2022 The Festival Bratislava Live Blog – Day 1a

Sweden’s Rikard Larsson bagged the Day 1a chip lead in the €500,000 guaranteed The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event at Banco Casino Bratislava.

The field attracted a total of 134 entries to surpass the 108 entries attracted on Day 1a during last year’s The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event with four more opening flights to go.

Larsson was in cruise control most of Day 1a with the chip lead for most of the latter half of the day. At one point, Larsson had about 380,000 but things began to slow down after he doubled up Peder Behr to 160,000 in chips. Behr ended Day 1a with nearly the same with a stack of 156,000 in chips, while Larsson lost a few more chips before managing to bag a healthy chip-leading stack of 256,000. Carsten Larsen was just behind the Day 1a chip leader with 245,000 in chips and was the only other player on the day to surpass 200,000 in chips.

Meanwhile, Aaron Frese (194,000), Kenneth Aspestrand (180,000), Eirik Kristiansen (177,000), and Michel Molenaar (177,000) also ended Day 1a with big stacks for Day 2.

Day 1a Top 10 Chip Stacks

The action for the Main Event will resume for Day 1b at noon on Wednesday. Stay tuned at PokerListings for all your updates.

Day 1a attracted 134 entries with 39 players finding bags into Day 2. Here are the final chip counts from the Day 1a field.

The floor has announced that the action will end on Day 1a after five more hands are played at each table. Players will bag chips as soon as the fifth hand has been completed and PokerListings will provide you all the final chip counts on the day.

Stay tuned to see who will be the chip leader on Day 1a of the 2022 The Festival Series Bratislava €500K GTD Main Event.

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 40/134

Carsten Larsen bet 17,500 into a pot of nearly twice as much with the K Q 9 6 10 on the board and was called by Fabian Niederreiter.

Larsen turned over A J for a rivered Broadway and Niederreiter appeared disgusted as he tossed his hand into the muck.

Carsten Larsen – 225,000
Fabian Niederreiter – 8,000

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 43/134

The final blind level has kicked off for Day 1a with blinds at 1,000/2,000 along with a 2,000 big blind ante. Players that survive this level will bag up their stacks into Saturday’s Day 2.

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)
Entries: 43/134

Shortly after Rikard Larsson eliminated Shalom Yitshak, the Swede was at it again trying to eliminate fellow Swede Peder Behr.

Behr open-jammed for about a pot-sized bet of 60,000 with the 3 10 4 A 3 on the board and Larsson found a call. Larsson turned over K 10 for two pair. But Behr held a stronger two pair with A K to win the hand and double his stack.

Rikard Larsson – 300,000
Peder Behr – 180,000

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)
Entries: 44/134

Yitshak Shalom jammed after the A Q 7 flop for about 25,000 and was called by Rikard Larsson.

Yitshak Shalom: Q J
Rikard Larsson: A K

Shalom was behind and was out of chips after the 10 turn and 5 river completed the board. Meanwhile, Larsson appeared to be in the chip lead after the hand with about 380,000 in chips.

Rikard Larsson – 380,000
Yitshak Shalom – 0

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)
Entries: 48/131

Marius Hoegtun checked the river with the 8 3 6 8 7 on the board. Kristoffer Winterstein bet 21,000 into a pot of a bit more and Hoegtun went into the tank for about a minute before he called.

Winterstein turned over A 5 . Hoegtun subsequently showed J 6 to pick off his opponent’s bluff to win the hand.

Marius Hoegtun – 100,000
Kristoffer Winterstein – 70,000

Peter Zolnai just defeated a field of 131 entries to win the €250 buy-in The Hendon Mob Championship for €7,000 after defeating Simon Wilson heads-up. Here is a look at the full results of the event.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 54/130

We joked about how deuces sometimes loses less than an hour ago after Espen Sandvik lost his first stack with deuces.

Sandvik re-entered and was sitting on 53,000 when we caught up with him. He shared that he three-bet jammed with deuces but this time got there to eliminate an opponent who had about 20 big blinds with kings after a deuce spiked the turn.

So, maybe Sandvik’s first hand was a glitch as he has proven on his second bullet that the “deuces never loses” saying holds true.

Espen Sandvik – 53,000

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 57/130

Patrik Ciklamini jammed for 14,700 from under the gun and was called by Erik Kristiansen.

Patrik Ciklamini: A J
Erik Kristiansen: 10 9

Kristiansen was behind but improved to trips to send Ciklamini packing after the 9 8 9 6 4 ran out on the board.

Erik Kristiansen – 90,000
Patrik Ciklamini – 0

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 59/129

There is a famous saying in poker that “deuces never loses.” Sometimes this is true but this wasn’t the case for WSOP bracelet winner Espen Sandvik.

Sandvik jammed the button for 20 big blinds and was called by Matej Macejak from the big blind.

Espen Sandvik: 2 2
Matej Macejak: J J

Sandvik needed some help but none was on its way with the 7 9 3 8 5 running out on the board.

Matej Macejak – 55,000
Espen Sandvik – 0

Players are on their final break of Day 1a. Blinds will increase to 600/1,200 with a big blind ante of 1,200 when the action resumes.

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 61/129

Kalle Ly won the PokerListings Deepstacks during the last The Festival Series in Tallinn but he is now on the rail after busting out of the Main Event today. We sent our sympathies but he took it well and simply said: “I am used to it.”

Ly recapped the hand for PokerListings.

Ly check-called a bet of 3,000 into a pot of 7,000 after the eight-seven-deuce flop. Ly checked again after a four hit the turn. His opponent jammed and Ly called off for about 14,000.

Ly held seven-five and had some outs against his opponent’s cowboys. Ly’s opponent improved to trips after a king came on the river and Ly was on the rail. Ly shared with PokerListings that he plans to play the Cash Game Challenge tonight and get back into the Main Event tomorrow.

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 62/129

A player opened for 2,000. Sascha Manns three-bet jammed for 12,000. Marcin Niedzwiecki thought that Manns just called and tossed an extra chip to make it 2,000 from the big blind. Niedzwiecki was then informed it was for 12,000 and tossed in 10,000 more. The opening player folded and it appeared that Manns had Niedzwiecki dominated.

Sascha Manns: J 10
Marcin Niedzwiecki: J 4

Manns was ahead after the 7 8 3 flop and still ahead after the 5 turn. However, Niedzwiecki spiked his three-outer on the river with the 4 completing the board and Manns was on the rail.

Manns shared with PokerListings that instead of re-entering the Main Event today he would instead enter the €250 PLO event that began at 5 p.m. Best of luck to Sascha!

Marcin Niedzwiecki – 50,000
Sascha Manns – 0

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 68/126

Igor Strujic called off his stack of about 13 big blinds facing a three-bet jam by Carsten Larsen for about 30 big blinds.

Igor Strujic: K K
Carsten Larsen: A Q

Strujic’s cowboys held after the J 3 8 6 6 ran out on the board to double back to near a starting stack.

Igor Strujic – 28,500
Carsten Larsen – 15,000

The final day of the €250 Sviten Special Event kicks off at 7 p.m. CEST. Peter Johansson leads the way with just a final table of seven players remaining. Each of the seven remaining players have locked up €580 already. Tonight’s winner is slated to receive a bit more with a €4,616 top prize on the line.

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 76/126

Tamas Grabics open-jammed for about 7,000 from under the gun. Nicola Karl three-bet shoved over the top for about 17,000 from two seats over and the rest of the table folded.

Tamas Grabics: 10 10
Nicola Karl: 9 9

Grabics was far ahead and had his opponent drawing super thin after improving to a set on the 10 6 3 flop. The 3 paired the board on the turn to further improve to a full house and Karl was drawing dead.

The inconsequential 2 completed the board on the river to make Grabics’ double-up official.

Tamas Grabics – 17,000
Nicola Karl – 10,000

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 79/124

Michel Molenaar checked with about 40,000 in the pot and the 2 Q 10 9 on the board after the turn. Nikolas Kvasai bet 16,500. Molenaar jammed for nearly 60,000 and Kvasai, who had Molenaar covered, found a call.

Michel Molenaar: K K
Nikolas Kvasai: 10 10

Kvasai was far ahead with a set of tens but Molenaar still had outs for a better set or a straight. It was the latter that came to fruition with the J spiking the river to improve Molenaar to a straight to double his stack.

Michel Molenaar – 160,000
Nikolas Kvasai – 25,000

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 82/121

Kasper Nielsen four-bet jammed for about 23,000 and was called by Peder Behr.

Kasper Nielsen: A K
Peder Behr: A A

Nielsen was far behind with his big slick but had some hope after the Q 4 10 flop with a gutshot Broadway draw. No jack came the rest of the way. Instead, the 6 turn and 8 river completed the board and Nielsen was on the rail.

Peder Behr – 95,000
Kasper Nielsen – 0

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 85/119

Richard Vladar had his last 14 big blinds or so committed into the pot and was up against Ivan Sebeledi.

Richard Vladar: A K
Ivan Sebeledi: 7 7

Vladar won the flip to send Sebeledi to the rail after improving to a better flush than his opponent on the 3 8 J Q 8 board.

Richard Vladar – 40,000
Ivan Sebeledi – 0

The €250 PLO Masters is about to begin. If you want some advice from a pro, J.J. Hazan is hosting PLO Masterclasses throughout the week.

The Masterclass costs €50 but you will get €25 back if entering one of the €250 PLO events on the schedule.

Players are on their second break of Day 1b. Blinds will increase to 300/600 with a big blind ante of 600 when the action resumes in 20 minutes.

PokerListings will provide some of the chip counts from around the room shortly after the break.

The action is down to just six players in the €250 buy-in The Hendon Mob Championship. Here is a look at some semi-recent chip counts.

The final six players have each locked up €1,680 with today’s winner slated to be rewarded a €7,000 top prize. Of course, all players that cashed will also receive a special Hendon Mob flag on their profile.

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 86/114

Jesper Mertz had crumbs left in his stack and they were already in the pot by the time we caught up with the hand with the 4 5 2 on the flop.

There was a bigger side pot between Thomas Lindstrom and Ian Vertefeville and both players checked after the 7 came on the turn. Lindstrom check-called a bet by Vertefeville for 3,000 after the 3 completed the board on the river.

Mertz turned over Q 5 and his pair of fives was better than the pair of fours held by Lindstrom with 10 4 . However, Verteville won both the main and side pots after he turned over A K for a wheel.

Thomas Lindstrom – 55,000
Ian Vertefeville – 40,000
Jesper Mertz – 0

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 88/113

Igor Panak five-bet jammed for about 57,000 and was called by Aaron Frese.

Igor Panak: A K
Aaron Frese: Q Q

A major flip was on and likely the winner would be the chip leader after perusing other stacks from around the room. Panak was unable to connect with the 6 8 4 6 2 runout and will need to re-enter if he wishes to advance to Day 2 via the Day 1a field.

Aaron Frese – 125,000
Igor Panak – 0

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 91/111

Hilde Rodsand check-jammed for 12,100 after the 5 10 8 came on the flop with about 6,000 already in the pot. Bernhard Haider called and the cards were turned over.

Hilde Rodsand: A 10
Bernhard Haider: K 10

Both players had top pair but Rodsand was in the lead with her ace kicker. The J turn was blank for both players, while the A river further improved Rodsand to two pair to double her stack through Haider.

Bernhard Haider – 55,000
Hilde Rodsand – 30,000

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 90/106

Nikolas Kvasai bet 5,000 into a pot of 8,000 with the 9 4 6 5 on the board. Michel Molenaar folded before Thanh Bui jammed for 20,500. Kvasai snap-called and the cards were turned over.

Nikolas Kvasai: A 7
Thanh Bui: K 8

“You even have the seven,” said Bui when he saw he wasn’t even alive for the one-outer for a straight flush.

The blank 5 completed the board and Bui will need to re-enter if he wishes to advance to Day 2 in the Main Event.

Nikolas Kvasai – 90,000
Thanh Bui – 0

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 90/103

The Day 1a field has already grown to more than 100 entries and will continue to grow throughout the day.

Julien Groenendijk lost some of his opening stack but got his chips back and then some as follows.

Domenik Schlesinger jammed for less than 5,000 into a pot of a bit more with the Q 7 7 10 10 on the board. Groenendijk snap-called and turned over 7 7 for quad sevens. Despite it being an all-in and a call, we were unable to see what Schlesinger held.

Julien Groenendijk – 35,000
Domenik Schlesinger – 0

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 84/95

Stefan Bielich got his last 10,000 in chips or so in the pot with 10 10 and was up against Gerianne Dijkstra with K K .

Dijkstra eliminated her opponent and was back to a starting stack after the 3 5 8 5 8 ran out on the board.

Gerianne Dijkstra – 30,000
Stefan Bielich – 0

The Festival Series has set up a freeroll for its €25 Low Roller Sports Betting Championship. Click on the link below to get involved!

Sports Betting Freeroll here: https://play.thefestival.com

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 85/92

Miklos Banyasz opened for 800 from the cutoff and was called by Thuy Machatzek from the small blind and Walter Brunfeldt from the big blind.

Both Machatzek and Brunfeldt checked the 7 3 A flop before Banyasz continued for 1,100. Machatzek called and Brunfeldt folded. Machatzek was looking down at his phone as the 8 came on the turn and was still looking at his phone after he bet 3,000. Brunfeldt check-called and the A paired the board on the river.

Brunfeldt checked again and Banyasz tanked for close to a minute before he checked back. Brunfeldt turned over A 10 for trips and this was good enough to win the pot as Banyasz mucked his hand.

Walter Brunfeldt – 36,000
Miklos Banyasz – 30,000

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 80/87

Main Event players are on their first break of the day. We will share some of the bigger stacks from around the room after the break.

Blinds will increase to 100/300 with a big blind ante of 300 when the action resumes.

The €250 Roulette Championship has three opening flights today. The first one is about to kick off at 2 p.m. CEST.

If curious as to how this works, players will play 60 spins with betting taking place in order with a button moving after each spin. The player with the most chips at each table at the end will advance to Day 2.

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 79/81

Sierra Da Silva lost a good portion of his stack before he got his chips in with ace-ten. Unfortunately for Da Silva, he was up against the ace-queen held by Nikolas Kvasai. An ace was part of the flop to give both players top pair. However, Da Silva was unable to improve any further to get ahead of ace-queen and was the second player on the rail during Day 1a.

Nikolas Kvasai – 47,000
Sierra Da Silva – 0

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 78/79

Three players checked with the J A 3 on the board and about 4,000 in the pot when Thuy Machatzek bet 3,500. Walter Brunfeldt called and the action was heads-up after the other players folded.

Both players checked both the 4 turn and the 3 river. Brunfeldt turned over K Q for the best possible hand without connecting with the board. Unfortunately for Brunfeldt, Machatzek did connect with the ace and won the hand after she turned over A 2 .

Thuy Machatzek – 30,000
Walter Brunfeldt – 24,000

Greg Partridge, who won a free Main Event seat thanks to his amazing run in The Festival Series Tallinn to win the last longer contest held by Luxon Pay, dropped the media desk for a quick chat.

Partridge didn’t have the best of news to share with us as he mentioned he just bubbled The Hendon Mob Championship after his queens ran into kings. He asked us some questions about the upcoming roulette tournament and we secretly shared that a decent strategy would be to play small in the beginning and take some risks closer to the end of the day if needed. We wish Greg the best of luck if he decides to play in the Roulette Championship starting today at 2 p.m.

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 70/71

There was 2,500 in the pot when four players checked the J J 2 flop. It checked around again on the 9 turn before the 4 river completed the board. Andreas Roeder fired out for 700 and got called by both Patrick Pfeiffer and Lars Hole.

Roeder shrugged as he turned over A 8 . Pfeiffer then turned over 10 9 which was good enough to win the hand after Hole tossed his cards into the muck.

Meanwhile, David Safrany was the first player on the rail in the Main Event.

Patrick Pfeiffer – 35,000
Lars Hole – 35,000
Andreas Roeder – 25,000

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 54/54

The field has already grown beyond 50 players when Mikael Zackarisson showed a bluff on Table 33.

It was a five-way pot with close to 2,000 in the middle when two players checked. Zackarisson fired out for 1,700. Christian Arstad called before the other three players that saw the flop folded.

Zackariasson then fired out for 3,500 on the 3 turn. Arstad quickly folded. Rather than mucking his hand, Zackariasson showed that he was bluffing players off the pot after revealing he was holding 10 9 .

Mikael Zackariasson – 37,000
Christian Arstad – 32,000

The Hendon Mob Championship, boasting a €250 buy-in, kicked off yesterday with a field of 131 entries. The action is down to just 18 hopefuls for the title with Michael Molenaar leading the way with 352,000.

Players are near the money with the top 16 players guaranteed at least a €350 min-cash with the winner getting 20-times as much with a €7,000 top prize on the line.

The action resumes at 1 p.m. today with blinds starting at 3,000/6,000 along with a big blind ante of 6,000 and will play down to a winner.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 37/37

Sascha Manns opened for 300 from the hijack and was called by Viktor Eriksson from the small blind. Alfred Muller three-bet to 600 from the big blind and both Manns and Eriksson called.

Eriksson and Muller checked the 6 7 K flop before Manns fired out for 1,000. Eriksson folded and Muller called. Muller checked the 8 turn. Manns bet 2,000 and Muller called to see the 6 river. Muller fired out for 2,000 and Manns quickly called.

Muller turned over K 4 to win the hand with the top pair. Manns shook his head in disgust as he flashed the table Q Q .

Alfred Muller – 35,000
Sascha Manns – 25,000

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 30/30

Richard Larsson bet 2,700 into a pot of a bit more with the 6 A A 2 on the board after the turn. Jonas Kovacs called and the 4 completed the board on the river.

Larsson fired out for 5,500 and Kovacs went into the tank. Eventually, Kovacs laid down his hand and the pot was awarded to Larrsson.

Richard Larsson – 35,000
Jonas Kovacs – 27,000

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 24/24

Cards are in the air for Day 1a of the Main Event. Day 1a began with 24 entries. This will grow significantly with late registration open throughout the day.

Welcome to the coverage of The Festival Series Bratislava by PokerListings. The Festival Series is more than just an ordinary poker festival. In fact, The Festival Series founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk has dubbed his tour as a casino festival with not only a no-limit hold’em poker Main Event but also Main Events for blackjack, roulette, slots, and sports wagering tournaments.

Our coverage will focus mainly on the poker Main Event but we promise to sprinkle in some general coverage from some of the side events including the casino side event throughout the week.

The Festival Series boasts a whopping 50 events from Oct. 10-16 in the heart of the Slovakian capital at Banco Casino Bratislava and has something for everyone. If tournaments aren’t your thing, then rest assured there is juicy cash game action running around the clock including live-streamed games.

Main Event Guarantees €500K

The poker highlight of The Festival Series Bratislava is, of course, The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event from Oct. 11-16. The Main Event guarantees a whopping €500,000 but we will be surprised if that isn’t met based on the big crowd already here for the opening events yesterday and the plans of many more to come including a plethora of satellite qualifiers from the more than a dozen partners held by The Festival Series.

Players will have plenty of opportunities to build a big stack with five opening flights from Oct. 11-14 including Day 1a today starting at noon CEST. Not only can players re-enter if they lose all their chips twice per opening flight but also can re-enter (or register for the first time) during the first two blind levels of Saturday’s Day 2.

The first four opening flights will feature 40-minute blind levels with the final opening flight on Friday moving along twice as fast with 20-minute blind levels. Players will bag chips today on Day 1a after 12 blind levels are completed.

Side Events Galore

Tuesday boasts eight side events on top of the start of the Main Event. Two of those events are already closed for registration as they have progressed to their second and final day in the €250 Sviten Special event and The Hendon Mob €250 Championship.

New events kicking off today are the first three opening flights of the €250 Roulette Championship, the €250 PLO Masters, the €1,000 invite-only Acroud Charity Invitational, and the €125 Win the Button. In addition, there is a Main Event satellite costing just €60 at 7 p.m. and a €150 PLO High Roller satellite at 9 p.m.

Our coverage will begin at the start of the Main Event at noon. Stay tuned at PokerListings to get updates on the biggest hands, bad beats, and more!