King’s Resort CEO Federico Brunato Talks to The Festival
Less than a decade ago, Federico Brunato was a part-time dealer. Today he is the CEO of King's Resort, which operates casinos and hotels in Rozvadov and Prague. Having been the Director of Poker at Europe’s largest poker casino, for over six years, he has now stepped up to the front the entire operation.
King's Resort, Rozvadov is a unique destination in the poker world. Situated in western Czech Republic, just a few miles from the border with Germany, it’s a small village with less than 900 permanent residents, two casinos (King's and Admiral) and a major hotel, that between them employ almost as many people as live in village.
During Brunato’s time as Poker Director, King's Resort became a partner and host of The Festival Series. The first full Festival Series event in Rozvadov was held in 2024, returning in 2025 and will do so again in 2026. It takes place in early summer, when the nearby Czech countryside is at its prettiest and the annual village rock festival (nicknamed “Rozkilde” by Festival Series players), might also take place.
As part of a special series of interviews with The Festival Series’ key partners, I recently caught up with Federico for a Q & A session, to find out more about the man himself, his new role, King's Resort and the plans for 2026.
What is King's Resort?
King's Casino, as it was originally known, was opened by Leon Tsoukernik in 2003, but it was not until 2009 that it began to take shape as a poker destination. Leon was ambitious, running significant tournaments every weekend that overlaid every single time for the first year they ran. But word soon spread about the small village of Rozvadov and within a few years it had firmly established itself as one of Europe’s most important poker venues.
When I first visited Rozvadov around 2012, it was much smaller. There wasn’t a much accommodation on-site, with the original casino having only a dozen or so rooms. It’s grown significantly over the last decade: first the buffet expanded, then the poker room multiplied in size, built in a matter of months, to hold well over 100 tables.
Next the casino greatly enlarged its floor space with the opening of a new gaming floor and in 2018 the construction of an adjacent five star hotel and spa was completed, transforming the business from a small provincial casino to a significant resort. Having already hosted PokerStars events and Party Poker events, Tsoukernik fulfilled his wildest dreams when the WSOP Europe was first held at King's Casino in 2017.
King's Casino Rozvadov was already Europe’s biggest poker room when Brunato became Director of Poker. During his tenure Brunato expanded the business further, developing relationships with external partners and firmly establishing King's Casino as the home of the World Series of Poker Europe for many years. Although the event is leaving Rozvadov in 2026, it will still be hosted by King's Casino, at their Prague location in the Hilton hotel.
Who is Federico Brunato?
Born in Turin, where he played and developed a love of football, Brunato moved to the Czech Republic during his childhood. After relocating he continued footballing, playing for FC Viktoria Plzeň before trading in his boots for a deck of cards in his late teens.
Brunato told The Festival how he first got into poker when he was still a teenager, organising small unlimited rebuy tournaments for €2 in a local pub:
About 40 people showed up for the first tournament, 50 for the second, and even more for the third. That was when I truly fell in love with the game and began dedicating myself to it fully.
Having first organised some poker games, Brunato then learned to play, winning the first tournament that he played in.
How important was that first win in shaping your desire to work in poker? Would we even be having this conversation if you had busted early?
I think I won my first two or three tournaments, which of course really hooks you. But because I started by organizing tournaments for my schoolmates before I even played myself and then went on to play and win, the game had already fully absorbed me by that time, and I was learning it from every possible angle.
Having worked part time as a dealer for a few years while still studying at university, Brunato went full-time at King's Casino, becoming a floor-man, combined with hosting duties, which he excelled at. Being multi-lingual helped as he was able to communicate effectively with players from many countries and less than two years later, he was promoted to become Director of Poker.
However, he very nearly took a different direction, explaining:
Around 2018, after graduating from university, I was considering leaving the poker world altogether. But at that time, I received an opportunity to take part in a selection process for the position of Poker Director. I decided to give it a try and since I’ve never been someone who does things halfway, that role quickly absorbed me as well, and I committed myself to doing everything at 100%.
All of your working life has been in poker, but what were your life ambitions before you discovered poker?
Throughout my entire childhood and adolescence I played football. That was definitely my dream when I was young, to win the World Cup and the Ballon d’Or, just like my idol at the time, Roberto Baggio.
Although Federico discovered poker early in life and has dedicated his working life to it so far, he no longer has much time to play the game, spending as much of his rapidly decreasing free-time with his family as he can.
We are currently expecting our first child, and I want to be a present father and for my wife to have a present husband.
Many congratulations to you both! If you were not working in poker what else could you see yourself doing?
I hold a degree in International Relations, so diplomacy would most likely interest me, for example, working within an organization such as the United Nations, or possibly even in politics. I also have a strong interest in memorabilia and collecting in general, so I wouldn’t rule out opening a business in this field if the opportunity arose.
Becoming CEO of King's Casino
Having been Poker Director for nearly seven year, Brunato was unveiled earlier this year as the new CEO of King's Resort.
Speaking about the first few months since his appointment, Federico commented:
For me, it’s honestly not such a big change, because people who know me well know that I haven’t changed that much since my days as a part-time dealer. Respect and professional commitment have always been my top priorities and I hope that this is exactly why the change is being perceived positively within the company.
I am still getting used to the new role, of course. It’s not possible to stop doing some truly important tasks overnight, especially those I was responsible for before, but at the same time I am building a strong team of capable people who are eager to learn, and to whom I will gradually delegate specific areas of responsibility.
Overall, I am pleasantly surprised, because we truly have an excellent team. Working with people like this, regardless of their position, is a great experience. And being their leader from the highest level today gives me even greater motivation to help King’s grow more and more.
Have you found a new Director of Poker yet, or are you still handling the workload and managing business relationships with external partners?
My previous role was a kind of large hybrid of many different responsibilities, which, honestly, was far too much for one person (and my wife could certainly tell you stories about that).
The goal now is to properly divide these responsibilities. Strategic matters and key decisions will remain with me in my role as CEO, especially because poker is still deeply connected to our company on a daily basis and remains one of the main differentiating factors that makes King’s what it is.
Other responsibilities within the poker department will be divided between a Poker Manager and a Tournament Director, who will be responsible for event coordination, more detailed definition of tournament structures, and other elements related to individual tournaments. Overall management of the poker staff will fall under a Staff Manager.
Communication with our largest partners will remain with me, while day-to-day communication with our long-term partners will be handled by a newly created position of Event and Partner Relations Manager. This is important to me because I do not want to limit our key partners’ availability to anything less than 24/7 support when they need it and this new role will be able to provide exactly that.
How big is the team that runs King's Casino Rozvadov? How many dealers, floor and other staff does it take to run Europe’s biggest poker room?
Today, we are talking about nearly 200 people in the poker department alone, but the resort as a whole has grown significantly, and there are more than 800 employees across the entire resort.
RozVegas?
The growth of Rozvadov as a casino and poker destination over the last two decades has led many people to affectionately refer to the town as RozVegas. There are two casinos, King's and Admiral, which today are both part of King's Resort. Despite being 90 minutes away from Prague and over two hours from Munich, King's Resort thrives as Europe’s biggest poker room.
However the chances of the town transforming into a much larger gaming destination such as Las Vegas are slim, as Federico explains:
It is a small village located close to the border, and about 40 minutes from the city of beer, Plzeň, where I live. Today, Rozvadov is largely defined by King’s, and together with the mayor we are continuously working to ensure that local residents are doing well, just as our company is.
I believe we are moving the right way. At the same time, it is clear that it is not possible to build infrastructure here comparable to places like Las Vegas, even if some people might wish for that.
While the Rozvadov may not grow to become a major Las Vegas style tourist destination, King's Resort itself is still on an upward trajectory. With a well planned out calendar and strong relationships with partner operators, the footfall in the casino grew substantially during Brunato’s tenure. On this he comments:
To give some perspective on how much we have grown since 2019: in that year, we welcomed around 110,000 visitors over a period of eight full months. This year, we reached the same number of visitors in just the last three months alone.
I asked Federico if there plans any to expand the property further in 2026?
The growth has clearly been significant, and our plans are ambitious as well. That said, I like surprises, so I believe many players will be pleasantly surprised in the coming months.
In 2024 King's Casino launched an online business, but so far it doesn’t have an online poker room. Does King's Casino have plans to offer online poker in the future?
At the moment, this is not among our priorities, but we will see in 2027, there may be a surprise in store as well.
Growth of Poker
Next I asked Federico if he believes live poker is still growing in 2025?
I believe we are proof that there are no real limits. A small village in the Czech Republic that is now hosting more than 1,400 tournaments per year, something that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. So the answer is yes: if the people organising poker events have a clear strategy and a defined goal, I believe the growth can be continuous for many years to come.
Is online poker still as important as it once was for introducing new players to live poker?
Definitely, because online poker offers nonstop action that simply cannot be fully replicated in live poker. That said, we are doing our best, and every week we bring dozens, sometimes hundreds, of new people to the game. Online will always have the advantage of convenience, allowing people to play from the comfort of their homes, which makes it especially important for those who want to try poker for the first time.
What, if anything, needs to be done to continue to attract new players to play poker?
The key lies in several factors, but fundamentally it is about constantly creating something new while maintaining stability for people. This is how people stay engaged, and how new players continue to come in on a continuous basis, as is already happening today.
Moving the WSOP to Prague
Although the WSOPE is leaving Rozvadov, it will still be hosted by King's Casino, at their Prague location in the Hilton hotel. It has been held annually in Rozvadov ever since, but in 2026, it will switch to the same conference space that has famously hosted the EPT for many years.
I asked Federico why the WSOPE is moving to Prague and what his expectations are for it in the Czech capital?
I won’t lie, having the WSOPE in Rozvadov for so many years and working with a multi-year strategy certainly gave me a sense of comfort. Moving the event to Prague is a major challenge for both our company and our partner, WSOP. However, we have shown that we are not afraid of challenges, and we believe it will be a success from the very first edition.
Some players have raised concerns about the WSOPE overlapping with the Irish Open. Do you think this will affect the success of both events?
There are things we simply cannot influence. When you are organising an event in the largest conference hotel in the Czech Republic, once you are offered a date, you have very limited flexibility, turning it down could mean waiting several more years for another opportunity.
Honestly, when this was the only available date, no one even considered what other events might take place during the same period. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can change at this point. We wish JP and his team the best of luck with the Irish Open and hope that both events will be successful and bring many new players to poker, because in the end, that is what we all care about: helping the game we all love continue to grow.
Introducing the King's Million
The WSOPE is not just moving location, it’s now taking place earlier in the year. The autumn slot will now be replaced with an upgraded King's Million, a massive event with a €5m guarantee. Earlier this year, the King's Million broke the venue's attendance record, with 7,558 entries in what was then a €250 buy-in event.
I asked Federico to outline what the event entails:
The King's Million will be the centerpiece of our year at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, featuring more than €10,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools across nearly 20 days. The highlight will be a spectacular Super Main Event with a €5,000,000 guarantee and a buy-in of just €1,150.
This will be a true European, and even global, unique event. More than 800 qualifiers are already being planned, and hotel rooms are starting to fill up quickly. I believe it will become another record-breaking festival and a must-attend event for everyone who plays poker, as well as for those who play only occasionally.
More information can be found on our website, and we very much look forward to welcoming you.
Mixed Games & The Festival Series
The business model of King's Resort is centred around almost continuous poker action. It operates as an all-year round poker destination, with festivals and big events running most of the time. There is almost no such thing as a regular weekly schedule at King's Casino as there is almost always a series running. The Festival Series is one of several that King's Casino hosts throughout the year
What are the main things you look for in live partners? What does it take to be able to run an event at King's Casino and are you still looking for new partners to work with?
We are always open to new partners, but they must be hardworking, passionate, and willing to solve things together. We are already in a position where we can be selective about our partnerships, and we truly focus on working with partners we align with and with whom we share common goals.
On working as a partner of the Festival Series, Brunato spoke positively:
The Festival is unique because of its atmosphere and the events that take place beyond poker itself. It is a blend of several elements where poker remains the core, but the people working on the event are equally crucial, as they bring something truly special to it, starting with Franke, whose positive craziness adds a unique energy to every single tournament throughout the entire festival.
This is something that most tournaments are missing, which is why it is great to have the opportunity to host this festival at King’s as well.
Are mixed games popular in Rozvadov outside of The Festival Series?
Mixed games are still finding their popularity at King’s, but this has been improving in recent years. These variants are already included in our larger events such as the WSOPE and WSOP Circuit, but The Festival is truly unique in this regard, as it features a much wider range of mixed-game formats.
Omaha is extremely popular on a daily basis at the cash game tables, especially at higher stakes such as €25/25, €50/50 and above. There is strong action throughout the year, and from time to time Seven Card Stud cash game tables also open.
Thank you for your time today Fedrico and the best of luck with fatherhood, but before we wrap this up, there's just one more question. How much of a negative impact did Franke’s decision to stop drinking have on the profitability of the casino bar at the 2025 Festival in Rozvadov?
Given that he started drinking non-alcoholic beer, which is even more expensive than the alcoholic one, it’s actually better for the profitability of the bar I think.
The Festival Series Rozvadov takes place 9th-15th June, 2026, we hope to see you there for a week of non-stop poker, significantly involving more than two hole cards!
In case you missed it, Federico Brunato's first interview of 2025 with The Festival Series, speaking to Andreas Hoglund.
