Player of the Series Race Returns for The Festival in Bratislava!
The opening Festival Series event of 2026 is about to get underway, as we go back-to-back at Banco Casino in Bratislava, where the final stop of 2025 also took place. The Player of the Series race is also returning, with a €1,600 package included for the player who tops the leaderboard at the end of the week. As per the Cash Game Challenge and Franke’s Flip Flops, the prize for the Player of the Series race is a 100% added prize, it is not funded by a prize pool deduction.
What is the Player of the Series Race?
The Player of the Series is a special award that takes place at every full Festival Series stop, which recognises the most consistent performer of the week. Points are awarded based on finishing position for those players in-the-money (ITM) in all open events with a buy-in above €100, with multipliers applied for bigger field events. All players also receive participation points simply for taking part and the total points scored for each event is a combination of the two.
The full rules and points system is outlined in a separate article.
The defending champion is Ville Hakala, who with one leaderboard win (Bratislava) and two second places (Rozvadov and Malta), was the unofficial Player of the Year at The Festival Series in 2025. His compatriot Kare Hallamma won the race in Rozvadov, while it was Franke himself who came up trumps in Malta. All three are expected to return next week for another crack at the whip and chance to emulate the only multiple-winner Scott Kenyon, who has twice triumphed and gone close on several other never-to-be-mentioned-again occasions.
Player of Series Scoring System Remains the Same
The scoring system for the Player of the Series will remain the same as it was for the final event of 2025, with the small adjustments that were made for the last event in Bratislava continuing:
-Participation points for higher buy-in events reduced from 10 to 5
-No rounding up of points for each event
With the return of Tallinn to the roster and the addition of The Festival Weekend to the annual calendar, there had been rumours that a season-long ranking system might be introduced for 2026, but at this point in time, that remains in speculative territory. Expect to be surprised...but don’t be surprised if you’re not surprised, as nothing is confirmed at this stage.
Unique Storylines
What is as good as guaranteed already is that it will be another exciting week of Hold’em and Non-Hold’em action, with a huge range of poker variants on the tournament schedule. The leaderboard race always creates unique storylines, with new challengers and familiar faces expected to be in the mix once again.
It begins slowly, as those who top the leaderboard on the first couple of days rarely kick-on from an early start, but as the week approaches the mid-way point, the key challengers will rise to stake their claim as the race to the finish-line goes into overdrive.
Leaderboard Race Coverage
In 2025 the leaderboard was updated daily for the very first time and this will continue in 2026, with an even greater focus than before. We’ll be covering the unfolding story of the Player of the Series leaderboard race with a daily report published every morning and we’ll also be keep a close eye on how things are progressing in the blog coverage and on social channels.
Player of the Series - Qualifying Events
Satellites, seniors, Festival Queens, events with a buy-in on less than €100 and those with capped fields that meet their cap (e.g. a sold out Heads Up event) do not count towards the leaderboard. Here is the full list of events that count towards the Festival in Bratislava 2026 Player of the Series.
| Event Name | Buy-In (€) | Participation Points | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| (1) Mixed Games Main Event - TORSES | 550 | 5 | 25/02/2026 |
| (2) Hendon Mob Championship | 250 | 2.5 | 26/02/2026 |
| (3) NLH Heads-Up Tournament | 250 | 2.5 | 23/02/2026 |
| (7) PL RAZZ P.K.O. | 125 | 1.25 | 23/02/2026 |
| (8) NLH Knockout Madness | 125 | 1.25 | 23/02/2026 |
| (10) Main Event | 550 | 5 | 01/03/2026 |
| (11) Half ’n Half (NLH / PLO) Bomb Pot Feature | 125 | 1.25 | 24/02/2026 |
| (14) H.O.R.S.E. | 125 | 1.25 | 24/02/2026 |
| (15) NLH Win the Button Madness | 125 | 1.25 | 24/02/2026 |
| (18) Open Face Chinese Pineapple | 250 | 2.5 | 25/02/2026 |
| (19) PLO High Roller | 1,100 | 5 | 25/02/2026 |
| (22) Bomb Pot Madness (NLH/PLO) | 125 | 1.25 | 25/02/2026 |
| (23) NLH P.K.O. Madness | 125 | 1.25 | 25/02/2026 |
| (25) Sviten Special | 250 | 2.5 | 26/02/2026 |
| (27) NLH High Roller | 1,100 | 5 | 26/02/2026 |
| (29) Baby TORSES (Supreme) | 125 | 1.25 | 26/02/2026 |
| (30) Bratislava Deepstack | 250 | 2.5 | 27/02/2026 |
| (32) NL Crazy Pineapple Turbo Madness | 125 | 1.25 | 26/02/2026 |
| (34) 8-Game Mix | 225 | 2.5 | 27/02/2026 |
| (36) PLO 4/5/6 Cards | 250 | 2.5 | 27/02/2026 |
| (37) NLH 15k GTD | 125 | 1.25 | 27/02/2026 |
| (39) PL 2-7 Double Draw | 250 | 2.5 | 27/02/2026 |
| (41) NLH Turbo Madness | 125 | 1.25 | 27/02/2026 |
| (43) NLH Mystery Bounty | 250 | 2.5 | 28/02/2026 |
| (44) Sportsbook Tournament | 125 | 1.25 | 28/02/2026 |
| (45) Big O | 250 | 2.5 | 28/02/2026 |
| (46) The Festival 10-Game Mix | 1,100 | 5 | 01/03/2026 |
| (47) NLH Turbo Madness | 125 | 1.25 | 28/02/2026 |
| (48) PLO5 Turbo P.K.O. Madness | 125 | 1.25 | 28/02/2026 |
| (50) OFC Pineapple High Roller | 1,100 | 5 | 01/03/2026 |
Contenders for the Title
As already mentioned, it would be no surprise to see familiar faces challenge for the Player of the Series title once again, but after last year’s concentrated efforts, which finally paid off in Bratislava, Ville Hakala has indicated that he intends to take a more relaxed approach at the first edition of the year.
His Finnish friend, compatriot and rival Kare Hallamma, who pipped Ville for the Rozvadov Player of the Series title, told the Festival Series:
"My focus this event will be more so on having a good time and playing the events that i really really like, such as Sviten. Last year was filled with long grinds so this event I want to really feel like being on vacation and enjoying the fun off the felt as well! I'll miss the first day of action arriving late Monday night, but can't wait for TORSES on Tuesday.
I think Ville will be in a similar mindset after having in my opinion the greatest year in the POTF's history. He is a grinder and a one of a kind creature though so you never know what he might be cooking up! 🙋"
Speaking for himself and on behalf of Ville, Kare added
"We wish for a great competition, going down to the wire. To shoutout one name, we are rooting for the Festival regular Barrie Dear to finally get his first crown and to get to join the community of winners!"
Edinburgh resident Barrie Dear has been a consistent challenger for the title over the last few years, never far away from the podium. The reigning Mixed Games Main Event (TORSES) has indeed confirmed he will be in attendance for the entire festival and will as always try his best to become the Player of the Series. His attitude going into it perfectly encapsulates what its all about, remarking
“It adds a bit of fun and friendly rivalry”
Others, such as Sasha Manns, another former Mixed Games main Event (HORSES) winner, take a pragmatic approach, saying that whether he mounts a challenge for the title or not
“Depends heavily on the results of the first three days.”
Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk, the man who bankrolls all of this, also likes to challenge for the title, when he’s within striking distance. Although he saved himself the cost of dishing out a winners package by winning it himself in Malta, his ambition in this respect may now already be satisfied, but he's still fiercely competitive, so cannot be ruled out.
Another player that can never be ruled out is Scott ‘Pokerbrahs” Kenyon. The mixed games streamer has twice won the Player of the Series title, both times in Bratislava and has gone close in Rozvadov and Malta. He had a weak 2025 (by his own high standards) and will be hoping for a return to the fine Festival Series form that he displayed in 2023 and 2024. We reached out to Scott for comment but sadly his reply of
“Oh I’m so sorry, I rarely check my messages on Twitter!”
has yet to be received.
Some players sadly can be ruled out of contention, such as Antoine Degiorgio, as the Maltese mixed games maestro has confirmed he will not be in attendance this time around.
But there are also a huge number of other players who may rise to the challenge of taking down the most coveted of titles that the Festival Series (currently) has to offer; and there’s a good chance that the person reading this right now is one of them. Good luck at the tables!
