We are now deep into the first day of The Festival in Bratislava and there are multiple events taking place simultaneously. The three Player of the Series events that will finish today are now all in play.
The first of these is the €250 Heads Up, which drew 25 entries and is now in the semi-finals stage, with the four winners making it into the prize money.
Amongst those who played was Miles Rees from the UK. He finished fourth in the Player of the Series race at the last Festival in Bratislava and took third in the Heads Up, falling at the semi-final stage. He was looking for a good show in this one, to debut in the top ten of the leaderboard after the first day of The Festival concludes, but fell short, exiting in the quarter-finals.
Double Player of the Series winner Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon has also entered the building, arriving too late for the TORSES, but well in time for the €125 Razz PKO. He’s doing quite well so far, taking a bounty and is one of the early big stacks.
Another possible contender is former Mixed Games Main Event winner Sascha “The King of France” Manns, whose very Gallic dress sense is only missing a baguette and a string of garlic to complete the stereotype. He’s in the Razz PKO too and also has a bounty to his name already.
Koen Roos, the 2025 Hendon Mob Flag Hunter champion is also here. He earned flags in 50 different countries last year, beating the “never to be broken” record of 48 set by Dominick French in 2024.
Bulgarian Lachezar Tsenov, who was a regular on the Series in 2024, is also back. He missed the last two events of 2025, but is here for the duration and likely to play as many events as possible. He’s in Razz too, having already played and busted the Hendon Mob Championship. Belarusian Siarhei Narohzny, another mixed games crusher, has also arrived and is one to watch, especially in formats like 2-7 Double Draw and OFC Pineapple.
The Finnish duo of Ville Hakala and Kare Hallamaa have not yet arrived, but are in transit and will join the action tomorrow at the latest.
The final leaderboard event of the day is the €125 NLH Knockout Madness, which had just begun. Full results of these events will be published on Tuesday morning, as will the first Player of the Series leaderboard.
