Day 1 of The Festival Series Nottingham was a grand success at Dusk Till Dawn with our first two winners crowned. Tuomas Roppanen shipped the £230 Sviten Special for £2,794, while Ali Ahmed defeated ACR Stormer Neil “TwinnyPoker” Edwards.
Toumas Roppanen defeated Barrie Deer heads-up to win the £230 Sviten Special for £2,794. Also cashing in this event were The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, Alexandru Talica, and Mihail Popa.
The Sviten Special event attracted 36 entries to generate a £6,984 prize pool.
Harlo Buchan won 251 big blinds or £502 in the £2/£2 pot-limit Omaha live-streamed cash game. This puts him on top of the leaderboard, ahead of what Dan Pilgrim achieved with a 114 big blind (£228) in the earlier £1/£2 no-limit hold’em stream.
Buchan shouldn’t feel uber safe that his lead will hold as there are two more Cash Game Challenges each day throughout the week. The player that wins the most big blinds during any single live-streamed session will not only win a ton of cash but also a free package to The Festival Series Malta taking place at the luxurious Portomaso Casino on May 15-21.
While Pilgrim lost his lead in the Cash Game Challenge, he is on top of another leaderboard Franke’s Flip ‘n Go’s after winning a flip tonight. He is tied with Mehbran Iranshad for the lead. Pilgrim will be going home tomorrow to spend time with his better half for Valentine’s Day tomorrow before coming back in full force ready to compete on both leaderboards.
Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship is in the books with 19 players advancing. We will post the chip counts shortly.
Meanwhile, the Sviten Special event has reached the final table with Matteo Crapanzano, Franke, Mihail Popa, Tuomas Roppanen, Alexandru Talica, Barrie Deer, and Jon Kyte all in contention.
This more or less wraps up our coverage for the first day. However, we will post chip counts and results for the events as they come in and provide a recap of the day as an article in the morning before the start of Day 2 of The Festival Series Nottingham.
The Heads Up tournament is down to just four players. Unfortunately, our hero and defending champion Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen didn’t make the cut. Here is a look at how the quarterfinals went down.
Brett Dean defeats Margarit Eugen
Tarajmeer Kakar defeats Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen
Isaac Barker defeats Ben Courtney
Emmanuel Ovey defeats Michael Skeldon
Meanwhile, the semifinals have already kicked off. Here is a look at the match-ups.
Sviten Special Level 14: 5,000/10,000 Entries: 12/36
The Sviten Special event is nearly in the money with just a dozen players remaining out of the original field of 36 entries. Five of these players will finish in the money for at least £490 with the eventual winner taking down a more tasty prize of £2,794.
Franke is one of the final dozen. Time will tell if he can wind up the last player standing to win the title. He has his work cut out for him as the remaining field in Allan Arjut, Marc Bolton, Matteo Crapanzano, Ed Furniss, Jon Kyte, Johnathan Legdon, William Lynch, Mihail Popa, Tuomas Roppanen, and Alexandru Talica are equally hungry for the win.
Meanwhile, Barrie Deer is the man on top of the mountain with a chip-leading stack of 420,000. Deer learned his love of Sviten Special back when the Cash Game Festival was touring around Europe.
Here is a look at all of the Sviten Special payouts:
The Low Roller is moving along at a fast pace. This should be no surprise as it is a turbo-charged affair with 15-minute blind levels.
The field attracted 67 entries to generate a prize pool of £3,350. The top eight players will go home with at least a £115 min-cash with tonight’s winner banking a bit more with a top prize of £1,135 on the line. Here is a look at all of the payouts:
PokerListings Championship Day 1b Level 13: 10,000/20,000 (20,000) Entries: 24/128
The action is just five players away from the money and the end of the day on Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship.
Corrado Nane appears to be the chip leader at this point with a stack north of 3 million. We learned on the break in a chat with Nane, PokerListings reporter Melvin Schroen, Flips winner Ian Vertefouille, and myself that he won a massive pot where his opponent had hist stack of 1.2 million committed. Nane called with jacks on a jack-eight-five flop and his top set was good the rest of the way.
Daniel Pilgrim was the star of the show during the first Cash Game Challenge session after winning 114 big blinds in £1/£2 no-limit hold’em.
This likely won’t be the most big blinds throughout the week. The reason we bring this up is that the player that wins the most big blinds in a single Cash Game Challenge session will be awarded a package to The Festival Series Malta on May 15-21.
That being said, Pilgrim has a chance to sweep the day as he is back competing in the later match. The game has switched from two cards to four cards with players battling it out in £2/£2 pot-limit Omaha.
The action will be broadcasted on a 30-minute delay to allow viewers to check out every player’s hole cards. Check out the stream by clicking on the stream tab starting at 10 p.m. GMT.
PokerListings Championship Day 1b Level 12: 10,000/15,000 (15,000) Entries: 28/128
The action is down to just 28 players out of the original field of 128 entries on Day 1b of the £120 PokerListings Championship. After nine more players hit the rail, the remaining 19 players will head to Day 2 in the money.
The Festival Series PLO Masterclass Host JJ Hazan ran cold on his first bullet but is running much better on his second.
Hazan shared he got it in with the nut-straight holding jack-eight on a ten-nine-seven flop with two diamonds and was looked up by two players to create a massive seven-figure pot. One had a lesser straight with eight-six and another held pocket rockets.
Blanks came the rest of the way and Hazan was nearly double the average with 1.6 million in chips after the hand.
The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk just announced to the large crowd here at Dusk Till Dawn that the Franke’ Flip ‘n Go’s have just kicked off.
The flips will take place every night and are absolutely rake-free for all that want to test their luck. Franke shared that the player that wins the most flips will be awarded a package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Malta taking place at Portomaso Casino on May 15-21. Thank you to both The Festival Series and Dusk Till Dawn for adding even more excitement and value!
Sviten Special Level 10: 2,000/4,000 (4,000) Entries: 19/36
Players in the £230 Sviten Special are having a blast with many familiar faces still in contention including Franke, Allan Arjut, Marc Bolton, Mason Lloyd, Johnathan Legdon, William Lynch, Jon Kyte, Ed Furniss, Peter La Terra, and Sascha Manns. Loud laughs can be heard across the room by Franke, but he isn’t the only one with a smile on his face as we walked by the tables.
Here is an update on some of the biggest stacks in the event with about half the field remaining:
Every player matters at The Festival Series. Our photographer Mairo Toom is on the scene regardless of whether you are playing the £60 Low Roller, the £1,100 High Roller, or anything in between. Here is a look at some photos from the opening moments of the Low Roller.
It was just announced before the start of the quarterfinals that the Heads Up event will be a one-day event instead of finishing tomorrow. Here is a final tally of the opening matches.
Michael Skeldon defeated Henry Strudwick
Emmanuele Ovey defeated Samuel Antonius
Dean Brett defeated Yin Yuzhou
Eugen Margarit defeated Adam Neal
Tarajmeer Kakar defeated Ali Ayub
Isaac Barker defeated Arian Hassankashini
Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen defeated Adam Maxwell
Ben Courtney defeated Robert Nur
Payouts were also announced with tonight’s winner taking home £1,550. Two other players will also win prizes in this event with second place taking home £954 and third place winning £600. This means there will also be a match between third and fourth places while the final match is taking place to determine the winner.
Meanwhile, here is a look at the quarterfinal match-ups.
PokerListings Championship Day 1b Level 10: 5,000/10,000 (10,000) Entries: 49/128
Nicholas Burrett had his stack of 269,000 committed with the 10 3 8 on the flop with tons of chips already in the pot and was called by Samuel Deering.
Nicholas Burrett: A K Samuel Deering: 5 5
“I was hoping you had two overs,” Deering said.
It was indeed two overs and Deering was still ahead after the 10 landed on the turn. The K river was a different story, as this improved Burrett to a better pair to double his stack instead of hitting the rail.
PokerListings Championship Day 1b Level 9: 4,000/8,000 (8,000) Entries: 57/128
Late registration has closed for Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship. A total of 128 entries got into the action to bring the total field size up to 247 entries when taking into account yesterday’s Day 1a. There is one more flight to go tomorrow but today is far from done for many of the players with just 19 of the remaining 57 players slated to advance to Day 2 in the money to join the 18 others that advanced during yesterday’s Day 1a.
The £60 Low Roller has just kicked off with 31 entries. This figure is just the start with late registration open for new entries until the end of Level 4 and for re-entries until the end of Level 8.
Players start off with a 100 big blind stack of 50,000 in chips. The action will be hot and heavy with blinds increasing every 15 minutes.
John Hammond, Greger Larsson, Ninni Malmi, Robert Mitchell, ACR Stormer Adam Neal, and Joshua Perry are among the early entries.
Heads Up Day 1 Level 4: 500/1,000 (1,000) Entries: 12/16
Four players are out of the Heads-Up event with four others advancing to the quarterfinals. Here is a look at who is out and who advanced:
Michael Skeldon defeated Henry Strudwick
Emmanuele Ovey defeated Samuel Antonius
Dean Brett defeated Yin Yuzhou
Eugen Margarit defeated Adam Neal
Lots of laughter and fun are not only coming from the Heads-Up event but also from the other events. The lounge area is packed with people but rest assured that the bar service here is very efficient if you wish to join in on the fun.
PokerListings Championship Day 1b Level 8: 3,000/6,000 (6,000) Entries: 60/122
Swedish poker power couple Gregor Larsson and Ninni Malmi both hopped into Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship.
Neither had any luck during the penultimate opening flight and are now on the rail enjoying a beer in the lounge area.
Larsson and Malmi both shared that they plan to get back in tomorrow rather than today. Instead, they will enter the £60 Low Roller that begins shortly.
Meanwhile, There are just five minutes left on the clock in Level 8 of Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship. After this level, a break will take place Players can still get into the action but not much longer as late registration will close after the break.
PokerListings Championship Day 1b Level 8: 3,000/6,000 (6,000) Entries: 65/117
Adam Naylor easily has the chip lead at the moment in the Day 1b field of the PokerListings Championship with about 1.5 million in chips.
“There must have been a big hand?” we asked Naylor almost certain there had to be.
“Just accumulation,” Naylor said. “Am I in the chip lead?”
We assured Naylor he indeed had the chip lead although he still has a way to go for the overall chip lead as a player with the initials W. M. bagged a whopping 3,920,000 during yesterday’s Day 1a.
Meanwhile, the field has grown to 117 entries and counting. The final figures of the day should be known in about 30 minutes or so with late registration closing after this blind level and a break.
In other news, Franke was handed the microphone to thank all the players for coming and letting them know about some of the other things happening today including how the Cash Game Challenge works.
The Cash Game Challenge has kicked off with some friendly £1/£2 no-limit hold’em action. The Festival Series veterans Jonas Kovacs and Daniel Pilgrim are among those in action. Hole cards will be shown to the stream viewers as the action will be broadcasted on a 30-minute delay.
The player that wins the most big blinds throughout the week in the Cash Game Challenges will be awarded a package to The Festival Series Malta on May 15-21.
Check out the stream by clicking on the stream tab starting at 7 p.m. GMT.
Heads-Up Day 1 Level 1: 200/500 (500) Entries: 16/16
The £230 Heads Up event has just kicked off with 16 entries. Today is scheduled to play down to just four hopefuls in the hunt for the title.
PokerListings’ Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen won the title the last time around when The Festival Series was in Bratislava. He is among the players in action today in hopes of defending his title.
Sviten Special Level 2: 300/600 (600) Entries: 20/20
Stefano Lagorio is one of the players in action in the £230 Sviten Special tournament. He shared with us that he flew out from Italy special for this event alone! We hope he stays for the rest of The Festival Series Nottingham.
Meanwhile, Sascha Manns is off to a rough start and is down to 25,000 in chips. He stared at the stack of Mason Lloyd, who he called a PLO player getting lucky playing Sviten. Whether it is luck or skill, we can’t quite judge yet, but Lloyd is the early chip leader with about 130,000 in his stack.
Adam Pearson is sitting on one of the biggest stacks in the room but he recently took a small hit. The cards were already turned over by the time we got to the table with Samuel Deering having his last 42,500 in the pot against Pearson.
Samuel Deering: A Q Adam Pearson: K Q
The 5 2 5 10 J runout ran dry for both players for Deering to double his stack through the big-stacked Pearson.
Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship has reached 100 entries! It is only a matter of time before it becomes bigger than the 119 entries that came out in full force during yesterday’s Day 1a. Here is a look at some of the bigger stacks around the room.
Sviten Special Level 1: 200/500 (500) Entries: 14/14
The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk picked up the microphone to welcome all the players in attendance and to announce the rest of today’s schedule.
Now, Franke is busy explaining the rules to Sviten Special to a few players that appeared to get into the action. In case you don’t know how the game works, it is a split pot game combining both five-card draw and pot-limit Omaha.
Players are dealt five cards before a round of betting takes place. A flop is dealt and another round of betting takes place. Hopefully, you are following so far, as here is where it gets a little tricky for some. Players can now discard 1-5 cards or stand pat. Players that select to change in one card will be dealt their new card face-up. They then can decide whether to keep it. If they decide they want a new card, they can get a fresh one face down.
A turn is dealt before another round of betting takes place followed by the final round of betting after the river. The best five-card draw hand wins half the pot while the best Omaha hand wins the other half.
Among those already in the £230 Sviten Special Event with a starting stack of 75,000 in chips are Barrier Deer, Jonas Kovacs, Mason Lloyd, William Lynch, Sascha Manns, William Paxton, and, of course, Franke! Best of luck to all the players.
Jari Latti bet 55,000 into a pot of a bit more with the J 4 Q 7 5 on the board. Michael London jammed for more than the 75,000 his opponent had behind.
During this time, a drink was spilled near Latti. It appeared by some of the players at the table during the clean-up that Latti said he called while others thought he was asking whether it was a call by London during the confusion. To make things even more confusing, London turned over J J for a set of jacks. Latti insisted that he was asking whether it was a call which appeared to be the case as an independent observer with all the confusion happening with the drink spilling in the middle of big action taking place.
The floor came by and discussed the situation before they ruled that it wasn’t a call by Latti. The drink has been cleaned up and the players at Table 1 were ready for action. The only problem now was that after the hand, the players went on a 15-minute break.
William Lynch is in the house. He absolutely loved the mixed games on offer during the last The Festival Series in Bratislava and is ready for more.
Lynch plans to just play mixed games throughout the festival starting with today’s £230 Sviten Special in 30 minutes. He shared that he plans to hone in on his games this week while preparing for a big summer in Las Vegas where he plans to play bigger buy-in events.
Lynch isn’t the only one ready for the Sviten Special as The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk along with The Festival Series friends Barrie Deer, and Peter La Terra are also already registered.
Jonathan Hewston bet 16,000 from the small blind into a pot of around 50,000 with the 5 8 K on the flop. Three players folded before Ian Vertefeuille called from the button.
Hewston check-called a bet of 40,000 after the 2 followed on the turn before firing out for 30,000 on the 6 river. Vertefeuille paused for a few moments before he folded.
Vertefeuille showed the table he held at least top pair as he flashed the K before collecting the pot.
Jonathan Hewston – 350,000 Ian Vertefeuille – 130,000
Day 1b of the PokerLIstings Championship keeps growing and is up to 62 entries with 56 players still battling. This figure will continue to grow until late registration is closed after the conclusion of Level 8.
If you wish to buy into this event or any other events during The Festival Series Nottingham, there are many options to do so.
The first option as we already mentioned is taking advantage of Luxon Pay. This is a completely cashless option and is very easy to sign-up and use.
Meanwhile, you can also use a variety of cash options. British pounds is the easiest but you can also buy-in with Euros or US Dollars at a casino exchange rate. You will be able to take advantage of the same exchange rate if you cash in an event.
There are ATM machines in the poker club. However, these only work with British cards. There is another ATM nearby but it is best to come prepared with cold, hard cash before you arrive if from out of town or utilize Luxon Pay to avoid any delays in your getting into the action.
JJ Hazan will be conducting a PLO Masterclass on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 9:30 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza. His class got rave reviews the last time he hosted during The Festival Series Bratislava in the autumn and is perfect for those that need a refresher on the game and fine-tuning on its strategy. Don’t worry if you never played before, as by the end you will be ready to compete in one of the many PLO events on the schedule.
Meanwhile, Hazan is also in the PokerListings Championship but is off to a slow start. We caught what we learned was the second of his bluffs on Level 1.
Both Hazan and Adrian Lovelock checked with the 6 7 8 4 on the board after the turn before Hazan fired out for 8,000 into a pot of 15,000 after the 2 river completed the board.
“I don’t think you are bluffing again,” Lovelock said.
Time was winding down on the 30-second shot clock before he opted to call.
“Of course, I can bluff again when I don’t have it,” Hazan said before turning over the Q 10 . Lovelock turned over 9 8 for the top pair to win the hand.
James Broomhead was the first player to hit the rail early in Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship. Adam Bone was the beneficiary and recapped the hand for us.
Broomhead limped before he called a raise to 4,000 by Bone. Bone bet 20,000 on the ten-nine-deuce flop and Broomhead called. A nine paired the board on the turn and Bone jammed. Broomhead called and was a pair behind with jacks against queens.
A blank river completed the board and Broomhead re-entered after losing his initial stack.
Optibet streamer Gatis Reigass is already bluffing despite not yet playing a hand. Reigass is sitting with a 0.0% nonalcoholic beer to show the table he is already drinking.
“I should change the first zero to a nine to make it 9.0%,” Reigass joked. “I want my opponents to think I am drinking.”
Whether he switches tactics is anyone’s guess. But for now, it’s sober poker for the Latvian.
Cards are in the air for Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship with a starting field of 43 players. Players have plenty of time to get into the action with late registration open for eight blind levels, during which time players can re-enter one time.
Players start the action with 200,000 in chips with blinds increasing slowly every 30 minutes. This is nearly unheard of for a £120 buy-in event. Players will bag up their stacks once the field is trimmed down to just 15 percent. At this point, all players will be in the money along with yesterday’s Day 1a survivors and tomorrow’s Day 1c survivors, and will compete for the title on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
Optibet is out in full force with three qualifiers from Latvia in action including Optibet streamer Gatis Reigass, Dmitrijs Meless, and Rinalds Zimka.
There is a short delay for the start of Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship due to unavoidable circumstances as a car accident is blocking traffic on the motorway. The floor has informed us that they expect to start at approximately 2:30 p.m. but this could be slightly later.
The PokerListings Championship kicked off yesterday with the first of three opening flights. Despite The Festival Series not officially starting today, many players couldn’t wait with 119 entries getting into the action. A player with the initials W. M. parlayed his 200,000 opening stack into a Day 1a chip leading stack of 3,920,000 to lead the 18 survivors.
Get ready Robin Hood, as the Festival Series is kicking off 2023 in style in Nottingham, England for seven days of exciting poker action at one of Europe’s most prestigious poker rooms in Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club from Feb. 12-19, 2023.
This is our first visit to England and we have rolled out the red carpet for everyone in attendance with 35 numbered events! Players have come from near and far including to enjoy our amazing gaming festival.
Poker players will not only enjoy plenty of no-limit hold’em action highlighted by the £200,000 guaranteed The Festival Series Nottingham £450 Main Event but also plenty of games in other poker variants including Sviten Special, Open Face Chinese Poker, pot-limit Omaha, 8-game, and more.
We used the term gaming festival as The Festival Series is more than just about poker. Players will also have the opportunity to battle it out in Blackjack and Roulette tournaments. While these are typically known as house games, in this case, players will instead be battling against each other. In other words, there is some strategy in both games, so pay attention to how your opponents play and adjust accordingly.
Cash game players also have something to look forward to as not only will there be ring games in a variety of poker formats around the clock but also a live-streamed Cash Game Challenge where the top performing player of the week will be awarded a €1,600 package to The Festival Series Malta at Portomaso Casino on May 15-21.
£200,000 GTD Main Event
As we already mentioned, The Festival Series Nottingham £450 Main Event boasts a tasty £200,000 guarantee.
The Main Event boasts four opening flights from Feb. 15-17. The first three opening flights boast 30-minute blind levels while the final opening flight is a turbo-charged affair with 15-minute blind levels.
Players start with a monstrous stack of 200,000 in chips and can re-enter once per opening flight until late registration closes before the start of Level 9. Players fortunate enough to find a bag on Day 1 will already be in the money before battling it out for two more days on Feb. 18-19 until a winner is crowned.
The Festival Series introduced a new award for the Player of the Festival in Bratislava when Totti Lind won the inaugural title. Unfortunately, Lind is busy enjoying life in Asia and won’t be able to defend his title. This is good news for everyone else as there will be a new Player of the Festival crowned here in Nottingham.
The Player of the Series takes into account all of the events. The winner will not only get the honor of winning the title but also a €1,600 package to The Festival Series Malta on May 15-21. So you must be ready for the grind in order to have a chance to become The Festival Series Nottingham Player of the Festival.
The Festival Series was founded by none other than Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk. Franke is well-known for always wearing flip-flops when playing poker, which he will do plenty of this week.
With this in mind, The Festival Series introduced a new award last year in Franke’ Flip ‘n Go’s where players can flip rake-free for events at a designated table throughout each day. The player that wins the most flips will not only win many tickets to The Festival Series Nottingham events but also win a package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Malta on May 15-21 along with a coveted pair of Franke’s flip flops.
You can come completely cashless to The Festival Series Nottingham thanks to its partnership with Luxon Pay. Luxon Pay is an online e-wallet with a dedicated app accepted at many live and online card rooms around the globe and is designed with the poker player in mind.
It couldn’t be any easier to register for events directly with Luxon Pay, which could come in handy for events that are capped including today’s Heads Up event.
Creating your Luxon Pay account couldn’t be any easier. Simply sign-up through The Festival Series through the link below to get started.
While The Festival Series Nottingham officially kicks off at 2 p.m. today, some already got into the action yesterday as it featured Day 1a of the £120 PokerListings Championship. The event boasts three opening flights with players starting out with 200,000 in chips and will battle it out with 30-minute blind levels.
Yesterday’s Day 1a attracted a banner field of 89 entries with 18 players bagging chips at the end of the day.
Today we expect many more players not only in this event but also can enjoy other events including the Sviten Special, Day 1 of the Heads Up, and the Low Roller. Check out today’s schedule below and head here to check out the full schedule.
Time
Event #
Event
2 p.m.
1
£120 PokerListings Championship Day 1b
5 p.m.
2
£230 Sviten Special
6 p.m.
3
£230 Heads Up [32 Cap] Day 1
6:30 p.m.
4
Cash Game Challenge
7 p.m.
5
£60 Low Roller
9:30 p.m.
6
Cash Game Challenge
Our coverage will begin at around 2 p.m. with the start of Day 1b of the PokerListings Championship. Stay tuned to follow the action!
