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First Three Winners Crowned on Day 1 of The Festival Series Nottingham

First Three Winners Crowned on Day 1 of The Festival Series Nottingham

The Festival Series Nottingham is off to a rocking start in its first trip to the United Kingdom at Dusk Till Dawn with the first three winners crowned with Tuomas Roppanen shipping the £230 Sviten Special for £2,794 and Ali Ahmed taking down the £60 Low Roller for £1,135. Tarajmeer Kakar also won an event after defeating Isaac Barker heads-up to win the £230 Heads Up tournament for £954.

In addition, the £120 PokerListings Deepstack featured its second opening flight with Corrado Nane parlaying a 200,000 opening stack into a hair more than 3 million in chips.

The event boasts 35 numbered events highlighted by the £200,000 guaranteed The Festival Series £450 Main Event kicking off on Wednesday. Hold'em is just part of the allure of The Festival Series as many mixed game formats are also featured as well as casino-style tournaments with events in both Blackjack and Roulette where players are pitted against each other instead of the house.

Tuomas Roppanen Wins Sviten Special

Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk
Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk

Tuomas Roppanen defeated Barrie Deer heads-up to win the £230 Sviten Special for £2,794. Also off to a hot start is none other than The Festival Series founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk who finished on the podium in third place!

The event attracted 36 entries to create a £6,984 prize pool.

If you aren't familiar with Sviten Special, it is an amazing game invented in Sweden similar to Drawmaha. Players are dealt five cards before a round of pot-limit betting takes place. A flop is dealt before another round of betting. Hopefully, you have kept up so far as it begins to take a turn from here.

After the two rounds of betting, the remaining players in the hand can discard 1-5 cards or choose to stand pat. If a player chooses just one card, it is dealt face-up for everyone to see. The player can choose to place this card in their hand or be dealt a fresh card face down. After all, players have discarded, a turn is dealt followed by another round of betting. A final round of betting takes place after the river card is dealt. Half the pot is awarded to the best five-card draw hand and the other half is awarded to the best Omaha hand.

Congrats to Roppanen for defeating an experienced Sviten Special field!

Sviten Special Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1Tuomas Roppanen£2,794
2Barrie Deer£1,850
3Martin Von Zweigbergk£1,150
4Alexandru Talica£700
5Mihail Popa£490

Ali Ahmed Wins the Low Roller

Ali Ahmed parlayed a £60 buy-in in the Low Roller into a whopping score of £1,135 after defeating Neil Edwards heads-up. The Low Roller attracted 67 entries to create a £3,250 prize pool.

Also cashing in this event were Daniel Turner, Robert Mitchell, James Batten, Adam Gemmell, Johnathan Hewston, and Nicholas Hadley.

Low Roller Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1Ali Ahmed£1,135
2Neil Patrick Edwards£730
3Daniel Turner£440
4Robert Mitchell£310
5James Batten£225
6Adam Gemmell£165
7Jonathan Hewston£130
8Nicholas Hadley£115

Tarajmeer Kakar Wins the Heads Up

The £230 Heads Up event attracted 16 entries for a £3,200 prize pool. Tarajmeer Kakar defeated Isaac Barker heads-up in the final match to win the title.

Also making the money was Emmanuel Ovey, who defeated Brett Dean in his final match to min-cash for £600.

Heads Up Results

PlacePlayerPrize
1Tarajmeer Kakar£1,550
2Isaac Barker£954
3Emmanuel Ovey£600

Corrado Nane Bags Big on Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship

Corrado Nane

Corrado Nane was the star of the show on Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship after turning his 200,000 opening stack into 3,005,000 in chips! Also bagging big were Yngve Vestgards (2,205,000), The Festival Series PLO Masterclass host JJ Hazan (2,140,000), and William Dudgeon (2,020,000).

Other notable players to find a bag were Estonian Marius Morel (1,795,000), poker dealer Russell Bowman (1,360,000), Georgina "GJReggie" James (1,195,000), Optibet qualifier Rinalds Zimka (610,000), and the Franke's Flip Flop defending champion from the United States Ian Vertefeuille (345,000). This group is all behind Day 1a chip leader W. M. who bagged a whopping 3,920,000.

Today will feature the third and final opening flight. All players bagging to Day 2 will already be in the money. Thus far the field has attracted 247 entries with 119 on Day 1a and 128 on Day 1b to bring the field up to 247 entries. This means that the £25,000 guarantee will be smashed early today!

Thus far, there are 37 survivors with 18 players bagging on Day 1a and another 19 players on Day 1b. The action resumes in this event with Day 1c at noon on Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Harlo Buchan Leads the Cash Game Challenge

Harlo Buchan won 251 big blinds or £502 in the £2/£2 pot-limit Omaha live-streamed cash game. This puts him on top of the leaderboard, ahead of what Dan Pilgrim achieved with a 114 big blind (£228) in the earlier £1/£2 no-limit hold’em stream.

Buchan shouldn’t feel safe that his lead will hold as there are two more Cash Game Challenges each day throughout the week. The player that wins the most big blinds during any single live-streamed session will not only win a ton of cash but also a free package to The Festival Series Malta taking place at the luxurious Portomaso Casino on May 15-21.

While Pilgrim lost his lead in the Cash Game Challenge, he is on top of another leaderboard  Franke’s Flip ‘n Go’s after winning a flip tonight. He is tied with Mehbran Iranshad for the lead. Pilgrim will be going home tomorrow to spend time with his better half for Valentine’s Day tomorrow before coming back in full force ready to compete on both leaderboards.

Today's Schedule (Feb. 14)

TimeBuy-inName
12.00£120PokerListings Championships Day 1C
12.00£2308 Game [56 Cap]
17.00£120Tuesday Turbo [63 Cap]
18.00£120Roulette Tournament
18.00£1,100PLO High Roller Day 1
18.30Cash Game Challenge
19.00£56Main Event Satellite: 5 seats GTD
21.30Cash Game Challenge

Follow today's action at The Festival Series blog!