The Festival in Rozvadov Starts Friday!
After a successful run last year in Rozvadov, The Festival returns once again to the Czech town for its first event of the year. Hosted at the palace of poker that is King’s Resort, the event will run from the 6-16th of June and attract players of all creeds and colours from all four corners of the world throughout the scheduled 11-day stint here.
Action will be plentiful, and the place will be packed to the rafters with players all seeking their chance at a title. The Festival will be offering over €1,000,000 in total prize pool across all the tournaments on the schedule, indicating substantial value for all who want to take their chances at a shot at poker glory.
This year will see 72 unique tournaments, 12 more than last year's installment, and is equally as diverse in terms of game selection, as you will see from the get-go when the Festival officially kicks off at 11am on the 6th June with a €30 satellite into The Hendon Mob Championship. That being said, let’s dive into the schedule over the opening weekend in a little more depth.
Kicking Off The Festival
The Hendon Mob Championship (THMC) starts the festival with a flourish. The six-flight €300,000 guaranteed event will run from June 6-8th and will be the largest installment of the THMC to date across any venue. Two flights have already run at the King's Casino in Prague, situated inside the luxurious Hilton Hotel in the nation's capital. This is the fourth location that the THMC has hosted with The Festival, having run at Dusk Til Dawn (DTD) Nottingham, Portomaso Casino Malta, Banco Casino Bratislava, and King’s Resort Rozvadov.
The tournament will feature 30-minute levels in all flights other than the turbo flight, which will have 15-minute levels. These final flights run on Sunday, which offers a last chance for players looking for a share of the gigantic prize pool. All players will start with a stack of 50,000.
In the last installment in Rozvadov, Iranian Majid Alimoradpour (pictured above) overcame Marek Soukop after a 3-hour heads-up battle to win the title. The duo chopped the money and took home €35,250 each, and a seat at the WSOPE Main event worth €10,350. Alimoradpour also secured a €2,000 package to The Hendon Mob Championship in Cape Town along with the win. Remarkably, this was Alimoradpour’s first recorded cash. Perhaps a similar story could emerge this year?
The Final Table Result
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Majid Alimoradpour | Iran | € 35,250* + €2,000 Cape Town THMC Package |
| 2 | Marek Soukup | Czech Republic | € 35,250* |
| 3 | Tomas Svec | Czech Republic | € 23,850** |
| 4 | Matthias Steinberg | Germany | € 10,400 |
| 5 | Robert Palasz | Poland | € 8,200 |
| 6 | Martin Wolf | Germany | € 6,400 |
| 7 | Visa Kiviharju | Finland | € 4,700 |
| 8 | Rainer Sollfrank | Germany | € 3,200 |
| 9 | Ivica Malovan | Croatia | € 2,530 |
*Denotes deal and includes a €10,350 WSOPE seat ** Includes a €10,350 WSOPE seat
Schedule for The Hendon Mob Championship.
Day 1a: 1pm Friday 6th June.
Day 1b: 6pm Friday 6th June.
Day 1c: 11am Saturday 7th June.
Day 1d: 6pm Saturday 7th June.
Day 1e Turbo: 11am Sunday 8th June.
Day 1 Flip and Go Pineapple: 2pm Sunday 8th June.
Day 2 Final Day: 5pm Sunday 8th June.
Flights to the Mystery Bounty.
Day 1A of the €250 Mystery Bounty kicks off on Sunday, the 8th of June. Of the €250 buy-in, €100 will be placed into the bounty prize pool. There is a slight discount on the buy-in from last year, and the prize pool remains the same at €100,000 guaranteed. There will be four flights to Day 2 with registration being open for the first 10 levels of play, which will run for 30-minutes apiece. Players will receive a 50,000 starting stack from their buy-in. The final flight however, is a turbo with a 15-minute level blind structure, and Day 2 will commence the same day, similar to the final flight of the THMC.
Mystery Bounty Schedule.
Day 1a: 6pm Sunday 8th June.
Day 1b: 6pm Monday 9th June.
Day 1c: 6pm Tuesday 10th June.
Day 1d: 11am Wednesday 11th June.
Day 2: 6pm Wednesday 11th June.
PLO Events.
The Festival will also see two PLO events run over the first weekend: the €150 PLO Championship starts at 4pm on Friday June 6th. The prize pool is set at a €10,000 guarantee and players will have access to unlimited registration throughout the first 8 levels of play, which are set at 20-minutes each. Players will receive a 20,000 chip starting stack.
The second PLO tournament, the €250 PLO Masters, will have a €20,000 prize pool on offer and also features unlimited registration throughout the first 8 levels and levels will also run at 20-minutes each, so a very similar structure to the Championship the day before. The tournament starts at 4pm with a 20,000 starting stack.
For those who want to dabble in a bit of two-card and four-card action in the same tournament, the €125 Half ‘n’ Half (Texas & PLO) is the one for you to kick off The Festival. Running on Sunday 8th from 9pm, the tournament will have a €5,000 guaranteed prize pool and unlimited reentries up until Level 10 and feature 20-minute levels.
Satellites to The Main Event.
If you’re playing a smaller roll and looking to spin up, or just looking to bag some extra bang for your buck, there are Super Satellites to the Main Event starting from the get-go. For the €80 buy-in, players can win a seat to the €550 Main Event, which will feature a staggering €500,000 guaranteed prize pool. The satellites will offer a minimum of 10 seats each and start at 7pm daily up until Wednesday, 11th of June. The last satellite runs on Wednesday at 3pm, with the Main Event Day 1 kicking off at 6pm the very same day.
Day 1A of the HORSES Mixed Game Main Event.
And last, but certainly not least, in what is sure to be an immensely popular event, the Mixed Game Main Event HORSES will kick off on Monday 4pm. The €550 buy-in will see a €25,000 guaranteed prize pool, and players will be allowed to re-enter once per flight. Players will receive a 40,000 starting stack, and levels will run for 30-minutes.
Off the Felt Activities.
The Festival isn’t just about the cards. There will be an eclectic range of activities for online qualifiers, with the hospitality deal included in their package. The activities are on from flag fall, the first of which is a Boule school hosted by The Festival’s main man, Franke! This activity runs from 2pm to 4pm and offers an introduction to the classic French lawn game.
The following day, qualifiers will get to learn about Molky, a Finnish game that combines bowling and strategy. Franke hosts again and will guide you through the game, which involves throwing a stick at numbered pins. Players must score exactly 50 points, no more, no less, or they are penalised. This activity also runs from 2pm to 4pm.
On Sunday, another Scandinavian game takes centre stage in the form of Kubb. Also known as “Viking Chess”, the game involves throwing wooden sticks at opposing teams' blocks. Franke takes to the helm on hosting duties again in what is sure to be a fun-filled afternoon in the fresh air, running from 2pm to 4pm. For additional information on the Hospitality Events throughout the week, click here.
Location, Location, Location!
For those who may be unfamiliar with Rozvadov, the Czech town is home to the largest poker room in Europe, the aforementioned King’s Resort. It is located close to the Czech-German border. It is approximately a 45-minute drive from Plzen and around an hour and a half drive from the Czech capital of Prague. From Germany, Kings can be reached in around an hour and a half from Nuremberg, two hours from Munich, and three hours from Stuttgart. Kings offer a transport service which can be contacted on +420 777 281 804. For general enquiries, contact +420 605 000 888 or visit the website https://www.kings-resort.com/
That’s all for now folks, until The Festival kicks off in a few days time. Stay tuned to the live blog for continued updates of the tournament action and the hospitality events taking place off the felt.
