real time. The games have been switched around this evening with the action beginning with a €5/€5 no-limit hold’em affair. After a short break, the line-up will change for some four-card action with the game switching to €5/€5 pot-limit Omaha.

The player that wins the most big blinds at any individual Cash Game Challenge table during the week will be crowned the Cash Game Challenge champion and be awarded a free package to the next The Festival Series valued at €1,600.

WSOP bracelet winner Dainius Antanaitis currently leads the leaderboard after booking a profit of 1,068 big blinds on a €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge table two days ago. However, will he still be in the lead tonight? Not if Franke has anything to say about it as Franke already shared in the morning that he would pull ahead of Antanaitis in his quest to win the Cash Game Challenge title two festivals in a row after winning more than 3,000 big blinds in a €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge session at The Festival Series Malta at Portomaso Casino in May.

You can check out the action by clicking on the ‘Stream’ tab within our coverage or by heading to TheFestivalOG Twitch channel.

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Cash Game Challenge
Kiselis Enters Day 1d of the €500K GTD Main Event 30.11.2023 20:18 by Franke

The Turbo Day 1d flight for the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event just kicked off moments ago with 17 entries. Instead of the dozen blind levels of 40 minutes each, this flight will move twice as fast with 20-minute blind levels.

There will still be one “normal” opening flight taking place tomorrow at 12 p.m. followed by one last turbo flight on Day 1f before players will move onto Day 2. Players will still be able to get into the action as well during the first two blind levels of Day 2, but with a much shorter stack than those that grinded from the opening flights.

Jason Kiselis flew in from Australia special for The Festival Series and is one of the players to opt for the turbo-charged affair this evening. We wish him the best of luck and check out his interview with The Festival Series hospitality host Anastasia.

€9,100 Top Prize in The Hendon Mob Championship 30.11.2023 20:07 by Franke

The two-day €250 The Hendon Mob Championship attracted 172 entries to create a €36,765 prize pool on its opening day. There were just 68 players remaining during Level 11.

The day will end when there are just 22 players left with the final hand acting as the bubble. All returning players will lock up at least a €450 min-cash when the action resumes in this event on Friday at 9 p.m. Tomorrow’s winner will go home with a tasty €9,100 top prize.

Andras Halasi, Mike Hansen, Sturla Hiller, Phillip Huxley, Joseph Jackson, Ziga Klopcic, Martin Steen, and Alexander van Dijk are among the players still in contention.

Omaha Players Gather 30.11.2023 19:01 by Franke

The €250 PLO 4/5/6 just kicked off 17 players. This will grow with many sharing throughout the day they would hop in.

Frank Visser, Jukka Juhoven, Rinatas Suleimanovas, Barrie Dear, and Mark Adams are among the players to get into the action from the start.

Good luck to all of the Omaha players as the game rotates between four, five, and six cards.

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Frank Visser
Guarantee Smashed in High Roller 30.11.2023 18:57 by Franke

The €1,100 NLH High Roller boasted a €30,000 guarantee. It didn’t take long for that to be shattered with 38 runners adding €36,100 to the prize pool already with still more than four hours of late registration.

Check out some early photos of the High Roller below:

HORSE Getting Close to the Money 30.11.2023 18:52 by Franke

The €125 HORSE proved to be popular again with 88 entries getting into the mix. The action is down to just 20 players with Jon Kyte, Erik Hamre, Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, Oeystein Brenden, and Peter La Terra all still in action.

The event has nearly progressed to the money with the top 13 players banking at least a €224 min-cash. Tonight’s winner will take home more than 10-times as much with a €2,300 top prize.

Best of luck to all the mixed game players and enjoy the photos below by The Festival Series Photographer Dominik Demcak.

10 Seats Guaranteed in the €60 Super Satellite 30.11.2023 18:46 by Franke

The €60 Super Satellite guaranteeing 10 seats valued at €550 each to The Festival Series Bratislava €500,000 guaranteed Main Event.

There were about 60 players in the field to start including last night’s €250 Bratislava Deepstacks champion Gabriel Rymar, Jari Pekka Rattya, Kasper Wuertz, and Lisbeth Sunde are among the early entrants in the field hoping for a cheap path to Main Event glory.

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Gabriel Rymar wins Bratislava Deepstack
Photos & Update From Day 1c of the Main Event 30.11.2023 17:49 by Franke

Day 1c of the Main Event has already attracted 159 entries to bring the total up to 355 entries when taking into account the 196 entries battling it out during the first two opening flights. The action is down to 97 players midway through Level 8 with players bagging chips after the conclusion of Level 12.

Players can enter up to two-times per opening flight and also can still late register or re-enter with a short stack during the first two blind levels of Day 2.

Check out some of the photos by The Festival Series photographer Mairo Toom.

Ostrowski Wins Both The Hendon Mob Championship Bounties 30.11.2023 17:43 by Franke

The Hendon Mob put bounties on two of its esteemed representatives in Hans Kleinsman and Roland Boothby before the start of the two-day €250 The Hendon Mob Championship. The prize for the bounty was a free entry into the next The Hendon Mob Championship at The Festival Series.

Dominic Ostrowski won the first bounty after he sent Kleinsman off to the showers early when his ace-queen got there against kings in a five-bet all-in preflop pot.

Ostrowski wasn’t done quite yet. Boothby hung around for a bit of time before he ran into Ostrowski’s set. Now, Ostrowski will have options as he can either use both bounty prizes the next The Festival Series or if he only needs one bullet he will have a free entries to The Hendon Mob Championship at the next two The Festival Series stops.

“I misread my hand,” Boothby admitted. “I would have lost anyway but thought I had the top pair. It turns out I had ace-high. Neither was good against my opponent’s set.”

Meanwhile, The Hendon Mob Championship is up to 150 entries with 99 players remaining with more than a full level of late registration still available. Best of luck to Ostrowski and all of the other The Hendon Mob Championship players.

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Roland Boothby
€30K GTD High Roller Begins 30.11.2023 17:11 by Franke
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The one-day Event #30: €1,100 NLH High Roller kicked off moments ago with 15 players. This puts it nearly halfway to meeting the €30,000 guarantee, which is nearly certain to be broken with late registration not slated to close until 11 p.m.

Bo Alm, Daniel Koloszar, 2022 The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champion Michel Molenaar, Arthur Navellou, Tarmo Tammel, and Blaz Zerjav are among the early participants.

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2022 The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event Champ Michel Molenaar
Photos and Some Updates From The Hendon Mob Championship 30.11.2023 16:35 by Franke

A few players dropped by during the first break of the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship. One of them is still sitting with me in Germany’s Saxony.

Saxony first lost a bit of her stack with queens vs. aces. Then, she lost the rest with aces vs. kings. Mikolaj Domanski also dropped by with the same hand from the other angle.

“That’s funny,” I said outloud when I got back to my desk.

“Funny for who,” Saxony said seriously.

“Oops, I guess just funny for me as I heard the same hand from both players within a few minutes,” I replied.

Saxony had a good laugh after but didn’t soften the blow too much from her €250 hit from the tournament buy-in.

Meanwhile, Domanski isn’t the only player off to a hot start as Totti Lind shared that he tripled up early. Stig Moen also shared he likes his table and has some chips.

Peder Behr performed better than Saxony thus far but that was perhaps due to him only sitting down for one hand before the break.

Good luck to all of The Hendon Mob players in securing big stacks for tomorrow’s Day 2.

Day 1c Biggest Opening Flight Yet 30.11.2023 15:40 by Franke

Things are booming in the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event on Day 1c with 136 entries in the mix. This makes it the biggest opening flight yet and brings the total figure up to 332 entries when taking into the 196 entries battling on the first two opening flights.

Zoltan Gal, Darius Jacukevicius, and The Festival Series Tallinn Main Event champion Eirik Kristiansen are among some of the recent players to hop into the action.

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Eirik Kristiansen
Ostrowski Collects Kleinsman’s Bounty in THM Championship 30.11.2023 15:22 by Franke

Polish poker beast Dominic Ostrowski got a bit lucky but he knew what he was doing when he eliminated The Hendon Mob’s Hans Kleinsman.

Both Kleinsman and The Hendon Mob’s Roland Boothby put bounties on their heads before the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship began for a free ticket to the first The Hendon Mob Championship at The Festival Series in 2024.

“I’m out,” Kleinsman shared an hour after the event was over. “That’s good, now I can go to work the bar.”

“Wow, that was fast,” we replied.

Kleinsman seemed comfortable with being on the rail and recapped the hand. The long story short was that Kleinsman five-bet jammed with cowboys and didn’t hold against the ace-queen that Ostrowski called with.

“I’m sorry,” Ostrowski said to Kleinsman after the hand. “I am not calling you without the bounty.”

Kleinsman understood and didn’t blame the experiencing Ostrowski for going for it.

Boothy’s bounty is still in play and the field has grown in this two-day event to 97 entries with 87 players in their seats around the start of Level 3.

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Hans Kleinsman
Kaljulaid Still the Flips Master 30.11.2023 15:11 by Franke

Franke’s Flip Flops take place every evening from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. The action involves €20 rake-free flips where the winner gets a tournament voucher they can use for future events. The player that wins the most flips throughout the week will get even more as they will earn a framed pair of Franke’s actual flip flops he has been wearing all week along with a package to the first The Festival Series in 2024.

Estonia’s Keito Kaljulaid has been at them every night. He slightly extended his lead on the leaderboard despite running a bit colder and just winning one of them to bring his grand total up to 11 flips won. Erik Hamre, who won seven flips going into yesterday, stayed at that number to be the closest player behind Kaljulaid’s comfortable lead with Allan Arjut won two flips each on Tuesday and Wednesday to slide into third place with still three more days of flips to go.

Check out the full leaderboard below and may the best flipper win the Franke’s Flip Flops challenge.

PlayerFlips Won
Keito Kaljulaid11
Erik Hamre7
Allan Arjut4
Joseph Jackson3
Sturla Hiller2
Annette O’Carroll2
Karev Tralla2
Svein Olav Eidsaeter2
Mairo Toom2
Jill Mellstrom1
Antonio Sapio1
Gjelten Pererik1
Tanel Tammela1
David Mcleay1
Kasper Wurtz1
Harald Harm1
Taune Loodus1
Joost Melkert1
Juuso Keskitalo1
Mark Adams1
Paul Johnson1
William Lynch1
Theodoros Karogionnis1
Toni Sarkama1
Anu Lilja1
Andre Sorm1
Emmanouil Chalkiotis1
Aron Adalbjornsson1
Harley Adams1
Martin Steen1
Joel Baxter1
Marcin Puczylowski1
Lars Olav Mole1
Paul Millin1
Ruud van Fessen1
Vesa Vaistoman1
Jake Schrall1
Kurt Skimmeland1
Leif Iversen1
Asle Blomacher1
Kjell Hoiseth1
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Keito Kaljulaid
Spin Your Way to a Customized Sketched Trophy 30.11.2023 14:48 by Franke
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The Festival Series isn’t just about poker as the last two nights have featured two casino tournaments in the €125 Roulette Championship followed by the €125 Blackjack Championship.

Tonight’s casino tournament in the €125 Slots Championship at 7:30 p.m. requires the most skill finesse of them all. OK, we aren’t going to pretend there is any serious strategy here like there is in both the other casino tournaments as players will get 20 spins and the one that wins the most money will win the prize.

This means, anyone can play it. And as someone that played this event in Malta, I have some tips. Considering I failed to cash in this event, take them with a grain of salt.

  1. Order your favorite adult beverage. But still plan ahead. If you are a fast drinker, you can adjust this strategy by ordering two drinks.
  2. Do finger stretches. Although you won’t have to push the spin button too many times, you do not want to have an injury that could have been prevented with proper stretching. This also will help performance as well.
  3. Caress your machine. It is important to get to know your slots machine. While you won’t have time to feel like one with your machine you can give it some love and care. A loving machine is a better paying machine. Let’s keep that one to ourselves as this is a secret casinos do not want to give away.
  4. Use finesse and proper timing for your spins. As this isn’t a competition to see how can spin the fastest rather than who can spin the best, it is important to push the button at the right time. This should feel natural if you follow the first three steps.
  5. Root against others. Even if you don’t perform optimally, you might win if others perform worse. Remember to show good sportsmanship and then root someone on if they already past you as at the end of the day this event is about having fun.

Of course, you have as good a chance to win even if you don’t follow the above tips. But what fun would that be?

Bounties on Boothby & Kleinsman in The Hendon Mob Championship 30.11.2023 14:16 by Franke

The two-day €250 The Hendon Mob Championship kicked off moments ago after some announcements by The Hendon Mob’s Roland Boothby and The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk welcoming the crowd.

The event provides plenty of play with a 30,000 starting stack, 30-minute blind levels, and unlimited re-entries allowed during the first eight blind levels. Players will advance to tomorrow’s Day 2 already in the money with the action on Day 1 concluding when the field is down to just 15 percent.

To make things more exciting, The Hendon Mob added bounties to both Boothby and to The Hendon Mob’s Hans Kleinsman who are both hoping for deep runs in their signature event. Those claiming the bounty will win a free buy-in to the next The Hendon Mob Championship at The Festival Series.

The winner of this event not only will be awarded a lion’s share of the prize pool along with the usual The Festival Series customized framed sketch of the winner but also a special flag at The Hendon Mob and the exclusive The Hendon Mob trophy.

Matthew Adams, Steven Goose, Totti Lind, Stig Moen, Toivo Ojasoo, and Olav Snildal are among the 32 early entrants joining Kleinsman and Boothby in the field.

Best of luck to all of the players in The Hendon Mob Championship.

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Totti Lind
Paf Poker Manager Ola Brandborn Leads Player of Series 30.11.2023 13:38 by Franke
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Ola Brandborn

We have our first look at the Player of the Series and the popular Paf Poker Manager Ola Brandborn leads the way. Brandborn has cashed in four different events and the cherry on top came last night after he defeated Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon heads-up to win the €250 8-Game title.

The leaderboard at the moment does not include knockout tournaments and there might be other results to be tweaked. The knockouts will be added at a later point but tournaments with a buy-in under €125, tournaments not open to all (Festival Queens and Seniors 49+), and qualifiers will not count towards the leaderboard standings. That being said, check out the top 20 on The Festival Series Bratislava Player of the Series leaderboard heading into today:

PlacePlayerCountryPoints
1Ola BrandbornSweden89
2Andre SormEstonia70
3Jon KyteNorway68
4Anders BeckmanSweden65
5Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom58
6Gabriel RymarPoland53
7Matas KubiliusLithuania52
8Nicklas DehliDenmark51
Alexander van DijkNetherlands51
10Sascha MannsGermany49
11Jonatan WeddeNorway48
Scott KenyonUnited Kingdom48
13Paul BerthetFrance47
14Nils DoverklintSweden45
Barrie DearUnited Kingdom45
16Mike HansenDenmark44
Robert KontkanenSweden44
18Georgi VoometsEstonia43
Konstantinos KertikidisGreece43
20Martin KanakerSweden42
Only Heros Play HORSE 30.11.2023 13:16 by Franke

The €125 HORSE event just kicked off with players starting with 25,000 in chips and blinds increasing every 20 minutes until a winner is crowned.

The floor announced that the rotational order of the limit games will be HEROS which was an adaptation following recommendations of the mixed game community.

  • H – Hold’em
  • E – Stud h/l
  • R – Razz
  • O – Omaha h/l
  • S – Stud

The field was at 32 players from the start including the likes of Sviten Special author Martin Smith, Sascha Manns, Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, and OFC superstar Johnny Johansen.

Good luck to all of the mixed game players in their quest for the title.

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Johnny Johansen
88 on Day 1c of the Main Event 30.11.2023 13:00 by Franke

The action is picking up in the early goings on Day 1c of the Main Event with the field up to 88 entries. We will continue to ‘honor’ the first player that busts during each opening flight with today’s honor going to Christos Ioannou.

Coolbet’s Svein Olav Eidsaeter, Allan Arjut, and Drea Karlsen are among the recent players seen in action.

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Svein Olav Eidsaeter & Ole-Jonny Fagerslett
Gabriel Rymar & Benedikt Hausmann Win Big on Day 4 of 2023 TFS Bratislava 30.11.2023 12:54 by Franke

Wednesday was the biggest day thus far at Banco Casino at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava full of excitement with tons of events awarding personalized sketched framed trophies and huge cash prizes.

Gabriel Rymar became the first player during The Festival Series Bratislava to notch a five-figure prize after taking down the €250 Bratislava Deepstack for €14,400 via our live-streamed broadcast on TheFestivalOG Twitch channel. This record was broken a few hours later when two more players won five-figure prizes with Benedikt Hausmann winning the €17,800 top prize in the €1,100 PLO High Roller and Gunter Hanak banking €10,500 for second place.

Day 1b of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event witnessed 123 entries get into the mix to bring the total up to 196 entries when taking into account the 73 entries on Day 1a. Players still have plenty of time to get into the mix including two more of the six opening flights taking place on Thursday. Hungary’s Daniel Nagy leads the 59 survivors after turning his 30,000 opening stack into 207,000 on Day 1b. Former The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champions Martin Mauthner (44,000) and Michel Molenaar (176,000) both advanced via Day 1b, albeit Molenaar did so with a much healthier stack.

The Cash Game Challenge also raged on Wednesday off the stream with Alexandrs Golubevs winning the most in the €2/€2 PLO Cash Game Challenge for 766 big blinds. While this was an impressive score, it doesn’t push him ahead of Danius Antanaitis who currently leads with 1,068 big blinds. Keito Kaljulaid still leads the Franke’s Flip Flop challenge with 11 flips won after winning one more yesterday. Both of these challenges award a free package to the next The Festival Series for the player finishing the highest on the respective leaderboards.

Read on to learn more about the completed events on Day 4 of the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava:

Gabriel Rymar Wins Bratislava Deepstack

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Gabriel Rymar wins Bratislava Deepstack

The 354 entries for a €75,665 prize pool was down to just 60 players in the two-day Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack to start the final day with 44 players going home with at least a €450 min-cash.

The battle was long but eventually after more than 12 hours of play, Poland’s Gabriel Rymar defeated Greece’s Konstantinos Kertikidis heads-up to win the €14,400 top prize.

Check out who cashed at the final table below:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Gabriel RymarPoland€14,400
2Konstantinos KertikidisGreece€9,425
3Steven GooseEstonia€6,925
4Nikodem DubielPoland€5,425
5Peder BehrSweden€4,425
6Stein Theiss Du KarlssonNorway€3,675
7Bo AlmSweden€2,930
8Aleksandar KamendolievNorth Macedonia€2,410
9Victor FrydaFrance€1,900

Benedikt Hausmann Wins PLO High Roller

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Benedikt Hausmann wins PLO High Roller

Event #22: €1,100 PLO High Roller boasted a €25,000 guarantee. This proved to be no obstacle as the guarantee was nearly doubled with 47 entries generating a €46,550 prize pool with the top seven players collecting at least a €1,200 min-cash.

Benedikt Hausmann and Gunter Halak battled it out heads-up with already €10,500 in the bag. Hausmann took care of business to win the event for an impressive result of €17,800 to become the biggest tournament winner thus far at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Benedikt HausmannGermany€17,800
2Gunter HalakAustria€10,500
3Arto LoikkanenFinland€6,250
4Bartel KarsNetherlands€4,700
5Stefano MoiItaly€3,500
6Oliver BolwerkGermany€2,600
7Pawel KellnerPoland€1,200

In other news, Niklas Dehli won the €125 Blackjack tournament for €1,241. The event attracted 24 entries for a €2,508 prize pool.

Paf’s Ola Brandborn defeated poker streamer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon heads-up to win the €4,600 top prize in the €250 8-Game, which also continued its popularity with 84 entries.

The €250 Seniors 49+ ended when the 66-entry field was down to just five players. At that point, Mikael Doverklint, Bror Kiveiloe, the sharply dressed Kelly Kellner, Olav Snidal, and Anders Beckman. Doverklint was crowned the champion and won the biggest prize of €2,600 from the €14,107 prize pool.

To end the evening, Coolbet streamer Jonatan Wedde went on a run to remember as he was responsible for every player to hit the rail and collected their progressive bounties along the way from 10 players down to ship the €250 Texas Progressive Knockout. He also collected €3,450 from the prize pool generated by the 156 entries.

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Jonatan Wedde Wins Texas Progressive Knockout

Today’s Schedule (Nov. 30)

TimeEvent
12 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 1c
1 p.m.Event #28: €125 HORSE
2 p.m.Event #29: €250 The Hendon Mob Championship Day 1
5 p.m.Event #30: €1,100 NLH High Roller
6:30 p.m.Event #31: €60 Super Sat to Main Event (10x seats GTD)
7 p.m.Event #32: €250 PLO 4/5/6
7:30 p.m.Event #33: €125 Slots Championship
8 p.m.Event #34: €5/€5 PLO4 Cash Game Challenge
8 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Turbo Day 1c
10 p.m.Event #35: €125 Thursday Texas Turbo Midnight Madness
10:30 p.m.Event #36: €5/€5 NLHE Cash Game Challenge
Day 1c of Main Event Begins 30.11.2023 12:18 by Franke

The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk gave some announcements to those gathering in the Main Event room before Day 1c got underway with 24 entries.

Some of the early players include Bas de Laat, Mike Hansen, Attila Erdei, and Luka Cakarevic. Meanwhile, Kelly Kellner, who was part of the five-way deal last night in the €250 Seniors 49+ was all decked up and sparkly once again listening to Franke’s announcement. He shared afterward that he would hop in shortly into the Main Event as well.

Day 1c will feature a dozen blind levels of 40 minutes each similar to Day 1a and Day 1b. However, tonight will feature the first turbo flight in Day 1d which will move twice as fast with 20-minute blind levels. In all cases, players can re-enter twice if needed during each opening flight and can also late register or re-enter with a short stack during the first two blind levels of Day 2.

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Kelly Kellner

Thursday’s Schedule

The Main Event isn’t the only game in town. Mixed game lovers will enjoy the €125 HORSE at 1 p.m., while those interested in more multi-day play will hop into the two-day €250 The Hendon Mob Championship where they can earn a special The Hendon Mob flag.

Other players have their eyes on the €1,100 High Roller, the €250 PLO 4/5/6, and the €125 Thursday Texas Turbo Midnight Madness. Casino enthusiasts are also bound to have a blast competing in the €125 Slots Championship.

Meanwhile, the Cash Game Challenge will be live-streamed again at TheFestivalOG Twitch channel with stakes at €5/€5. Franke shared he planned to unseat the current leader in WSOP bracelet winner Dainius Antanaitis who won 1,068 big blinds in a €2/€2 PLO Cash Game Challenge session on Tuesday. Check out the full schedule of today’s events below:

TimeEvent
12 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 1c
1 p.m.Event #28: €125 HORSE
2 p.m.Event #29: €250 The Hendon Mob Championship Day 1
5 p.m.Event #30: €1,100 NLH High Roller
6:30 p.m.Event #31: €60 Super Sat to Main Event (10x seats GTD)
7 p.m.Event #32: €250 PLO 4/5/6
7:30 p.m.Event #33: €125 Slots Championship
8 p.m.Event #34: €5/€5 PLO4 Cash Game Challenge
8 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Turbo Day 1c
10 p.m.Event #35: €125 Thursday Texas Turbo Midnight Madness
10:30 p.m.Event #36: €5/€5 NLHE Cash Game Challenge
Wedde Dominates Texas Progressive Knockout 30.11.2023 11:48 by Franke
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Jonatan Wedde Wins Texas Progressive Knockout

Event #26: €250 Texas Progressive Knockout was a late-night affair kicking off at 10 p.m. with 156 entries adding €18,525 to the prize pool along with another €15,600 in progressive bounties.

Coolbet streamer Jonatan Wedde went on a run to remember with 10 players remaining to win the event at nearly 6 a.m. The €3,450 top prize is likely shadowed by what he collected in the bounties as he took out each and every player from the final table bubble until his eventual victory.

The event paid out at least €250 from the prize pool from each player with many others collecting a small piece along the way in the form of progressive bounties.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Jonatan WeddeNorway€3,450
2Matas KubiliusLithuania€3,450
3Andrea AtzeniItaly€2,325
4Georgios LivanosGreece€1,700
5Nicolai EjstrudDenmark€1,325
6Robin TonebySweden€1,050
7Kento SuzukiJapan€800
8Marius IgnatRomania€650
9Tauno LoodusEstonia€500
10Andre SormEstonia€375
11Christos MakrisCyprus€375
12Julius JurksaitisLithuania€375
13Sturla HillerNorway€300
14Viktoria LucenkovaSlovakia€300
15Tanel TammelaEstonia€300
16Julius KettunenFinland€250
17Norbert BundikHungary€250
18Joao Goncalves De BritoPortugal€250
19Michal HavavkaSlovakia€250
20Serguei PalomeraSweden€250
Benedikt Hausmann Wins PLO High Roller 30.11.2023 11:35 by Franke
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Benedikt Hausmann wins PLO High Roller

Despite the plethora of options on Wednesday, Event #22: €1,100 PLO High Roller nearly doubled its €25,000 guarantee with 47 entries creating a €46,550 prize pool shared by the top seven players from six different nationalities.

Benedikt Hausmann and Gunter Halak faced off during heads-up action with each player already locking in five-figure payouts. Hausmann had all the chips at the end to become the biggest tournament winner thus far at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino with an impressive haul of €17,800.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Benedikt HausmannGermany€17,800
2Gunter HalakAustria€10,500
3Arto LoikkanenFinland€6,250
4Bartel KarsNetherlands€4,700
5Stefano MoiItaly€3,500
6Oliver BolwerkGermany€2,600
7Pawel KellnerPoland€1,200
Mikael Doverklint Wins €250 Seniors 49+ 30.11.2023 11:26 by Franke

A total of 66 entries of at least 49 years of age each battled it out yesterday in the one-day Event #20: €250 Seniors 49+ for a share of a €14,107 prize pool.

The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk and poker commentator Stig Moen were side-by-side deep in the event but weren’t able to advance to the final table where all the money was to be played for. The final five players in Doverklint, Bror Kiveiloe, the sharply dressed Kelly Kellner, Olav Snidal, and Anders Beckman discussed a deal after Anders Aashammer busted in sixth place. A deal was agreed and Doverklint went on to win the personalized sketched winner’s photo trophy and the €2,600 top prize.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Mikael DoverklintSweden€2,600*
2Bror KiveiloeFinland€2,592*
3Kelly KellnerCanada€2,390*
4Olav SnidalNorway€2,217*
5Anders BeckmanSweden€1,928*
6Anders AashammerNorway€830
7Michel PetersenDenmark€650
8Josef MalmgrenSweden€500
9Yury AisovAustria€400

*Reflects five-way deal at final table.

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Mikael Doverklint wins Seniors 49+
Paf’s Ola Brandborn Wins 8-Game 30.11.2023 11:09 by Franke
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Ola Brandborn wins 8-Game

Event #19: €250 8-Game proved to be popular with 84 entries rotating between eight different flop, stud, and draw games in limit, pot-limit, and no-limit formats. A total of 14 players cashed for at least €350 in what turned into a nearly 14 hour marathon. WSOP Europe 8-Game bracelet winner Dainius Antanaitis hit the rail in ninth place before players began playing short-handed at the final table when The Festival Series Tallinn Main Event champion Eirik Kristiansen hit the rail in sixth place.

Eventually, it was Paf poker manager Ola Brandborn and Twitch streamer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon facing off head-to-head for the title with each player already locking up a healthy €3,100 payout. Kenyon shared he was hungry for a mixed-game title at The Festival Series Bratislava but he will have to try again. Eventually, Brandborn proudly won the title along with the €4,600 top prize.

Congrats to all of the players who cashed in the 8-Game event.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Ola BrandbornSweden€4,600
2Scott KenyonUnited Kingdom€3,100
3Vesa HeikkinenFinland€2,330
4Risto PonnioFinland€1,800
5Vincent PicardFrance€1,400
6Eirik KristiansenNorway€1,050
7Jon KyteNorway€725
8Kenneth WiikSweden€525
9Dainius AntanaitisLithuania€525
10Kristin FlatakerNorway€425
11Sascha MannsGermany€425
12Simon KuntzNetherlands€350
13Erik HamreNorway€350
14Daniel PilgrimUnited Kingdom€350
Gabriel Rymar Wins Bratislava Deepstack (€14,400) 30.11.2023 10:58 by Franke

Event #2: €250 Bratislava Deepstack began on Sunday with the first of its three opening flights before eventually, 352 entries got into the mix to create a healthy €75,665 prize pool.

There were just 60 players to return on Wednesday for the second and final day with just 44 finishing in the money. Players continued their battle for more than 12 hours before Poland’s Gabriel Rymar earned the title and the €14,400 top prize after defeating Greece’s Konstantinos Kertikidis heads-up.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Gabriel RymarPoland€14,400
2Konstantinos KertikidisGreece€9,425
3Steven GooseEstonia€6,925
4Nikodem DubielPoland€5,425
5Peder BehrSweden€4,425
6Stein Theiss Du KarlssonNorway€3,675
7Bo AlmSweden€2,930
8Aleksandar KamendolievNorth Macedonia€2,410
9Victor FrydaFrance€1,900
10Jari KarkkainenFinland€1,450
11Stylianos PapantoniouCyprus€1,450
12Matas KubiliusLithuania€1,150
13Charalampos ChalkiotisGreece€1,150
14Patrick MoslingerAustria€1,150
15Theodoros AmpelikiotisGreece€1,150
16Brian KlindrupDenmark€900
17Jorn ByeNorway€900
18Michael KossovUnited Kingdom€900
19Daniel DawUnited Kingdom€900
20Daniel ShakerAustria€700
21Kurt SkimmelandNorway€700
22Andres AllsaluEstonia€700
23Petri JuurikkalaFinland€700
24Johan LendeniusSweden€550
25Andres LeppikFinland€550
26Marios PavlouCyprus€550
27Mitja RudolfSlovakia€550
28Robert KontkanenSweden€550
29Daniel SmithUnited Kingdom€550
30Gregorz WyrazPoland€550
31Anargyros LoizosGreece€550
32Bart DilNetherlands€450
33Ville PohjalainenFinland€450
34Aleksiy BaranovskiyRussia€450
35Toomas NurmeEstonia€450
36Olli KovalainenFinland€450
37Dimitrios KatsikasGreece€450
38Vasilijus PiskunovasLithuania€450
39Nicklas DehliDenmark€450
40Phillip HuxleyUnited Kingdom€450
41Jozef CibicekSlovakia€450
42Ziga KlopcicSlovenia€450
43Nidal DawoudDenmark€450
44Ivan SebelediSlovakia€450
Daniel Nagy Bags Main Event Chip Lead on Day 1b 29.11.2023 21:54 by Franke
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Daniel Nagy

Day 1b of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event attracted 123 entries to bring the total up to 196 entries when taking into account the 73 entries that hopped into action on Tuesday’s Day 1a.

Exactly one-third of the field bagged chips with Daniel Nagy leading the 41 survivors with 207,000 to push him ahead of the 190,000 that Day 1a chip leader Bo Alm advanced with. So far, 59 players have bagged and tagged chips with many more to come with four more opening flights to go.

Martin Mauthner, who won the very first The Festival Series Main Event when it all began in Bratislava back in 2021, managed to bag a shorter stack of 44,000. Meanwhile, defending The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champion Michel Molenaar was at his table for quite some time and will also head into Day 2 in much better shape with 176,000 in chips.

This brings an end to our blog for the evening, although we will update some of the side events if they end at a reasonable time. If not, expect to learn about all of the results in the morning.

For those still looking for some late-night action, the €250 Texas Progressive Knockout is about to kick off in a few minutes.

In the meantime, check out the final Day 1b chip counts of the Main Event below:

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Daniel NagyHungary207,00069
2Steven ToolEstonia188,00063
3Jimmy DewerdtEstonia180,00060
4Michel MolenaarNetherlands176,00059
5Dominik OstrowskiPoland170,00057
6Karl SundinSweden153,00051
7Polys ChristouCyprus139,00046
8Sandor LeitenrothGermany139,00046
9Kristian HolmgrenDenmark116,00039
10Ernst SolemSweden112,00037
11Richard KoppelEstonia111,00037
12Lukas TothSlovakia110,00037
13Lukas BenkovicSlovakia103,00034
14Runar BorgeNorway102,00034
15Andras HalasiHungary102,00034
16Claes LangSweden102,00034
17Giorgio BascianoItaly100,00033
18Toni SarkamaFinland98,00033
19Christoph HammerlitzAustria96,00032
20Vasilijus PiskunovasLithuania95,00032
21Ronni MindelundDenmark88,00029
22Jozef CibicekSlovakia86,00029
23Joern HvaalDenmark73,00024
24Erik SefferSlovakia65,00022
25Carl AnderssonSweden62,00021
26Henri PiironenFinland62,00021
27Vitaliy KryzaUkraine56,00019
28Simon KleivdalNorway55,00018
29Kristoffer SkolemNorway54,00018
30Dmitri DudakovEstonia53,00018
31Martin SzecsenyiAustria53,00018
32Jesse LiljegrenFinland51,00017
33Serguei PalomeraSweden48,00016
34Fredric LydersenNorway46,00015
35Martin MauthnerAustria44,00015
36Arne AlnesNorway42,00014
37John BondsSweden42,00014
38Ersin SancakAustria42,00014
39Jonatan WeddeNorway27,0009
40Kristo EralaEstonia25,0008
41Anastasios PagonakisGreece19,0006
Franke Flying in the Seniors 29.11.2023 21:08 by Franke

The €250 Seniors Event 49+ attracted a young field of 66 entries to create a €14,107 prize pool. The top eight players will go home with at least a €550 top prize with tonight’s winner taking home much more with a €4,780 top prize at stake.

Although The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk busted on his first bullet, he has done far better on his second bullet as he holds a decent stack with just 13 players remaining. He shared that he will win despite just doubling up the short-stacked poker commentator Stig Moen.

Meanwhile, Kelster Mania is alive once again, albeit a little tired. Kelly Kellner is sitting on a huge stack at a different table and gave us a wink.

“Kellster Mania is alive!” Kellner said.

“Alive but tired?” we asked.

Kellner confirmed this was the case but appeared focused on winning the framed sketch trophy instead of letting Franke walk away with it as he would like.

Check out the photos of the final two tables by Dominik Demcak.

Franke’s Flip Flops About to Begin 29.11.2023 20:52 by Franke

Rake-free fun is about to return with Franke’s Flip Flop competition set to resume at 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. Players have been enjoying the thrill of the flips in a +EV environment as the player that wins the most flips during the week will not only receive a framed pair of Franke’s actual flip flops but also a free package to the next The Festival Series stop.

Both leaderboard captain Keito Kaljulaid and Erik Hamre won four flips yesterday giving them 10 flips and 7 flips won to lead the action heading into Wednesday after 45 flips during the first two days.

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Keito Kaljulaid

Although we expect to see both of these players flipping away, we won’t be surprised to see other flip regulars including Joseph Jackson, Sturla Hiller, and Erik Hamre return to action. It is open to anyone and you don’t have to play for the leaderboard lead to have fun. So see you outside the tournament registration desk if you want to flip away and check out the leaderboard below heading into today:

PlayerFlips Won
Keito Kaljulaid10
Erik Hamre7
Joseph Jackson3
Karev Tralla2
Sturla Hiller2
Annette O’Carroll2
Alan Arjut2
Jill Mellstrom1
Antonio Sapio1
Gjelten Pererik1
Tanel Tammela1
David Mcleay1
Kasper Wurtz1
Harald Harm1
Taune Loodus1
Joost Melkert1
Juuso Keskitalo1
Mark Adams1
Paul Johnson1
William Lynch1
Theodoros Karogionnis1
Toni Sarkama1
Anu Lilja1
Andre Sorm1
Cash Game Challenge About to Resume 29.11.2023 20:02 by Franke

The Cash Game Challenge is set to resume in a few minutes. Tonight’s line-up will include a €2/€2 no-limit hold’em affair at 8 p.m. followed by a €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha line-up at 10:30 p.m.

The player that wins the most big blinds during any designated Cash Game Challenge table during the week will be crowned the Cash Game Challenge champion and be awarded a free package to the next The Festival Series in February 2024.

WSOP Europe 8-Game champion Dainius Antanaitis was one of the early eliminations on Day 2 of the inaugural €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES. However, he made the most of this and instead a short while later won 1,068 big blinds in a €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge session to take a commanding lead on the Cash Game Challenge leaderboard.

Check out the leaders from each Cash Game Challenge session thus far at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino and we wish all the Cash Game Challenge players the best of luck in unseating Antanaitis as the contest’s captain.

DateGamePlayerBig Blinds Won
Nov. 27€2/€2 NLHEDzintars Lacis215
Nov. 27€2/€2 PLOEva Jiretorn168
Nov. 28€2/€2 NLHEJoel Baxter128
Nov. 28€2/€2 PLODanius Antanaitis1,068
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Cash Game Challenge
More Main Event Day 1b Photos 29.11.2023 19:55 by Franke
34 Players and Counting in the PLO High Roller 29.11.2023 19:48 by Franke

The €1,100 PLO High Roller boasts a €25,000 guarantee. This was already blown out of the water with 34 entries in the mix with still more than two hours remaining in late registration.

Allan Arjut, Zoltan Gal, and Frank Visser are among the newer faces. Visser shared during the break that he hopped in this event after no love came his way in the €250 8-Game.

Check out some photos from the PLO High Roller by Dominik Demcak.

Nicklas Dehli Denies Dutch Victory in Blackjack Championship 29.11.2023 19:29 by Franke

Nicklas Dehli navigated through a field of 24 casino enthusiasts to win the €125 Blackjack Championship for €1,258. In the processed he denied two Dutch players a chance at Blackjack glory but at least they got to share in the prize pool for finishing on the podium with Alexander van Dijk collecting €750 for second place and Sandeep Nene banking €500 for third place.

Congrats to Dehli for shipping the event and to van Dijk and Nene for finishing in the money.

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Nicklas Dehli wins the Blackjack Championship
Super Satellite Starts With 60 Players 29.11.2023 19:16 by Franke

The €60 Super Satellite just kicked off with 60 players. It seems like it will be a lock that there will be more than the 10 guaranteed seats for the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event.

It appears JJ Hazan busted the Seniors Event as he was one of the players in the Super Satellite along Knut Groenli, Vanessa Wembly, and American Matthew Deller are among those in the field.

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Two Former TFS Bratislava Champs Battling on Day 1b of the Main 29.11.2023 18:37 by Franke

Both defending The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event champion Michel Molenaar and the first-ever The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event Champion Martin Mauthner are in the field on Day 1b of the 2023 The Festival Series €500,000 guaranteed Main Event hoping to become the first two-time champs. Check out some photos from Day 1b of the Main Event.

Final Table Reached in Blackjack 29.11.2023 18:16 by Franke

The €125 Blackjack event attracted 24 entries to create a €2,508 prize pool. Just eight players remain for the title with just three players paid out as follows:

  • First Place – €1,258
  • Second Place – €750
  • Third Place – €500

Although Domagoj Kuterovac won’t add a Blackjack title to his Roulette title he earned yesterday, other players are eager to join him as the second casino winner during this festival with Nicklas Dehli, Indrek Eiche, Robert Kontkanen, Georgios Livanos, Milan Ljubisic, Sandeep Nene, Alexander van Dijk, and Guillaume Font are all still in contention for the four-figure top prize.

Check out the photos below as we await to see who wins one of the premier casino events at The Festival Series Bratislava.

Photos from the 8-Game 29.11.2023 17:32 by Franke
PLO High Roller Begins 29.11.2023 17:24 by Franke
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The €1,100 PLO High Roller just kicked off and has some value with a €25,000 guarantee and just 10 players thus far in their seats. If we are being honest, however, we don’t believe there will be any overlay by the time late registration closes.

Tone Fester, Dominik Desset, Benedikt Hausmann, Georgi Voomets, and Rinatas Suleimanovas were all among the early players in their seats. Late registration will be open for 10 blind levels of 30 minutes each, so there is still plenty of time for players to get into the battle.

More Than 100 on Day 1b of the Main Event 29.11.2023 17:00 by Franke

Day 1b of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event eclipsed the 73 entries coming in on Day 1a with already 103 entries during Level 7. Players can re-enter twice during each opening flight and late registration won’t close until after the second blind level of Day 2.

Matthew Adams, Jimmy Dewerdt, Kristo Erala, Richard Koppel, and Jonatan Wedde were all noticed in the Day 1b field of 79 remaining players battling it out in hopes of advancing with a big stack.

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Kristo Erala
“I’m Only Making a Deal if It’s For More Than First” 29.11.2023 16:41 by Franke

Last night, Jon Kyte had a massive chip lead with nearly 90 percent of chips in play when a deal was being discussed deep on Day 2 of the first-ever €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES with three players left. Originally the payouts were slated as follows:

  • First Place – €8,675
  • Second Place – €5,875
  • Third Place – €4,175

“I will only make a deal if it is for more than first place,” Kyte recalled saying to Dimitris Giannakou and Robin Panholzer.

As both of his opponents were merely on crumbs, they agreed to a deal that would have paid more than first-place money to Kyte. However, the floor put a temporary wrench in the plans as they informed the trio that they had to still play for 10 percent of what was remaining or in this case €1,825.

Kyte was guaranteed €7,000 with Giannakou locking up $4,800 and Panholzer banking $4,600. The Norwegian then went on to quickly dispatch his opponents to win the extra money on the line along with the honor of becoming the inaugural Mixed Main Event HORSES champ in poker history to bring his total up to $8,825 for $150 more than first place was originally scheduled to get.

Meanwhile, Kyte will try to become the first two-time champion during this The Festival Series as he late-entered the €250 8-Game which is up to 70 entries with 64 players remaining.

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Jon Kyte wins inaugural Mixed Main Event HORSES
Seniors Event Popular 29.11.2023 16:27 by Franke

The €250 Seniors Event 49+ has proven to be popular with already 56 entries in the field with 10 players hitting the rail during the early action. Stig Moen and Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk got back into action as did JJ Hazan for his first bullet.

We checked up on Moen and Franke and both are well north above starting stack so it has gone well for both of them after hitting the rail barely after the clock stopped. Meanwhile, Mairo Toom was busy grabbing some snaps from around the room. So check them out below:

Blackjack Championship Begins 29.11.2023 16:14 by Franke
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The Festival Series isn’t only about poker as there are other types of casino-related tournaments on tap. Yesterday boasted the €125 Roulette tournament won by Domagoj Kuterovac for €941. Kuterovac is back in action today in hopes of winning the second casino event on tap in the €125 Blackjack which just kicked off with 15 entries across three tables.

Players will play 30 hands across three tables while the button moves for the order in which players place their bets. The top two stacks from each table will progress to the final table where stacks will be reset.

There is some skill involved when playing blackjack in this format instead of against the house. There will be times to bet more and times to bet less. More advanced players may employ +EV strategies of occasionally splitting 10s, doubling on 12, etc. that wouldn’t normally be part of basic blackjack strategy that one should use to reduce the casino edge when playing against the house.

Best of luck to all of the Blackjack players in their question in joining Kuterovac as the latest casino tournament winner at The Festival Series Bratislava.

Players in the Money in the Bratislava Deepstack 29.11.2023 15:40 by Franke

Norway’s Ailo Hegge headed to the rail during hand-for-hand play to bubble the €250 Bratislava Deepstack with the remaining 44 players locking up at least a €450 min-cash. Players including Phillip Huxley, who is parlaying his min-cash into a late registration into the €125 8-Game, headed to the cashier desk at a fast and furious pace after the bubble broke with just 32 players remaining competing for the title.

Check out some of the Day 2 photos by The Festival Series photographer Mairo Toom.

Kellner Wipes Out Two; Franke Bluffs it Off 29.11.2023 15:18 by Franke

While we aren’t really reporting hands until the final day of the Main Event, we did witness some mayhem in the first hand of the Seniors Event. Kellner rivered a flush to triple up and send both Stig Moen and Biniam Mesfin to the rail on the river first hand. Mesfin got back in before we heard a shout from a different table from The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk.

“So unfair!” Franke said as he briefly walked by.

“What happened?” we asked.

“I bluffed it off and now I have to re-enter,” Franke replied. “So unfair!”

Meanwhile, the Seniors Event already has 35 young players in heart battling it out. They began with a 25,000 starting stack and blinds increase slowly at every 25 minutes.

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Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk
More Reasons to Play Cash Games at Banco Casino 29.11.2023 14:47 by Franke
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As if the juicy cash games weren’t good enough on their own (and they are), Banco Casino hosts promotions for its cash game players including a progressive bad beat jackpot and high hand jackpots. Games are available at stakes low and high across a variety of formats from hold’em all the way to super dealer’s choice.

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8-Game, Anyone? 29.11.2023 14:19 by Franke

If you like playing different variants of poker, the €250 8-Game that just kicked off with an impressive starting field of 32 entries is right up your alley.

The event rotates through all of the limit games including Hold’em, Omaha hi/lo, Razz, Stud, and Stud hi/lo. In addition, limit Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw, no-limit Hold’em, and pot-limit Omaha are all part of the mix as well.

Many of the usual suspects are already in action including WSOP Europe 8-Game bracelet winner Dainius Antanaitis, Scott “PokerBrahs” Kenyon, Barrie Dear, Frank Visser, Bas de Laat, Jonas Jurksaitis, and the Norwegian poker power couple Oskar Wedde and Marthe Lyngvaer.

Slovenia’s Blaz Zerjav was waiting at the tournament registration desk and mentioned he was about to hop in and there is still plenty of time for others to do so as well as late registration which features unlimited re-entries is open for the first six blind levels of 30 minutes each.

We expect to see others such as Martin Smith, Franke, Allan Arjut, and Wouter Schuurbiers enter after previously expressing interest to play and their love of mixed games in general. Perhaps at least in Schuurbiers’s is taking a break from the tournament action and switching to the cash games he is known to love. He shared last night that he bubbled the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES after bubbling the €250 Sviten Special event the day before.

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Jonas Jurkaitis
Photos From the Vintage Arcade 29.11.2023 13:43 by Franke

Every day, The Festival Series hospitality host Anastasia invites everyone with the hospitality package to different events. Today, players enjoyed a visit to a vintage arcade playing 80’s and 90’s classics. Check out the photos below:

Jackson First Out on Day 1b of the Main Event; First Champ Mauthner Makes Appearance 29.11.2023 13:39 by Franke
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Joseph Jackson & Elisabeth Nordskog

The Main Event action on Day 1b picked up with 60 entries already in the field during Level 3. As will become tradition we will name and shame honor the first player to hit the rail during each opening flight. The honor this time around goes to our resident flip master Joseph Jackson who also has been seen streaming satellites at TheFestivalOG Twitch channel.

Meanwhile, Gani Weiss also hit the rail but unlike Jackson he opted to immediately re-enter and get back into the action.

Meanwhile, we noticed the first-ever Main Event champion Martin Mauthner back in action in hopes of becoming the first two-time champion. Mauthner, who is a former poker dealer, famously won the event by keeping his opponents on their toes while keeping calm with an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

Martin Mauthner
Martin Mauthner
Cards in the Air for Day 2 of the Bratislava Deepstack 29.11.2023 13:19 by Franke

Cards are in the air for Day 2 of Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack at Banco Casino. Four of the 60 players already hit the rail including Richard Koppel, Tarmo Tammel, Kyle Kronin, and Linus Elmes. Another dozen players will need to hit the rail before the rest of the field is in the money.

Best of luck to all of the Deepstack players.

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Tarmo Tammel
Sign-Up for the Cash Game Challenge on the Casino Floor 29.11.2023 13:01 by Franke

Players have been asking all week how they can get involved with the Cash Game Challenge for a chance at winning big money in cash games while also potentially winning a package to the next The Festival Series in February if they are the player that wins the most big blinds during any of the Cash Game Challenge sessions.

This is open to anyone, and, if interested, registration just opened on the casino floor for today’s €2/€2 NLH affair at 8 p.m. and the later €2/€2 PLO table at 10:30 p.m.

Good luck to all of the cash game players. Currently, Lithuanian WSOP champion Dainius Antanaitis holds the lead after winning a whopping 1,068 big blinds during last night’s €2/€2 PLO Cash Game Challenge broadcasted live at TheFestivalOG Twitch channel.

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€14,400 Top Prize in Bratislava Deepstack 29.11.2023 12:33 by Franke

Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack will kick off its second and final day in about 30 minutes time at 1 p.m. The event attracted 354 entries to create a tasty €75,665 prize pool.

Just 60 players remain with only 44 of them going home with at least a €450 min-cash. However, all players have their eyes on the €14,400 top prize with Lithuania’s Matas Kubilius sitting on top of the pack when the action resumes.

Check out all of the payouts for the €250 Bratislava Deepstack:

PlacePlayer
1€14,400
2€9,425
3€6,925
4€5,425
5€4,425
6€3,675
7€2,930
8€2,410
9€1,900
10-11€1,450
12-15€1,150
16-19€900
20-23€700
24-31€550
32-44€450
Kacerauskas Came Prepared as Main Event Begins 29.11.2023 12:10 by Franke

Day 1b of the Main Event just kicked off with 15 players making it on time. This number will grow as not only is late registration open for all 12 blind levels of each of the six opening flights but also during the first two blind levels of Day 2.

Lithuania’s Vytautas Kacerauskas dropped by for a quick chat and he appeared confident that today would be a good day.

“I came prepared,” Kacerauskas shared. “Look down.”

It wasn’t quite Franke-style with the flip flops but Kacerauskas was sporting comfortable sandals that should take him through the at least nine-hour day today’s Day 1b will require for those starting off from the beginning.

Joining Kacerauskas are 14 other players including the likes of flips expert Joseph Jackson, Knut Groenli, two-time TFS Bratislava runner-up in the Crazy Pineapple and Heads-Up events Matthew Adams, Arne Alnes, and Georgios Angelinas.

Jon Kyte Makes History as First Mixed Main HORSES Champ at TFS Bratislava 29.11.2023 11:59 by Franke

Norwegian poker beast Jon Kyte came into Bratislava not too short of accolades. Whether is notching a victory at The Festival Series, the EPT, the WSOP Circuit, and many more, Kyte has done it once again. On Tuesday evening, he shipped The Festival Series €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES in history for €8,825.

Three other players won titles, while Tuesday also marked the start of the €500,000 guaranteed Main Event and the final opening flight of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack.

Skills Put to the Test for Kyte; WSOP Champ’s Bust Maybe for the Best

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Jon Kyte

The structure of the inaugural €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES was designed by mixed-game beast and the President of the Norwegian Poker Association Tobias Leknes and tweaked a little to fit the expected crowd in attendance. The event attracted 67 mixed-game entries to create a €31,825 prize pool.

Jon Kyte navigated through a talented field which included recently crowned WSOP Europe 8-Game champion Dainius Antanaitis, who was one of the first players on the rail during Day 2, and all of the accomplished players listed below:

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Jon KyteNorway€8,825
2Dimitris GiannakouCyprus€4,800
3Robin PanholzerAustria€4,600
4Jonas JurksaitisLithuania€2,950
5Barrie DearUnited Kingdom€2,200
6Jarkko SuokasFinland€1,800
7Ola BrandbornSweden€1,550
8Bas de LaatNetherlands€1,350
9Michael WehnerGermany€1,350
10Sami PulliainenFinland€1,200
11Frank VisserNetherlands€1,200

Don’t feel too bad for Antanaitis as he took the lead in the Cash Game Challenge in the €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha televised affair after winning 1,068 big blinds for a tidy profit of €2,136. This pushes him to the top of the Cash Game Challenge leaderboard. The player that wins the most big blinds during any Cash Game Challenge taking place this week that players can sign-up on the casino floor will win a free package to the next The Festival Series in February.

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Dainius Antanaitis

Havavka Defeats Adams to Keep Heads-Up Trophy Home

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Michal Havavka

The heads-up trophy of a customized frame sketch will be staying in Slovakia as local player Michal Havavka defeated United Kingdom’s Matthew Adams heads-up to win the title in Event #11: €250 Heads-Up. Havavka banked €3,090, while Adams earned €1,840 for falling one player shy of the title. 

Kaspar Valk and Jari Hurri came close to heads-up glory in the capped 32-player field before bowing out in the penultimate matches of the event to earn the €955 min-cash.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Michal HavavkaSlovakia€3,090
2Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom€1,840
3Kaspar ValkEstonia€955
4Jari HurriFinland€955

Andrew Hanak Wins Half n’ Half

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Andrew Hanak

Event #13: €125 Half n’ Half is another fun one on The Festival Series schedule with games bouncing back and forth between no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha. Andrew Hanak defeated Paul Berthet heads-up to outlast all 102 entries and win a lion’s share of the €10,659 prize pool.

Congrats to all 13 players that cashed in what proved to be a popular event on Tuesday evening.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Andrew HanakUnited Kingdom€2,800
2Paul BerthetFrance€1,790
3Robert KontkanenSweden€1,360
4Alexander van DijkNetherlands€1,040
5Sascha MannsGermany€825
6Georgi VoometsEstonia€640
7Martin SteenDenmark€500
8Jona BomanSweden€390
9Maksym RonshynUkraine€314
10Andreas GroebmayrGermany€250
11Ondrej NecasCzech Republic€250
12Anders BeckmanSweden€250
13Grzegorz IskraPoland€250

Mike Hansen Ships the Win the Button

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Mike Hansen wins the Win the Button

Event #17: €125 Win the Button was an entertaining late-night affair. Every time a player won a hand, they got to keep the button the next hand allowing any player to gain momentum at any time. Denmark’s Mike Hansen came out on top of the 57 entries after defeating Michail Tastanis heads-up to win €2,200. Jill Mellstroem, Axel Howe, Oskar Wedde, Bo Lindahl, and Rinatas Suleimanovas also cashed in this event.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Mike HansenDenmark€2,200
2Michail TastanisGreece€1,310
3Jill MellstroemSweden€816
4Axel HoweGermany€555
5Oskar WeddeNorway€420
6Bo LindahlSweden€355
7Rinatas SuleimanovasLithuania€300

Other News

Event #2: €250 Bratislava Deepstack attracted 354 entries to create a €75,665 prize pool. Lithuania’s Matas Kubulius leads the way among the 60 survivors who will battle down to a winner in hopes to claim the €14,400 top prize. The top 44 players will earn at least a min-cash of €450, meaning that 16 players today will go home empty-handed while all others have a good reason to celebrate.

Despite all the events on Tuesday, the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event got off to a hot start with 73 entries getting into the mix for the first of six opening flights. Bo Alm led the 18 survivors after he parlayed his 30,000 opening stack into 190,000 in chips.

CasinoTogether’s Domagoj Kuterovac bested a field of 18 entries to win the €125 Roulette for €941 with Dzintars Lacis and Jakke Schraal also finished in the money in this fun casino-based tournament where players were competing against each other instead of against the house.

In other news, Keito Kaljulaid extended his lead to 10 flip wins out of the 45 Franke’s Flip Flop flips that took place the last two days. The player that wins the most rake-free flips throughout the week will win a free package to the next The Festival Series with them taking place every day until Saturday from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. outside the tournament registration area.

Today’s Schedule (Nov. 29)

Nov. 29 will be another busy day including the continuation of the Main Event with Day 1b, the conclusion of the Bratislava Deepstack, the second casino event in Blackjack, 8-game, progressive knockouts, Cash Game Challenge sessions, and more. Check out what’s happening poker wise in the tournament arena, and, of course, cash games will continue to run around the clock on the casino floor at Banco Casino.

TimeEvent
12 p.m.Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 1b 
1 p.m.Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack
2 p.m.Event #19: €250 8-Game
3 p.m.Event #20: €250 Seniors 49+
4 p.m.Event #21: €125 Blackjack Championship
5 p.m.Event #22: €1,100 PLO High Roller
7 p.m.Event #23: €60 Super Satellite (10 Main Event Seats GTD)
8 p.m.Event #24: €2/€2 NLH Cash Game Challenge
9 p.m.Event #25: €150 Turbo Sat to HR (2x €1,100 Seats GTD)
10 p.m.Event #26: €250 Texas Progressive Knockout
10:30 p.m.Event #27: €2/€2 PLO Cash Game Challenge
Andrew Hanak Wins the Half n’ Half 29.11.2023 11:12 by Franke

Event #13: €125 Half n’ Half proved to be popular with hold’em and Omaha fans with the game alternating between the two until Andrew Hanak shipped the event for the €2,800 top prize.

The tournament attracted 102 entries for a €10,659 prize pool. Check out the 13 players that cashed in this event.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Andrew HanakUnited Kingdom€2,800
2Paul BerthetFrance€1,790
3Robert KontkanenSweden€1,360
4Alexander van DijkNetherlands€1,040
5Sascha MannsGermany€825
6Georgi VoometsEstonia€640
7Martin SteenDenmark€500
8Jona BomanSweden€390
9Maksym RonshynUkraine€314
10Andreas GroebmayrGermany€250
11Ondrej NecasCzech Republic€250
12Anders BeckmanSweden€250
13Grzegorz IskraPoland€250
Mike Hansen Ships the Win the Button 29.11.2023 11:03 by Franke
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Mike Hansen wins the Win the Button

Denmark’s Mike Hansen defeated a field of 57 entries including Michail Tastanis heads-up to win the lion’s share of the €5,956 prize pool in Event #17: €125 Win the Button for €2,200. Jill Mellstroem, Axel Howe, Oskar Wedde, Bo Lindahl, and Rinatas Suleimanovas also cashed in this event.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Mike HansenDenmark€2,200
2Michail TastanisGreece€1,310
3Jill MellstroemSweden€816
4Axel HoweGermany€555
5Oskar WeddeNorway€420
6Bo LindahlSweden€355
7Rinatas SuleimanovasLithuania€300
Heads-Up Trophy Sketch Staying Home 29.11.2023 10:52 by Franke

The heads-up hand-designed, frame-sketched trophy will be staying in Slovakia as local player Michal Havavka defeated United Kingdom’s Matthew Adams heads-up to win the title in Event #11: €250 Heads-Up and the €3,090 top prize.

Meanwhile, Kaspar Valk and Jari Hurri also advanced deep from the capped 32-player field and managed to cash after bowing out in the penultimate matches of the event.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Michal HavavkaSlovakia€3,090
2Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom€1,840
3Kaspar ValkEstonia€955
4Jari HurriFinland€955
Bragging Rights to Jon Kyte as First Winner of Mixed Main Event HORSES 29.11.2023 10:44 by Franke
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Jon Kyte wins inaugural Mixed Main Event HORSES

Norway’s Jon Kyte has accomplished quite a bit on the poker felts across a variety of games. He now will have bragging rights over many of his friends including the President of the Norwegian Poker Association and one of the best mixed-game players by most people’s standards in Tobias Leknes, who was influential in designing the structure.

Kyte battled through a field of 60 entries including 28 players that advanced to Day 2 in the inaugural €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES for €8,825.

There appears there was some creative deal-making between the final three players based on the payouts. We will try to grab Kyte for a quick interview today. If not, we will at a minimum find out more about the deal after the players had some rest.

In the meantime, a massive congrats to Jon Kyte for shipping the first The Festival Series €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES in history, and well done to the skilled group of players that cashed.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Jon KyteNorway€8,825
2Dimitris GiannakouCyprus€4,800
3Robin PanholzerAustria€4,600
4Jonas JurksaitisLithuania€2,950
5Barrie DearUnited Kingdom€2,200
6Jarkko SuokasFinland€1,800
7Ola BrandbornSweden€1,550
8Bas de LaatNetherlands€1,350
9Michael WehnerGermany€1,350
10Sami PulliainenFinland€1,200
11Frank VisserNetherlands€1,200
Day 2 Seat Draw of the Bratislava Deepstack 29.11.2023 10:23 by Franke

A total of 60 players will return to battle it out on Day 2 of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack from a field of 354 entries. The payouts will be announced later with cards in the air at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The action will play down to a winner today. Check out the opening seat draw below:

TableSeatPlayerChipsBig Blinds
211Eftychios Georgiou118,00020
212Nicklas Dehli231,00039
213Richard Koppel190,00032
214Steinn Thanh Du Karlsson327,00055
215Ville Pohjalainen288,00048
216Phillip Huxley109,00018
217Peder Behr195,00033
221Ziga Klopcic220,00037
222Paul Danko97,00016
223Andres Allsalu80,00013
224Gabriel Rymar13,0002
225Brian Klindrup163,00027
227Gregorz Wyraz116,00019
228Ofir Gavriely188,00031
231Marios Pavlou227,00038
232Jorn Bye176,00029
233Daniel Shaker142,00024
234Kyle Cronin33,0006
235Nidal Dawoud136,00023
236Michael Kossov84,00014
237Aleksandar Kamendoliev375,00063
241Andres Leppik130,00022
242Pavlos Katsikidis49,0008
243Mohammed El Khatib173,00029
244Vasilijus Piskunovas173,00029
246Daniel Smith80,00013
247Steven Goose255,00043
248Johan Lendenius68,00011
251Erik Risberg152,00025
252Dimitrios Katsikas107,00018
253Theodoros Ampelikiotis164,00027
254Anargyros Loizos73,00012
255Trang Le59,00010
256Ivan Sebeledi132,00022
257Bart Dil52,0009
258Ailo Hegge168,00028
281Konstantinos Kertikidis61,00010
282Petri Juurikkala303,00051
283Jari Karkkainen272,00045
284Tarmo Tammel82,00014
285Mitja Rudolf246,00041
286Kurt Skimmeland221,00037
287Arman Nersisyan170,00028
288Toomas Nurme80,00013
381Stylianos Papantoniou365,00061
382Victor Fryda295,00049
383Daniel Daw553,00092
384Bo Alm246,00041
385Tauno Loodus171,00029
386Vangelis Kaimakamis258,00043
387Olli Kovalainen233,00039
388Linus Elmes74,00012
481Aleksiy Baranovskiy68,00011
482Charalampos Chalkiotis458,00076
483Nikodem Dubiel181,00030
484Matas Kubilius584,00097
485Jozef Cibicek86,00014
486Robert Kontkanen216,00036
487Mikolaj Domanski75,00013
488Patrick Moslinger67,00011
Day 1c Chip Counts of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack 29.11.2023 02:41 by Franke

Lithuania’s Matas Kubulius snagged the overall chip lead by turning his 30,100 starting stack into a whopping pile of 584,000 in chips on Day 1c of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack to surpass the 375,000 that Day 1b chip leader Aleksandar Kamendoliev advance with. Daniel Daw and Chalkiotis Charmpos also bagged more than Kamendoliev to jump into the top three with 60 players remaining to compete for the €75,668 prize pool created by the 354 runner including a whopping 202 entries on Day 1c alone.

The action will continue on Wednesday at 2 p.m. for Day 2 and will play down until one player has all the chips. Stay tuned for the seat draw before we update the rest of the results early tomorrow.

PlayerCountyChips
Matas KubuliusLithuania584,000
Daniel DawUnited Kingdom553,000
Chalkiotis CharlamposGreece458,000
Steinn Thanh Du KarlssonIceland327,000
Ville PohjalanenFinland288,000
Vangelis KaimakamisGreece258,000
Steven GooseUnited Kingdom255,000
Mitja RudolfSlovakia246,000
Nicklas DehliDenmark231,000
Marios PavlouCyprus227,000
Kurt SkimmelandNorway221,000
Ofir GavrielyIsrael188,000
Jorn ByeNorway176,000
Mohammed El KhatibNorway173,000
Vasiliujus PiskunovasLithuania173,000
Ailo HeggeNorway168,000
Theodoros AmpelikiotisGreece164,000
Daniel ShakerAustria142,000
Ivan SebeldiSlovakia132,000
Andres LeppikEstonia130,000
Gregorz WyrazPoland116,000
Dimitrios KatsikasGreece107,000
Jozef CibibekSlovakia86,000
Michael KossovUnited Kingdom84,000
Toomas NurmeEstonia80,000
Linus ElmesSweden74,000
Anargyros LoizosGreece73,000
Aleksiy BaranovskiyRussia68,000
Johan LendeniusSweden68,000
Patrick MoslingerAustria67,000
Konstantinos KertkidisGreece61,000
Bart DilNetherlands52,000
Pavlos KatsikidisGreece49,000
Gabriel RymarPoland13,000
Blog to Slow Down 28.11.2023 22:34 by Franke

While we won’t call it a night yet, we will be slowing down on the posting for the rest of the evening. We do promise to share the final chip counts of Day 1c of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack along with the seat draw for tomorrow’s Day 2 and any results that become final before then.

In the meantime, you can click on the Stream tab within our coverage to check out the €2/€2 Pot-Limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge session live on Twitch with George Sandford and Andreas Hoglund back behind the microphones announcing the action.

Photos From the Half n’ Half 28.11.2023 22:18 by Franke
Win The Button Begins 28.11.2023 22:16 by Franke

The €125 Win the Button kicked off with a dozen players including the likes of Peter Bumba, The Festival Series Malta Main Event champion Oeystein Brenden, Sturla Hiller, Bo Lindahl, and Jari Pekka Rattya.

Good luck to all the players in holding onto the button en route to victory.

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Jari Pekka Rattya
Meet Value Town’s Martin Kanaker 28.11.2023 22:01 by Franke
Bo Alm Leads Main Event After Day 1a 28.11.2023 21:54 by Franke
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Bo Alm

Day 1a of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event attracted 73 entries on the first of six opening flights. Just 18 players found bags led by Bo Alm with 190,000. Ziga Klopcic, Coolbet’s Elisabeth Nordskog, Rostyslav Sabishchenko, Ohad Freund, Sylvere Paillot, Stein Thanh Du Karlsson, Value Town’s Martin Kanaker, Paul Danko, Brian Klindrup, Stansislav Koleno, Robert Kontkanen, and Quinten Spyckerelle also all bagged six-figure stacks from the 30,000 starting stack.

Meanwhile, Jostein Groedum, Victor Fryda, Daniel Smith, Daniel Koloszar, and Trang Le also all found bags, albeit with shorter stacks. Check out all of the ending chip counts below from Day 1a of the Main Event.

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Bo AlmSweden190,000
2Ziga KlopcicSlovenia182,000
3Elisabeth NordskogNorway175,000
4Rostyslav SabishchenkoUkraine160,000
5Ohad FreundIsrael155,000
6Sylvere PaillotFrance148,000
7Steinn Thanh Du KarlssonIceland139,000
8Martin KanakerSweden123,000
9Paul DankoUnited Kingdom121,000
10Brian KlindrupDenmark112,000
11Stanislav KolenoSlovakia107,000
12Robert KontkanenSweden107,000
13Quinten SpyckerelleLuxembourg103,000
14Jostein GroedumNorway97,000
15Victor FrydaFrance88,000
16Daniel SmithUnited Kingdom81,000
17Daniel KoloszarHungary75,000
18Trang LeNetherlands26,000
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Ziga Klopcic
Turbo Sat to PLO High Roller Begins 28.11.2023 21:05 by Franke

The €150 Turbo Satellite to tomorrow’s €1,100 PLO High Roller just kicked off with just six players. This could prove to be some value as two players are guaranteed seats to tomorrow’s big-action affair.

Riku Koivurinne, Raffaele Farris, Patrick Heaney, Hans Koronen, Nicolas Mastrantonas, and Stefano Moi in the action from the beginning.

Good luck to everyone in getting into the PLO High Roller on the cheap!

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Franke’s Flip Flops Resume 28.11.2023 21:01 by Franke

Rake-free flips costing just €20 are running outside of the tournament registration area with players winning tournament vouchers that they can put towards buy-ins at The Festival Series.

This is all part of Franke’s Flip Flops which run every evening from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. from Monday until Saturday. The player that wins the most flips throughout this period will be dubbed the champion and win a framed pair of Franke’s actual flip flops. As if this wasn’t enough, The Festival Series will toss in a package to the next The Festival Series in February.

Keito Kaljulaid currently sits on top of the leaderboard after winning six flips out of a total of 23 possible run. Joseph Jackson won three while a few others managed to get their names on the leaderboard as well.

Franke’s Flip Flops Leaderboard After Monday (23 Flips)

PlayerFlip Wins
Keito Kaljulaid6
Erik Hamre3
Joseph Jackson3
Karev Tralla2
Sturla Hiller2
Jill Mellstrom1
Antonio Sapio1
Gjelten Pererik1
Tanel Tammela1
David Mcleay1
Kasper Wurtz1
Harald Harm1
Day 2 Photos From the Mixed Main Event HORSES 28.11.2023 20:52 by Franke

Four players already hit the rail to leave just 24 players remaining in the field on the final day of Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES.

WSOP Europe bracelet winner Dainius Antanaitis won’t be able to further showcase his mixed game skills in this event as he was one of the four players to hit the rail alongside The Festival Series Tallinn Main Event champion Eirik Kristiansen, Allan Arjut, and Liking Saiyasely. Check out the early Day 2 photos of the Mixed Main Event and best of luck to all of the HORSES.

Domagoj Kuterovac Wins €125 Roulette Championship 28.11.2023 20:46 by Franke
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Domagoj Kuterovac wins Roulette Championship

The €125 Roulette Championship is in the books after CasinoTogether’s Domagoj Kuterovac amassed the biggest stack to win the event for the €941 top prize. Dzintars Lacis, who has had a few mentions this week thanks to leading the Cash Game Challenge, finished runner-up for €565 while Jakke Schraal’s podium finish earned him a €375 payout.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Domagoj KuterovacSlovakia€941
2Dzintars LacisLatvia€565
3Jakke SchraalNetherlands€375
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Photos From Day 1a of the €500K GTD Main Event 28.11.2023 20:39 by Franke

Day 1a of the €500,000 guaranteed The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event has been a success thus far with 73 entries in the mix with one more blind level to go. Just 24 players remaining and we will update with the chip counts shortly after players bag their stacks for the evening.

Familiar names such as Bo Alm, Kristin Flataker, Victor Fryda, Martin Klaar, Coolbet’s Elisabeth Nordskog, Sylvere Paillot, Daniel Smith, and Adam Tomasson are all in the mix.

Check out some of the photos from Day 1a of the Main Event.

Quarterfinals Reached in Heads-Up 28.11.2023 20:18 by Franke

The quarterfinals have been reached in the €250 Heads-Up affair with the final eight players out of an original field battling one more match until they at least reach the money with third and fourth places guaranteed at least a €955 payout. The eventual runner-up will win €1,840 while the winner will take home a €3,090 top prize.

Here is a look at the quarterfinal match-ups featuring two players each from Finland, Estonia, and the United Kingdom and one from Slovakia and one from Greece:

  • Jari Hurri (Finland) vs. Kyle Kronin (United Kingdom)
  • Kaspar Valk (Estonia) vs. Georgios Livanos (Greece)
  • Jesse Liljegren (Finland) vs. Matthew Adams (United Kingdom)
  • Andres Allsalu (Estonia) vs. Michal Havavka (Slovakia)
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Matthew Adams
Cash Game Challenge About to Begin 28.11.2023 20:12 by Franke

The first of two Cash Game Challenges is about to begin. In fact, it has begun in live time but you will be able to watch it with hole cards exposed by clicking on the “Stream” tab in our coverage with George Sandford and Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund announcing the action.

Dzintar Lacis took the early lead on the Cash Game Challenge leaderboard after winning 215 big blinds during yesterday’s €2/€2 no-limit hold’em session and today another player will have a chance to unseat him whether in the early €2/€2 no-limit hold’em or the €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha in a few hours.

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Final Day of Mixed Main Event HORSES Begins 28.11.2023 20:07 by Franke

The action has resumed with the 28 players who advanced during the three opening flights in the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES battling it out for their share of the €31,825 prize pool generated by the 67 entries.

Jon Kyte holds the chip lead to start things off in the hopes of becoming the first-ever HORSES champion. However, not all the players will end up feeling satisfied as only the top ten players will go home with at least a min-cash of €1,325. Barring any deals, tonight’s winner will go home with much more with a €8,675 top prize on the line.

PlacePayout
1€8,675
2€5,875
3€4,175
4€3,050
5€2,350
6€1,950
7€1,650
8€1,450
9-10€1,325

Super Satellite Begins 28.11.2023 19:38 by Franke

A €60 Super Satellite guaranteeing 10 seats to the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event kicked off moments ago with already 31 entries in the field. Last night’s super satellite attracted 120 entries and it awarded 10 Main Event seats and a cash prize for 13th place.

Runar Borge, Vincent Picard, and Tibor Hoffman are among the players in action.

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Runar Borge
“I’ve Made My First Final Table” 28.11.2023 19:24 by Franke

The €125 Roulette Championship attracted 18 entries for a €1,881 prize pool. The first round just concluded with six players making the final table.

“I’ve made my first final table!” said Jason Kiselis fresh in from Australia. “Just put in microprint that it was in the Roulette Championship and not at the poker tables.”

Kiselis will be joined by Marco Herzog, current Cash Game Challenge leader Dzintars Lacis, Jakke Schraal, Domagoj Kuterovac, and Morten Lie.

Lie held this reporter responsible for giving him the idea to enter, so now we will have to keep our fingers crossed he at least cashed.

Meanwhile, it appeared for a while that Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon would get his way through and nearly did. Two players put their entire stacks on the green Zero and their miracle came in. Kenyon got no miracle back his way on the final spin and will now watch from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, the payouts were also announced as follows:

  1. €941
  2. €565
  3. €375
A Little Bit of Texas; A Little Bit of Omaha 28.11.2023 19:09 by Franke

The €125 Half n’ Half kicked off moments ago with a field of 17 players. The game will continue to rotate between no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha until a winner is crowned.

JJ Hazan, Georgi Voomets, Mark Adams, Andre Sorm, Carlo Braccini, and Martin Steen were among the early entrants.

Sviten Special
Sviten Special
Pool Photos by Mairo Toom 28.11.2023 19:01 by Franke

The Festival Series photographer Mairo Toom was busy snapping away earlier away from the casino as players with the hospitality package were invited to a fun afternoon of pool. Check out the photos below:

Day 2 Seat Draw for the Mixed Main Event HORSES 28.11.2023 18:47 by Franke
TableSeatPlayerCountryChips
831Sami PulliainenFinland36,000
832Robin PanholzerAustria129,500
833Liking SaiyaselyFrance35,000
834Charalampos ChalkiotisGreece79,000
835Arto LoikkanenFinland23,500
836Sascha MannsGermany74,000
837Barrie DearUnited Kingdom49,000
911Revo KinkEstonia26,000
912Marius HogtunNorway106,500
913Andreas GroebmayrGermany65,000
914Dimitris GiannakouCyprus142,000
915Lars Olav HoleNorway74,500
916Frank VisserNetherlands84,000
917Wouter SchuurbiersBelgium98,000
921John ClarksonUnited Kingdom120,000
922Eirik KristiansenNorway83,500
923Jon KyteNorway147,500
924Jonas JurksaitisLithuania139,000
925Blaz ZerjavSlovenia55,000
926Daiunius AntanaitisLithuania20,500
927Ola BrandbornSweden41,500
931Allan ArjutEstonia31,500
932William LynchScotland31,500
933Philippe LavalFrance41,500
934Bas de LaatNetherlands136,000
935Sandeep NeneNetherlands9,000
936Jarkko SoukasFinland103,000
937Michael WehnerGermany27,000
13 Players Advance in Mixed Main Day 1c 28.11.2023 18:37 by Franke

A total of 13 players found a bag out of the 30 players to enter on Day 1c of the Mixed Main Event. This means that 28 players out of the 67 entries will battle it out on Day 2 starting at 8 p.m.

Cyprus’s Dimitris Giannakou performed the best on Day 1c and bagged up 142,000 putting him only behind Day 1b chip leader Jon Kyte who advanced with 147,500. The floor is preparing the Day 2 seat draw, which we will share shortly after it is made official.

PlacePlayerCountryChips
1Dimitris GiannakouCyprus142,000
2Jonas JurksaitisLithuania139,000
3Jarkko SoukasFinland103,000
4Wouter SchuurbiersBelgium98,000
5Erik KristiansenNorway83,500
6Lars Olav HoleNorway74,500
7Andreas GroebmayrGermany65,000
8Blaz ZerjavSlovania55,000
9Ola BrandbornSweden41,500
10Allan ArjutEstonia31,500
11William LynchScotland31,500
12Michael WehnerGermany27,000
13Sandeep NeneFrance9,000
Time to Spin the Wheel 28.11.2023 17:31 by Franke
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The €125 Roulette Championship just kicked off with 16 players deciding to have some fun with a unique tournament to create a €1,672 prize pool.

Of course, The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk is in the mix as this is one event he never misses. Joseph Jackson, who will be back in the same room this evening for Franke’s Flip Flops, is also obviously in this event as well.

Meanwhile, Morten Lie was walking by the media desk and it didn’t take too much arm twisting for him to join in as well.

“I am going to play the (Bratislava) Deepstack,” Lie shared. “But, I didn’t want to join in this early.”

“Well, there is the Roulette Championship that is about to begin,” we shared.

“That decides it, of course I am hopping into the Roulette,” Lie said before he registered at the last second.

Photos From Day 1c of the Bratislava Deepstack 28.11.2023 17:23 by Franke
Late Registration Closed for Mixed Main Event HORSES 28.11.2023 17:19 by Franke

Players are back from their break in the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES and late registration has closed. Day 1c attracted 30 entries to bring the total up to 67 entries when taking into account the 37 entries coming in during the first two opening flights.

So far, just 15 players advanced to Day 2, which will kick off at 8 p.m. and we will learn shortly before then how the €31,825 prize pool will be shared in the inaugural €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES.

Photos From the Heads-Up Event 28.11.2023 16:28 by Franke
Final Opening Flight of Bratislava Deepstack Begins 28.11.2023 16:20 by Franke

Day 1c of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack just kicked off with 58 entries already in the mix. This is the last chance saloon for players that want to play in tomorrow’s Day 2 for a chance at the title.

Players will enjoy a deep structure with a starting stack of 30,100 (extra 100 chips makes it a Deepstack, obviously) with blinds increasing every 30 minutes. Late registration is open for 10 blind levels with players bagging their stacks after 16 levels are in the books.

Totti Lind, Daniel Briggs, Kristo Erala, Vytautas Kacerauskas, Sandor Mate, and Kasper Wuertz are among the entries in the field. Good luck to all of the Deepstack players.

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Totti Lind
Just One Main Event Hand for WSOP Europe Bracelet Winner Antanaitis 28.11.2023 16:04 by Franke

WSOP Europe bracelet winner Dainius Antanaitis entered the €550 Main Event Day 1a despite being slated to play a short stack later on for Day 2 of the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES.

He has a long story about his Day 1a Main Event run as follows:

“I sat down, unpacked my stuff, and soon after packed everything back up again,” shared Antanaitis.

“What happened?” we asked.

“I lasted just one hand,” Antanaitis shared.

The gist of the story is that Antanaitis opened off a fresh 75 big blind stack with blinds at 200/400 (400) from middle position. A player one seat over called before the big blind jacked it up to more than 10 big blinds. Antanaitis called with fives and the other player folded.

The player in the big blind continued on a queen-nine-trey flop.

“I called in case he gave up on the turn with something like ace-king,” shared Antanaitis.

A five on the turn appeared like a pot of gold under a rainbow for Antanaitis as he improved to a set. His opponent fired out for half the pot and Antanaitis jammed with two possible flush draws on the table. His opponent called and tabled aces.

Of course, his opponent rivers an ace to send Antanaitis out of Day 1a of the Main Event just as quickly as he came in.

We wish Antanaitis better luck in the Mixed Main Event HORSES when Day 2 kicks off at 8 p.m. Late registration for Day 1c, which thus far attracted 24 entries including the recently-arrived JJ Hazan.

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Dainius Antanaitis and his WSOP gold bracelet
Michel Molenaar Back to Defend His Title 28.11.2023 15:42 by Franke

Around this time last year, Dutch poker player Michel Molenaar won the 2022 The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event for €126,650.

Molenaar has had some nice scores since then and most recently eclipsed his record score with a victory in the partypoker MILLIONS Dublin €3,000 Main Event for €210,000.

He just arrived back to where it all began last year from his home in Vienna and immediately hopped into Day 1a of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event in hopes to do it all once again.

Meanwhile, the Main Event field continues to grow with Day 1a already reaching 53 entries with 43 players in their seats.

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Michel Molenaar
“I’ll Probably Play Both” 28.11.2023 15:05 by Franke

Belgium’s Wouter Schuurbiers loves to play mixed games and open-face Chinese. But he also tends to play the bigger field hold’em events as well at festivals he has attended over the years.

Schuurbiers popped in a little late today, so we weren’t sure what his plan was.

“I guess I will hop back into the HORSES (for Day 1c),” said Schuurbiers after not making it through on his first try on Day 1a.

“I thought you might be playing the last chance saloon Day 1c of the Bratislava Deepstack instead,” I replied.

“I’ll probably play both,” Schuurbiers said with a shrug.

Let’s hope he won’t have time to enter the Bratislava Deepstack and has a good run in the HORSES which will also feature Day 2 at approximately 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Day 1c field of the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES is up to 19 players with 18 players (including Franke) still in their seats with just Dario De Toffoli being the only player to hit the rail thus far. This brings the total field up to 56 entries and counting with still four more levels of late registration available.

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Wouter Schuurbiers
Capped Out Heads-Up 28.11.2023 14:17 by Franke

Event #11: €250 Heads-Up capped out with 32 players creating a €6,840 prize pool.

“It’s sold out?” cried current Mixed Main Event HORSES chip leader Jon Kyte to Franke and myself.

“It started at 1 p.m.,” said Franke along with his iconic laugh.

Kyte came a little late and wasn’t able to get a seat but 32 others will be battling it out per the brackets below.

The heads-up affair has one of the deepest structures this reporter has seen especially at a €250 price point. Players start with 100 big blinds and blinds increase every 20 minutes. This is not all, as each match-up is a best-of-three format meaning that some matches will take much longer than others.

The top four players will go home with a tasty €955 payout. The runner-up will nearly double that with a €1,840 consolation prize, while the eventual winner will go home with a €3,090 top prize. Good luck to all of the heads-up players!

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Heads-Up Brackets
40 Players in Day 1a of Main Event 28.11.2023 14:08 by Franke

Today is a hold’em day for most players as every event is in hold’em outside the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Mixed Main Event. It was expected that many players might pop into side events including the last chance to advance on Day 1c in the two-day €250 Bratislava Deepstack, the €250 Heads-Up, and more.

That being said, the Main Event already attracted some early players with the field up to 40 entries already. Kristo Erala was the first player to hit the rail in this event followed by Mika Hietala and Patrick Malm.

Best of luck to all of the Main Event players!

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Kristo Erala
Learn About the Roulette Championship at 5 P.M. 28.11.2023 13:52 by Franke

The fun Event #12: €125 Roulette Championship is set to begin at 5 p.m. near the tournament registration area. The rules are simple, players will play a certain number of rounds at various Roulette tables. Players need to bet a minimum of 1 chip on inside bets and 5 chips on outside bets with a 200 chip maximum. The top two players at each table will meet for the final round until a winner is crowned.

Roulette
Last Chance for the Mixed Main Event HORSES 28.11.2023 12:59 by Franke

The third and final flight for Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES kicked off with ten players hopping into the mix to bring the total thus far up to 47 entries for a €22,325 prize pool.

This is just the start and these figures will grow with players permitted to re-enter twice per opening flight during the first eight blind levels. Players will bag up their stacks after ten blind levels of play and join the 15 players that already advanced during the first two opening flights led by Day 1b chip leader Jon Kyte and Day 1a chip leader Bas de Laat.

The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk shared with those playing in his pre-event announcement that he has tried without success with max bullets the first two flights but plans to bag big into Day 2, which also will be featured today with the action beginning at 8 p.m. or shortly thereafter.

Franke is joined by Matteo Crapanzano, Flips Master Keito Kaljulaid, Allan Arjut, Jonas Jurkaitis, Twitch streamer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, and Slovenian poker legend Blaz Zerjav. Best of luck to everyone in the Day 1c in their quests to become the champion of the inaugural Mixed Main HORSES event.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon
Main Event Begins 28.11.2023 12:44 by Franke

The first of six opening flights of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event kicked off a few minutes ago after announcements by the floor and The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk.

Players will enjoy 12 blind levels of 40 minutes each with a deep 30,000 starting stack and can re-enter twice per opening flight. Late registration will stay open until the end of the second blind level of Day 2 providing players plenty of chances to build a huge stack in hopes of becoming the latest TFS Main Event champion.

Event #4: €125 Crazy Pineapple champion Martin Kanaker from Value Town, Totti Lind, Kristo Erala, Bo Alm, Martin Klaar, Leif Iversen, Jari Pekka Rattya, Andres Leppik, and Brian Klindrup are among the early players in the field. Best of luck to all of the Main Event players in finding a big bag on Day 1a.

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Crazy Pineapple Champ Martin Kanaker
Welcome to Day 3 of TFS Bratislava 28.11.2023 11:53 by Franke
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The third day at The Festival Series Bratislava will be the busiest to date with tons of new events including the start of the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event and the debut of the first casino event of the festival in the €125 Roulette Event which we will share the rules of later in our coverage.

Many other interesting events are on tap including the continuation of the €550 Mixed Main HORSES and the €250 Bratislava Deepstack. The €250 Heads-Up tournament will also be one to keep our eyes open about as will be the live-streamed Cash Game Challenges. In other words, get ready for a fun day!

TimeEventGTD
12 p.m.Event #10: €550 Main Event Day 1a€500,000
12:30 p.m.Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event – HORSES Day 1c
1 p.m.Event #11: €250 Heads-Up Texas (32 Cap)
4 p.m.Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack Day 1c
5 p.m.Event #12: €125 Roulette Tournament
7 p.m.Event #13: €125 Half n’ Half
7:30 p.m.Event #14: €60 Super Satellite10x €550 Seats
8 p.m.Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event – HORSES Day 2
8 p.m.Event #15: €2/€2 NLH Cash Game Challenge
9 p.m.Event #16: €150 Turbo Satellite to PLO High Roller2x €1,100 Seats
10 p.m.Event #17: €125 Win the Button
10:30 p.m.Event #18: €2/€2 PLO4
Redl & Picard Shine on Day 2 of The Festival Series Bratislava 28.11.2023 11:46 by Franke

The action was booming on Day 2 of The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino with two one-day events, two more events progressing, two Cash Game Challenge sessions, a super satellite that attracted 120 entries, and, of course, cash games running around the clock.

Harald Redl and Vincent Picard both earned customized sketchy framed photos of themselves as trophies by shipping the €250 Sviten Special and €125 Monday Texas Knockout respectively. Norwegian poker beast Jon Kyte snagged the chip lead in the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES, while Stylianos Papantoniou bagged the Day 1b chip lead in the €250 Bratislava Deepstack.

There is even more action to start on Tuesday including the highly-anticipated €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event gracing its presence with Day 1a along with the entertaining €125 Roulette Tournament. Read on to learn more about what transpired on Day 2 and the schedule for Tuesday’s action.

Harald Redl Wins the Sviten Special

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Harald Redl

Harald Redl had the chip lead to start the final table of Event #5: €250 Sviten Special and eventually was the last player standing among the 78 entries that created €16,672 prize pool. Redl first agreed to a three-way deal with two experienced Sviten Special players in Matteo Crapanzano and Linus Elmes before taking down the event for €3,817.

There was plenty of talent to go around in this event with many familiar names finding their way to the cashier including Karl Sundin, Erik Risberg, Florian Fuchs, Ola Brandborn, Andre Sorm, John Clarkson, and William Lynch.

PlacePlayerCountryCash
1Harald RedlAustria€3,817*
2Matteo CrapanzanoItaly€3,605*
3Linus ElmesSweden€3,600*
4Karl SundinSweden€1,585
5Erik RisbergSweden€1,270
6Florian FuchsAustria€1,050
7Ola BrandbornSweden€815
8Andre SormEstonia€620
9John ClarksonUnited Kingdom€500
10William LynchScotland€410

*Reflects three-way deal at final table

Vincent Picard Wins €125 Monday Texas Knockout

the-festival-bratislava-nlh-monday-k-o-vincet-picard-7589
Vincent Picard Wins Monday Texas Knockout

Vincent Picard won five €50 bounties including the final three in play after eliminating Indrek Eiche and Brian Klindrup back-to-back to win the Event #8: €125 Monday Texas Knockout for €1,688 from the prize pool. Check out all of the payouts from this event which attracted 114 entries for €6,498 in the prize pool and €5,700 in the bounty pool.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Vincent PicardFrance€1,688
2Brian KlindrupDenmark€1,065
3Indrek EicheEstonia€810
4Lars Olav HoleNorway€635
5Dario De ToffoliItaly€505
6Thomas HaverstadNorway€390
7Theodoros AmpelikiotisGreece€290
8Julius JurksaitisLithuania€225
9Lubomir JasicaSlovakia€185
10Bo LindahlSweden€150
11Joost MelkertNetherlands€150
12Stijn de GierNetherlands€150
13Sturla HillerNorway€150
14Guillaume FontFrance€150

Other News on Monday

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Jon Kyte

In other news, Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES attracted 20 more entries to bring the total up to 37 entries. So far, 15 players bagged chips for Tuesday’s Day 2 at 8 p.m. but before then we expect many more entries with Day 1c kicking off on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. Jon Kyte supplanted Bas de Laat as the overall chip leader but we could see a new one before the start of Day 2.

Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack attracted 105 more entries on Day 1b to bring the total up to 152 entries with the final opening flight taking place on Tuesday at 12 p.m. with Day 2 kicking off on Wednesday. Stylianos Panatoniou bagged the most of the 18 players to find a bag to bring the total of 26 players thus far advancing to Day 1b. Panatoniou won’t advance with the overall chip lead as Aleksandar Kamendoliev found a handful of more chips in his bag on Day 1a.

The Franke’s Flip Flops kicked off on Monday as well with 23 different rake-free flips. The players earn tournament money every time they win a flip but also the player that wins the most flips during the week will be awarded a free package to the next The Festival Series in February. Estonia’s Keito Kaljulaid ran hot to say the least and won six of the flips to be three ahead of his nearest competitor in Estonian resident Joseph Jackson.

Meanwhile, Dzintar Lacis took the early lead after winning 215 big blinds on a designated Cash Game Challenge €2/€2 NLHE table that players can sign up for on the casino floor. The always-friendly Eva “Chic” Jiretorn won the second session with 165 in profit at a €2/€2 session. This means Lacis is in the lead for now, but this is far from safe with plenty of more action to come including two Cash Game Challenges in the same games broadcasted live on TheFestivalOG Twitch channel.

Today’s Schedule (Tuesday, Nov. 28)

TimeEventGTD
12 p.m.Event #10: €550 Main Event Day 1a€500,000
12:30 p.m.Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event – HORSES Day 1c
1 p.m.Event #11: €250 Heads-Up Texas (32 Cap)
4 p.m.Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack Day 1c
5 p.m.Event #12: €125 Roulette Tournament
7 p.m.Event #13: €125 Half n’ Half
7:30 p.m.Event #14: €60 Super Satellite10x €550 Seats
8 p.m.Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event – HORSES Day 2
8 p.m.Event #15: €2/€2 NLH Cash Game Challenge
9 p.m.Event #16: €150 Turbo Satellite to PLO High Roller2x €1,100 Seats
10 p.m.Event #17: €125 Win the Button
10:30 p.m.Event #18: €2/€2 PLO4
Lacis & Jiretorn Win Big in Cash Game Challenge 28.11.2023 11:11 by Franke

The Cash Game Challenge is another fun feature of The Festival Series Bratislava. Every night at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. there will be select Cash Game Challenge sessions which players can sign up for on the casino floor across a variety of stakes and games. The player that wins the most big blinds during any Cash Game Challenge will be crowned the champion and win a free package to the next The Festival Series.

The action was live-streamed on TheFestivalOG Twitch channel when Latvia’s Dzintar Lacis booked the most profit during the first €2/€2 no-limit hold’em stream with 215 big blinds. The game switched to €2/€2 Omaha for the second session and fan-favorite Eva “Chic” Jiretorn headed away from the table with the most profit of 165 big blinds.

This means Lacis is in the lead going into today but congrats to both players. We won’t be shocked if Lacis’s lead on the leaderboard is short-lived as odds are we will have a new leaderboard captain on Tuesday with two more Cash Game Challenge sessions in the same games and formats.

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Eva Jiretorn
Vicent Picard Ships the Monday Texas Knockout 28.11.2023 10:59 by Franke
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Vincent Picard Wins Monday Texas Knockout

Vincent Picard collected the final three €50 bounties including his own after eliminating Indrek Eiche and Brian Klindrup to win Event #8: €125 Monday Texas Knockout for €1,688 from the prize pool. Check out all the payouts below and well done to all of the late-night players that managed to head to the cashier before calling it a night.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Vincent PicardFrance€1,688
2Brian KlindrupDenmark€1,065
3Indrek EicheEstonia€810
4Lars Olav HoleNorway€635
5Dario De ToffoliItaly€505
6Thomas HaverstadNorway€390
7Theodoros AmpelikiotisGreece€290
8Julius JurksaitisLithuania€225
9Lubomir JasicaSlovakia€185
10Bo LindahlSweden€150
11Joost MelkertNetherlands€150
12Stijn de GierNetherlands€150
13Sturla HillerNorway€150
14Guillaume FontFrance€150
Special Day for Harald Redl in the Sviten Special 28.11.2023 10:40 by Franke
the-festival-bratislava-sviten-special-redl-harald-7587
Harald Redl Wins Sviten Special

Event #5: €250 Sviten Special witnessed 78 entries get into the mix to create a €16,672 prize pool. This fell one shy of the record of 79 entries coming out in full force during the last The Festival Series at Portomaso Casino when Totti Lind hoisted the trophy.

This time around, it was the well-deserving Harald Redl to take home the bacon after agreeing to a three-way deal with two formidable opponents in Matteo Crapanzano and Linus Elmes. Check out the full payouts from the event below and congrats to everyone who cashed.

PlacePlayerCountryCash
1Harald RedlAustria€3,817*
2Matteo CrapanzanoItaly€3,605*
3Linus ElmesSweden€3,600*
4Karl SundinSweden€1,585
5Erik RisbergSweden€1,270
6Florian FuchsAustria€1,050
7Ola BrandbornSweden€815
8Andre SormEstonia€620
9John ClarksonUnited Kingdom€500
10William LynchScotland€410

*Reflects three-way deal at final table

Jon Kyte Leads Mixed Main Event HORSES After Day 1b 28.11.2023 02:00 by Franke
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Norwegian poker beast Jon Kyte seems to find success nearly everywhere he goes. He showed today that he knows many games as he battled his way among the 20 entrants on Day 1b of Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES after parlaying his 30,000 opening stack into 147,500 in chips to put him ahead of Day 1a chip leader Bas de Laat who managed to bag 136,000 despite previously being known as mostly a hold’em player.

Fellow Norwegian Marius Hogtun also ended Day 1b with more than 100,000 in chips with Frank Visser, Charlampos Chalkiotis, Sascha Manns, Sami Pullainen, Revo Kink, Arto Loikkanen, and 2023 WSOP Europe 8-Game bracelet winner Dainius Antanaitis all advancing with five-figure stacks.

Meanwhile, our hero Franke will need to try against tomorrow in Day 1c starting at noon for a chance to advance to Day 2 on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Jon KyteNorway147,50049
2Marius HogtunNorway106,50036
3Frank VisserNetherlands84,00028
4Charlampos ChalkiotisGreece79,00026
5Sascha MannsGermany74,00025
6Sami PulliainenFinland36,00012
7Revo KinkEstonia26,0009
8Arto LoikkanenFinland23,5008
9Dainius AntanaitisLithuania20,5007

The €250 Sviten Special still has six players remaining with Matteo Crapanzano, Linus Elmes, Florian Fuchs, Harald Redl, Erik Risberg, and Karl Sundin still in contention with the Monday Texas Knockout still ongoing as well. This seems like a good time to call it a night. Good luck if you are still playing and we will update the final results of the two ongoing events along with the winners of tonight’s live-streamed Cash Game Challenge sessions early on Tuesday.

Stylianos Papantoniou Bags Day 1b Chip Lead in Bratislava Deepstack 28.11.2023 01:46 by Franke
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Stylianos Papantoniou

Cyprus’s Stylianos Panatoniou bagged the most of the 18 survivors from the 105 entries that hopped into the Day 1b field of Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack. This places him only behind Day 1a chip leader Aleksandar Kamendoliev who managed to bag 10,000 chips more for a total of 375,000.

So far, a total of 152 entries have hopped into the mix to add €32,490 to the prize pool with the final opening flight taking place tomorrow at 4 p.m. So far, 26 players have advanced with likely around the same coming tomorrow. Check out the full Day 1b chip counts below and photos from the event.

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Stylianos PapantoniouCyprus365,00061
2Petri JuurikkalaFinland303,00051
3Victor FrydaFrance295,00049
4Jari KarkkainenFinland272,00045
5Bo AlmSweden246,00041
6Olli KovalainenFinland233,00039
7Ziga KlopcicSlovenia220,00037
8Peder BehrSweden195,00033
9Richard KoppelEstonia190,00032
10Nikodem DubielPoland181,00030
11Nidal DawoudDenmark136,00023
12Eftychios GeorgiouCyprus118,00020
13Paul DankoUnited Kingdom97,00016
14Tarmo TammelEstonia82,00014
15Andres AllsaluEstonia80,00013
16Daniel SmithUnited Kingdom80,00013
17Mikolaj DomanskiPoland75,00013
18Kyle CroninUnited Kingdom33,0006
Photos From the Monday Texas Knockout by Dominik Demcak 28.11.2023 00:33 by Franke
Dozen Players Qualify Through the Super Satellite 28.11.2023 00:26 by Franke

The €60 Super Satellite guaranteed 10 seats to tomorrow’s Day 1a of the €500,000 guaranteed The Festival Series Bratislava €550 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event.

The qualifier proved to be popular with 120 runners smashing their way through the guarantee for 12 seats and a 13th player taking home a €208 prize.

Johann Kubelka hit the rail on the bubble before the hand-for-hand action continued. Leif Iversen then hit the rail to collect the cash prize leaving a dozen players with a cheap seat into tomorrow’s start of the Main Event.

Congrats to Reggy Zijler, Jona Boman, Nikodem Morawski, Carl Dobrzelewski, Kristin Flataker, Andrew Hanak, Jan Bobak, Jan Visvader, Boris Maratanovic, Lubos Mihari, Tr1ckster, and Gabriel Iso for winning their way into the Main Event through the super satellite and the best of luck tomorrow in Day 1a when the action kicks off at noon on Tuesday.

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Keito Kaljulaid Proves to be Tonight’s Flip Master 27.11.2023 23:20 by Franke
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Keito Kaljulaid

Monday’s session of Franke’s Flip Flops is in the books. After the freeroll flips for those with the hospitality package for tomorrow’s €125 Roulette Tournament, the floorman Adam Chalany was masterful behind the microphone announcing the winners and updating the leaderboard. He also encouraged on the microphone for Franke to join the action. Franke was busy battling it out in the €525 Mixed Main Event HORSES which was up to 18 entries on Day 1b and perhaps things would have ended differently.

Multiple players won two flips in Sturla Hiller and three flips for Joseph Jackson. Jackson actually won his first flip which was a freeroll thanks to winning a package that included the hospitality package.

Shortly after, Estonia’s Keito Kaljlaid found the flipping action and instantly got involved. He lost his first flip, but then immediately snagged the lead winning three flips in a row. He then lost his next one but had four tickets with more than €100 in tournament buy-ins each in front of him after winning his next flip.

Meanwhile, The Festival’s Karev Tralla got into the action for a few flips and wound up side-betting Coolbet’s Svein Olav Eidsaeter. The amount started at more than the €20 buy-in for the rake-free flip and went up from there. Tralla won two of those flips to tie Jackson and Hiller in second place on the leaderboard before Eidsaeter won a bit back on a bigger bet.

Tralla was still ahead in his flipping endeavor but more players came and Tralla graciously gave up his seat to Daniel Pilgrim.

Meanwhile, by the time the 20th and final flip was dealt, Kaljulaid already won six of them. This puts him three ahead of Jackson with Hiller, and Tralla in the lead for the Franke’s Flip Flops leaderboard. No lead is safe as any player can run hot. We will update more on Franke’s Flip Flops tomorrow when the flipping fun returns from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Franke’s Flip Flops Leaderboard Through Monday (23 Flips)

PlayerFlip Wins
Keito Kaljulaid6
Erik Hamre3
Joseph Jackson3
Karev Tralla2
Sturla Hiller2
Jill Mellstrom1
Antonio Sapio1
Gjelten Pererik1
Tanel Tammela1
David Mcleay1
Kasper Wurtz1
Harald Harm1
Omaha Stream to Begin Soon 27.11.2023 23:01 by Franke

If you had fun watching Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund and Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon commentate the €2/€2 no-limit hold’em action, you should stay tuned as they will continue shortly with a €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha session as part of the Cash Game Challenge.

The player that wins the most big blinds out of any of the players in the Cash Game Challenge will be crowned the champion and win a package to the next The Festival Series in February.

Jackson Does Not Put Flip Money to Good Use 27.11.2023 22:17 by Franke

Joseph Jackson won at least two €20 rake-free flips in the Franke Flip Flops competition. He used one of those tickets to enter the €125 Monday Knockout which just began. He was the first player on the rail after the 44 players in the field but headed off for a break and appeared intent on re-entering with one of the other tickets he won.

Hopefully, he will last at least a bit longer after he hops back in.

This will be the final side event of the evening. However, coming up soon will be the second Cash Game Challenge of the day with a €2/€2 PLO affair set to be broadcast on TheFestivalOG Twitch channel at around 11 p.m.

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Joseph Jackson
“That Was Bad What Happened to You” 27.11.2023 22:11 by Franke

Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk lost his first bullet and was enjoying some tea with his friend Sami Pulliainen who was at the table when it transpired.

“It took three hands of hold’em,” Franke shared. “I had ace-king, ace-queen, and six-nine.”

“You would have won the last one,” Pulliainen added.

Franke had a huge laugh. “Hahahaha, of course!”

The duo continued their chat before they temporarily got onto the topic of the Franke’s Flip Flops. Franke began explaining the concept to Pulliainen before pulling off his flip flops.”

“You can win a framed pair of these,” Franke said.

But before he could get any laughs and further explain that a free The Festival Series package also goes to the player that wins the most flips throughout the week, in came the bandit in Coolbet’s Svein Olav Eidsaeter.

Eidsaeter stealthy ran from nowhere and grabbed Franke’s flip flops before running into the poker room.

Franke erupted in laughter before Eidsaeter came running back.

“How much for these back?” asked Eidsaeter.

Franke continued to laugh before Eidsaeter had a change in heart.

“Never mind, these smell,” Eidsaeter said with a mischievous grin.

Afterwards, Franke and Pullianen continued to talk before Pulliainen began to walk away.

“I hate you,” said Franke. “You just called me bad.”

“I didn’t say you were bad,” Pulliainen said after he came back. “I said it was bad what happened to you.”

Franke gave him a hug before Pulliainen got another laugh.

“But if you asked me, I would have said you played bad as well,” Pulliainen said with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Franke re-enter the HORSES and saw yesterday’s HORSES Day 1a chip leader Bas de Laat.

“I will join you on this bullet on Day 2,” Franke said confidently.

De Laat went on to buy-in into the €125 Texas Monday Knockout. We wish him and everyone else mentioned in the latest chapter of the ‘Franke Stories’ at The Festival Series Bratislava.

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Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk
Photos From the VIP Dinner 27.11.2023 21:42 by Franke

Players with the hospitality package are able to choose a VIP dinner during Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday night by reserving their spot with The Festival Series hospitality host Anastasia.

The players enjoyed their first session at Mille Baci. Check out the photos below:

Hiller & Jackson Adds Juice to Franke’s Flip Flops 27.11.2023 21:36 by Franke

It comes as no surprise that Joseph Jackson is busy grinding the rake-free Franke’s Flip Flops as each festival he attempts to win the leaderboard with a framed pair of Franke’s flip flops and a package to The Festival Series’s next stop in February.

Jackson was visibly having fun and split a buy-ins with Coolbet’s Elisabeth Balazs after which he got €10 change.

Sturla Hiller turned to Jackson and it seemed Jackson knew what he was about to say.

“You know what that means,” Hiller said as he pushed €10 in chips forward.

“Sidebet!” Jackson proclaimed instantly after.

Two other players asked to be involved in the side bet as well. Jackson and Balazs both thought the rivered the best hand but it turned out they were both left disappointed on that round. Don’t feel too bad for Jackson as he already won a flip during one of the earlier rounds.

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Joseph Jackson
Photos From Day 1b of the Mixed Main Event HORSES 27.11.2023 21:21 by Franke
Win a Pair of Franke’s Flip Flops (and More!) 27.11.2023 21:16 by Franke

The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk came back with the hospitality group from the VIP dinner only to find out that the last of his chips were blinded off in the €250 Sviten Special.

“HORSES!” shouted Franke as he said hi to a few people before signing up for another shot in the €550 Mixed Main Event.

Meanwhile, the rest of the hospitality group headed to where the fun Franke’s flip flops were about to begin. They were each given a few free flips for a chance to play tomorrow’s €125 Roulette Tournament for free. After that, more fun and games took place with €20 flips that involved at least five players at the table for tournament credit.

The flips, which run every day until Saturday from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m., are rake-free and also have one added benefit as the player that wins the most flips during the week will win a free package to the next The Festival Series. To some, this will be the biggest prize but you will also win a framed pair of Franke’s actual flip flops as well if you flip the best. Rolf Bechstrom won the package in Malta, but there are several determined players already at it including The Festival Series veteran Joseph Jackson and Sturla Hiller.

Have fun and may you run well if you opt for some flipping.

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Proud WSOPE Bracelet Winner Antanaitis, Kyte, and Thorsrud in Action 27.11.2023 20:58 by Franke

The Festival Series veteran Danius Antanaitis won a WSOP Europe gold bracelet recently in the 8-game and recently arrived to Banco Casino to hop into Day 1b of the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES which is now up to 13 entries with Coolbet streamer Ylva Thorsrud and Norwegian poker pro Jon Kyte also joining the mix.

Antanaitis wants to play the final opening flight of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack as he enjoys two-card action as well despite being well-known as a mixed-game beast. We were curious to check out Antanaitis’s bracelet and as he is a friend from Lithuania where this author also lives, he was happy to bring it along for some photos and live the moment.

Antanaitis and Frank Visser were off to decent starts or at least above a starting stack. Kyte was short on chips after losing a three-way pot in Omaha h/l where all three players had a flush and Thorsrud stack was also below a starting stack.

Good luck to everyone to advance to tomorrow’s Day 2 in the €550 HORSES.

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Dainius Antanaitis and his WSOP gold bracelet
Cash Game Challenge Begins 27.11.2023 20:38 by Franke

The Cash Game Challenge is another fun element of The Festival Series. The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk was proud that he was the champion of this contest during the last The Festival Series at Portomaso Casino in Malta.

Franke is at dinner, although his stack seems to still be in play in the €250 Sviten Special. We are not shocked as Franke missed about two hours if not more earlier in this event for meetings. So, we know he will at least be sitting out the first session.

The challenge is easily explained. Every night throughout the week, The Festival Series will be hosting two cash game challenges at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. which players can sign up for on the casino floor. The games and stakes will vary from session to session but the player that manages to win the largest amount of big blinds during any single Cash Game Challenge session will win the challenge, a sketched winner’s portrait, and a package to the next The Festival Series stop in February with the location to be announced soon.

Stakes are small to start things off with a friendly €2/€2 no-limit hold’em affair. The Festival Series veterans Knut Gronli and Daniel Pilgrim both signed off on using their real names, while several others opted for nicknames including the duo from casinotogether in Marco Allstarz21 and Milan. Lars, Kiiver, Alex, and Saturn opted to not use their full names at least for the time being as well.

Best of luck to all of the first Cash Game Challenge players. Tonight’s action will be hosted on Twitch with Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund and Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon announcing the action. An action-packed €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha session will follow in a couple of hours. Check out the action at TheFestival OG Twitch channel.

Daniel Pilgrim
Daniel Pilgrim
Nine Players Hop Onto Their HORSES 27.11.2023 19:55 by Franke

A smaller field was expected on Day 1b of the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES today as part of the allure of this event is the Sviten Special element which we will explain shortly. Meanwhile, even though the late registration window is permanently shut in the €250 Sviten Special event, many of the players in that event are interested in also playing in the HORSES.

That being said, it looks like there will be a good shot that Day 1b will be bigger than the 17 entrants attracted during yesterday’s Day 1a. Poker reporter and mixed-game enthusiast Frank Visser just got off a plane, hopped into the Sviten Special, and after that didn’t go well will take a shot with the HORSES. Meanwhile, Finland’s Sami Pulliainen hopped off a plane from Malta, chatted with his good friend Sascha Manns, who now has a decent stack in the Sviten Special Event, and got into action in the HORSES prepared with a glass of wine sitting next to him.

Phillip Huxley was looking forward to this event and jumped in as did Sandeep Nene, Teemu Hietala, Marius Hogtun, Revo Kink, The Festival Series Tallinn Main Event Champion Eirik Kristiansen, and Arto Loikkanen.

As we explained yesterday, the HORSES event is a first-time affair involving HORSE and limit Sviten Special. We explained the rules both to the HORSES on Day 1 of our coverage and the rules to Sviten Special earlier before the start of this stand-alone event which nearly broke a record for The Festival Series.

Best of luck to all of the HORSES players. Tomorrow is expected to be the biggest opening flight of them all with not too much mixed-game competition on the schedule. That being said, you don’t need to wait until the kickoff of that flight on Day 1c as late registration for Day 1b will be open for the first eight of the total of 10 blind levels to be played today.

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Sami Pulliainen
Lind’s to Blame for Record Falling One Shy in Sviten Special? 27.11.2023 19:09 by Franke

The €250 Sviten Special registration has closed and the event fell one shy of a record with 78 entries in the mix. Some might blame our friend Totti Lind, but this author refuses to throw him under the bus. Meanwhile, Scott “PokerBrahs” Kenyon is throwing me under the bus. We will Instead blame Franke for being too busy to fire a million bullets.

All joking aside, Lind walked by a minute after late registration closed for the Sviten Special was taking place. We thought he was just slightly late taking his seat. He was intent on defending his title after winning the record-breaking Sviten Special in Malta but that wasn’t meant to be as he lost his stack just before the break and was too late coming back from the break to re-enter.

Kenyon was blaming this author as we had a nice chat at the beginning of the day.

“How can I blame Lind or Franke for not breaking the record?” said Kenyon. “I should instead blame you as I might have re-entered if you didn’t mention to me earlier today about potentially joining Wiseguy (Andreas Hoglund) for commentating this evening in the Cash Game Challenges.”

Well, maybe this author is to blame for another reason as he fired zero bullets and had permission to play an event provided there was some first-hand reporting.

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Totti Lind
Three Days of VIP Dinner 27.11.2023 18:40 by Franke

Hundreds of players qualified to The Festival Series Bratislava and those that had the hospitality package included are invited to a world-class dinner at the Italian Mille Baci restaurant.

As there are tons of players, this will be on offer for hospitality package players on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. See Anastasia after you have made your choice of which day works best for you or if you wish to purchase a hospitality package on the side.

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Hospitality Host Anastasia
Super Satellite Guarantees 10 Main Event Seats! 27.11.2023 18:17 by Franke

Everyone has their own idea as far as what their personal highlight of The Festival Series Bratislava will be. For many hold’em players, it will be an easy decision with the €500,000 guarantee waving its tongue in The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event, which kicks off with Day 1a tomorrow at noon.

The €550 buy-in is well worth the price thanks to the hefty guarantee, but players have had multiple opportunities to get in cheaper. Leading up to The Festival Series Bratislava, nearly 20 partners offered qualifiers. Now, players will have another shot with the €60 Super Satellite gracing its presence with 10 seats guaranteed.

There were more than two dozens players in their seats when cards were in the air including Runar Borge, who lost his stack in the Sviten Special, Martin Klaar, Sandor Mate, and Matthew Deller. Best of luck to all of the Super Satellite players!

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Photos From Day 1b of the Bratislava Deepstack 27.11.2023 18:06 by Franke
“What is this? Malta?” 27.11.2023 17:59 by Franke

The €250 Sviten Special is up to 67 runners with still around an hour of late registration still available. The players are visibly having fun with the exception of Franke, who has disappeared from the table for a couple of hours. Rest assured, Franke is OK, but he will need to do this from time to time as he attempts to win the Player of the Festival and has meetings with players and partners alike throughout the week.

Peter La Terra was busy building a monsterous stack with his shirt half off, a beer in front of him, and getting a massage. Meanwhile, Eva “Chic” Jiretorn also was back in her element enjoying the banter at the tables, while Allan Arjut also was enjoying the atmosphere.

We ran into first-time The Festival Series player Wouter Schuurbiers and noticed he was still on a starting stack. We thought maybe he re-entered as it was precise but he is still on his first bullet hoping for Sviten Special glory.

“What is this table? Malta?” Schuurbiers questioned with a smile pointing to the table next to him.

Schuurbiers lived in Malta for a number of years before recently moving back to his home country of Belgium. Two others that called Malta their home before moving elsewhere in Germany’s Sascha Manns and Sweden’s Totti Lind were at the table as was Gozo, Malta resident and Sviten Special author Martin Smith. Smith was at around 121,000 from his 30,000 starting stack, while Lind was also above 100,000. As we earlier mentioned, Lind is attempting to make history by becoming the first two-time winner of this event after shipping the record-breaking Sviten Special event during the last The Festival Series at Portomaso Casino in Malta.

We won’t embarrass Manns about his stack but at least he is still on his first bullet of the event. This is better than Sviten Special enthusiasts Gia Carnestroem and Philippe Laval who were each on their second bullet along with the many players opting not to re-enter after hitting the rail with just 41 players in their seats (40 as Franke was still sitting out).

Meanwhile, Scott Kenyon, also known as PokerBrahs is continuing to stream this event on his Twitch channel to add even more excitement.

Best of luck to all of the Sviten Special players!

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Martin Smith
Kelster Mania is Live; Kellner Calls His One Outer 27.11.2023 17:31 by Franke

While we aren’t focusing on hand updates during until the final day of The Festival Series Bratislava, this is more fun-related than hand-related.

After a few drinks, Kellner has made several friends at his table on Day 1b of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack including the charismatic Elisabeth Balasz, who is also shown at The Festival Series that she is here for fun as much as the poker.

Balasz recently erupted in shock after Kellner made the prediction of the day.

Kellner jammed his stack on the turn in a pot against Marc McCauley. McCauley called before he turned over aces and was miles ahead of Kellner’s treys. Kellner needed a two outer to stay alive.

“I guess I need to call it,” Kellner said. “Here comes the three of hearts.”

Balasz could be heard a room away after Kellner called his shot and got there with the three of hearts spiking the river.

“Kelster Mania is alive!” Kellner said after the hand.

Although Kelster Mania was alive for a short period, it appeared to also suffer from some jetlag as about 15 minutes later he lost his stack. He shared that since he just arrived from Canada today, he was going to get some rest today before putting in a solid week of poker. Best of luck to Kellner and may Kelster Mania come alive again at The Festival Series Bratislava.

Watch Pokerbrahs Play Sviten Special on Twitch 27.11.2023 17:01 by Franke

If you want to see some close-up action, check out Scott Kenyon playing live on no delay at his popular Twitch channel Pokerbrahs.

Unfortunately for Kenyon, he has been off to a rough start. While he hasn’t re-entered as others have, his stack was down to 17,,000 from a starting stack of 30,000 when we last checked in on him.

Best of luck to Kenyon. We will keep our eyes on him (or his cards) as the day goes on and wish him the best of luck in winning the title live on stream.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon streaming Sviten Special on Twitch
Kellner’s First Beer in Three Weeks; WSOP Bracelet Champ Antanaitis in the House 27.11.2023 16:13 by Franke

Day 1b of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack kicked off moments ago with 15 players in their seats. This number will grow with many players saying they will pop into this soon including Lithuanian poker beast Dainius Antanaitis. Antanaitis has been on quite a tear for more than a year with many victories live and online. This is mostly in mixed games including a recent WSOP Europe bracelet victory in an 8-game event but he holds his own in hold’em as well.

While it is a curious choice for Antanaitis with both the €250 Sviten Special and Day 1b of the €550 of the Mixed Main Event HORSES scheduled today but every day has mixed games and he needed to get some two-card action in as well.

Meanwhile, Martin Steen, Matthew Adams, Mikolaj Domanski, and Simon Wahlbrink are among the first players to take their seats.

Kelster Mania has also joined this event as Kelly Kellner, who is fresh off a plane from Canada, hopped into the event with a beer in his hand.

“Believe it or not, Jason, this is my first beer in three weeks,” Kellner shared.

We believe Kellner’s story even if he might bluff during today’s poker action, we don’t think he is bluffing this reporter.

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Dainius Antanaitis
Early Photos From the Sviten Special 27.11.2023 15:57 by Franke
Learn Sviten Special From Peter La Terra 27.11.2023 15:08 by Franke

Peter La Terra is well-known for his cash game and tournament prowess in Sviten Special. Back when the Cash Game Festival, which was founded by The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, La Terra took some time out to provide a tutorial for those that wanted to learn the game. Check out his video below:

Kanaker Brings Pride to Value Town (and Malta) 27.11.2023 14:54 by Franke
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Martin Kanaker wins Crazy Pineapple

We got to meet Martin Kanaker early on Sunday before the action began and right away we knew he would be up to something special. Kanaker has been playing poker for more than a dozen years and more recently is part of the Swedish Value Town community for the past few years.

Although Kanaker is originally from Sweden, he traveled to Bratislava with several of his friends from Malta which he currently calls home. This instantly created some fun and excitement in the €125 Crazy Pineapple, which he went on to win for €1,565 after agreeing to a three-way deal with Matthew Adams and Morten Lie. Let’s just say that there is a good reason that in our coverage we dubbed this event the “Crazier Pineapple.”

“It was fun last night,” said Kanaker. “I came to Bratislava with a bunch of friends in Malta and five of us were on the final table of the event.”

Three of these players were unable to make the money with Teemu Hietala, Adam Tomasson, and Dzintars Lacis heading to the rail one-by-one to start the final table. We will chat more about Tomasson soon, but the other player that came from Malta in Adams as we already mentioned was part of the three-way deal.

Meanwhile, there were multiple prop bets, the first of which didn’t lead to a great result. In fact, the opposite was the case.

“Anastasia and myself initiated a stand-up game similar to what you see in cash games,” said Kanaker. “It got a little confusing in the beginning with players moving tables and hitting the rail. People had to move to other tables due to balancing. However, the dust settled we tried the second time went off without a hitch because we were doing it across multiple tables. This didn’t work out for me as I was the last player to win a hand and was unable to sit down until I paid every player involved a €5 penalty. I escaped the third time but my friend Adam (Tomasson) was less fortunate.”

Although things started rough for Kanaker it was all fun and games and there were obviously much bigger things to come. In addition to winning the title, he felt pride in winning a separate prop bet against Tomasson.

“Adam suggested that we have a fun seven-deuce game,” said Kanaker. “I thought it sounded like fun and agreed. What was even more funny is that we were the only two players to participate in the tournament with the rest of the players already knowing what bet we had going on. That was fun because our three-bets or large bets on various streets had people thinking does he have seven-deuce or really have a hand.”

The bet was that the last player to table seven-deuce in a hand they won would be treated to a luxury dinner at a restaurant of the winner’s choice. Of course, the loser in this case Tomasson, will have to pay up.

“It was much better winning the prop bet against Adam,” said Kanaker with a little sarcasm. “Of course, I am happy to win the title to kick start The Festival in a good way but also now have bragging rights for the week with Adam while making sure he sees how much I enjoyed every bite of our meal later in the week.”

Today, Kanaker plans to hop into Day 1b of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack. We wish him the best of luck in his quest to win a second title.

Lind Stuck in the Corner 27.11.2023 14:27 by Franke

When defending Sviten Special champion Totti Lind saw that he was in Seat 1 in the Sviten Special event before it began, he joked that he should unregister as this isn’t his favorite seat. Little did he know that his table was in the back corner and he was trapped and unable to get out of his chair without disruption being snug with space between Runar Borge and the dealer.

“This is worse than you thought,” this author said. “You are stuck in the corner.”

“Yeah, put the fat guy in the corner,” Lind said joking about himself.

“Who are you calling fat?” said Borge as a joke which got the entire table to chuckle.

Meanwhile, Sviten Special guru Peter La Terra just arrived and is about to get into the action. First, he was invited for a “tea” with Franke, who took a break from the action to chat with his close friend.

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Totti Lind Wins the Sviten Special in Malta
Sviten Special Begins 27.11.2023 14:20 by Franke

The first event of Monday kicked off in the €250 Sviten Special after some announcements by both the floor and The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk.

If you aren’t familiar with the rules, you can easily learn the game if you are familiar with both five-card draw and pot-limit Omaha.

The action starts off simply enough with each player getting dealt five cards followed by a round of betting in pot-limit format. A flop is then dealt and another round of betting takes place.

So far so good? Well, here is where it starts to get trickier. Players can discard any amount of cards for new ones or opt to stand pat. If a player only takes one card, it is face-up for every player to see. The player can decide whether to keep that card or ask for a new one. If they take a new one, it is face down like it would have been if they took 2-5 cards.

A turn is dealt followed by a another round of betting with the final round of betting taking place after the river. The player with the best five-card draw hand at showdown wins half the pot while the player with the best Omaha hand wins the other half.

The event provides plenty of action with a 30-minute clock and a 300 big blind starting stack of 30,000 in chips. Players can re-enter as many times as they would like during the first eight blind levels.

The event began with 24 entries and Franke appears convinced based on his announcement that a new record will be broken to shatter the 79 entries attracted in this event at The Festival Series Malta. Time will tell whether this will happen or not, but expect a big crowd.

Sviten Special author Martin Smith, Totti Lind, Frank Visser, Fuad Gotovusa, and Franke are among the early entrants, while Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon will be streaming his action on his Twitch channel for everyone to watch and learn.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon
Welcome to Day 2 of The Festival Series Bratislava 27.11.2023 13:58 by Franke

Get ready for some fun and excitement on Monday at The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino. The €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES and the €250 Bratislava Deepstack both continue with Day 1b, while two players will go home champions today with the one-day €250 Sviten Special and €125 Texas Monday Knockout also on the schedule.

In addition, the live stream at TheFestivalOG Twitch channel begins today with Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund hosting the action for the two Cash Game Challenge streams. The Cash Game Challenge will run all week long and the player that wins the most big blinds during any of the sessions will be crowned the Cash Game Challenge champion and be awarded a package valued at €1,600 to the first The Festival Series stop of 2024.

Check out the full schedule for Monday, Nov. 27 below, and best of luck to all of the players.

TimeEventGTD
2 p.m.Event #5: €250 Sviten Special
4 p.m.Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack Day 1b
6 p.m.Event #6: €60 Super Satellite to Main Event10x €550 Seats
7 p.m.Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event – HORSES Day 1b
8 p.m.Event #7: €2/€2 NLH Cash Game Challenge
10 p.m.Event #8: €125 Texas Monday Knockout
10:30 p.m.Event #9: €2/€2 PLO4
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Robert Kontkanen
2023 TFS Bratislava Day 1: Value Town’s Martin Kanaker Wins First Event 27.11.2023 13:42 by Franke

The Festival Series’ return to Banco Casino has been amazing thus far with tons of action and fun throughout the first of eight days. The Festival Series Bratislava boasts 54 numbered events including a wide variety of poker variants and casino games including Blackjack, Roulette, Slots, and Sports Wagering.

Value Town’s Martin Kanaker was the star of the opening day after becoming the sole player to win an event, while others set themselves up handsomely for Day 2 in two other events. The cash games were hopping on the casino floor including a super dealer’s choice affair started by Wouter Schuurbiers and Sviten Special author Martin Smith after both players busted from Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES.

Read on to learn more about what transpired on Day 1 of The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino:

Martin Kanaker Wins Event #4: €125 Crazy Pineapple

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Martin Kanaker

Event #4: €125 Crazy Pineapple could maybe have been dubbed the Crazier Pineapple event as there was more than just going than just the actual tournament. The event attracted a tidy field of 50 entries, which is amazing considering The Festival Series Bratislava qualifiers from nearly 20 partners have yet to arrive for a €5,225 prize pool.

Two fun things happened before late registration closed. First, players across two tables decided to play a stand-up game that is usually just in streamed cash games or home games where players had to stand up until they won a hand. The first time this took place it got a little messy with players moving tables and others hitting the rail, but they tried again. Sweden’s Martin Kanaker lost this bet and had to pay all players participating €5 each.

This was the only thing that Kanaker lost during the event as everything else went smoothly. He had another prop bet going with Adam Tomasson that both players were sweating where the last player to table seven-deuce as a winning hand got to choose where to have a fancy dinner at the loser’s expense.

Kanaker not only won this prop bet, but also wound up defeating Matthew Adams heads-up en route to the title and the €2,035 top prize to become the first winner of the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava.

Event #4: €125 Crazy Pineapple Payouts

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Martin KanakerSweden€1,565*
2Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom€1,200*
3Morten LieNorway€1,200*
4Andre SormEstonia€525
5Svein Olav EidsaeterNorway€420
6Anders BeckmanSweden€315
*Reflects three-way deal

Bas de Laat Leads Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES

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Bas de Laat

Day 1a of The Festival Series Bratislava Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES at Banco Casino attracted a tidy field of 17 players with just six players surviving on the first of the three opening days.

Dutch poker player Bas de Laat has thus far made the most of his trip from Malta as he bagged the chip lead during the first of the three opening flights after parlaying his 30,000 opening stack into 136,000 in chips. Austria’s Robin Panholzer (129,500) and United Kingdom’s John Clarkson (120,000) weren’t too far behind.

Meanwhile, United Kingdom’s Barrie Dear (49,000) and the French duo of Philippe Laval (41,500) and Liking Saiyasely (35,000) advanced with shorter stacks.

The action will resume in this event with Day 1b on Monday at 4 p.m. Expect many of the players that were unable to find a bag today to re-enter along with a bunch of new players with many more people heading into Bratislava for The Festival Series tomorrow.

PlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
Bas de LaatNetherlands136,00045
Robin PanholzerAustria129,50043
John ClarksonUnited Kingdom120,00040
Barrie DearUnited Kingdom49,00016
Philippe LavalFrance41,50014
Liking SaiyaselyFrance35,00012

Aleksandar Kamendoliev Leads Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack

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Aleksandar Kamendoliev

Day 1a of Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack attracted 47 runners. Just eight players found a bag after 16 levels of 30 minutes each.

North Macedonia’s Aleksandar Kamendoliev transformed his 30,100 opening stack into a whopping pile of 375,000 to easily end the first of three opening flights with the chip lead. Sweden’s Robert Kontkanen (216,000) was the only other player to advance with more than 200,000 with Tauno Loodus, Arman Nersisyan, Brian Klindrup, Erik Risberg, Phillip Huxley, and Trang Le also advancing through Day 1a.

The action will continue on Monday at 4 p.m. with Day 1b. Stay tuned to see who else will advance to Day 2.

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Aleksandar KamendolievNorth Macedonia375,00063
2Robert KontkanenSweden216,00036
3Tauno LoodusEstonia171,00029
4Arman NersisyanArmenia170,00028
5Brian KlindrupDenmark163,00027
6Erik RisbergSweden152,00025
7Phillip HuxleyUnited Kingdom109,00018
8Trang LeNetherlands59,00010

Today’s Schedule (Nov. 27)

Today will be a big day as not only with the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES and the €250 Bratislava Deepstack continue but two more tournaments and a Main Event satellite are in the mixed.

Our Twitch stream will kick off today at TheFestivalOG channel as well with Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund hosting the Cash Game Challenge streams with guests. As a reminder, the player that wins the most big blinds out of all of the Cash Game Challenge sessions will win a package to the first The Festival Series of 2024 to be announced later this week valued at €1,600. Check out the full schedule below:

TimeEventGTD
2 p.m.Event #5: €250 Sviten Special
4 p.m.Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack Day 1b
6 p.m.Event #6: €60 Super Satellite to Main Event10x €550 Seats
7 p.m.Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event – HORSES Day 1b
8 p.m.Event #7: €2/€2 NLH Cash Game Challenge
10 p.m.Event #8: €125 Texas Monday Knockout
10:30 p..m.Event #9: €2/€2 PLO4
Martin Kanaker Wins Crazy Pineapple and Prop Bet 27.11.2023 12:48 by Franke

Sweden’s Martin Kanaker made Value Town proud by becoming the first player to win an event at the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava after defeating Matthew Adams heads-up in Event #4: €125 Crazy Pineapple for €1,565. Morten Lie, Andre Sorm, Coolbet’s Svein Olav Eidsaeter, and Anders Beckman also managed to cash in this event. A three-way deal was made to even out the payouts before Kanaker went onto shipping the bacon.

While we will interview Kanaker hopefully later today, we did learn that he won the prop bet against fellow countrymate Adam Tomasson. The duo bet a fancy dinner of the winner’s choice. The rules were simple, the last player among the two to table seven-deuce as a winning hand would win the bet!

Congrats to Kanaker for winning the side event along with the prop bet. We will find out later which was more important.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Martin KanakerSweden€1,565
2Matthew AdamsUnited Kingdom€1,200*
3Morten LieNorway€1,200*
4Andre SormEstonia€525
5Svein Olav EidsaeterNorway€420
6Anders BeckmanSweden€315
Aleksandar Kamendoliev Leads Bratislava Deepstack 27.11.2023 12:39 by Franke
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Aleksandar Kamendoliev

Day 1a of Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack attracted 47 runners. Just eight players found a bag after 16 levels of 30 minutes each.

North Macedonia’s Aleksandar Kamendoliev transformed his 30,100 opening stack into a whopping pile of 375,000 to easily end the first of three opening flights with the chip lead. Sweden’s Robert Kontkanen (216,000) was the only other player to advance with more than 200,000 with Tauno Loodus, Arman Nersisyan, Brian Klindrup, Erik Risberg, Phillip Huxley, and Trang Le also advancing through Day 1a.

The action will continue on Monday at 4 p.m. with Day 1b. Stay tuned to see who else will advance to Day 2.

PlacePlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1Aleksandar KamendolievNorth Macedonia375,00063
2Robert KontkanenSweden216,00036
3Tauno LoodusEstonia171,00029
4Arman NersisyanArmenia170,00028
5Brian KlindrupDenmark163,00027
6Erik RisbergSweden152,00025
7Phillip HuxleyUnited Kingdom109,00018
8Trang LeNetherlands59,00010
Good Night 27.11.2023 01:29 by Franke

The action will continue for 24 hours a day during the next week during The Festival Series Bratislava. We will update tomorrow with the winner of the Crazy Pineapple and the final Day 1a chip counts of Day 1a of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack.

In addition, we will provide our usual daily update as a front-page news article. Best of luck to all of the players still battling it out in the two events as well as to those enjoying cash games this evening. Have a good night and see y’all again for tomorrow’s amazing action at The Festival Series Bratislava.

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Crazy (and Crazier) Pineapple Payouts 27.11.2023 01:24 by Franke

Event #4: €125 Crazy Pineapple attracted 50 entries for a €5,225 prize pool. The action is down to just 11 hopefuls with Adam Tomasson and Teemu Hietala both with big stacks.

Meanwhile, we have an update (or lack there of) in the prop bet between Tomasson and Martin Kanaker. Neither player thus far has tabled seven-deuce as the winning hand so there is no five-star dinner to be treated just as of yet as the duo agreed that the player to do this the last time would treat the other to dinner at a restaurant of the winner’s choice.

This event still has a way to go. So this can change. In the meantime, there are 11 players left with six players earning at least a €315 min-cash with tonight’s first side event winner taking home €2,035 barring any deals at the final table. Check out the full payouts below:

PlacePrize
1€2,035
2€1,200
3€730
4€525
5€420
6€315
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Bas de Laat Leads Mixed Main Event HORSES 27.11.2023 01:11 by Franke
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Bas de Laat

Players have bagged chips after 10 levels of play on Day 1a of The Festival Series Bratislava Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES at Banco Casino. Just six players survived from the original field of 17 entries.

Dutch poker player Bas de Laat has thus far made the most of his trip from Malta as he bagged the chip lead during the first of the three opening flights after parlaying his 30,000 opening stack into 136,000 in chips. Austria’s Robin Panholzer (129,500) and United Kingdom’s John Clarkson (120,000) weren’t too far behind.

Meanwhile, United Kingdom’s Barrie Dear (49,000) and the French duo of Philippe Laval (41,500) and Liking Saiyasely (35,000) advanced with shorter stacks.

The action will resume in this event with Day 1b on Monday at 4 p.m. Expect many of the players that were unable to find a bag today to re-enter along with a bunch of new players with many more people heading into Bratislava for The Festival Series tomorrow.

PlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
Bas de LaatNetherlands136,00045
Robin PanholzerAustria129,50043
John ClarksonUnited Kingdom120,00040
Barrie DearUnited Kingdom49,00016
Philippe LavalFrance41,50014
Liking SaiyaselyFrance35,00012
Video Welcome to Bratislava 26.11.2023 23:56 by Franke
Late Registration Closed on Day 1a of the Mixed Main 26.11.2023 23:31 by Franke

The first of three opening flights in Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES has closed with the field locking up with 17 players.

A total of eight players remained including The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk who hopped back in during the break.

The floor announced two more rule changes which will apply for both Day 1b and Day 1c. First, late registration will now close before the start of Level 9. Second, players will bag their stacks after Level 10 instead of Level 12 as previously scheduled.

This is on top of the rule change with Level 4 being played twice. All of the players applauded all the rule changes in this inaugural event and we expect this event to grow as The Festival Series continues offering it in 2024.

Meanwhile, Jon Kyte, who is fresh off a WSOP Circuit ring victory in a PLO event, hit the rail soon after the action resumed to leave seven players remaining.

“I will go downstairs and join the mixed cash game,” Kyte said with a smile before running off to make sure he had a seat.

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Jon Kyte
Mixed Cash, Anyone? 26.11.2023 23:11 by Franke

Several of the players that busted the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES decided instead of re-entering today with two more opening flights to go that they would instead start a mixed-cash game where it is super dealer’s choice. This means that any cash game that can be explained to the other players at the table will be played.

Sviten Special author Martin Smith and mixed-game guru Wouter Schuurbiers were the catalysts behind the game. Eva “Chic” Jiretorn shared that she would be joining them after she hit the rail in the Crazy Pineapple. The game is open to anyone and stakes will be the lowest available at the casino. So if you like mixed games, come out to Banco Casino where they will be running all night long.

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HORSE Cards
Crazier Pineapple 26.11.2023 22:51 by Franke

The €125 Crazy Pineapple got even crazier than planned. Players are having fun and added a new element to the game.

Several players spanning two tables got involved with two stand-up games with each participating player in for €5 to all the other players if they were the last player standing. As is the case in specialized cash games, players were allowed to sit down after winning a hand.

The first one got a little confusing as players were being moved to tables while others busted out. However, Value Town’s Martin Manaker lost the second one and had to pay up.

This isn’t the only craziness that Manaker is up to. Despite tripling his stack, this event could hit his wallet Adam Tomasson shared and Kanaker confirmed that the duo had a special seven-deuce game.

The last player between the two to win a hand and after tabling seven-deuce will win the bet. The loser will then treat the winner to a dinner for two at a restaurant of the winner’s choice. This can be at McDonald’s but we doubt that will be the case as anything goes.

“This bet is likely for more than the buy-in of the tournament,” Tomasson proudly shared.

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Adam Tomasson
Photos From the Crazy Pineapple by Dominik Demcak 26.11.2023 22:11 by Franke
Photos From the Bratislava Deepstack Day 1a 26.11.2023 21:30 by Franke

Check out some early photos from the €250 Bratislava Deepstack Day 1a by The Festival Series head of photography Mairo Toom.

Groundhog’s Day in the HORSES 26.11.2023 21:26 by Franke

Attention mixed game players. The structure of the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES became even deeper with tournament organizers opting to play Level 4 (500-1,000-2,000) twice. This was promised to be the only rule change and was done in consent with all the dozen players in action.

Unfortunately, Martin Smith will have to try again either today or on one of the other two opening flights as he was the second player on the rail in the HORSES event after Eva “Chic” Jiretorn was the first player out of the event.

Speaking of Jiretorn, she is having a blast in the €125 Crazy Pineapple and is pushing for this reporter to join in the mix to make it even more “crazy” than it already is.

“I set a new record as just played my fourth hand,” Jiretorn said. “Last time, I only lasted three hands.”

Franke did mention that we “should” try reporting on action from a first-hand perspective. Although plenty of things are in this reporter’s comfort zone, that would be a first so for now it is only a “definite maybe” that I will play something this week.

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Martin Smith
Crazy Time 26.11.2023 21:14 by Franke

The €125 Crazy Pineapple just kicked off with a starting field of 11 players. As we already mentioned both Eva “chic” Jiretorn and Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund are in the field alongside ACR Stormer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon.

A pair of Adams are in the field in Marc Adams and Matthew Adams. We had to check if there was any relation.

“We aren’t related, but do know each other,” said Matthew Adams.

“You aren’t related as far as you know,” Jiretorn added which provided laughter to the entire table.

Anders Beckman, Charalampos Chalkiotis, Erik Scherman, Iordanis Skarlis, Martin Steen, and Karyna Strizhakova are also battling it out in hopes of winning an event on the opening day.

If you aren’t familiar with Crazy Pineapple, it is easy to learn provided you already know hold’em. The only difference is that instead of two cards, players are initially dealt three cards before they dump one of their cards if they are still in the hand after the flop.

Best of luck to all of the “crazy” players! This could go to the wee hours of the morning, so we will likely update the winner of this event in the morning.

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Mark Adams
Welcome Drink Photos 26.11.2023 20:55 by Franke
The Festival Series Malta Main Event Champ Oystein Brenden in the House; Jiretorn First on the Rail 26.11.2023 20:46 by Franke
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Oystein Brenden

Oystein Brenden is the defending The Festival Series Main Event champion after he bested a 617-entry field in The Festival Series Malta in May at Portomaso Casino for €60,700.

Brenden is now on the hunt for a different Main Event trophy at The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino as he was among the recent entries in Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES.

The Day 1a field has reached 13 entries but one of those players will need to try again in Eva “Chic” Jiretorn. Chic is a mixed-game enthusiast who has had some success in both tournaments and cash games but today wasn’t her day as she was the first (and thus far only) player on the rail. She opted to become the first person to enter Event #4: €125 Crazy Pineapple, which kicks off at 9 p.m. and will be joined by Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon and others including The Festival Series commentator Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund.

“It’s epic!” said Chic. “It was the first ever HORSES tournament and I was the first player out. It was the same at the Swedish Championship where I was the first out as well.”

Chic has played Crazy Pineapple before at The Festival Series but had only slightly better success than she had today during Day 1a of the HORSES.

“I played the Crazy Pineapple in Malta,” said Chic. “I only lasted three hands but was out with ace-ace-queen.”

Tomorrow, however, is a different story as Chic plans to play (and win) the €250 Sviten Special. Let’s just say we have played our share of mixed game hands and tons of Sviten Special against Chic. She is fun to play with but don’t let that fool you as she is better than most and is among the best Sviten Special players we have come across.

“It’s better to be fun than boring,” Chic added before getting ready for the Crazy Pineapple kicking off at 9 p.m.

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Eva “Chic” Jiretorn
Six Players Qualify for Bratislava Deepstack 26.11.2023 20:10 by Franke

The €35 satellite concluded with six players winning tickets out of the 42 entries field. Andrew Hanak soft-bubbled the satellite with Jan Iversen winning €96 for seventh place.

Meanwhile, Ole-Johnny Karlsen, Joost Melkert, Ladislav Toncer, Marios Pavlou, Stephen Jarvie, and Andre Sorm all won tickets for the satellite and were immediately entered into Day 1a of Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack.

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Bratislava Deepstack Satellite
Welcome Drinks 26.11.2023 20:05 by Franke

Players with the hospitality package are enjoying welcome drinks on the casino floor. The lovely Anastasia is once again leading the way for all the hospitality events and made an announcement to the players before drinks were flowing.

Two people not enjoying adult beverages are The Festival Series’s Karev Tralla and Melvin Schroen but there is a good reason for this. Although both The Festival Series commentating Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund and this author were enjoying some small needles we respect the reasons and will try to make up for their loss.

Both Schroen and Tralla have a prop bet that began at the beginning of the month that they would not imbibe any alcohol for a year. If you catch either with a drink, please call them out but as of now, both are holding strong with their commitment.

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Melvin Schroen
Day 1a of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack Begins 26.11.2023 19:32 by Franke

The first of three opening flights kicked off in the €250 Bratislava Deepstack. The stacks are indeed deeper than the €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES with The Festival Series organizers adding 100 chips to everyone’s stack giving all players a starting stack of 30,100.

Several players got a laugh about the starting stack.

“It is a deep stack,” was the response by the floor with a smile when asked about the extra 100 chips.

Players will enjoy 16 blind levels of 30 minutes each during Day 1a with unlimited re-entries permitted for the first 10 blind levels providing plenty of opportunities to build a monsterous stack.

Elisabeth Balasz, who unsuccessfully fired three bullets in the satellite that is still ongoing, is among the players in the field. Also in battle from the initial dozen players to enter the action were Per Gjelten, Tauno Loodus, Adrian Ivasiuc, Runar Borge, Karl Nydahl, Arman Nersisyan, Joel Baxter, and Linus Elmes.

Best of luck to all of the deep-stack players!

Early Photos From Mixed Main Event (HORSES) 26.11.2023 19:09 by Franke
Time to Get on Your HORSE(S) 26.11.2023 18:34 by Franke

We can proudly say that The Festival Series Bratislava has officially kicked off with the first non-satellite event underway in Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event – HORSES Day 1a.

There was no typo there, it is HORSES rather than HORSE as The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk opted to try something new with a big mixed game event that incorporates all the games of HORSE alongside Sviten Special.

The games will rotate among the six different poker formats with players starting with a big stack of 30,000 in chips and blinds increasing slowly at every 30 minutes. The event boasts three starting flights from Nov. 26-28 before players battle it out down to a winner on Day 2 on Nov. 28. Check out the different games on rotation below:

  • H – Hold’em
  • O – Omaha
  • R – Razz
  • S – Stud
  • E – Stud h/l
  • S – Sviten Special

While you are maybe familiar with the standard games of HORSE you might be less familiar with Sviten Special. We will break down the rules of Sviten Special later on in our coverage, especially considering there is also a €250 Sviten Special tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Franke made some introductions along with explaining the tournament before taking his seat with the event beginning with nine players. Rest assured that this is just the start as players can re-enter throughout the 12 blind levels of Day 1a and if they fail to bag can take another stab or three at it during tomorrow’s Day 1b. Players surviving the two opening flights will meet for one final day on Tuesday and battle it out until a winner is crowned.

Joining Franke in the early action are Sviten Special author Martin Smith, Wouter Schuurbiers, Bas de Laat, Barrie Dear, Philippe Laval, Liking Saiyasely, Sandeep Nene, and Georgi Voomets.

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Shoutout to the Photographers 26.11.2023 15:32 by Franke

The dynamic duo of Mairo “EstonianWeirdo” Toom and Dominik Demcak are back once again to deliver quality photos of every single non-satellite event throughout the festival and more.

Toom has already been busy taking a few external shots leading into the action and a photo of the satellite event with many more to come throughout the day and extended week.

Am I just saying nice things about Toom as I am sharing a hotel room that is already trashed? OK, I am joking about the hotel room and the photos speak for themselves.

Both Toom and Demcek are friendly and chances are if you are at Banco Casino this week they will grab a photo of you. However, just in case, feel free to flag either of them down.

Will Pokerbrahs Stream the Very First Event? 26.11.2023 15:18 by Franke

Event #1: €35 Satellite to Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack Day 1a kicked off with a tidy field of a dozen runners. This will pick up with the event boasting eight levels of late registration, during which time players can re-enter until their heart is content.

Most satellites around Europe, especially with such a cheap buy-in, boast a hyper-turbo structure of 10 or 15-minute blind levels. This satellite provides a bit more play before some players will inevitably need to go into push/fold mode with a 20-minute blind level structure. Players start off with a deep stack of 10,000 in chips and can instantly grab 5,000 more to their stack with a €5 add-on, which also gets added to the prize pool.

While ACR Stormer Scott “PokerBrahs” Kenyon wasn’t among the original entries, he was the first player to drop by to say hi.

“I might jump into the satellite now,” Kenyon said when he learned that it was taking place on the casino floor.

Kenyon also shared that he will be live-streaming as much of his live poker action as possible at his Twitch channel.

While Kenyon isn’t on the official list yet, others including Mark McCauley, Harley Adams, Andre Sorm, Marios Pavlou, and Matthew Deller are already in the mix.

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Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon
Welcome to The Festival Bratislava 26.11.2023 14:47 by Franke
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The moment we have all been waiting for is finally here as The Festival Series returns to Banco Casino, located in the heart of the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, for eight days of thrilling poker action.

Get ready for tons of fun and excitement with the 2023 The Festival Series Bratislava boasting 54 numbered events. While The Festival Series Bratislava boasts plenty of hold’em including a €550 Main Event on Nov. 28 to Dec. 3 boasting a whopping €500,000 guarantee, the budding event boasts much more with casino tournaments including blackjack, slots, roulette, and sports wagering alongside mixed games littered throughout the schedule including the start of today’s €550 HORSES which runs from Nov. 26-28.

The HORSES is similar to HORSE, The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk added a twist. In addition to the standard limit games of HORSE in Hold’em, Omaha h/l, Razz, Stud, Stud h/l, and Razz, the tournament has added a sixth game in limit Sviten Special. We will explain more about the rules of this amazing game later in our coverage. In the meantime, we can share that Day 1a kicks off today at 6 p.m. followed two more opening flights from Nov. 27-28 with surviving players battling it out until a winner is crowned on Day 2 which starts at 8 p.m. on Nov. 28.

The HORSES event is not the only game in town today as the day begins at 3 p.m. with a €35 satellite, which guarantees at least five seats to the €250 Bratislava Deepstack.

The Deepstack kicks off the first of its three opening flights today as well at 7 p.m. followed by the fun €125 Crazy Pineapple at 9 p.m.

We will share about all of these events and much more as the day proceeds. So stay tuned to The Festival Series blog to stay up to date.

Any player that wins any event will not only be awarded a handsome cash prize but also a one-of-a-kind portrait drawing of their winner’s photo.

Cash Game Challenge

Cash game players also have something to look forward to as not only will there be ring games in a variety of poker formats around the clock but also a live-streamed Cash Game Challenge where the top performing player of the week will be awarded a €1,600 package to the first The Festival Series stop in 2024.

Franke’s Flip Flops

Franke’s Flip Flops has become a fun staple to The Festival Series after it was added last year. It has proven to be popular and, of course, it will be back for The Festival Series Bratislava.

Starting on Monday and running through Saturday, a designated table will be created for rake-free flips to a variety of events. Players can get lucky without a house edge to earn a buy-in at an event of their choosing for a fraction of the cost. The player that wins the most flips will win a package to the next The Festival Series stop to be announced shortly and a coveted framed pair of Franke’s actual flip flops.

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Rolf Bechstrom Wins Franke’s Flip Flops

Rolf Bechstrom at The Festival Series and will attend The Festival Series Malta compliments on the house. The emotions run high in these flips and we recommend giving them a try or at least watching some of the action from the rail. There will also be a chance for one skilled player to win a package to the next The Festival Series stop in the Player of the Festival contest which we will also elaborate on throughout our coverage.

Today’s Action

TimeEventGTD
3 p.m.Event #1: €35 Satellite to Bratislava Deepstack Day 1a5x €250 Seats
6 p.m.Event #2: €550 Mixed Main Event – HORSES Day 1a
7 p.m.Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack Day 1a
9 p.m.Event #4: €125 Crazy Pineapple