2026 The Festival Bratislava Day 7

The final tournament of the week has concluded, and the OFC High Roller title goes to Eran Lin after a lengthy day at the tables. Below are the payouts. Apologies for any delays in coverage, as is it is the final day, the staff tournament is currently in-play. The blog is officially signing off for this stop, but the recap of today’s action will be up when the afternoon comes in Slovakia.

That’s all for now, folks. I hope you have enjoyed reading.

Until next time.

Johnny Johansen is the first casualty of the €1,100 Open Face Chinese here at Banco Casino Bratislava. He will be leaving with a score of €2,000 for his efforts.

Bo Lindhal wins the Lowroller after brief deal discussions. Lindhal and Petkov exchanged prizes, shook hands and called it a day.

Matt Kelley fell to the bubble in the OFC High Roller. Artem Berliand has an uncountable number of chips in front of him, and he has a strong advantage over the field.

Sergii Baranov has bested the field in the €1,100 10-Game Mix. Baranov has been on top form over the course of the two-day event, and always had a substantial stack in front of him. He beat Sascha Manns in a quick heads-up game, which happened to be the same result that occurred at last year’s EPT in Prague.

Baranov won the TORSES Main Event back in November and is now a double Festival Series champion. Below are the payouts.

Gani Weiss fell victim to the bubble in the €60 Lowroller. The min cash was worth a tasty €320. Monica Larsson, Bo Lindahl, Ivo Petkov, and Kare Hallamaa are all in contention for the top prize and a package worth €1,600. Below are the payouts.

Eight are left in the Open Face Chinese High Roller, and only five will be paid. Matt Kelley and Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk are amongst the biggest stacks in the room.

Having been left short in the previous hand thanks to a great river call on a paired board by Petros Theodosiou, Zbigniew Wieczorek moved all in for 2,150,000, under 10 big blinds with 9 6 . Theodosiou called after having a confirmed count.

The 6 5 4 flop propelled Wieczorek into the lead. The A changed nothing. “Seven, deuce, king!” called Theodosiou, and the deck was clearly listening. The K river sent Theodosiou into celebration, and he was joined by his compatriots at the table to embrace in celebration!

Congratulations to Theodosiou and commiserations to Wieczorek.

Action was picked up on the turn of 9 7 7 4 with Zbigniew Wieczorek check-calling a bet of 1,200,000 with the blinds at 150k/300k. On the 7 river, Wieczorek led for 1,200,000.

Theodosiou took a moment, talking to himself in his native tongue before switching to English. “smaller flush, full house, can’t be many sevens.” He then flicked in the call with K 2 for a flush. Wieczorek had a bluff with 10 8 .

It’s been all Petros Theodosiou in heads-up play. He has been winning pot after pot at Banco Casino Bratislava and has taken the lead from his opponent Zbigniew Wieczorek.

Alexander Freund has missed out on the mincash as he was the first departure in final table play here at Banco Casino Bratislava.

Artem Berliand, Matt Kelley and Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk are amongst the biggest stacks in the room in the €1,100 Open Face Chinese. OFC specialists Fabian Bartuschk and Krzysztof Kordus are amongst the short stacks.

Sergii Baranov is leading the way in the 10-Game Mix as play has reached final table status. His closest rivals are Ari Engel and Sascha Manns. Jari Maehoenen is not far behind those two.

Marc Gork is the table short stack.

The Main Event of The Festival in Bratislava is drawing to a close, but there are still three other tournaments taking place at Banco Casino, in the heart of the city.  Despite no tournaments ending, the race for the Player of the Series is effectively over, as Lachezar Tsenov recently busted from the €1,100 10-Game. Even though late reg is still open in the OFC High Roller, a win in that would not be enough for him to overturn the lead that Barrie Dear took into the final day of the series.

The final standings will be updated once all events have been completed, but at this late stage of the week, Barrie Dear is confirmed as the Player of the Series, the €1,600 package to The Festival in Rozvadov is his. Congratulations Barrie, very well deserved!

Petros Theodosiou and Zbigniew Wieczorek have done a deal! They will be playing for €7,400 and the trophy heads-up. Wieczorek has the chip lead and has locked up €34,810. Theodosiou has claimed €32,060. Below are the counts.

Markus Gaulhofer was all in and at risk with A Q . Petros Theodosiou had him covered with A 6 . It was all good for Gaulhofer until the river on the runout of 2 8 J 2 6 . Gaulhofer took the beat graciously and headed straight to the payout desk after exchanging fistbumps with his tablemates.

Action was picked up with Gaulhofer check-raising the flop of Q 7 6 to 600,000 over a 300,000 bet from Zbigniew Wieczorek, who called. The 5 turn was checked around and Gaulhofer checked again on the 10 river. Wieczorek bet 1,000,000, and Gaulhofer called.

Wieczorek showed K Q , and Gaulhofer showed the Q , saying “bad kicker” as he mucked his second card.

Pawel Dudnik has been eliminated by Petros Theodosiou. Dudnik’s A 10 was no match for A K across the 7 2 8 6 8 runout.

Markus Gaulhofer has picked up some chips, having made a straight out of the big blind with J 8 across the runout of 4 10 9 Q 4 . He picked up the pot from the current chip leader, Zbigniew Wieczorek.

Pawel Dudnik was all in and at risk for 2,175,000 with the blinds at 100k/200k. Petros Theodosiou called with 3 3 . Dudnik had K K .

Dudnik doubled across the 2 2 10 K 10 , making a boat in the process.

Henning Wendlandt opened to 400,000 with the blinds at 100k/200k. Pawel Dudnik called on the button before Zbigniew Wieczorek moved all in from the small blind. Wendlandt called and Dudnik tank folded 9 9 . Wendlandt had A K and Wieczorek had K Q .

Wieczorek binked a queen on the flop across the runout of Q 5 J 4 3 to eliminate Wendlendt.

Twelve are left in the 10-Game Mix. Sascha Manns and Sergii Baranov have healthy stacks. Alexander Freund appears to be the chipleader. The final table will be reached when seven players remain.

Henning Wendlandt doubled with A 10 versus Markus Gaulhofer’s K Q . The 3 6 4 4 10 runout secured the German a crucial double. Gaulhofer will now have to play short stack duties.

Dmitry Golushko three-bet jammed A Q from the small blind versus a button open from Zbigniew Wieczorek, who called off the 2,350,000 jam with 10 10 .

Wieczorek flopped Golushko essentially dead across 10 8 2 2 A runout. Golushko said “Good game” before claiming his payout. Wieczorek now takes the chip lead.

Henning Wendlandt opened from the hijack to 300,000 with the blinds at 75k/150k. Petros Theodosiou defended the big blind. He check-raised J J 4 to 350,000 from a 175,000 bet. Wendlandt called. Theodosiou then led for 350,000 on the 8 turn before the 9 was checked down.

Theodosiou claimed another pot with 10 8 .

Ari Engel has accumulated a substantial stack in the 10-Game Mix and is far ahead at the top of the counts so far. Sergii Baranov, last year’s Mixed Game Main Event – TORSES Bratislava champion, has a solid stack, as does a friend of The Festival and another former Mixed Game Main Event Champion, Sascha Manns.

Petros Theodosiou has been climbing up the ranks. He got two streets of value with J 9 across 2 8 6 8 6 versus Henning Wendlandt in a pot worth around 800,000 chips. The blinds are 50k/125k and the average stack is around 4,200,000.

Action was picked up with Mark McKenzie all in for around six blinds with J 2 from the button. Henning Wendlandt called in the big blind with A 6 . The K 7 A K 2 runout provided no surprises and McKenzie hit the payout desk.

The last High Roller of the week is in play in the Open Face Chinese streets. Specialists Fabian Bartuschk, Mati Pirn, and Krzysztof Kordus are all in the field as expected.

Markus Gaulhofer opened from early position to 300,000. Stevan Gvozdenovic made it 500,000. Gaulhofer called as action folded around. He check-called 300,000 on 10 4 3 . He check-called an all in on the 6 turn. Gvozdenovic had A A and Gaulhofer had 8 8 .

The 8 arrived on the river to the surprise of everyone. “That’s just how I run” said Gvozdenovic as he departed the table.

Pawel Dudnik opened from under the gun to 200,000 with blinds at 50k/100k. Zbigniew Wieczorek called, as did Petros Theodosiou. Teemu Haellfors called on the button and was all in. Stevan Gvozdenovic defended the big blind.

The 4 2 6 2 8 was checked down and the players showed down. Haellfors had A 10 , which was bested by a cheekily played A A . 9 7 and Q J failed to improve and Dudnik took the four-way pot.

The very next hand, Markus Gaulhofer was all in with A 9 versus Henning Wendlandt 10 10 . The Q 6 8 A J saw Gaulhofer double and take an impromptu smoke break.

Here are the payouts in the 10-Game. Registration is closed, and 20 remain. Franke bust again, and he is in the €1,100 Open Face Chinese.

Petros Theodosiou opened to 205,000 from the hijack. Teemu Aake Ilmari Haellfors and Stevan Gvozdenovic called in the blinds. Both checked the 10 8 4 flop. Theodosiou bet 205,000. Haellfors folded and Gvozdenovic called.

The J turn was checked around before Gvozdenovic led for 215,000. Theodosiou snap-called and snap-mucked when shown 10 6 .

Haellfors hasn’t been able to get going this afternoon, and he is now the short stack.

None of the players left in the Main Event have enough points to get into the top ten of the Player of the Series race, let alone overhaul the runaway leader Barrie Dear. With late registration now closed in the 10-Game, it will take a monumental effort and will require either Igor Narajczyk or Lachezar Tsenov to pull off a remarkable feat of cashing in both the 10-Game and the OFC High roller, if that’s even possible. It probably isn’t as they would need to have reached the money in the 10-Game by the time late reg closes in the OFC, which is doubtful.

Read More: Barry Dear Goes Clear in Player of the Series Race

“REBUY” was heard from across the room from Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk, despite coming into the day as the tournament’s chip-leader.

Three more hands are to be played before registration closes.

Dmitry Golushko and Petros Theodosiou played a sizeable pot early into the Main Event Final Table. In a blind v blind situation, Golushko was at risk with A Q and Theodosiu had K K .

The A 5 6 5 4 gave Golushko an early double up to over 3,000,000 in chips.