Four Champions Crowned on Day 1 of The Festival Weekend Vilnius
The first of four action-packed days at the debut of The Festival Weekend Vilnius has seen four winners crowned across a diverse range of events: from Hold'em to Blackjack and a couple in between, this Festival Weekend opener perfectly encapsulates the eclectic mix of games on offer for players. Additionally, 64 players took to the felt in the first flight of the €555 Main Event, which saw 8 players progress to Day 2 and in the money status. Here is the rundown of what happened across the floor at the glamorous Olympic Casino Lietuva.
€555 Main Event PKO
One of the first notables spotted walking through the doors of the casino yesterday afternoon was Petros Theodosiou, the reigning Main Event Champion from the last stop in Bratislava. Instead of hopping immediately into the Main Event, he opted for Sviten Special first. The debut of the PKO feature in the Main Event saw a decent turnout of 64 total entrants taking to the felt in The Festival Series opener. Only 8 could progress, and it was player Kazimieras Ramaška who was the unfortunate victim of the bubble. He was stacked by the chip leader, Kęstutis Jungevičius. He called Ramaška's short-stack all in with pocket tens and held against Ramaška's pocket fours. Below are the chip counts.
| # | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kęstutis Jungevičius | 1,040,000 |
| 2 | Liutauras Armanavičius | 474,000 |
| 3 | Gerardas Lukšėnas | 469,000 |
| 4 | Adomas Juozapavičius | 391,000 |
| 5 | Keimo Suominen | 335,000 |
| 6 | Ran Eingorn | 273,000 |
| 7 | Andrius Mažeika | 162,000 |
| 8 | Jurgis Beinoras | 54,000 |
€150 Blackjack Tournament
The Festival Series is known for doing things differently and offering original tournaments that aren't poker-related. One of which is the Blackjack tournament, which saw a total of 12 entrants take to the table to beat the dealer and their tablemates. Only two players progressed in each heat. Three of the players were Festival crew. The Festival Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk, Festival Photographer, Mairo Toom, and Festival Videographer Nikita Valts found themselves in the final four, and they were joined by Blackjack specialist Marko “Naxer” Keskel. It all hinged on the final hand, with stacks almost at parity four ways. It was a matter of bubble or bink for Keskel, but he pulled what he needed when it mattered most. In the end, the specialist sank The Festival crew, and "Franke" was the bubble boy. Below are the payouts as Keskel became the first champion of the weekend.
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marko “Naxer” Keskel | €1,000 |
| 2 | Mairo “EstonianWeirdo” Toom | €440 |
| 3 | Nikita “Hellsjesus” Valts | €250 |
€350 Sviten Special
The Mixed Game scene's newest darling received a warm reception when the tournament kicked off. A field of x took to the felt in the split-pot game, which sees every player receive 5 cards preflop. The split-pots are decided by the best 5-Card Draw Hand (5 cards in hand) and by the best PLO hand (two cards from hand, three from the board). Players can discard 0-5 cards on the flop. If they pick one card, they will get it face up. They can decline the first card, and if they do, they get another face down. Click here to learn more about this upcoming variant.
The Festival head honcho, Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk, became the first player to be eliminated in the tournament, and the first player to be eliminated for the entire event! The tournament was particularly popular with the Italian players in attendance, with 13 of the x amount of players coming from Italy. Attila Erdei and Fabian Bartushck accumulated chips early in the session. However, it wasn't to be for Bartushck, and he fell short of the money and the final table. Erdei fared better, coming into the final table in third. He couldn't best the Swede or the Italians, though, and departed in sixth, the first money spot. Ultimately, it was an Italian 1-2, with Simone Fumagalli besting Giorgio Savignone in a lengthy and swingy heads-up battle. Below are the payouts.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simone Fumagalli | €4,293 |
| 2 | Giorgio Savignone | €2,790 |
| 3 | Jari Virta | €2,030 |
| 4 | Vinci Pasquale | €1,520 |
| 5 | Ville Hakala | €1,140 |
| 6 | Attila Erdei | €890 |
€150 PLO4 Bombpot Feature
Bombpot featured tournaments have become part of The Festival Series schedules in recent stops. In the first foray into the four-card streets for this event, a bombpot was played every nine hands. Each player contributes 1 big blind to the pot preflop. Two flops are then dealt, followed by betting, and the same again for turn and river. The tournament proved popular, with 62 total entrants taking to the felt. Ultimately, the title went to The Festival Series, as our resident wiseguy Andreas Hoglund took down the title and the trophy in the small hours of this morning. Below are the payouts.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreas Hoglund | €2,617 |
| 2 | Robertas Jasnauskas | €1,670 |
| 3 | Granit Haziraj | €1,110 |
| 4 | Michal Rudnik | €790 |
| 5 | Franco Galli | €600 |
| 6 | Albertas Voišnarovič | €480 |
| 7 | Rita Paus | €390 |
€200 NL Crazy Pineapple
From the explosive to the fruity, this three-card variant of No Limit Hold'em attracted a field of 14. For those who don't know, Crazy Pineapple sees each player getting three cards preflop. A round of betting ensues as per usual. On the flop, players have to discard one of their three cards before another round of betting takes place. Ultimately, the tournament was won by Lars Ridell, who bested Markus Kaerpijoki in heads-up play. Kaerpijoki was down to half a big blind as bubble play was in effect, and he managed to survive and chip up to take second-place money. Here are the payouts.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lars Ridell | €1,131 |
| 2 | Markus Kaerpijoki | €680 |
| 3 | Benjamin Bingstroem | €450 |
Today's Schedule
| 12:00 | 1B Main Event (PKO) | €300 + €200 + €55 |
| 13:00 | Big O | €310 + €40 |
| 19:00 | NLH Freezeout | €170 + €30 |
| 21:00 | 5-Card PLO Madness (Bombpot feature) | €130 + €20 |
That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned to Thefestival.com for the live blog, as well as TheFestivalOG on Instagram, and The Festival Series YouTube and Facebook pages to keep up to date with all things The Festival.
