Jon Kyte Makes History as First Mixed Main HORSES Champ at TFS Bratislava
Norwegian poker beast Jon Kyte came into Bratislava not too short of accolades. Whether is notching a victory at The Festival Series, the EPT, the WSOP Circuit, and many more, Kyte has done it once again. On Tuesday evening, he shipped The Festival Series €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES in history for €8,825.
Three other players won titles, while Tuesday also marked the start of the €500,000 guaranteed Main Event and the final opening flight of the €250 Bratislava Deepstack.
Skills Put to the Test for Kyte; WSOP Champ's Bust Maybe for the Best
The structure of the inaugural €550 Mixed Main Event HORSES was designed by mixed-game beast and the President of the Norwegian Poker Association Tobias Leknes and tweaked a little to fit the expected crowd in attendance. The event attracted 67 mixed-game entries to create a €31,825 prize pool.
Jon Kyte navigated through a talented field which included recently crowned WSOP Europe 8-Game champion Dainius Antanaitis, who was one of the first players on the rail during Day 2, and all of the accomplished players listed below:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Kyte | Norway | €8,825 |
| 2 | Dimitris Giannakou | Cyprus | €4,800 |
| 3 | Robin Panholzer | Austria | €4,600 |
| 4 | Jonas Jurksaitis | Lithuania | €2,950 |
| 5 | Barrie Dear | United Kingdom | €2,200 |
| 6 | Jarkko Suokas | Finland | €1,800 |
| 7 | Ola Brandborn | Sweden | €1,550 |
| 8 | Bas de Laat | Netherlands | €1,350 |
| 9 | Michael Wehner | Germany | €1,350 |
| 10 | Sami Pulliainen | Finland | €1,200 |
| 11 | Frank Visser | Netherlands | €1,200 |
Don't feel too bad for Antanaitis as he took the lead in the Cash Game Challenge in the €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha televised affair after winning 1,068 big blinds for a tidy profit of €2,136. This pushes him to the top of the Cash Game Challenge leaderboard. The player that wins the most big blinds during any Cash Game Challenge taking place this week that players can sign-up on the casino floor will win a free package to the next The Festival Series in February.
Havavka Defeats Adams to Keep Heads-Up Trophy Home
The heads-up trophy of a customized frame sketch will be staying in Slovakia as local player Michal Havavka defeated United Kingdom’s Matthew Adams heads-up to win the title in Event #11: €250 Heads-Up. Havavka banked €3,090, while Adams earned €1,840 for falling one player shy of the title.
Kaspar Valk and Jari Hurri came close to heads-up glory in the capped 32-player field before bowing out in the penultimate matches of the event to earn the €955 min-cash.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michal Havavka | Slovakia | €3,090 |
| 2 | Matthew Adams | United Kingdom | €1,840 |
| 3 | Kaspar Valk | Estonia | €955 |
| 4 | Jari Hurri | Finland | €955 |
Andrew Hanak Wins Half n' Half
Event #13: €125 Half n’ Half is another fun one on The Festival Series schedule with games bouncing back and forth between no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha. Andrew Hanak defeated Paul Berthet heads-up to outlast all 102 entries and win a lion's share of the €10,659 prize pool.
Congrats to all 13 players that cashed in what proved to be a popular event on Tuesday evening.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Hanak | United Kingdom | €2,800 |
| 2 | Paul Berthet | France | €1,790 |
| 3 | Robert Kontkanen | Sweden | €1,360 |
| 4 | Alexander van Dijk | Netherlands | €1,040 |
| 5 | Sascha Manns | Germany | €825 |
| 6 | Georgi Voomets | Estonia | €640 |
| 7 | Martin Steen | Denmark | €500 |
| 8 | Jona Boman | Sweden | €390 |
| 9 | Maksym Ronshyn | Ukraine | €314 |
| 10 | Andreas Groebmayr | Germany | €250 |
| 11 | Ondrej Necas | Czech Republic | €250 |
| 12 | Anders Beckman | Sweden | €250 |
| 13 | Grzegorz Iskra | Poland | €250 |
Mike Hansen Ships the Win the Button
Event #17: €125 Win the Button was an entertaining late-night affair. Every time a player won a hand, they got to keep the button the next hand allowing any player to gain momentum at any time. Denmark’s Mike Hansen came out on top of the 57 entries after defeating Michail Tastanis heads-up to win €2,200. Jill Mellstroem, Axel Howe, Oskar Wedde, Bo Lindahl, and Rinatas Suleimanovas also cashed in this event.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Hansen | Denmark | €2,200 |
| 2 | Michail Tastanis | Greece | €1,310 |
| 3 | Jill Mellstroem | Sweden | €816 |
| 4 | Axel Howe | Germany | €555 |
| 5 | Oskar Wedde | Norway | €420 |
| 6 | Bo Lindahl | Sweden | €355 |
| 7 | Rinatas Suleimanovas | Lithuania | €300 |
Other News
Event #2: €250 Bratislava Deepstack attracted 354 entries to create a €75,665 prize pool. Lithuania's Matas Kubulius leads the way among the 60 survivors who will battle down to a winner in hopes to claim the €14,400 top prize. The top 44 players will earn at least a min-cash of €450, meaning that 16 players today will go home empty-handed while all others have a good reason to celebrate.
Despite all the events on Tuesday, the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event got off to a hot start with 73 entries getting into the mix for the first of six opening flights. Bo Alm led the 18 survivors after he parlayed his 30,000 opening stack into 190,000 in chips.
CasinoTogether’s Domagoj Kuterovac bested a field of 18 entries to win the €125 Roulette for €941 with Dzintars Lacis and Jakke Schraal also finished in the money in this fun casino-based tournament where players were competing against each other instead of against the house.
In other news, Keito Kaljulaid extended his lead to 10 flip wins out of the 45 Franke's Flip Flop flips that took place the last two days. The player that wins the most rake-free flips throughout the week will win a free package to the next The Festival Series with them taking place every day until Saturday from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. outside the tournament registration area.
Today's Schedule (Nov. 29)
Nov. 29 will be another busy day including the continuation of the Main Event with Day 1b, the conclusion of the Bratislava Deepstack, the second casino event in Blackjack, 8-game, progressive knockouts, Cash Game Challenge sessions, and more. Check out what's happening poker wise in the tournament arena, and, of course, cash games will continue to run around the clock on the casino floor at Banco Casino.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 12 p.m. | Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 1b |
| 1 p.m. | Event #3: €250 Bratislava Deepstack |
| 2 p.m. | Event #19: €250 8-Game |
| 3 p.m. | Event #20: €250 Seniors 49+ |
| 4 p.m. | Event #21: €125 Blackjack Championship |
| 5 p.m. | Event #22: €1,100 PLO High Roller |
| 7 p.m. | Event #23: €60 Super Satellite (10 Main Event Seats GTD) |
| 8 p.m. | Event #24: €2/€2 NLH Cash Game Challenge |
| 9 p.m. | Event #25: €150 Turbo Sat to HR (2x €1,100 Seats GTD) |
| 10 p.m. | Event #26: €250 Texas Progressive Knockout |
| 10:30 p.m. | Event #27: €2/€2 PLO Cash Game Challenge |
