The final four players agreed to a deal in the £120 PLO 4/5/6 before William Lynch went on to ship this event for £1,905. Also cashing for four-figures thanks to the deal were Tuomas Roppanen, Antonius Samuel, and Parminder Kandola.
Jonas Rosqvist defeated Graham Clark heads-up to win The Festival Series £120 Deepstack for £2,970. The event attracted 102 entries to generate a £9,894 prize pool. Congrats to all those that cashed in this event!
Our dear friend Jon Kyte has done it once again. He defeated Sophie Clarke heads-up to win the £230 Open Face Chinese event for £2,232. Kyte and Clarke played heads-up for quite some time and appeared to be enjoying the strategic banter between the two.
Meanwhile, The Festival Series Founder was hunting for another OFC title after winning OFC High Roller titles in both The Festival Series Tallinn in the summer and The Festival Series Bratislava in the autumn. Unfortunately, he only lasted three hands but he will have a chance to win his third OFC Highroller title in a row on Sunday.
The event attracted 23 entries to generate a £4,462 prize pool. Congrats to Jon and we wish you the best of luck the rest of The Festival Series Nottingham.
During the late-night stream, Daniel Hong crushed the live-streamed Cash Game Challenge session in a memorable fashion by winning 1,103.6 big blinds or £5,518 in £2/£5 no-limit hold’em. This easily puts him on top of the Cash Game Challenge leaderboard. The winner of the leaderboard will win a package to The Festival Series Malta at Portomaso Casino on May 15-21.
We caught up with the previous Cash Game Challenge leader Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, who many thought would cruise to victory after winning 628 big blinds or £3,140 in £2/£5 pot-limit Omaha on Tuesday night.
“So unfair,” Franke said with a smile. “But great job to Daniel!”
The Cash Game Challenge has resumed for its second and final streamed session of the day with stakes at £2/£5 no-limit hold’em. Jon Kyte and Ian Vertefeuille are among the players at the table. Best of luck getting ahead of Franke.
This concludes the main portion of our blog for the day, although we may still have an update or two tonight. We will post the results of all of today’s events in the morning along with a recap of the day.
Franke’s Flip Flops have begun. Come join the fun of rake-free flips and try to get onto the top of the leaderboard. The player that wins the most flips throughout the week will be awarded a The Festival Series Malta package valued at €1,600 at Portomaso Casino from May 15-21.
The £1/£2 no-limit hold’em Cash Game Challenge stream is in the books. Hubert Lewzczuk-Tilley was the star of the session after winning 386 big blinds for a profit of £772.
While this was a great score, this isn’t good enough to be the king of the hill in the Cash Game Challenge. That honor belongs to The Festival Series Founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk is currently still on top of the leaderboard after winning 628 big blinds or £3,140 in £2/£5 pot-limit Omaha on Tuesday evening.
The winner of the Cash Game Challenge is the player that wins the most big blinds in any single Cash Game Challenge session throughout the week. The prize is more than just honor as the winner will also be awarded a free package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Malta at Portomaso Casino from May 15-21.
Next up is a £5/£5 pot-limit Omaha session. Best of luck to all of the players.
The £120 PLO 4/5/6 recently kicked off. The field is up to 49 entries including Ali Ahmed, Harlo Buchan, Barrie Dear, JJ Hazan, William Lynch, Mihail Popa, and Mick Smith.
Good luck to everyone playing the action-packed Omaha event.
Open Face Chinese Poker Level 13: 2,500 points Entries: 3/23
Players are now in the money for at least a £890 min-cash in the Open Face Chinese Poker event. Jon Kyte, Sophie Clarke, and Aleksandrs Golubevs are all battling it out in hopes of winning the title which comes with a scrumptious £2,232 top prize! Good luck to the trio!
Here is a look at the payouts:
Place
Prize
1
£2,232
2
£1,340
3
£890
Check out the photos from the Open Face Chinese by Mairo Toom.
Another £56 satellite to the Main Event has just kicked off. The satellite guarantees five seats and is an amazing path to play in the £450 buy-in Main Event for a fraction of the cost.
Let’s see someone go from zero to hero through one of the many satellites that have run this week!
The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk just announced to the large crowd at Dusk Till Dawn that the schedule has been released for The Festival Series Malta. The festival will take place from May 15-21 at the luxurious Portomaso Casino.
The schedule boasts 49 numbered events highlighted by The Festival Series Malta €550 Main Event. As is always the case at The Festival Series, the schedule also features tons of mixed game events. In addition, there are casino events with tournaments in Blackjack, Roulette, Slots, and Sportswagering.
The Cash Game Challenge has just kicked off with a friendly €1/€2 no-limit hold’em match. You can check out the action on a 30-minute delay with hole cards exposed by clicking on the Stream tab within our coverage.
The player that wins the most big blinds during any Cash Game Challenge feature table will win a package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Malta at Portomaso Casino from May 15-21.
As is a surprise to some, but not this author, The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigberk won an impressive 628 big blinds or £3,140 in £2/£5 pot-limit Omaha on Tuesday evening which is good enough for him to be the current top dog in the competition.
We were finding out some information about the live-streamed cash game when we overheard The Festival streamer Joseph Jackson miles away having a blast.
Shortly after, we headed to his table and we saw him jam for about 50,000 into a pot of around the same with the A 6 7 3 on the board after the turn. Adam Bone paused for about 15 seconds.
“I hope you aren’t slow playing me with the nuts,” Jackson joked.
Bone folded but not before showing his K J .
“Good fold, good fold,” Jackson said before he turned over the cards.
The table got a good laugh after Jackson turned over K 9 which bricked the board.
“Never a dull moment with me,” Jackson said to the table.
Main Event Day 1b Level 12: 10,000/15,000 (15,000) Entries: 51/138
Ylva Thorsrud is one of the most popular streamers in Norway. She hosts a PLO games at Coolbet and streams under the “Jevakim” nickname.
Thorsrud told us about 20 minutes ago that she planned to double within two orbits. One orbit went by and Thorsrud shared she had one more orbit to keep her promise.
She got the hand she was looking for and raised with pocket aces. Both the player in the small blind and big blind called. The player in the small blind checked the queen-eight-trey flop with two hearts before Lardo Leheste jammed for 89,000 from the big blind. Thorsrud called with her aces with just a little bit more and the other player got out of the way.
Leheste held jack-ten and was out the door after blanks came on both the turn and the river. Thorsrud is still short-stacked but she made no future promises.
Main Event Day 1b Level 11: 6,000/12,000 (12,000) Entries: 58/138
Sascha Manns has appeared at the final table the last two The Festival Series. Last summer he took ninth place in The Festival Series Tallinn Main Event for €3,950. He followed this up in the autumn in Bratislava with a more impressive sixth-place finish for €20,375. Manns is now on the hunt for his third final table in a row at in The Festival Series Main Event and is off to a good start.
He just headed over to Table 14 and on the very first hand he chipped up.
Manns made a standard open with ace-jack and was called by two players including Callum Highley from the big blind. Sascha fired out a continuation bet of 26,000 into a pot of around 80,000 after the ace-five-six flop. Only Highley called to see a ten follow on the turn. Manns bet 56,000 and improved to top two pair after a jack completed the board on the river.
Highley bet 100,000. Manns raised to 250,000 and Highley called. Highley turned over ace-ten and although his two pair was ahead after the turn it wasn’t good enough to win the hand after the river.
We will be keeping a close eye the next few days on Manns and wish him the best of luck on his journey to his third final table in a row.
Main Event Day 1b Level 10: 5,000/10,000 (10,000) Entries: 63/138
Morgan Olsson jammed for 170,000 from early position. Waheed Ashraf, who shipped last night’s £120 Blackjack Tournament, re-jammed for more than 700,000 from one seat over and the rest of the table folded.
Morgan Olsson: A 4 Waheed Ashraf: A K
“The same thing happened at the PCA final table to me to finish in sixth place,” Ashraf said after the cards were turned over. We looked it up and Ashraf did indeed take sixth place in a $1,100 side event.
Olsson began to perk up after a four came out of the window before seeing he still had a big sweat on the 5 10 4 flop. Ashraf had outs to a flush draw and his king was live as well. The blank 5 turn and the equally blank 9 river didn’t get Ashraf back into the hand and he doubled up Olsson.
“The same thing happened at the PCA final table,” Ashraf repeated.
Ashraf still had a decent stack despite losing some of it this time around.
Main Event Day 1b Level 9: 4,000/8,000 (8,000) Entries: 72/138
This author had the pleasure of sharing a flight to Nottingham with Gatis Reigass. Reigass is a long-time poker player and is also a popular poker streamer in the Latvian market at Optibet under the appropriate name “OptibetPoker”.
Reigass has had a rough go early on this festival but this could all be irrelevant if he manages a huge cash in the Main Event. So far, so good, for Reigass.
Reigass called a three-bet jam for a little more than ten big blinds with K Q and was up against Annika Winell, who held A J .
The Q 5 7 flop was a good one for Reigass as his queen found a friend to put him in the lead. Winell was unable to get back into the hand with the 10 turn and 7 river completing the board.
The Festival Series hosted a Tea Party for the players with the hospitality package. Shortly after, the players headed off to Betfred to do some horse wagering. Here is a look at some photos by Mairo Toom.
The £120 Deepstack is about to kick off. The field already has 53 entries including the likes of Oystein Brenden, Guts’ Jonathan Briscoe, Graham Clarke, Lars Eklund, Anthony Kauzloric, Jake O’Leary, Derek Potter, Maili Tannbaum, Diana Toht, and Kasper Wurtz.
Main Event Day 1b Level 9: 4,000/8,000 (8,000) Entries: 83/138
Late registration is closed for Day 1b of the Main Event. Day 1b attracted 138 entries to bring the total field up to 267 entries when taking into account yesterday’s 128 entries in Day 1a. There are still two more flights to go tomorrow and we expect the Day 1c field to be the biggest of them all.
Day 1b will conclude when the field is down to just 21 players. All 21 players will be in the money along with the 19 others that found a bag on yesterday’s Day 1a.
Ali Ayub currently leads the way in the Main Event after bagging 3,420,000 during yesterday’s Day 1a. Best of luck to all of the Main Event players.
The Festival Series is unique in many ways including the treatment the winners get. There is always something added including that each winner will be awarded a poker comic book and a one-of-a-kind sketch by The Festival Series sketch artist Yevgen Karpenko of their winner’s photo. Here is a look at some of the early sketches from The Festival Series Nottingham.
Main Event Day 1b Level 8: 3,000/6,000 (6,000) Entries: 85/135
Day 1b has grown to 135 entries. This makes the flight bigger than Day 1a which attracted 129 entries. Late registration will close in about 30 minutes, so the Day 1b flight will still get a little bigger.
One player that won’t be bagging chips on Day 1b is Ninni Malmi. She was short on the last break and dusted that off on a bad beat. The bad beat on her second and final Day 1b bullet was a bit more brutal.
“I got all my chips in with a flopped flush,” Malmi shared. “The other player had a set of aces and rivered the case-ace for quads.”
Hopefully her long-term partner Gregor Larsson is running a little better in the Main Event and we hope to see Ninni run deep in an event this festival.
Open Face Chinese Level 7: 800 points Entries: 12/23
The Festival Series Founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk is an incredible Open Face Chinese Poker player. We aren’t just saying that to get a bonus at the end of the festival but rather its first-hand knowledge as Franke has crushed this author in OFC games many times over the years.
OK, so I might only be an average OFC player at best, so this might not be the best way to judge Franke’s skill level. But to further our point, Franke is a two-time The Festival Series OFC High Roller champion after winning events in both Tallinn and Bratislava.
Unfortunately, Franke is already on the rail.
“This champ only lasted three hands,” Franke shared. “I will find something else to play.”
Best of luck to Franke, who is leading the Cash Game Challenge at the moment, in whatever he decides to hop into.
Meanwhile, Jon Kyte, Oskar Wedde, Espen Sandvik, Tony Brown, Martin Chan, Nikolay Ponomarev, Steven Wilkie, Sophie Clarke, Aleksandrs Golubevs, Tariq Iman, Yasir Khan, and Alex Holbrook are all still in contention for the OFC title that Franke coveted.
Main Event Day 1b Level 5: 1,500/3,000 (3,000) Entries: 98/114
Day 1b of the Main Event is already on its first break. We caught up with several players including Allan Arjut who shared how he lost some chips before tripling up to 415,000 in chips with eights against a player with queens and another player with sevens.
Meanwhile, things went less well for both Neil “TwinnyPoker” Edwards who is on the rail, and Ninna Malmi who is down to just 16 big blinds. Malmi shared she lost a chunk of her stack with jacks against ace-queen and is down to 48,000. Plenty of time to spin this up and we wish our friend Malmi the best of luck in doing so.
Allan Arjut – 415,000 Ninni Malmi – 48,000 Neil Edwards – 0
There are rake-free flips taking place each and every night where players have a chance to win tickets to The Festival Series events.
The buzz is always exciting whenever these take place and sometimes players make up their own rules about not looking at their cards and flipping one at a time after each street in an Omaha format.
Apparently, Alexandru Talica and Vasile Margarit were tied with 4 flip wins each but Talica is proving to be the better flipper after three days with 6 flips won to put a small gap between him and the rest of the field.
The winner of the Franke’s Flip Flops will be awarded a €1,600 package to The Festival Series Malta taking place from May 15-21, 2023 at the luxurious Portomaso Casino. They will also get a framed pair of Franke’s real flip flops!
Are you enjoying The Festival Series Nottingham as much as we are? Well, the fun won’t stop this week as soon enough The Festival Series heads to the luxurious Portomaso Casino in Malta for The Festival Series Malta on May 15-21.
There will be plenty of opportunities to win a package to The Festival Series Malta online but you may want to mark your calendars for Friday, Feb. 24 for a truly special satellite with three packages valued at €2,000 each guaranteed for just a €20 buy-in. Check out the details below:
Main Event Satellite Level 1: 200/500 (500) Entries: 15/15
Another £56 Main Event Satellite has kicked off. The satellite guarantees five seats, so currently there is a bit of overlay if looking for some value.
We don’t want to promise you that there will be overlay by the time late registration is finished, but this is a cheap path to get to play in the £450 Main Event. Good luck to all the satellite players.
Open Face Chinese Level 1: 100 points Entries: 14/14
Open Face Chinese poker is a game that is often seen played between friends in between games and we often see traveling poker players pulling out a deck to play even on airplane flights on the way to events.
It isn’t often outside The Festival Series that one sees Open Face Chinese tournaments but one just kicked off today with a £230 buy-in. The game is tons of fun and comes down to pure strategy along with the luck of what cards you are dealt.
Jon Kyte, Glen Wilson, Sophie Clarke, and Tuomas Roppanen are among the early entries.
Main Event Day 1b Level 1: 200/500 (500) Entries: 69/69
Day 1b of the £450 Main Event kicked off after some preliminary announcements by the floor with 69 entries. This figure will grow with late registration not closing until the end of Level 8, during which time players can re-enter one time.
Allan Arjut, Marc Bolton, poker couple David and Teresa Clark, Lars Eklund, Dmitrijs Meless, Aki Nevalainen, Gatis Reigass, and Leo Sigurdsson are among the early entrants.
The Festival Series Nottingham has provided tons of action during the first three days and the action gets even hotter on Day 4 at Dusk Till Dawn.
Today will feature the second of four opening flights for The Festival Series Nottingham £450 Main Event.
The first three opening flights of the Main Event feature 30-minute blind levels while the final turbo flight boasts a faster 15-minute structure. Players begin with a massive stack of 200,000 in chips and can re-enter up to once per opening flight or late register for the first eight blind levels.
Each of the opening flights will play down to 15% of the field. At this point, all players will be in the money before battling it out for two more days on Feb. 18-19 until a winner is crowned.
Other events today include the £230 Open Face Chinese Poker at 12 p.m., the £120 Deepstack at 5 p.m., and the £120 PLO 4/5/6 at 8 p.m. All three of these events have caps on entrants, so be sure to register early to reservice your seats.
Also, today will be two more live-streamed Cash Game Challenges and two more £56 Main Event satellites at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Our coverage will begin at 12 p.m. when cards are in the air for the Main Event. However, today we will continue to focus on the entire atmosphere instead of focusing solely on one event. Stay tuned to our coverage.
