Sandeep Nene Takes Narrow Lead in Player of the Series Race After Day 4 of The Festival in Bratislava
Thursday was the busiest day so far at The Festival in Bratislava, with six events that count towards the Player of the Series race reaching their natural conclusion. As was expected, the volume of events that took place has shaken up the leaderboard and Ivo Petkov, who had held the lead for the last two days has now slipped back to 5th place, but is still well in contention, less than five points behind the new leader, Sandeep Nene.
Sandeep, from Netherlands has played in just six events so far, finishing in 4th place in three of them. On Thursday he added a 4th place in the €125 Baby TORSES, having finished in the same position in the Mixed Games Main Event, which also had a TORSES format. His total score is now 92.5 points, but he has a lead of less than one point over Jens Voertmann, who is once again proving that class and form go hand-in-hand, as he’s been a mixed games crusher for almost 20 years now, earning a WSOP bracelet in H.O.R.S.E in 2008.
Voertmann has also cashed three times so far at this series adding a runner-up finish to his resume in the Baby Torses, on top of the 3rd place in the H.O.R.S.E and 6th place finish in the Razz PKO earlier in the week. But the German’s score of 91.75 is just half a point ahead of Scott “pokerbrahs” Kenyon on 91.25. Scott had a min cash and a runner-up spot going into the day and added to his score on Thursday with an 8th place finish in the Crazy Pineapple.
Debuting in the top ten is Igor Narajczyk, thanks to his runner-up finish in The Hendon Mob Championship, which boosted his total by 42.5 points. The Polish player jumped straight from that disappointment into yesterday’s €1,100 NLH High Roller, securing 4th place, banking 63.5 of his 89 point total in the same day and was clearly the star performer of the day. In total he cashed for €13,725 on Thursday, trailing only Samuiel Stan as the most profitable player of the week so far.
Stan had won the PLO High Roller on Wednesday and followed that up with second place in yesterday’s NLH High Roller, cashing for a grand total of €22,310. Remarkably, these are the only two events he has entered, and although he is well clear on the money list, he languishes in 21st place, on 55 points, despite having the most envious record of any player at the series this week.
Former front runner Ivo Petkov didn’t add any further cashes on Thursday, but did boost his score with participation points and is now in 5th on 88.75 points, but still well positioned to strike for the top once again. It was a similar story for Wouter Schuurbiers, who drops from 2nd to 6th after failing to book an appointment at the payout window in either the Sviten Special or the Baby TORSES on Thursday.
Jaroslav Stulhofer took down the Crazy Pineapple on Thursday and secured 20th place in The Hendon Mob Championship, moving up to 7th place on the leaderboard, with 82.75 points. Marco Herman is just quarter of a point further back on 82.50, thanks to final tables in both the Hendon Mob Champs (9th) and the Baby TORSES (6th).
Ukrainian Yevhenni Ivanov, who had been in 3rd place slips back to 9th, while Bulgarian Lachezar Tsevov jumps up one place to round off the top 10 on 78.75 points, after taking 4th place in the Sviten Special.
Many other players remain in a strong position to challenge and with three days of action left, its a wide open race with everything left to play for.
Top 20 After Day 4
| Rank | Player | Total Points | Country | Total Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sandeep Nene | 92.5 |  | €5,295 |
| 2 | Jens Voertmann | 91.75 |  | €2,630 |
| 3 | Scott Kenyon | 91.25 |  | €3,638 |
| 4 | Igor Narajczyk | 89 |  | €13,725 |
| 5 | Ivo Petkov | 88.75 |  | €2,688 |
| 6 | Wouter Schuurbiers | 83.25 |  | €2,615 |
| 7 | Jaroslav Stulhofer | 82.75 | | €4,455 |
| 8 | Marco Herman | 82.5 | | €2,770 |
| 9 | Yevhenii Ivanov | 79.5 |  | €2,974 |
| 10 | Lachezar Tsenov | 78.75 | | €2,910 |
| 11 | Johnny Johansen | 73.5 |  | €6,456 |
| 12 | Joakim Bakke | 67.25 | | €2,845 |
| 13 | Barrie Dear | 64.5 | | €1,755 |
| 14 | Heiko Hinkelmann | 64.25 | | €1,490 |
| 15 | Jari Rattya | 62.5 |  | €3,300 |
| 16 | Ralf Mikk | 62.25 |  | €8,490 |
| 17 | Jari Kaerkkaeinen | 60.25 | | €845 |
| 18 | Andreas Paliogiannis | 58.75 |  | €13,567 |
| 18 | Thor Morstoel | 58.75 | | €10,365 |
| 20 | Mickael Lacaze | 57.5 |  | €6,750 |
Friday’s Player of the Series Qualifying Events
Today is another busy day for the Player of the Series race, with another five events that count towards the leaderboard, alongside the ongoing Main Event, which has two flights today. The Ladies event also takes place, but as it restricted to female players, it doesn’t count towards the leaderboard.
The five events that finish up today are:
- Event 34 - €250 8-Game Mix
- Event 36 - €250 PLO 4/5/6 Cards
- Event 37 - €125 NLH $15K GTD
- Event 39 - €250 PL 2-7 Double
- Event 41 - €125 NLH Turbo Madness
Further news and results from Thursday’s events, including the story of Andreas Paliogiannis’s Hendon Mob victory can be read in Patrick Cole’s excellent recap of all the day’s action. Blog coverage continues this afternoon with the focus now turning to the Main Event.
