Not content with a stack in the Main Event, Sebastian Kotowicz hopped in at the last minute into the €1,100 NLH High Roller. Only 6 of the remaining 11 players will find the money.
| Place | Prize (€) |
|---|---|
| 1 | €16,125 |
| 2 | €9,625 |
| 3 | €5,850 |
| 4 | €4,350 |
| 5 | €3,350 |
| 6 | €2,500 |
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Ari Engel and Matt Kelley have both made the final table of the Sviten Special. They are two of the final seven, which comprise Carlo Braccini, Henrik Brun, Thomas Lechner, Joni Limatta, and Lachezar Tsenov.
Here Are The 12 Players Going Through to Day 2 of The Main Event. Of course, Sebastian Kotowicz made the cut, as he is looking for an unprecedented three-peat. Artur Meburnutov bagged the biggest stack so far.
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artur Meburnutov | 575,000 |
| 2 | Sebastian Kotowicz | 549,000 |
| 3 | Vincenzo de Donato | 369,000 |
| 4 | Lukasz Ratajczyk | 293,000 |
| 5 | Thor Morstoel | 150,000 |
| 6 | Peter Bumba | 50,000 |
| 7 | Ivan Fedor | 50,000 |
| 8 | Mark McKenzie | 50,000 |
| 9 | Tambet Nugin | 50,000 |
| 10 | Stefan Ignat | 50,000 |
| 11 | Vitalii Shcherba | 50,000 |
| 12 | Piotr Stanislaw Swietek | 50,000 |
Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk invested five bullets to no avail, as he couldn’t make the most of his chip and his chair. He was the official bubble boy in the €250 Sviten Special. The remaining players are guaranteed €450.
Andreas Paliogiannis has become the Hendon Mob Championship Champion! In a limped pot preflop between himself and Igor Narajczyk. The flop of 10 10 A Q J was checked down. The turn received another round of knuckles before Paliogiannis moved all in on the river and got snap called by Narajczyk
Paliogiannis had a full house with Q Q , and Narajczyk had K 8 for Broadway. Below are the final table payouts.
| Place | Player | Prize (€) | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreas Paliogiannis | €13,567 |  |
| 2 | Igor Narajczyk | €9,015 |  |
| 3 | Ralf Mikk | €6,885 |  |
| 4 | Mickael Lacaze | €5,530 |  |
| 5 | Oleksii Lezhepokov | €4,340 |  |
| 6 | Peter Toth | €3,295 |  |
| 7 | Walodik Gregorian | €2,420 |  |
| 8 | Joakim Bakke | €1,780 |  |
| 9 | Marco Herman | €1,475 | |
Here are the payouts in the Baby TORSES Supreme. 44 are left battling it out in the first-ever instalment of this tournament.
| Place | Prize (€) |
|---|---|
| 1 | €6,501 |
| 2 | €4,785 |
| 3 | €3,445 |
| 4 | €2,460 |
| 5 | €1,760 |
| 6 | €1,255 |
| 7 | €895 |
| 8–9 | €660 |
| 10–11 | €540 |
| 12–14 | €480 |
| 15–17 | €450 |
Henrik Brun and Joni Limatta appear to be the biggest stacks in the Sviten Special. Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk is at risk of being the bubble boy as he is short-stacked.
American duo Ari Engel and Matt Kelley are looking to take the title Stateside.
Estonia’s Ralf Mikk has missed out narrowly on a second heads-up battle this week. The €250 Heads-Up runner-up has been eliminated in third place, leaving Mr Anonymous and Andreas Paliogiannis heads-up. Paliogiannis has a strong majority of the chips in play, and he will be looking to close it out and secure the win.
Mickael Lacaze was on the wrong side of a cooler in The Hendon Mob Championships. He reraised jammed all in preflop and got snap called by Igor Narajczyk. Lacaze had J J , and Narajczyk had A A .
He made a boat with K A 9 8 9 to eliminate Lacaze and to take play three-handed.
Oleksii Lezhepokov has been eliminated from The Hendon Mob Championships, leaving play four-handed.
12 players from today’s 1/C flight will progress to Day 2 and gain a Festival Series cash. In the field are the reigning champ Sebastian Kotowicz, online crusher Niclas “Flushiisback” Thumm, and new Mixed Game Main Event – TORSES champion, Thor Morstoel.
Here are the counts at the break in The Hendon Mob Championship. An anonymous player has taken the lead, usurping Oleksii Lezhepokov atop the counts. Ralf Mikk and Mickael Lacaze need a spin-up if they wish to threaten the top three.
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anonymous | 3,170,000 |
| 2 | Andreas Paliogiannis | 2,960,000 |
| 3 | Oleksii Lezhepokov | 2,290,000 |
| 4 | Ralf Mikk | 780,000 |
| 5 | Mickael Lacaze | 685,000 |
Fancy a €125 Seven-fold? Register for the Sportsbook tournament, which takes place on pen and paper from today! You have until Saturday, 1 p.m. local time to buy in and grab a sheet from The Festival team at the Hospitality desk.
The rules are simple. Pick either home team to win, draw, or away win and the correct score for each game. Players will receive one point for each correct outcome and two points for the correct score.
One of the games will be worth double points. In case of a tie, the player who predicts, or is closest to, the total number of goals scored across the seven games will win the title.
Come and get involved!
Peter Toth and Walodik Gregorian have been welcomed to the departures lounge in The Hendon Mob Championships, leaving only 5 battling for the title.
| Place | Player | Prize (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Peter Toth | €3,295 |
| 7 | Walodik Gregorian | €2,420 |
Franke’s Flips is set to take place at the tables near the tournament registration area!
For just €25, you can flip your way to glory in a series of “stand and goes” in a quest to win a pair of Franke’s fabled flip flops and tournament credits! The flips are rake free. Come join in the fun!
Oh, and there’s a chance to win a package to Rozvadov worth €1,600!
A field of 31 have assembled for the debut of the Baby TORSES (Supreme) here at Banco Casino in Bratislava. Amongst the players are Malta Mixed Game Main Event runner-up Ben Sweetman, popular streamer Scott Kenyon, and this Series’ Mixed Game Main Event runner-up Matteo Crapanzano.
Want to get involved in Mixed Games? This is the place to start, with the buy-in at €125, it won’t break the bank. The players are friendly and will be willing to help you out if you are unsure of anything.
You can also swat up on your Mixed Game knowledge and strategy through this helpful article that we produced, which will tell you how to play the games.
Registration has now closed in the Sviten Special, which saw a total of 123 entrants take to the felt over the course of this afternoon. Five of those entrants belong to Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk, and 54 players remain with the Festival founder still in the field. Below are the payouts.
| Place | Prize (€) |
|---|---|
| 1 | €6,501 |
| 2 | €4,785 |
| 3 | €3,445 |
| 4 | €2,460 |
| 5 | €1,760 |
| 6 | €1,255 |
| 7 | €895 |
| 8–9 | €660 |
| 10–11 | €540 |
| 12–14 | €480 |
| 15–17 | €450 |
Joakim Bakke has become the latest departure from The Hendon Mob Championships. Below are the payouts from 9-20.
| Place | Player | Prize (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Marco Herman | €1,475 |
| 10 | Ole Karlsen | €1,235 |
| 11 | Kento Suzuki | €1,235 |
| 12 | Mody Rubinstein | €1,090 |
| 13 | Michal Kokocha | €1,090 |
| 14 | Jiri Dusek | €980 |
| 15 | Tal Moriel | €980 |
| 16 | Bas de Laat | €870 |
| 17 | Sourlas Georgios | €870 |
| 18 | Jan Iversen | €760 |
| 19 | Reinhard Faltejsek | €760 |
| 20 | Jaroslav Stulhofer | €760 |
The second €1,100 of the week is in play, and a field of 17 High Rollers is in action. Representing the home team is Martin Ilavsky, and also in the field is the newly crowned €1,100 PLO High Roller champion Samuiel Stan.
Oleksii Lezhepokov has a commanding chip lead as the players have come together for the final table of the Hendon Mob Championships. The most recent departure was Marco Herman, and play is now 8-handed.
The €250 Sviten Special has attracted 113 total entrants over the course of the day. Multiple WSOP Bracelet and WSOPC Ring winner Ari Engel is in the field, as is his compatriot, Matt Kelley, who was almost turned away in Vienna.
The NLH High Roller is delayed due to the satellite still being in play. Below are the players who have bought directly into the second High Roller event of the week.
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Gehrmann | 100,000 |
| 2 | Linus Lauermann | 100,000 |
| 3 | Petru Prepelita | 100,000 |
| 4 | Tonis Viik | 100,000 |
| 5 | Sebastian von Toperczer | 100,000 |
| 6 | Robert Wagner | 100,000 |
The Hendon Mob Championship final table has been finalised, and Ole Karlsen was the unfortunate victim of the final table bubble.
With today being the half-way point in The Festival in Bratislava, event choice becomes a big factor in determining the winner. Those who choose to focus on the Main Event and enter several starting flights usually rule themselves out of contention as they forgo picking up points in multiple events while they try to secure their berth in Day 2.
Leaderboard front runner Ivo Petkov has chosen to enter Day 1c of the Main Event, while 2nd placed Wouter Schuurbiers has opted for the Sviten Special. Third placed Yevhenii Ivanov and fourth placed Johnny Johansen have yet to enter anything today.
Scott ‘Pokerbrahs” Kenyon is also participating in the Sviten Special and is live streaming it on his Twitch channel. If you’ve ever wondered how to play the game, this stream is a veritable masterclass….actually maybe not, he’s just busted. He will likely start another stream when he decides what to play next, but has already safely secured 2.5 participation points and can shoot for more in another event, likely the Baby TORSES.
Only 14 are let in pursuit of the Hendon Mob Championship title. The chipleader at the time of writing is Ukraine’s Oleksii Lezhepokov, who has around 1,700,000 with the blinds at 10,000/20,000. The average stack in the room is 700,000.
A total of 73 entrants have been made into 1/C of The Main Event. Current Hendon Mob Championship Champion Ondrej Chlapek, current Main Event Champion and back-to-back winner Sebastian Kotowicz, has entered for the first time this week, and newly crowned TORSES Champion Thor Morstoel is back in the two-card streets.
Like all successful operations, it takes many moving parts to make the machine work efficiently. The dealers are integral to this machine we call The Festival Series, and there is no one better to talk to about The Festival from a dealer’s perspective than Petr Kupský. The man alone is a machine. The talented and charming Czech is a Festival veteran, having worked, at least in his estimation, at 80% of the stops. He was generous enough to spend some of his break time with me yesterday, before the start of the €125 Bomb Pot Madness tournament, about his background and The Festival.
Q: How did you first get into dealing?
A: I had a training in Czechia when I was going to University. I wanted to make some money. So, I took a training course in Olomouc, I started freelancing there for two years, and after two years, I started coming to Bratislava, where I met The Festival series and other series.
Q: How many stops have you done with The Festival?
A: I believe The Festival series is already three, four years old. This was the first stop I came to (in 2021), some of them, I missed, but I would spend most of them I might like from 80 percent. Yeah, I couldn’t. I couldn’t attend in Tallinn (Sviten Special Weekend) because it was very short and also Nottingham I missed. But Malta, Rozvadov, Bratislava, I think I’ve done all of these stops. With Bratislava, I have done them all, 100%!
Q: What is the best thing about being a poker dealer?
A: You’re free! You can plan your time. You can schedule your tournaments. And you can travel. You can see nice places. You can learn languages. You can meet nice people, and it also helps you to grow. There are so many things that people don’t see that they can learn when travelling. It’s not only about poker, but it’s also about meeting people, knowing how to talk with people, and how to behave at the table. Sometimes that’s hard, because when you get to know the people at the table, you want to talk to them.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you face in this job?
A: The shifts can be very long, so it’s important to stay disciplined. And after these long shifts, we also like to have some free time, and if you lose your discipline, then it can be hard, because of the long hours. You need to think twice before going out to a party, so if you don’t sleep, you need to sleep, and you need to create a disciplined plan if you want to become a dealer.
Q: How does dealing at The Festival compare to other poker events?
A: When I was dealing in Czech, it was only Czech people or Polish people. But now, when I started meeting people from across Europe, I realised that there is many nationalities and each nationality is special, and they all like different things; the Swedish people they like to play mixed games, then you have Czech people, most don’t play Mixed or PLO. The biggest difference is the choice of games. When I started travelling to the Mixed Game events, and this is the reason why I’m dealing, I love poker. But when i first started travelling, I only knew Hold’em, so it was very hard at the start.
Q: How long did it take you to learn the Mixed Games fluently?
A: It’s not so much about learning, you could learn it in one day, but to feel confident in dealing the games, you need to do at least 5-10 Mixed Game tournaments to feel confident that you’re able to do it. The biggest problem with Mixed Games is that there is not that many tournaments in Europe. So some dealers deal maybe one or two times per years then maybe they forget. Also, they are not the same rules everywhere, but they are changing over time.
Q: What is your favourite stop?
A: The Festival Bratislava. When The Festival is here, it feels alive; it feels like the players take it seriously here. Bratislava is one of the main stops for The Festival, where you see a lot of the same faces and always new faces. It’s always very friendly here, it’s not always about the poker. If I came here as a player with only two bullets worth, I would still stay the whole week, just to hang out. Many of the tournaments on the schedule are made for fun to be entertaining, like turbos, bomb pot tournaments, and you also don’t get that many opportunities to deal those games anywhere else.
And here when dealing cash games here at The Festival Series, players can pick any Mixed Game. They don’t just have to play it in a tournament format. They can play it in the cash games as well.
Q: Would you recommend this job?
A: It is a great job and a great opportunity, but it is hard. You are allowed to learn, to grow to travel to learn everything, but in the end, it is very tough. You have to plan your travel, and you need to make sure that you are on time everywhere. You need to make sure that you are ready to work long hours. Sometimes its the opposite, and you don’t get enough hours, and as a freelancer, you need the hours, especially if you have to pay for travel expenses.
I would say though, if you like poker, this is your space. If you want to learn how to play poker, you can also start as a dealer, because you will learn the rules. You will learn how it works, and you can choose what kind of tournament do you like to attend in the future as a dealer or as a player. You can find your way in poker because there is plenty of games, you can choose which game fits you, because many people know only Hold’em then they start playing something like Open Face Chinese they can play it for 12 hours and learn it.
And from the dealers perspective in a game like that, you can learn the games so well as it is the best school you could have. Sometimes you are watching the best players right in front of you and you’re happy you can deal for them. You can then ask them for recommendations, advice about the games.
Q: If you had to pick one game to play forever, what would it be?
A: Open Face Chinese.
Q: If you had to pick on game to deal forever, what would it be?
A: Open Face Chinese.
Petr then signed off the interview by giving thanks to The Festival Series, and encouraging his fellow dealers to learn the Mixed Games, saying: “Thanks to The Festival, I had the opportunity to learn all the Mixed Games. It’s been like four or five years now, and I can say that it is my best choice in the past. All my friends, when they wanted to learn, didn’t know they were very scared of it, but there is nothing to be scared of. It’s very easy when you learn it. People are very helpful. They help you always because usually they are very experienced in all the game, all the variants, and it’s the best opportunity. When you know the Mixed Games, more doors open. I would recommend it to all dealers. Learn it. Don’t pay any money to anybody, look at guides online on The Festival and do some research.”
OFC Specialist Fabian Bartuschk and back-to-back Main Event Winner Sebastian Kotowicz are just two of the names that have been sent packing to new tournaments, having been eliminated from The Hendon Mob Championships.
| Pos. | Player | Prize (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Petru Prepelita | €690 |
| 22 | Christoph Hillinger | €690 |
| 23 | Komil Khamidov | €690 |
| 24 | Christoph Rapf | €620 |
| 25 | Igor Dovzhenko | €620 |
| 26 | Adam Lawniczak | €620 |
| 27 | Jakub Szczotka | €620 |
| 28 | Teresa Newton | €550 |
| 29 | Bartlomiej Grabowski | €550 |
| 30 | Sebastian Kotowicz | €550 |
| 31 | Quinten Spyckerelle | €550 |
| 32 | Tonis Viik | €485 |
| 33 | David Vesely | €485 |
| 34 | Michael Gehrmann | €485 |
| 35 | Fabian Bartuschk | €485 |
| 36 | Ola Petter Bremer | €485 |
| 37 | Andrej Desset | €485 |
| 38 | Danny de Vos | €485 |
| 39 | Daniel Halon | €485 |
| 40 | Viktoria Lucenkova | €485 |
| 41 | Matte Bjarni Karjalainen | €485 |
A total of 51 players have entered the €250 Sviten Special this afternoon at Banco Casino Bratislava. The tournament has been in play for 50 minutes, and if the entrants keep coming, we could see the record for most entrants in a Sviten Special tournament being broken.
It is a record we at The Festival know well; we set it last time out in Bratislava, where 131 total entrants took to the felt to play one of Sweden’s best exports. Ville Keränen won that event, but he hasn’t been seen yet this week, so a new champion will be crowned by the end of the day.
Jari-Pekka Rattya took down the €125 NLH Knockout Madness for his first-ever Festival Series title. The closest Rattya has come to victory before was in the Seniors 50+ tournament in Malta last year, where he finished second to Salvatore Ritrovato. Below are the payouts exclusive of bounties.
| Position | Player | Payout | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jari-Pekka Rattya | €1,270 |  |
| 2 | Wiktor Marcinkowski | €1,270 | |
| 3 | Marco Herman | €905 | |
| 4 | Yevhenii Ivanov | €650 | |
| 5 | Levente Kis | €465 | |
| 6 | Cheng Yin | €330 |  |
| 7 | Jari Kaerkkaeinen | €235 | |
| 8 | Bo Lindahl | €170 |  |
| 9 | Jonas Janavicius | €170 |  |
| 10 | Matthias Tschach | €140 |  |
| 11 | Milenko Pilic | €140 |  |
| 12 | Ronald Woudstra | €120 | |
| 13 | Sami Pulliainen | €120 | |
Dutch crusher Bas de Laat claimed his first Festival win in the small hours of this morning in the explosive Bomb Pot Madness (NLH/PLO) at Banco Casino Bratislava.
Last time in Bratislava, de Laat finished 11th in the Main Event for €6,500, and he will no doubt be looking for another deep run before the week comes to an end. Below are the payouts. Click here to see the full results page of the action so far.
| Position | Player | Payout | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bas de Laat | €2,442 | |
| 2 | Harald Redl | €1,510 | |
| 3 | Simon Wilenius | €1,155 |  |
| 4 | Jakub Janosovsky | €890 |  |
| 5 | Aurelie Mazauric | €710 | |
| 6 | Lubomir Balaz | €575 | |
| 7 | Ivo Petkov | €465 |  |
| 8 | Jacek Piontke | €355 | |
| 9 | Flavien Mullet | €280 | |
| 10 | Ka Yim | €250 |  |
| 11 | Hans Kleinsman | €250 | |
Here are what the players will be battling it out for in The Hendon Mob Championships over the course of this afternoon.
| Place | Prize (€) |
|---|---|
| 1 | €13,567 |
| 2 | €9,015 |
| 3 | €6,885 |
| 4 | €5,530 |
| 5 | €4,340 |
| 6 | €3,295 |
| 7 | €2,420 |
| 8 | €1,780 |
| 9 | €1,475 |
| 10–11 | €1,235 |
| 12–13 | €1,090 |
| 14–15 | €980 |
| 16–17 | €870 |
| 18–20 | €760 |
| 21–23 | €690 |
| 24–27 | €620 |
| 28–31 | €550 |
| 32–41 | €485 |
Here are the players who have hit the rail early in The Hendon Mob Championships so far this afternoon.
| Rank | Player | Prize (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 34 | Michael Gehrmann | €485 |
| 35 | Fabian Bartuschk | €485 |
| 36 | Ola Petter Bremer | €485 |
| 37 | Andrej Desset | €485 |
| 38 | Danny de Vos | €485 |
| 39 | Daniel Halon | €485 |
| 40 | Viktoria Lucenkova | €485 |
| 41 | Matte Karjalainen | €485 |
Bulgarian Ivo Petvok assumed the lead in the Player of the Series race when he won the €125 H.O.R.S.E. on Tuesday evening and after the third day of The Festival in Bratislava, has retained the lead, boosting his score to 83.75 points. The full story and the current top 20 in the rankings can be explored in the Day 3 Leaderboard story, which is now live in the news section of The Festival Series website.
There’s still a long way to go before the eventual Player of the Series will be determined and Thursday, which is the hump day of the series will see another five events reach their conclusion:
The Main Event also continues today and the first day of the Bratislava Deepstack will also take place.
