Chicago European Championships a Record Breaking Success at The Festival Bratislava!
The last instalment of The Festival 2025 introduced Sweden's favourite family game to the tournament schedule. Chicago came to town, and by town I mean Slovakia's capital city and The Festival's second home, Bratislava. The tournament was a resounding success, with a massive field of 114 taking to the felts of Banco Bratislava over eight starting flights, setting a new world record in the process. Here is a look at what happened.
€125 Chicago European Championships
The Festival Series is proud to have hosted the record-breaking Chicago European Championships in Bratislava last month. The numbers were immense, and exceeded the expectations of The Festival founder Martin 'Franke' von Zweigbergk, who was aiming for the 80-entrant mark. Over 8 starting flights, 114 entrants played for points and tricks in Sweden's favourite family game, setting a world-record field in the process. The family game-come-poker tournament has proved to be popular amongst an eclectic range of nationalities.
Players were initially shy to get involved, but The Chicago School held on Day 2 of this instalment, which definitely helped sell the game to players and break the ice. Everyone who has taken to the tables in this event has enjoyed their experience. The school was hosted by our very own hostess with the mostess, Christel Natri and interviewer extraordinaire Andreas "Wiseguy" Hoglund.
One of the more experienced players in attendance was a friend of The Festival, Ingela Charlez, and she had this to say about the Chicago School: "I haven't been attending that many hospitality events as usual this time in Bratislava, but the one which stood out was the Chicago-School lunch. A game that we Swedes have been playing from a young age, it was amazing to see over 40 people enjoying the game, 40 people from all different nationalities."
The event proved a hit. Over 30 players participated, and those in attendance came from the UK, Estonia, and everywhere in between. As expected, there was a strong Scandinavian presence at the tables, and all who partook had a blast learning this dynamic and nuanced game. That day's flight saw 24 entrants take to the felt at 11 p.m., a massive turnout! Here are the numbers from the flights, which saw a total prizepool of €11,913 being generated! Below are the numbers for the qualifying flights of this record-breaking event.
Entrants Per Flight Chicago European Championships
| Event | Entries | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1/A 18/11/25 | 8 | 2 |
| Day 1/B 18/11/25 | 8 | 2 |
| Day 1/C 19/11/25 | 4 | 1 |
| Day 1/D 19/11/25 | 24 | 6 |
| Day 1/E 20/11/25 | 8 | 2 |
| Day 1/F 20/11/25 | 24 | 6 |
| Day 1/G 21/11/25 | 11 | 3 |
| Day 1/H 21/11/25 | 27 | 7 |
The Final Day
Despite the game having a strong presence in Swedish households for decades, the title went to their neighbours, Finland! A field of 29 returned for the final day, and only eight found the money, meaning the points were at a premium. The final four were comprised of one Swede, two Norwegians and one Finnish national. Here are some quotes from the final tablists.
The sole Swede, Per Jörgen Bergström, said "it is my favourite game" and that "he has been playing for years".
Finnish national Verneri Häkkinen said, "I got lucky to be here, I got good cards all the way through." He considered "The Swede" to be the favourite in this tournament.
Norwegian national John Boine said, "I saw the schedule and thought I would give it a go. I've played something similar before in Norway called Poker Cool; it's basically the same." He also considered Bergström to be the favourite.
The second Norwegian, Morten Antonsen, said, "My friend knows how to play, and I have been playing with them, so I thought I would have a go. I don't know who the favourite is, but it won't be me. If there's a Swede, it is probably him. This is my first time playing properly."
Ultimately, the title went to Finland, and Veneri Hakkinen became the first The Festival Series champion in the Chicago Championships. Hakkinen attributed his win to getting "good cards" and making a "straight flush". He had some strong words for Sweden, saying, "Get better." Of course, it was all meant in jest, and the four players all appeared to enjoy their time at the final table. Below are the payouts.
€125 Chicago European Championship Payouts
| Position | Name | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verneri Häkkinen | | €3,513 |
| 2 | Morten Antonsen | | €2,400 |
| 3 | John Boine | | €1,800 |
| 4 | Per Jörgen Bergström | | €1,200 |
| 5 | Bambi | | €900 |
| 6 | Mattias Sundström | | €900 |
| 7 | Niclas Fagerberg | | €600 |
| 8 | Martin 'Franke' von Zweigbergk | | €600 |
Quotes From the Team
Our resident social media kingpin and all-around fruity man, Václav "LemonPoker" Dušek, said: "I was genuinely shocked by the result - there is supposed to be less gambling in Chicago, which makes zero Swedes in the top 3 even more incredible since they invented the game. It reminds me of England, which invented Football, but over the past decades has been consistently laughably bad at it, choking in key moments and never winning anything."
Thanks, Lemon.
What's Next?
As the schedule remains undefined, only time will tell what comes next for Chicago at The Festival Series. I'm sure it will make a return in the future at one of the stops along the way, as Sweden will want revenge against the Finns, and indeed the rest of Europe.
That's all for now, folks. Until next time.
