As the first events of The Festival are underway, it means that the Player of the Series race has also begun. Its far too early for any predictions of who might win, but lets take a quiet moment, thoughts and prayers for a few players who won’t be joining us this time around:
Antoine Degiorgio - The Maltese Mixed Games Maestro is sitting this one out. In previous editions he has made the top 10 of the rankings, but after drawing a complete blank last year in Bratislava, he’s decided to give this one a miss. He can still change his mind of course and turn up, but otherwise the only Sviten Special event he will be playing this week will be the Tuesday night game at Portomaso Casino in Malta.
William Lynch - One of Edinburgh’s finest mixed games players will also not be attending this event. He has a significant birthday this year (yes, 21 again) and has holiday plans this year, so something had to give. However Edinburgh’s chances will still be well represented, as Barrie Dear is here for the week and is rarely far away from the top 10 in the leaderboard.
JJ Hazan - Pot Limit Omaha aficionado JJ has chosen to escape the winter with an extended holiday in Asia. He’s still doing remote commentary work and is calling the final table of the Polish Winter Cup as we speak. I had a chance to make that final table, but aces didn’t hold against kings in monster pot with 53 players left. Oof!
At this stage, we can’t be entirely sure who will turn up, but one player who is notably absent is Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon. He may still be planning to visit but as yet, there’s no sign of him.
