The Festival Gets the Ball Rolling in Rozvadov After an Action Packed Day 1
The Festival Rozvadov got off to a flyer at Europe's poker palace, King's Resort Rozvadov. The usual eclectic blend of Festival Series opportunities was on offer over the day, from the Mixed Games Main Event TORSES, to The Hendon Mob Championships. Here is a look at what happened across the sprawling tournament floor here at King's.
€550 Mixed Games Main Event - TORSES
A field of 17 Mixed Games enthusiasts took to the felt yesterday afternoon. As you will see from the chip counts of the eight progressing, a broad range of nationalities were represented over the afternoon, from Brazil to Estonia, and a fair few countries in between. The field was resilient, and, due to the limit-betting structure featured in all the games, it took over three hours for the first bust-outs, with Pavel Kim and Jens Voertmann the first to depart.
The blogger was fortunate enough to play in the event, and the atmosphere amongst the players couldn't have been better. The mysterious "HokusPokus" emphasised numerous times, "I can't remember having this much fun at the poker table in a long time."
Brazilian Richard Freitas, who now calls Czechia his home, played Sviten Special for the first time and quickly caught the bug, so much so that he fired the standalone tournament in the evening.
Ultimately, after the 12 allotted levels, Christophe Stammet bagged the biggest. His last cash came at The Festival Series Malta last year, where he finished 16th in The Hendon Mob Championships, adding €1,250 to his total live earnings of $107,520. Below are the chip counts of the players who will take to the field on Thursday's second and final day.
| Place | Player | Nationality | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christophe Stammet | Luxembourg | 226,500 |
| 2 | Siarhei Narozhny | Belarus | 157,000 |
| 3 | Richard Freitas | Brazil | 119,000 |
| 4 | Barrie Dear | Scotland | 113,000 |
| 5 | “HokusPokus” | Poland | 84,000 |
| 6 | Mati Pirn | Estonia | 57,000 |
| 7 | Jens Voertmann | Germany | 50,000 |
| 8 | Patrick Cole | England | 43,000 |
€175 The Hendon Mob Championships 1A and 1B
The prestigious The Hendon Mob Championship returned to Rozvadov with two starting flights to kick off this Festival Series. Bagging the biggest from 1A was Nicolas Feuille, who became the first member of the millionaire club in today's Day 2. He will have plenty to work with in pursuit of the beautiful trophy. Feuille currently has $9,230 in live tournament earnings according to our friends at thehendonmob.com, with the majority of his cashes coming at King's Casino Prague back in 2024. Below are the counts from 1A.
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolas Feuille | France | 1,113,000 |
| 2 | Roberto Dossi | Italy | 731,000 |
| 3 | Naum Barulia | Ukraine | 572,000 |
| 4 | Hieu Nam Nguyen | Vietnam | 414,000 |
| 5 | Sebastian Rebhan | Germany | 397,000 |
| 6 | Sergi Punsola | Spain | 328,000 |
| 7 | “Anonymous” | Germany | 314,000 |
| 8 | Rodolphe Cinirella | France | 286,000 |
| 9 | Maciej Kondraszuk | Poland | 173,000 |
In 1B, it was an anonymous 1-2-3-4 in the counts, with Italian player "TROMBA" bagging a chip lead stack in the early hours of this morning. Below are the counts from 1B
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "TROMBA" | Italy | 1,505,000 |
| 2 | "NOE27" | Poland | 806,000 |
| 3 | "Victor B." | Germany | 744,000 |
| 4 | "Assou Ekotto" | Germany | 743,000 |
| 5 | Mykhailo Lohvinenko | Ukraine | 356,000 |
| 6 | Yuliyan Artachki | Bulgaria | 320,000 |
| 7 | Kamil Ostaszewski | Poland | 280,000 |
| 8 | Heiko Schmeil | Germany | 250,000 |
| 9 | Jose Carneiro | Brazil | 248,000 |
| 10 | Razor | UK | 211,000 |
| 11 | Albert Ulla | Estonia | 183,000 |
| 12 | Yuri Overhand | Netherlands | 96,000 |
€150 Sviten Special
A field of 68 players assembled to indulge in Sweden's most famous export since flat-pack furniture, Sviten Special. A Festival favourite and schedule staple, the €150 buy-in event attracted seasoned Sviten players, as well as the new and the curious. For those who may not be exposed to this beautiful split-pot game, half the pot goes to the best PLO hand and the other to the best Five Card Draw hand. To add to the fun, there is a discard phase after the first round of flop betting. Players can discard 0-5 cards. If they discard one, they get one face up. Players can accept or decline this card; if it's a case of the latter, they get one face down.
Ultimately, the tournament ended in a seven-way chop, probably due to the players valuing sleep over money at this stage in the early hours. Alexander Martinsson will be taking the title and trophy back to Svitens homeland of Sweden when the week comes to an end. Below are the payouts.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexander Martinsson | Sweden | €1,343 |
| 2 | Yurii Rassamakin | Ukraine | €1,338 |
| 3 | Evert Bos | Netherlands | €1,119 |
| 4 | Benedict Kaiser | Germany | €1,040 |
| 5 | Michael Doverklint | Sweden | €998 |
| 6 | Koen Roos | Netherlands | €792 |
| 7 | Andreas Klimmer | Germany | €744 |
| 8 | Johannes Goossens | Netherlands | €310 |
| 9 | Jens Voertmann | Austria | €310 |
| 10 | Tobias Soederkvist | Sweden | €287 |
| 11 | Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk | Estonia | €287 |
€150 NLH Bounty Madness
A total of 34 players indulged in some late-night madness in the €150 NLH Bounty Madness. One of those was Vanessa Welby, who amassed a large amount of €40 bounties over the course of the session. Welby was a vibrant character full of energy, and part of her reason to play outside her enjoyment of the game was to donate a portion of her winnings to a Czech charity. Welby had a great run, winning all in after all in. She made the final table, but ultimately departed in the first payout spot.
Florian Hesl was the winner. He came into heads-up play with a substantial chip advantage of roughly 10:1 over his opponent, James Rooney. Remarkably, this is Hesl's first tournament win! Below are the payouts exclusive of bounties.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florian Hesl | Germany | €1,015 |
| 2 | James Rooney | Ireland | €677 |
| 3 | Serghei Zglavoci | Moldova | €426 |
| 4 | Rodolfo Malsiner | Italy | €295 |
| 5 | Tim Radke | Germany | €228 |
| 6 | Vanessa Webley | United Kingdom | €199 |
Today's Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | GTD | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 11:00 | The Hendon Mob Championship – Day 1C Turbo | €50,000 | €175 |
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 12:00 | Mixed Games Main Event TORSES – Day 1B | €20,000 | €550 |
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 14:00 | THMC – Flip & Go Pineapple | €50,000 | €175 |
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 14:00 | Seniors Event 50+ | €10,000 | €250 |
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 17:00 | THMC – Final Day | €50,000 | — |
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 18:00 | Bounty Hunter Days Mystery Bounty – Day 1A | €100,000 | €230 |
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 19:00 | PLO 4/5/6 Cards | €5,000 | €150 |
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 19:00 | Blackjack Tournament | €5,000 | €125 |
| Wednesday 10.6.2026 | 21:00 | Crazy Pineapple (NLH) | €5,000 | €125 |
Prepare for another action-packed day from Rozvadov across an incredible range of events. The team and I will be here day and night to provide you with updates in video and text formats. Follow along on the live blog, The Festival Series Facebook page, and TheFestivalOG on Instagram.
That's all for now, folks. Until next time.
