The Festival Series – Big Names heading over to the Rock
We are a couple days away from our next Festival Series event in Malta. From May 15th until the 21st, many mixed games and grand hold'em events will be played out to crown many Champions! We took pen and paper and went through the names who mentioned to us they will be making their way to Portomaso Casino as well, trying to get hold of one of the iconic winner portraits. Above all, the event is guaranteed to have a lot of fun on and off the tables, so what statistics matter right?
Let's give you all some of the names to look out for during our event in Malta:
Bo Hoebe (Netherlands)
What’s fun about poker is that people of all ages are fighting for titles, and everyone is able to develop their poker skills to a certain level that makes them compete at all sorts of levels. He might not be the biggest name out there (yet), but for sure its the man in top shape! Bo Hoebe, a young Dutch poker talent, will make his way to Malta as well, after being on a streak, winning ‘The Weekender’ event at the WSOP in Venlo for €36.999!
Last week we got him in the picture when he wasn’t able to avoid busting against Franke in one of the satellites at Unibet for a package to Malta. He is in for revanche and will try to keep Franke away from his trophy hunt on the Rock!
Vallo Maidla (Estonia)
What is impressive to see is some poker players who already have their grind on for approximately 25 years! Vallo is one of them, and he is a true mixed games artist. However, his biggest cash to date was back in 2010, during the EPT NLHE Main Event in Tallinn, finishing 10th for €25.000.
With $400.000 in total live earnings, he is currently 11th on the All-Time money list of his country. Let’s see if he can jump a couple of spots on the ranking list by doing well in Malta!
Jon Kyte (Norway)
With almost $1M in total live earnings, Jon Kyte is a big name in the European poker scene. Last week he topped a field of 106 players during the €330 Hyper events at the EPT, bringing home the trophy to Norway, where he continued the grind online. He has his own Twitch Channel as well, where he likes to present his Mixed Games skills, something which is one of his specialities. During our previous event, he won the OFC event!
His biggest cash to date is from the Partypoker Nordic Poker Championships in 2017, where he defeated current World Champion of Poker Espen Uhlen Jorstad and Finnish rockstar Joni Jouhkimainen who has close to $6M in live earnings for example. Kyte took home taking home 240.000 and the honourable trophy of Norwegian Champion!
Attila Erdei (Hungary)
A friend of The Festival, and a top qualifier from Hungary, Attila Erdei, will also represent Hungary again during our next event. We have already seen him around in our previous events, and he is definitely a player to look out for throughout the full week of events, happening at Portomaso Casino.
Will he turn his qualifier skills into a Main Event victory perhaps? Hungarians are doing well throughout our events, so let’s keep our fingers crossed! There are still plenty of Qualifiers available online!
Marthyn Lakerveld (Netherlands)
Lately, we introduced ‘Pokerstudie’ as a partner for The Festival Series, and one of the owners of it all, Marthyn Lakerveld, is a true class act when it comes to running well in Main Events. He topped already a field of 1014 players during a €550 event last year, good for 71.000 and the trophy!
Most definitely you will see him strolling around in several events, including the Cash Game Challenge, which is being held twice per day throughout the week. He has over $200.000 in live career earnings and is hungry for more, that’s for sure!
Mark Vella (Malta)
One of the familiar faces on the Maltese poker grounds is Mark Vella. Currently #4 on the Maltese All-Time money list, and in good form as always. In March he reached the final table of a €550 event, finishing 5th for €16.000. Which surprisingly is also his biggest cash to date, despite many great finishes.
Will he keep any winner portraits in Malta? We are expecting many Maltese poker players to turn up their engines, no different for Mark!
Sean O’Donnell (UK)
The local hero from Dusk Till Dawn poker club in Nottingham, who became our runner-up of the previous Main Event of The Festival Series back in February, will attend our Malta event as well by winning a full package as he won the Player Of The Series ranking. During that Main Event, he captured £31.155 in earnings.
We are curious to see if the Englishman can turn the Maltese heat into a poker heater. Going by the nickname ‘Crazy Horse’, for sure we will see a lot of action coming from his side.
Martin ‘Franke‘ von Zweigbergk (Sweden)
One big name who will be there for sure is the founder of The Festival Series, Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk. Sadly for him, during the event in Nottingham, he wasn’t able to score any winner portraits, but he did well for himself in previous events.
Many consider him as the biggest fish around, which might just be useful in the waters of Malta. When he is around, action is guaranteed 110%, does not matter if it’s a Blackjack tournament, Main Event, Flip ‘n Go, or Sviten Special event, he will splash the pots wherever it is possible.
Don’t forget about this fact; He has won a stunning 11 live events in his poker career! Something he likes to brag about, but hey, Daniel Negreanu has got 46 wins in live events. Let’s see how Franke will cope with that pressure throughout the Series!
Antti Tiainen (Finland)
Another poker streamer who will join the action in Malta, Finland’s pride Antti Tiainen with close to $100.000 in total live earnings will try to give another boost to his poker career during the many mixed games events being held at Portomase Casino May 15-21.
Not too long ago we had the pleasure of talking to him, and he is really in the mood for some good fun at the tables in Malta. All the best!
Dainius Antanaitis (Lithuania)
With mixed games specialist as his profession, Hold’em as his backup, Dainius is ready to gear up for his trip to Malta. Lately visited Monte Carlo for the EPT event, where he had the privilege of driving a Lamborghini (Not recommended to do in Malta, folks).
We will see him grinding many mixed games all week through and looking forward to catching up with him after the event to check up him about his Festival Series experience. Last time we checked, he was full of ambition to compete!
