Five Years of Champions: The Best of The Festival Rozvadov
When we introduced The Festival Series to the live poker community in Europe, we started off with just a couple stops. Where our first stop was held in Bratislava, followed by Tallinn, and then later on Nottingham and Malta, we thought it was finally time to find out if Rozvadov would be suitable for an event like The Festival.
This year, we will be heading back to King's Resort for the third consecutive year, and it's safe to say that we appreciate it a lot to be hosted by Europe's largest live poker venue. Over the past weeks, many players have qualified online, and there are still tournaments left to be played before we heading over.
Who will be the new €500,000 GTD Main Event Champion of The Festival Rozvadov? Who will be competing for the Player Of The Series trophy? Let's introduce you to recent winners of tournaments at The Festival Rozvadov, from the Main Event to the Mixed Main Event, from the Mystery Bounty to the Razz Big Bounty tournament. You will find it here!
NLH Main Event Winners: Ondrej Mar (2025) & Presiyan Tsvetanov (2024)
Ondrej Mar - The Festival Rozvadov 2025 attracted 1,053 entries, and Ondrej Mar managed to win the whole lot for €91,001, one of the largest amounts ever handed out to a winner during a tournament at The Festival. Ondrej Mar, born and raised in Czech Republic, didn't change much of his poker career after this electric win. He basically continued playing tournaments up to buy-ins of €1,500. Something that he was doing before as well. Will we see him back to defend his title this year? At least he had promised to be back to give it a try this year!
Presiyan Tsvetanov - The Festival Rozvadov 2024 attracted 989 entries, and Presiyan Tsvetanov captured the victory by defeating Michal Riczak (2nd), and Antoine Degiorgio (3rd), in the final stint. Tsvetanov, born and raised in Bulgaria, is often to be seen at King's Resort, and travels Europe for live poker tournaments such as The Festival. After his win, where he added a staggering €90,350 to his Hendon Mob profile, we have seen him around at The Festival Malta, and later on again at The Festival Rozvadov. Presiyan has showed us that he is a unique character at the scene, full of passion for the game, and his heart on the right place. Will he be back in Rozvasdov this year? We are pretty certain of that!
>> Qualify Online for The Festival Series
Player Of The Series: Kare Hallamaa (2025) & Thomas Gugerbauer (2024)
Kare Hallamaa - If you would meet Kare in person, you would not immediately guess his country of origin, but when he starts playing in a poker tournament, you will for sure be reminded he is from the beautiful country of Finland. Outside the tables, you will hear a lot of laughter of him, and banter with his poker friends. But at the poker tables, it's pure tunnel vision for him, no mercy. And that's exactly what we've seen last year during Player of the Series, where he was battling it out with his best friend Ville Hakkala, until the very last tournaments of the series. He eventually took it all down, and with that win, he secured already his presence at The Festival Malta later that year, as winners of the Player of the Series receive a full package for the next stop worth €1,600.
Thomas Gugerbauer - There was absolutely no doubt after The Festival Rozvadov of 2024, that Thomas Gugerbauer would take down the Player of the Series trophy. He managed to win PLO Knockout tournament and the Roulette tournament, finished second in the PLO Masters, and noted third-places in the 2-7 Triple Draw, and the 5-Card PLO tournament. With his incredible run, he held previous champion Scott Kenyon behind him, and went on to win the package for The Festival Malta. We are unsure if we would see Thomas in future events, as he does not play poker that often. Yes, he travels for poker, but since 2024, there is just one result noted at The Hendon Mob.
Mixed Main Event Champion Sascha Manns & the largest The Hendon Mob Championship winner ever Haik Tougu
Sascha Manns - If there would be a ranking where players are ranked based on the amount of The Festival stops visited, Sascha Manns must be at least in the top-3 of it. During The Festival Rozvadov 2024, a dream of Sascha came true, as he won the Mixed Games Main Event (HORSES), one of the toughest trophies to get at The Festival. He bested a field of 46 entries, and took home €8,788 for his efforts. An outstanding performance, and back then, the successor of Jon Kyte, who had won the Mixed Games Main Event in Bratislava just prior to that. Sascha is an all-round player from Germany, who is not shy either of making deep runs in Main Events, as he final tabled already a couple of them in the past. Will he rise above himself again this time?
>> Check out the tutorial of Mixed Games Main Event - TORSES
Haik Tougu - The Hendon Mob Championship winner of 2025, which had a record-breaking 2,417 entries! Tougu, having his roots in Germany and Estonia, does not play that often, but when he does.... He outlasted the record-breaking field and collected €51,300 for his victory. Not bad for a buy-in of €150, huh?! We hope to see Haik on the upcoming event as well, as The Hendon Mob Championship is back on the tournament schedule again. Will he be able to go back-to-back? There is only one way to find out!
