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
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
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tuomas Roppanen | £2,794 |
| 2 | Barrie Deer | £1,850 |
| 3 | Martin Von Zweigbergk | £1,150 |
| 4 | Alexandru Talica | £700 |
| 5 | Mihail 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
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Ahmed | £1,135 |
| 2 | Neil Patrick Edwards | £730 |
| 3 | Daniel Turner | £440 |
| 4 | Robert Mitchell | £310 |
| 5 | James Batten | £225 |
| 6 | Adam Gemmell | £165 |
| 7 | Jonathan Hewston | £130 |
| 8 | Nicholas 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
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tarajmeer Kakar | £1,550 |
| 2 | Isaac Barker | £954 |
| 3 | Emmanuel Ovey | £600 |
Corrado Nane Bags Big on Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship
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)
| Time | Buy-in | Name |
| 12.00 | £120 | PokerListings Championships Day 1C |
| 12.00 | £230 | 8 Game [56 Cap] |
| 17.00 | £120 | Tuesday Turbo [63 Cap] |
| 18.00 | £120 | Roulette Tournament |
| 18.00 | £1,100 | PLO High Roller Day 1 |
| 18.30 | Cash Game Challenge | |
| 19.00 | £56 | Main Event Satellite: 5 seats GTD |
| 21.30 | Cash Game Challenge |
Follow today's action at The Festival Series blog!
