The Festival Malta Day 4

The Festival Malta Day 4

The Festival in Malta Live Updates

“How Easy is It?” 19.05.2023 12:27 by The Festival Team

The €250 HORSE Event was another popular mixed game event at The Festival Series Malta with 69 entries forming a €14,904 prize pool. Players were visibly having fun all event long.

The Festival Series Founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk was low on chips early on. But he ran his stack up before taking many unscheduled breaks. He even sat out the first portion of the final table.

However, when there were four players left, Franke had the chip lead and made a deal with Antti Tianen, Petri Juurikkala, and Per Gjelten where each of the four players collected a €2,850 payout.

“How easy is it?” Franke said after the win before joking. “I don’t even know all the rules and yet still won against HORSE pros like Sascha Manns.”

Franke is being modest as last year he took third place in the EPT Prague €550 HORSE. Congrats to Franke for winning the trophy and all of the players that cashed this fun mixed-game event.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk€2,850
2Antti Tianen€2,850
3Petri Juurikkala€2,850
4Per Gjelten€2,850
5Julien Teissedre€980
6Martin Smith€790
7Eva Jiretorn€650
8Igor Panak€560
9Mikael Grovnik€504
William Lynch Wins the PLO 4/5/6 After Five-Way Deal 19.05.2023 12:02 by The Festival Team

The €250 PLO 4/5/6 attracted 72 entries to create a €15,550 prize pool. William Lynch, Sander Mets, Boon Wan Lee, Bianca Essers, and Yann de Tychey all agreed to a five-way deal. Lynch and Mets both collected the same €2,900 prize but Lynch was crowned the winner.

PlacePlayerPrize
1William Lynch€2,900
2Sander Mets€2,900
3Boon Wan Lee€2,750
4Bianca Essers€2,200
5Yann de Tychey€2,150
6Soner Vanelderen€890
7Pavol Guris€690
8Bjorne Lindberg€570
9Mark Adams€500
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William Lynch
Adam Briggs Wins Two Cash Game Challenges 19.05.2023 11:43 by The Festival Team

Congrats to Adam Briggs for winning both Cash Game Challenges last night. He booked a €560 profit (280 big blinds) in the €2/€2 Omaha and another €532 profit (266 big blinds) in €2/€2 no-limit hold’em.

This is still miles behind The Festival Series Founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk on the Cash Game Challenge leaderboard which the winner will win a €1,600 package to The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3. Franke miraculously won €6,300 in the €2/€2 Omaha Cash Game Challenge on May 15 and this will be tough for anyone to beat.

DateGamePlayerProfitBig Blinds
May 15€2/€2 NLHEHugo Loustrau€416208
May 15€2/€2 PLOMartin “Franke” von Zweigbergk€6,3003,150
May 16€2/€2 NLHETobias Bollman€610305
May 16€2/€2 PLOJack Holland€637318.5
May 17€2/€2 PLOMartins Geiba€1,008504
May 18€2/€2 PLOAdam Briggs€560280
May 18€2/€2 NLHEAdam Briggs€532266
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Kai Muller Wins the Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness 19.05.2023 11:05 by The Festival Team

Despite the title, the €125 Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness kicked off at 9 p.m. The action was still going strong at midnight and it wasn’t until slightly after 2 a.m. that Kai Muller defeated Rinalds Zimka to win the title and the €3,190 top prize.

The event attracted 112 entries to create a €11,827 prize pool. Here is a look at all of the players that cashed in the Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness:

PlacePlayerPrize
1Kai Muller€3,190
2Rinalds Zimka€2,330
3Martynas Brazdzionis€1,330
4Remy Hendrix€1,047
5Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon€850
6Shota Burjandaze€730
7Elon Perry€550
8Matiss Celmis€420
9Theodoros Konstantinidis€290
10Salvatore Ritrovato€240
11Or Gur€240
12Jelmer Schuurmans€240
13Gianni Palmisano€240
14Markou Volgko€130
Cory Desmond Wins the High Roller (€18,000) 19.05.2023 10:47 by The Festival Team

The €1,100 High Roller attracted a fun field of 70 entries to generate a €67,200 prize pool. The sun was shining when Cory Desmond and Domenico Zappia agreed to a heads-up deal. Desmond collected €18,000 and the title, while Zappia collected nearly as much with a €17,500 payout.

Also cashing in this event were Ewen Trevidy, Albert Cigliano, Raoul van Wersch, Daniel Oliver, Gyorgy Laszlo, Alexander van Dijk, and Balazs Somodi.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Cory Desmond€18,000
2Domenico Zappia€17,500
3Ewen Trevidy€8,100
4Alberto Cigliano€6,600
5Raoul van Wersch€5,300
6Daniel Oliver€4,000
7Gyorgy Laszlo€3,000
8Alexander van Dijk€2,500
9Balazs Somodi€2,200
Good Night and See You Tomorrow 19.05.2023 00:32 by The Festival Team

Our blog is done for the night as it is nearly time for some rest. However, we will update the Day 4 action tomorrow morning before the action resumes with Day 1d of the Main Event at 12 p.m. on Friday. Until then, have a good night and hope you sleep well.

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Jason & Mairo Wishing You a Good Night
Tobias Bollman Wins the Matching Vision Slots Tournament (€1,000) 19.05.2023 00:29 by The Festival Team

CasinoTogether’s Tobias Bollman showed how it was done as he shipped the €125 Matching Visions Slot Tournament for a cool €1,000. He seemed down but out but in his final few spins hit the biggest one of them all to win the event.

Meanwhile, the runner-up Arturs Pomerancevs also had an incredible run. He normally plays micro-stakes online and won a package for €11 to The Festival Series Bratislava from our partner Optibet. This is also his first poker festival and was a pleasure to meet him while playing the Slots Tournament. Despite busting the Main Event earlier today, Pomerancevs at least has a good story to remember about his experience at The Festival Series Malta.

Nils Vadenbring also cashed after finishing in third place.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Tobias Bollman€1,000
2Arturs Pomerancevs€600
3Nils Vadenbring€300
Brimmers Bags Day 1c Chip Lead in the Main Event 19.05.2023 00:21 by The Festival Team

Day 1c of the €550 Main Event attracted 149 entries making it the largest field of the Main Event thus far with 84 entries on Day 1a and another 101 entries during yesterday’s Day 1b to bring the total field up to 334 entries. This isn’t the end as there are still two more flights to go along with late entry permitted during the first two blind levels of Saturday’s Day 2.

Gerhard Brimmers bagged the Day 1c chip lead with 218,000 in chips but will be behind several players starting Day 2 including Day 1b chip leader Adam Briggs who after three opening flights holds the overall chip lead with 328,500 in chips.

Matthew Micallef, Franco Scalise, Milad Rad, and Theo Baldanze also bagged decent stacks into Day 2. Here is a look at the chip counts of all the Day 1c survivors.

PlayerChips
Gerhard Brimmers218,000
Matthew Micallef192,500
Franco Scalise175,000
Milad Rad161,500
Theo Baldanze159,500
Ian Vertefeuille151,000
Kristoffer Winterstein139,500
Kenneth Kull133,000
Marcus Skinnar132,500
Per Gaassand122,000
Invill Nilsen115,500
Sokraties Papavramidis115,000
Tomas Fernkvist113,500
Jonas Kovacs110,000
Noelia Ivars107,000
Alessandro D’Amore106,000
Giulio Spampinato103,500
Pavle Pecelj103,000
Frank Visser101,500
Erik Nygren100,000
Nicholas Osthus97,500
Peter Solem84,000
Shimon Hagay81,000
Angelo Patane79,000
Milos Lazic77,000
Younes Jarir73,000
Vilmos Farkas70,000
Balazs Somodi67,000
Kai Muller66,000
Jimmy Dewerdt65,500
Roberts Krigers63,500
Kei Yaegashi62,500
Samuel Stranak62,000
Jari Porkka59,500
Stefano Crepaldi58,000
Reuven Zohar57,500
Thibault Thevenet57,000
Jari-Pekka Rattya55,500
Leif Iversen53,000
Domenico Tortomasi52,500
Lukasz Sajnog47,500
Erik Hamre47,000
Linus Lauermann47,000
Svein Olav Eidsaeter42,500
Stuart Griffith41,500
Janos Szappanos41,500
Ismo Kero40,500
Mykola Ovlashenko39,000
Zviad Kalandarishvili37,000
Ivo Petkov28,000
Patrick McFadden24,500
Vangelis Kaimakamis21,500
HORSE Final Table Photos by Dominik Demcak 19.05.2023 00:05 by The Festival Team

The €250 HORSE Event has reached its final table of seven players from its original field of 69 entries. Here is a look at the final table photos by Dominik Demcak:

Slots Failure by Jason 18.05.2023 22:10 by The Festival Team

I had some fun but apparently, my strategy tips didn’t work at least for myself as I finished in 13th place out of 18 entries in the €125 Matching Vision Slots Tournament.

We will have the official payouts shortly, but Tobias Bollman shipped the event with Optibet qualifier Arturs Pomaranovs taking second place after taking an early lead.

After I knew I had no chance of winning, I opted to commentate the final two round. Perhaps there is a video floating around somewhere in which case we will also post this later.

Congrats to Tobias for being the best Slots Tournament player. #notjealous

Reporter Hopping Into the Slots Tournament 18.05.2023 20:47 by The Festival Team

This reporter loves playing poker and even more loves to play mixed games. I haven’t had the time to hop into any of the events nor think I will but will carve out some time for something different and play my first slots tournament in about a decade.

We will update you with our experience after I have either busted from the event or the more likely scenario of me winning the event and the coveted framed sketch.

The Matching Visions Slot Tournament kicks off at 9 p.m. Come join me while we spin away and have some fun!

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Jason Glatzer
Anastasia Interviews Sander van Wesemael 18.05.2023 20:43 by The Festival Team
Cash Game Challenge Resumes 18.05.2023 20:20 by The Festival Team

The first Cash Game Session Challenge of the day has just kicked off with stakes at €2/€2 no-limit hold’em. This will be a live-streamed affair with our very own George Sandford behind the booth. You can check out the action by clicking on the Stream tab in our coverage or by heading to the TheFestivalOG Twitch channel.

The Festival Series will be awarding the player that wins the largest amount of big blinds a package to The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 valued at €1,600. Tune in to see if anyone can fly ahead of the massive win Franke had on Day 1 when he won €6,300 good for 3,150 big blinds. This will be tough to beat but not impossible. Best of luck to all of the players.

More Day 1c Photos by Mairo Toom 18.05.2023 20:12 by The Festival Team
PLO 4/5/6 About to Begin 18.05.2023 20:04 by The Festival Team

The €250 PLO 4/5/6 is about to begin. Players will start off with 25,000 chips which is good for 125 big blinds with the blinds starting at 100/200 and going up slowly every 25 minutes.

Antoine Degiorgio, Allan Arjut, Mark Adams, Fabio Bognier, Bianca Essers, Jonas Havren, Iman Tarique, Boon Lee, Jarmo Luokkala, Sander Mets, Collins Nomafo, Erik Risberg, Kalle Sammalisto, Andre Sorm, Sander van Wesemael, and Mikael Viggander are among the early entrants in the field.

Good luck to all that wind up playing and have fun!

Main Event Satellite Begins 18.05.2023 19:17 by The Festival Team

Another €70 satellite which guarantees three €550 Main Event seats just kicked off.

This will be your final chance at qualifying for the Main Event without paying the full price. So you may want to hop in unless you were thinking of playing the €250 PLO 4/5/6 at 8 p.m., the €125 Matching Visions Slots Tournament at 9 p.m., or the €125 Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness. Of course, there are also two Cash Game Challenge sessions this evening and cash games running around the clock.

Best of luck to all the satellite players!

Damiano Nigro’s Video Photo Snapshots 18.05.2023 18:43 by The Festival Team

Damiano Nigro will be heading home from Malta tomorrow. He just put together an amazing video of his photos from throughout the week. Sit back, and enjoy!

Matching Visions Slots Tournament at 9 p.m. 18.05.2023 18:34 by The Festival Team

If you are looking for some fun, why not enter the €125 Matching Visions Slots Tournament at 9 p.m.

Here is some advice on how to play the slots tournament.

  1. Grab a drink (maybe two)
  2. Get comfortable in your chair
  3. Push the spin button as fast as you can

Step 1 is optional but from my experiences playing slots tournaments on cruise ships over the years, it is highly recommended.

Best of luck to all of the players in the Matching Visions Slots Tournament. Who knows, maybe this reporter will also enter.

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Photos From Last Night’s VIP Dinner 18.05.2023 17:58 by The Festival Team

Players with the hospitality package were invited to a scrumptious meal at The Smokehouse. Here is a look at some of the photos of the outing:

€5,380 Top Prize in the HORSE 18.05.2023 17:48 by The Festival Team

The €250 HORSE Event attracted 69 entries with 38 players remaining when late registration closed. Nine of these players will earn at least a €504 min-cash with tonight’s winner going home with a much bigger prize of €5,380.

The Festival Series Head of Photography Mairo Toom grabbed some photos from the event. Here’s a look:

High Roller Growing 18.05.2023 17:24 by The Festival Team

The €1,100 High Roller is still on its opening level but it looks like this event could get big as the field has already grown from 14 entries to 26 entries and counting.

John Blomberg, Clement Bonnant, Dandido Cappiello, Kerrien Clement, Cory Desmond, Domenico Gala, Karl Gialanze, Alexandrs Golubevs, Xavier Zuckowski, Andrea Stellato, Erik Lindqwist, and Kim Ofverstrom are among the recent additions.

Photos by Damino Nigro 18.05.2023 17:20 by The Festival Team

Our good friend Damiano Nigro is back with his camera showing us a unique eye of The Festival Series Malta through his viewpoint. Special thanks to PokerFirma and Nigro’s blog the-rounder.net.

High Roller Begins 18.05.2023 17:11 by The Festival Team

The €1,100 NLHE High Roller kicked off with a field of 14 entries. This will obviously grow as the day goes on.

Andras Balogh, Martynas Brazdzionis, Christopher Cunliffe, Alredo Cuti, Robert Laskowski, Gyorgy Laszlo, Jordi Ribatallada Ruiz, Shota Sakandelia, Siim Sakeus, Attilla Szathmari, Charlton Tarimo, Alexander van Dijk, and Xuanyu Zheng are the early players in the field.

Check Out the Video Highlight From Day 3 18.05.2023 17:06 by The Festival Team
Photos of Day 1c of the Main Event 18.05.2023 16:43 by The Festival Team

Day 1c of the Main Event is on its second break. The field has blossomed to 135 entries with 108 players remaining. Here are some photos by Mairo Toom of Day 1c:

Photos From the Beach 18.05.2023 14:52 by The Festival Team

The Festival Series took players with the hospitality package this morning to the beach for a fun couple of hours in the sunshine. Here is a look at the photos by Mairo Toom.

Franke is the “Nittiest Person at the Table”? 18.05.2023 14:48 by The Festival Team

Players are having a blast in the €250 HORSE event, which now has 51 entries on Level 4 with still more than four levels of late registration to go. The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk was low on chips early but now has a bit more than a starting stack.

We asked Allan Arjut, who is playing at the same table as Franke what he thought of Franke’s play today.

“Well, I mean he hasn’t shown 6-9 yet,” Arjut said with a smile. “He is such a nit! The nittiest person at the table. He only plays aces and when he had them they held.”

“I don’t agree with that,” Franke responded. “During the first two orbits I forgot we were playing Razz. I even folded the nuts.”

Ali Oznesil is also having fun at the table and we asked him what makes this event special.

“It’s always fun to play mixed games,” Oznesil said. “They are fun and always social. This makes them much more preferable to me.”

We found another reason Oznesil is having fun as he eliminated Arjut as we were typing up this post. We also learned that he eliminated the first player to hit the rail with Ingo Klasen hitting the rail during Level 3. Oznesil may not eliminate all the players in the field but at least he has the honor of ousting the first two.

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Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk
Meet Tournament Director Christian Scalzi 18.05.2023 14:13 by The Festival Team
Photos From Yesterday’s Yoga Outing by Mairo Toom 18.05.2023 14:01 by The Festival Team

Yesterday, the lovely Anastasia took players with the hospitality package for a morning Yoga adventure. Mairo Toom was on hand to not only stretch his body but also to snap some photos for you to enjoy.

Day 1c Already the Largest Opening Flight 18.05.2023 13:53 by The Festival Team

Day 1c has already attracted 106 entries with 101 players remaining in their seats after Robert Lim, Riku Maatta, Salvatore Merendino, and Domenico hit the rail. Meanwhile, Coolbet’s Svein Olav Eidsaeter was the first player out today. All of these players can hop back in if they haven’t already done so with two re-entries permitted during each opening flight.

The Day 1c field is already the largest of the first three of five opening flights with Day 1a attracting 84 entries (24 survivors) and Day 1b bringing in 101 entries (33 survivors).

Best of luck to all of the Main Event players.

Wiseguy Introduces the HORSE Tournament 18.05.2023 13:08 by The Festival Team

Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund has arrived today and is immediately at work taking over the introductions of at least some of the tournaments from Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk including the HORSE event today.

Franke is among the 25 initial entries as is Mark Adams, Dainius Antanaitis, Allan Arjut, Mikael Grovnik, 8-Game champion Jons Jurksaitis, Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon, Monica Larsson, Kairit Leibold, Imre Liebold, William Lynch, Antti Tiainen, and Lachezar Tsenov.

Best of luck to all of the HORSE players.

Happy Birthday to Fabiano Stefanini 18.05.2023 12:21 by The Festival Team

Today is a special day as not only is it Day 4 of The Festival Series Malta but it is also the 21st birthday of the Main Event tournament director Fabiano Stefanini.

We doubt that it is his 21st birthday as this author has known Stefanini for close to a decade but we will stick with what Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk said during his announcement.

We will update this post later today with some photos as our daytime photographer is relaxing working at the beach taking photos of those with the Hospitality package.

Once again, happy birthday to one of the best in the industry and our friend Fabiano Stefanini!

Shuffle Up and Deal 18.05.2023 12:16 by The Festival Team

€550 Main Event Day 1c
Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 57/57

Cards are in the air after some announcements by The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk.

Peter Behr, Stewart Griffith, Rune Johansen, Linus Lauermann, and Kristoffer Winterstein are among the 57 initial entries.

Welcome to Day 4 of The Festival Series Malta 18.05.2023 11:54 by The Festival Team
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Welcome back to our coverage of the 2023 The Festival Series Malta at Portomaso Casino. The action has been hopping thus far with many winners crowned and records being broken left and right.

Today will feature another packed day of events starting with Day 1c of the Main Event. The third of five opening flights plays out the same as Day 1a and Day 1b have with 12 blinds levels of 40 minutes each. Players start off with 30,000 in chips and can re-enter up to two times throughout the day. Late registration for the Main Event won’t close until after the second blind level of Saturday’s Day 2 giving players plenty of opportunities to build a big stack.

The mixed-game fun is back with the €250 HORSE kicking off at 1 p.m. and players with bigger bankrolls will be able to enjoy the one-day €1,100 NLHE High Roller at 5 p.m.

Another event to keep your eyes on is the €125 Matching Visions Slots Tournament at 9 p.m. This is not only going to be fun for the poker players but also for those that came just to enjoy Malta as there isn’t much of a learning curve in this one.

There is also a €70 Main Event satellite to Day 1d guaranteeing three seats at 7 p.m., the €250 PLO 4/5/6 at 8 p.m., and the €125 Texas Turbo Midnight Madness at 9 p.m. (and not midnight). There will also be two Cash Game Challenge sessions, Franke’s Flip Flops, and cash games running around the clock. In other words, it will be a busy day today. Check out the full schedule below and best of luck if you are playing today.

TimeEvent
12 p.m.Event #8: €550 Main Event Day 1c
1 p.m.Event #26: €250 HORSE
5 p.m.Event #27: €1,100 NLHE High Roller
7 p.m.Event #28: €70 Main Event Satellite
8 p.m.Event #29: €250 PLO 4/5/6
8 p.m.Event #30: €2/€2 NLHE Cash Game Challenge
9 p.m.Event #31: €125 Matching Visions Slots Tournament
9 p.m.Event #32: €125 Texas Turbo Thursday Midnight Madness
10:30 p.m.Event #33: €2/€2 PLO Cash Game Challenge