Stay tuned to The Festival Series Facebook page for additional late-night Festival Series content. Keep it posted to thefestival.com for the recap of today’s action and continued live blogging content.
Kazimieras Ramaška was all in for under 10 big blinds with pocket fours. Kęstutis Jungevičius moved all in to isolate the short stack and bounty with pocket tens. No surprises across the 9 3 Q Q 6 runout and Ramaška will have to fire again to make Day 2. Below are the counts in full.
#
Player
Chip Count
1
Kęstutis Jungevičius
1,040,000
2
Liutauras Armanavičius
474,000
3
Gerardas Lukšėnas
469,000
4
Adomas Juozapavičius
391,000
5
Keimo Suominen
335,000
6
Ran Eingorn
273,000
7
Andrius Mažeika
162,000
8
Jurgis Beinoras
54,000
Sviten Special continues to chop and split and will do so for a while yet. Meanwhile, in the PLO4 Bomb Pot Feature, The Festival Series very own wiseguy Andreas Hoglund is heads-up against Robertas Jasnauskas.
Lars Ridell has won the Crazy Pineapple, beating Markus Kaerpijoki heads-up for the trophy. Kaerpijoki made a miraculous comeback from half a big blind to cash and take second-place money. Below are the payouts.
Only four remain in pursuit of the €350 Sviten Special title. Of the four, only two nationalities are represented: three players hail from Italy and one from Sweden. Jari Virta leads the way for Sweden, and his nearest rival is Simone Fumagalli. Giorgio Savignone is in third and Vinci Pasquale has a chip and a chair.
Darren Kennedy has bubbled the €200 Crazy Pineapple. Kennedy has made the journey over from Canada, and it is his first time in Lithuania. Markus Kaerpijoki had half a big blind at one stage four-handed, but he has managed to chip up and maneuver himself into the money.
Fabian Bartushck fell victim to the bubble and narrowly missed out, departing in 7th place. Below is the final table lineup and chip counts. Jari Virta has the chip lead heading into the final table, but second through fourth remain tightly packed.
The first of three Day 1 flights of the €555 Main Event attracted 64 players to the table over the course of the evening here at Olympic Casino Lietuva. Currently, 20 remain, and only 8 will find their way to Day 2, where they will be in the money.
Only 4 remain of the field of 12 total entrants that took to the felt in the €200 Crazy Pineapple tournament. The bubble is upon the final table, and it is Markus Kaerpijoki who is the shortest stack. He will need a spin-up to find the money.
Marko “Naxer” Keskel has become the first winner of the week, winning the €150 Blackjack Tournament for €1,000. Keskel made the long journey from Estonia just to play the Blackjack Tournament; clearly, it is a decision that has paid off! He bested The Festival Team trio of Mairo Toom, Nikita Valts, and Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, who was the bubble boy. He was leading the way until the penultimate hand, which is where Keskel then took the lead. The deficit between Toom and Keskel was only 500 chips. Below are the payouts of the Estonian podium.
Only 12 remain in the Sviten Special tournament. Long-time chip leaders Fabian Bartushck and Attila Erdei remain in the field and still have plenty of chips to play with. Jari Virta has been on the uptrend, and he joins Bartushck and Erdei on the podium of big stacks.
The good vibes continued in the second heat of the €150 Blackjack Tournament. The Festival founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk and Blackjack specialist Marko “Naxer” Keskel join The Festival photographer Mairo Toom and The Festival Videographer Nikita Valts in the final. All players will restart the final table with a 10,000 starting stack with the minimum bet of 300 and the maximum at 3,000.
“Franke’s” progression was aided by a well-timed double that he placed after a tablemate asked him to double on 15 versus a 17, 16, and 20 in the hands of the players. The dealer had a queen showing. “Because I like you, I will double” said Franke. The deck obliged, with the dealer pulling a 5 from the shoe to give Franke 21.
It was a Team Festival Series 1-2 in the first heat of the Blackjack Tournament. Photographer Mairo Toom and Videographer Nikita Valts had made the most amount of chips when the 15-hand-long session came to an end. The vibes at the Blackjack table were lively and spirited, with all players having a good laugh at the tables. Heat 2 is currently in process, and two more players will progress to the final table. Toom banked just over 20,000, and Valts around 16,000. The results of Heat 2 will be in soon once this series of hands has come to an end.
Fabian Bartushck and Attila Erdei continue to dominate the chip counts at Olympic Casino Lietuva. 24 remain in pursuit of the first title of the week. The payouts will be released when the numbers are finalised.
A field of six players are tucking into the fruitiest tournament of the week, the €200 NLH Crazy Pineapple tournament. Registration is open for another two hours, and will close at the end of Level 9.
Four tables of six remain in the €350 Sviten Special. Attila Erdei has a mountain of chips in front of him and will be looking to take down a maiden Sviten title. Fabian Bartushck has also built upon his stack in what is a record-breaking Sviten Special tournament in Lithuania.
The field has been sent on a 15-minute break. The remaining 38 players from the 57 total entrants thus far are led by home nation representatives, Adomas Juozapavičius, Kęstutis Jungevičius, Gerardas Lukšėnas, and Finnish national Berhan Ahmadi appear to be the four biggest stacks in the room.
The fruitiest game of the week will be getting underway in just under an hour. The €200 No Limit Hold’em Crazy Pineapple is Hold’em with an extra card. Players all receive 3 cards preflop, followed by a round of betting. On the flop, everyone must discard one card before another round of betting ensues. Then the same again for turn and river, with no discards. It’s a frantic and fun format to try. Registration is open for the first 8 Levels, and each level will run for 15 minutes in duration.
One player who has excelled in Crazy Pineapple at The Festival is Jaroslav Stulhofer (pictured below) of Austria. He has three victories in Crazy Pineapple to his name, with his wins coming in Bratislava in 2024, 2025 and 2026! Quite the achievement in a high-variance game.
The biggest stacks in the room upon a visual inspection are Open Face Chinese specialist Fabian Bartushck, friend of The Festival and The Hendon Mob Championship runner up at The Festival Malta 2025, Attila Erdei. A member of the Italian delegation, Stefano Lagorio, is also at the top of the chip count. Registration remains open for another level, so there is still time for the 36 total entrant field to continue to grow.
A field of 50 total entrants has taken to the felt at Olympic Casino Lietuva in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. A total of 12 nationalities are represented in the Main Event, from Lithuania to Luxembourg, a breadth that truly epitomises The Festival Series. The bulk of the entrants are representing the home team, but as always, there is a strong Scandinavian presence at the tables.
Here are the rules and regulations for the Blackjack Tournament that will kick off at 9.30 p.m. The buy-in is €150 and is the perfect tournament for table game enthusiasts.
Buy-in to the tournament will be done at the Tournament Cashdesk, and the player will receive a tournament ticket
Once your flight starts, exchange the tournament ticket for a seating card in the designated tournament area.
Tables will have a maximum of 7 players, and each player will receive 10,000 chips
One dealer per table, max 7 boxes
Players must always place one bet per hand
Each round is 15 hands ROUND 1
Rounds min/max bet
Round 1 – min.100/max. 1500
Re-entry is possible within the first 10 hands
Stack surrender in the first round is possible, and the player can re-enter
Re-entry must be done immediately when busting
The top 2 players from each table advance to the second round. If a table only has 2 players left, the table closes, and both participants have advanced to the next round
If a round has 3 players or less then the top player will advance to the second round ROUND 2 (SEMIFINALS)
Round 2 – min.200/max. 2000
All players start with a new stack of 10,000 chips
Betting round and set-up as round 1 (no re-entry)
Top 2 players from each table advance to round 3. If a table only has 2 players left, the table closes, and both participants have advanced. ROUND 3 (FINAL)
Round 3 – min. 300/max. 3000
All players start with a new stack of 10,000 chips
Betting rounds and set-up for round 2
The player with the biggest stack wins the tournament, and so forth
In case of a deal, 10% of the remaining prize pool needs to be left for the 1st place. BETTING & DEALING
We are using the dealer button to make sure that everyone has a position at one point against other players. Before the game starts, we draw a button. The player who gets dealt the highest card will have the button.
Players are betting one-by-one.
Players need to wait until their turn to bet. Once all bets are placed, the dealer will deal the cards.
The Boss has been stacked by Attila Erdei in the €350 Sviten Special. “Franke” went for a triple barrel bluff with nothing against Erdei’s flush in hand for the best 5 Card Draw hand, and a straight on the board for the best PLO hand. He has become the first player to be eliminated across this tournament and the first flight of the €555 Main Event. Currently, there are 21 players at the tables in pursuit of Sviten Special glory.
To learn more about this Mixed Game variant, click here.
A field of 32 have come together to play the opening flight of the €555 Main Event. The marquee Hold’em tournament of the week has attracted a wide range of nationalities. This is the first time The Festival Main Event has featured the PKO format. Bounties will be big, with €200 of each buy-in going into the prize pool. The floor is quickly filling up, and Sviten Special will be starting soon.
Petros Theodosiou has arrived at Olympic Casino Lieutva to defend his Main Event crown. Theodosiou topped the field last time out in Bratislava, taking home a score of €39,490 for his efforts. He has taken his seat on the tournament floor, but not in the Main Event. Instead, he has hopped into the €350 Sviten Special that has just got underway, joining The Festival founder, Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, and Open Face Chinese specialist, Fabian Bartushk. Below is the full lineup of players who are in from the start.
Welcome to the live coverage of The Festival Weekend Vilnius! It is the first time we have had the pleasure of hosting The Festival in Lithuania, thanks to our collaboration with Olympic Casino. The first of three Baltic bashes for this year, The Festival will also grace the beautiful historic cities of Tallinn and Riga. Here is a look at what is happening this evening.
€555 Main Event 1A PKO
We will be kicking off the fun-filled four-day stint with the first flight of the premier No Limit Hold’em tournament of the weekend, the €555 Main Event. In another first for The Festival, this weekend’s Main Event will be a Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournament. €200 of each buy-in will be placed into the bounty prize pool, so expect chips to be flying from flag fall.
Players have the option for unlimited re-entries for the first 12 Levels of play, but of course, only wager what you can afford to lose.
€350 Sviten Special
Arguably the hottest game in the Mixed Game scene at the moment, Sviten Special has captured the hearts and minds of Mixed Game players around the world. The split pot game is decided by the best PLO hand and the best 5-card draw hand, instead of a high and low hand in the standard split pot games. Link rules and an interview with Bengan. Last year, The Festival Series set the record for most amount of entrants in a Sviten Special tournament, and “Franke” will be gunning to best his own record this year. There are certainly going to be plenty of opportunities. Levels run for 25 minutes, and unlimited registration possibilities are available to players for the first 8 levels.
€200 NL Crazy Pineapple
A fun and swingy three-card game, players receive three cards preflop, followed by a round of betting as per standard flop, turn, and river games. On the flop, there is another round of betting. Then players have to discard one of their three cards. A popular tournament at The Festival, it is a great twist on standard No Limit Hold’em. Crazy Pineapple starts at 9 p.m. local time and will feature 15-minute-long Levels and unlimited reentries for the first 9 Levels.
€150 Blackjack Tournament
One of the unique selling points of The Festival Series is its accommodation of a wide and eclectic range of games. This tournament is a prime example. The €150 Blackjack Tournament will see players pit themselves against the house in the famous casino game. The objective is simple: make the most money over the course of the session to take home the title and win a trophy drawn by our talented artist Modernoise.
€150 PLO4 Bombpot Feature
Another variation that has emerged and grown in popularity over the last several Festival Series stops has been the Bombpot tournaments. The first foray into the four-card streets will feature a Bombpot once every x hands, which is where everyone contributes 1 big blind preflop. This helps generate a lot of action as there is around 10 big blinds in the pot with the players not having seen their cards. Blinds run for 15 mins for the first 8 levels, which is when registration will close. Unlimited re-entries are available until registration closes.
Hospitality!
For those who have won a package through OlyBet, please join us at the luxurious Casino Bar for welcome drinks! It is the perfect opportunity to start your weekend off right with a nice glass of something alcoholic or not. Come and mingle with fellow package and seat winners, as well as members of The Festival team. If you see us around, come say hi, be careful of Melvin, though, he bites.
That’s all for now, folks. We hope you enjoy the Weekend and the coverage from the tournament floor from wherever you may be.
