The Festival Series Meets – Stefan Hachmeister – Chief Editor of Hochgepokert
Poker in Europe is extremely popular these days, resulting in a massive number of opportunities as well as in online- as in live poker. Germany is one of these countries where poker has been booming over the years, and even though the poker scene is very spacious, it's hard to miss out on Stefan Hachmeister, Chief Editor of poker media platform 'Hochgepokert.com'.
The Festival Series will be as guest at the King's Casino in Rozvadov from May 31st until June 9th, and if you have been scrolling around on streaming platform Twitch, the it's likely you have seen and heard Stefan Hachmeister already as he is taking care of the commentary for all livestreams of King's Casino as well, among others.
Melvin, The Festival: Hi Stefan! Nice to meet you. You are the Chief Editor of Hochgepokert.com, a poker media outlet focused on the German market. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and your community?
Stefan: ‘’Hi Melvin, I'm pleased to meet you. I have been self-employed as a freelance journalist in the poker scene for a little over 16 years. In the first few years I wrote for print media and reported as a live blogger for various news sites. In 2018 I started as an editor at Hochgepokert.com and have held the position of Chief Editor since June 2020. In addition to all content-related issues, I am also responsible for collaboration with our partners.
I also advise casinos and poker organizers on many questions relating to poker. For example tournament structures, poker equipment, etc. I also put the clients in contact with people from the poker scene.’’
Melvin, The Festival: You are the voice behind the German live streams of King’s Casino, am I right? Can you elaborate a bit more about King’s Casino, for the people who don’t know much about King’s Casino yet?
Stefan: ‘’I have been commenting on poker live streams regularly since 2016. Two to three times a week I comment on the German live streams from the King’s Resort Rozvadov. But I have also commented on live streams in German for many other clients. For example, for partypoker in 2020 the entire World Poker Tour Online Series, multiple partypoker Live Millions Events, GGPoker World Series Of Poker Online, World Poker Tour Prime Liechtenstein, European Poker Tour Prague and also the only German-language live stream on PokerGO to date.
I was also responsible for the press department at King’s Resort Rozvadov for about a year and a half. That's why I'm well versed in all questions about King's.
When someone asks me how they can imagine the King’s Resort, I always say it’s like a small Las Vegas in the middle of Europe. As the largest poker room in Europe, the biggest poker events such as World Series Of Poker Europe, PokerStars Eureka Poker Tour, World Poker Tour, EuroRounders Events and of course “The Festival Series” will take place here for the first time in June. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, King's consistently offers the hottest cash games and tournament action you could ask for. Service is a top priority at King's and, in addition to many hotel rooms in all price categories, there is a first-class restaurant and a spacious wellness area with gym. Everything is ready for an unforgettable poker trip.’’
Melvin, The Festival: The Festival Series will make its debut in Rozvadov this year. Will you be present as well? What is your opinion about our event when looking at previous editions and the current tournament schedule? Is there something you still missing from the schedule?
Stefan: ‘’Unfortunately, I won't be able to visit “The Festival Series” due to scheduling constraints. However, I would have liked to play some of the mixed games events. The way I see the concept of “The Festival Series” is that it is particularly important that the poker players have an unforgettable poker trip. Most poker festivals feature primarily No-Limit Hold'em events and perhaps a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. “The Festival Series” is much broader here and, in addition to large NLH events with high guaranteed sums, also offers a lot of mixed and exotic variants, even for small to medium buy-ins. There really is nothing left to be desired here.
In addition, poker players are offered an extensive supporting program with various activities, so that no one will be bored. I'm a little sad that I'll miss the event. But at least I can comment on the German live streams.’’
Melvin, The Festival: I can see on Hendon Mob, of which we have a tournament as well on our schedule, that you have played a fair amount of tournaments yourself as well. With as highlight, a nice $47K score back in 2008. What positive/negative changes does the current poker industry have in your opinion compared to the time back then?
Stefan: ‘’I played poker professionally from 2007 to early 2009 and also had some very good results in Las Vegas during the WSOP in 2008. In 2009 I concentrated more on my work as a poker journalist. The poker scene is constantly changing and so is the game. In the early years of online poker it was very easy to play profitably, but recently it has become significantly more difficult. Poker players get virtually unlimited access to poker knowledge, such as poker schools, coaching sites and strategy programs. As a result, the quality of the players is getting better and better. But the number of participants in the major events is also constantly increasing. It wasn't until 2023, that we had the largest WSOP Main Event of all time with over 10,000 participants.
After the great poker boom between 2003 and 2006, the numbers declined somewhat and reached their lowest point on “Black Friday” (when the major online poker rooms were closed). However, the poker scene quickly recovered and is currently bigger than ever before.’’
Melvin, The Festival: Can you tell us a bit more about the German poker market? Do German players often go abroad for live events? What do you think about the online satellites for The Festival which are available for Germany on partypoker?
Stefan: ‘’The German poker market is still one of the largest and most important markets after the USA. Even though there have been difficult times in online poker, the German market is still very large and important for providers.
As far as live poker in Germany is concerned, there was a big break here after the pandemic. With a few exceptions, live poker is only a marginal phenomenon in German casinos. If there are tournaments at all, they only have very limited entries and for this reason the poker rooms close to the border like the King's Resort benefit greatly from them.
Regarding online satellites; I think it is an important building block for a large and successful live event. Partypoker.de offers legal online satellites on the German market, giving players with a smaller bankroll the opportunity to take part in large, prestigious live events such as “The Festival Series”.
Melvin, The Festival: Working in the poker industry. Spending many hours behind the screen for creating content, commentary, and other productions behind the scene. You have a good view about everything what goes on in the poker world. What do we still miss in the poker?
Stefan: ‘’You're right! My job forces me to spend many hours behind the screen and for over 16 years everything has revolved around poker.
If I could wish for something, it would be that there would be a re-think in German casinos and the legislature, so that there could be big poker events like “The Festival Series” in Germany again in the future.’’
