2022 The Festival Bratislava Live Blog – Day 1b

Austria’s Ronald Zapantis bagged the overall Main Event chip lead in the €500,000 guaranteed The Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event at Banco Casino Bratislava after parlaying his 30,000 opening chip stack on Day 1b nearly 10-fold to 296,000 in chips to surpass the 256,000 in chips that the Day 1a chip leader Rikard Larsson bagged yesterday on Day 1a.

The Day 1b field attracted a total of 171 entries with 51 players finding a bag. When taking into account the 134 entries and 39 survivors on Day 1a, the field is now up to 305 entries with 90 survivors.

Zapantis was near the top of the chip counts nearly all day long and will start Day 2 with a massive stack of 118 big blinds. Also bagging more than the Day 1a chip leader Larsson was Bulgaria’s Yaron Dichev with 276,000 while Michael Sklenička wasn’t too far behind with 250,000 in chips.

Also finding big stacks on Day 1b were Siegfried Rath (201,000), Nils Linden (170,000), Tibor Benko (168,000), and good friend of PokerListings and The Festival Series Mateusz Moolhuizen (163,000).

Day 1b Top 10 Chip Stacks

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

Day 1b attracted 171 entries with 51 players finding bags into Day 2. When taking into account the 134 entries and 39 survivors during yesterday’s Day 1a, the field is up to 305 entries and 90 survivors with three more opening flights to go over the next two days.

Players are now bagging chips for the end of Day 1b. Stay tuned at PokerListings for the final chip counts along with a quick recap of the day.

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 54/171

Nils Linden jammed for 55,000 into a pot of around the same with the 8 10 5 3 3 on the board. Dan Jackson went into the tank for a few minutes before he called.

Linden turned over A A for aces over treys. This was good enough to win the hand with Jackson showing 10 9 for tens over threes.

“I didn’t think you would do that with aces,” Jackson said. “Nice hand!”

Nils Linden – 160,000
Dan Jackson – 40,000

Level 12: 1,000/2,000 (2,000)
Entries: 60/171

Frank Visser four-bet jammed for 36,000 and was called by Akash Mazumdar, who traveled to Bratislava just for The Festival Series from the New York City metropolitan area.

Frank Visser: 9 9
Akash Mazumdar: A K

“Ace, please,” asked Mazumdar.

Not only did Mazumdar not get his requested ace but was already drawing dead after the J 9 9 flop improved Visser to quad nines.

The 3 turn and 6 rive officially completed the hand for Visser to double his stack during the final blind level of Day 1b.

Franke Visser – 75,000
Akash Mazumdar – 50,000

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)
Entries: 67/171

Terje Bremseth just entered the Main Event for the first time and immediately got into the action.

Bremseth three-bet jammed from the small blind for 30,000 and was called by Pavel Kurtulik, who originally opened from middle position.

Terje Bremseth: A 8
Pavel Kurtulik: 10 10

Bremseth was behind but that proved to not be that important as he improved to two pair to double his stack after the 6 A 2 8 4 ran out on the board.

Pavel Kurtulik – 80,000
Terje Bresmeth – 63,000

Level 11: 800/1,600 (1,600)
Entries: 69/169

Noelia Ivars was down to seven big blinds when she jammed from the small blind with nine-seven offsuit and was called by Dominik Znasik from the big blind with queen-eight.

Ivars bricked the ace-six-five-four-six runout and was on the rail.

The Festival Series is hosting a Cash Game Challenge throughout the week where players will be competing in front of a live-streamed audience for a chance for a future The Festival Series package valued at €1,600. How the winner is calculated is easy as the winner will be determined based on the total amount of big blinds won during any single session throughout the week.

Today will feature two challenges, first a €2/2 NLHE at 8 p.m. then a few hours later a €2/€2 PLO affair. You can check it out by clicking on the “Stream” tab within our coverage.

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 71/166

Tomas Fara opened for 2,500 from the button before he called a three-bet by Robert Zapantis from the small blind for 6,600. Zapantis bet 7,200 on the 10 A 2 flop and Fara called.

The 5 followed on the turn and Zapantis fired out for 22,000, the exact amount left in Fara’s stack. Fara tanked for a few moments before he found a call.

Tomas Fara: A 3
Robert Zapantis: K 3

Zapantis was only drawing for a chop if a four came on the river to improve both players for a wheel. The 10 river completed the board instead for Fara to double through Zapantis.

Robert Zapantis – 180,000
Tomas Fara – 75,000

Level 10: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 75/163

Jakob Pilgaard four-bet jammed for 39,400 and was called by Knut Gaupset.

Jakob Pilgaard: Q Q
Knut Gaupset: A K

It was one of the most standard flips in tournament poker with Pilgaard at risk. He won the flip after Gaupset’s big slick didn’t get any love from the 4 5 4 9 2 board.

Jakob Pilgaard – 90,000
Knut Gaupset – 50,000

Players are on their final 20-minute break of the day. Blinds will increase to 600/1,200 with a 1,200 big blind ante when the action resumes.

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 81/161

We caught up with a hand between where Espen Sandvik and Andrei Mjagkov had all their chips in the middle with the latter at risk for his stack of 33,000. There was also some dead money in the pot thanks to other players getting involved preflop before being pushed out by both players.

Andrei Mjagkov: Q Q
Espen Sandvik: A K

Mjagkov’s queens held for a double up after Sandvik was unable to connect his big slick with the 6 8 6 9 4 runout.

Andrei Mjagkov – 80,000
Espen Sandvik – 12,000

Level 9: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 83/161

Manuel Blaschke jammed for about a starting stack of 30,000 with a bit more already in the pot with the Q 2 6 3 4 on the board.

Aneta Kalikova went into the tank for several minutes before she found a call. Blaschke immediately turned over Q 2 for a flush and won the hand after Kalikova turned over K Q .

Manuel Blaschke – 100,000
Aneta Kalikova – 55,000

As we already mentioned, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies shipped the Billiards competition that was available to all players with the hospitality package. Here are some photos from the event by Mairo Toom.

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 95/157

There was already more than 15,000 in the pot with the 7 Q Q on the board after the flop when Thomas Naess check-called a bet of 6,500 by Jenny Westerlund.

Both players checked the 3 turn and the K river. Westerlund quickly turned over her A K for two pair of kings over queens. This was good enough to win the pot as Naess quickly mucked his hand after seeing his opponent’s cards.

Jenny Westerlund – 100,000
Thomas Naess – 50,000

Level 8: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 97/154

Robert Perelman opened for 1,800 from under the gun. Anne Bezdek called from middle position before Peter Bumba three-bet to 4,000 from the small blind. Perelman called before Bezdek four-bet jammed for 25,100. Bumba tanked for a couple of minutes before he called and it was a heads-up showdown after Perelman folded.

Anne Bezdek: A K
Peter Bumba: 9 9

Bezdek lost the flip and was on the rail after getting nowhere on the 6 6 7 5 4 runout.

Peter Bumba – 85,000
Anne Bezdek – 0

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 100/150

Jenny Westerlund opened for 1,500 before Espen Sandvik three-bet to 4,000. Westerlund jammed and Sandvik called off for about 18,000.

Sandvik was far ahead with queens against tens. However, Westerlund improved to a flush to win the pot and send Sandvik on the rail.

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 100/145

There was already 20,000 or so in the pot before the A 5 6 came on the flop when both Stefan Kollar and Ulf Kull checked.

Robert Aleksic bet 8,000, which was good enough to win the pot with both his opponents folding. Aleksic showed he held J J .

“What am I to do?” Aleksic said about the hand as he was piling his newly found chips into his stack.

Robert Aleksic – 70,000

Level 7: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 102/145

Day 1b is on its second 20-minute break of the day. Blinds will increase to 300/600 along with a 600 big blind ante when the action resumes.

Last night, Daniel Sahlin outlasted a field of 94 entries in the €250 PLO Masters for €5,482. Congrats to Daniel and best of luck during the rest of The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino.

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 103/142

WSOP gold bracelet winner Espen Sandvik checked the 4 Q 3 flop before Yaron Amsalem bet 3,000 into a pot of around 8,000. Sandvik jammed for 17,500 and Amsalem went into the tank before he folded.

Sandvik flashed to PokerListings he had the nut flush draw with A 9 . He shared that although he didn’t show the entire table, we were given permission by Sandvik that we could share this on the blog.

Best of luck to our Norwegian friend after a rough run in the Main Event during yesterday’s Day 1a.

Espen Sandvik – 28,500

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 105/139

The Day 1b field has already crushed the 134 entries that got into the action on Day 1a with 139 entries in the Day 1b field and counting. There were 105 players left out of the original field, meaning that 34 players already hit the rail today.

Level 6: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 100/131

Both Leandro Gaone and Alexandros Fixmer checked after the A 5 4 came on the flop with about 8,500 already in the pot before Gaone fired out for 4,100 on the J turn. Fixmer called and the 4 completed the board on the river. Gaone checked before Fixmer fired out for 11,200.

Gaone went into the tank for more than a minute before he called. Fixmer turned over A 8 but this wasn’t good enough as Gaone won the hand with a flush after turning over Q 9 .

Leandro Gaone – 50,000
Alexandros Fixmer – 20,000

Players are visibly enjoying themselves in the 8-game but a few spectators are sitting this one out as before long the €1,100 PLO High Roller will kick off at 5 p.m.

Currently, only Erol Hamid paid the buy-in but this will change as it gets closer to game time.

Best of luck to everyone playing the biggest PLO event of The Festival Series Bratislava.

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 102/124

During the last The Festival Series in Tallinn, Sweden’s Kalle Ly won the PokerListings Deepstack event for €10,736. We interviewed Ly after the event and enjoy his company at many events over the years.

We are sad to report that Ly busted his first bullet today and will be on his third bullet overall in the Main Event. We hope the third time is a charm.

Ly recapped how it all went down and even had a photo of the hand. He shared that he four-bet jammed for 19,000 with Q Q and was called by an opponent with 3 3 . Normally this would be an ideal spot to double but the Poker Gods had something else in mind for our Swedish friend as his opponent improved to trips on the 5 3 8 flop. Neither the 2 turn nor the J river was able to save the day for Ly and he is now at the registration desk getting ready for his third bullet.

• Read: Sweet Revenge for PokerListings Deepstacks Champ Kalle Ly

Level 5: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 100/119

Sami Borgi opened for 1,000 from early position. Tibor Benko raised to 3,200 from the small blind and Borgi called.

Benko bet 3,000 after the 6 8 8 came on the flop and Borgi jammed. Benko called off for about 15,000 and the cards were turned over.

Tibor Benko: Q Q
Sami Borgi: A A

Benko was in a world of hurt with his queens as Borgi had an overpair. No help came on the 10 turn and the 3 river and Benko was on the rail.

Sami Borgi – 85,000
Tibor Banko – 0

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 94/107

Totti Lind was down to 400 chips. We asked him how he was so low and he shared with PokerListings that he went kamikaze with fives with tons of overcards on the board.

Maybe we just witnessed a start of a comeback for Lind after the following hand.

Lind jammed his tiny stack from early position and was called by Mario Da Silva from middle position. Dmytro Bryndzya three-bet shoved for nearly 10,000 from the small blind and the rest of the table folded.

Totti Lind: A 4
Dmytro Bryndzya: K 9

Lind was ahead but it was more or less a coin flip after the 5 J 8 flop with Bryndzya not only having both of his cards live but also a flush draw. However, Bryndzya was unable to connect with both the 6 turn and the 2 river and Lind was temporarily up to 1,800 in chips.

“Too many outs,” Da Silva said with a smile as Lind collected the pot.

Edit: Update, “Kamikaze Totti” is now on the rail. He shared that he will get back into the Main Event but just not today.

Last year, former EPT dealer Martin Mauthner stunned the field while having an unlit cigarette in his mouth to win the inaugural The Festival Series Main Event here at Banco Casino Bratislava.

He made a three-way deal with Adi Rajkovic and David Vedral before going on to win the event to collect a whopping €56,870.

Mauthner is back in action on Day 1b hoping to defend his title in this year’s The Festival Series Main Event. The top prize will be significantly more thanks to the €500,000 guarantee if he can pull off another victory. Best of luck to Martin!

Players have started to come back from the billiards tournament event that was available to those with the hospitality package.

We just learned that Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies just won the event for not only pride but also the same portrait those will receive for winning a poker event.

Sahamies is used to winning poker events but has yet to find a Hendon Mob flag from Bratislava. PokerListings Finnish reporter Juhani Tyrisevä jokingly asked internally whether we could report the billiards event to The Hendon Mob to get his flag, but Sahamies will have to earn that on the poker tables.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 93/104

Nils Linden check-raised a bet of 2,800 by Ruben Rasmussen to 11,000 and Rasmussen called with the 7 6 A 3 on the board after the turn with around 7,000 already in the pot before the big turn action.

Linden jammed for 16,500 after the 3 paired the board on the river. Rasmussen immediately sighed before going into the tank for a minute. It appeared he was about to fold before going into the tank for two more minutes. Eventually, Rasmussen called only to wind up mucking his cards after Linden turned over Q 3 for trip treys.

Nils Linden – 62,000
Ruben Rasmussen – 16,700

Players are on their first break. We will have some chip counts from around the room shortly after the action resumes for Level 4 with blinds at 100/300 along with a 300 big blind ante.

The three opening flights for the €250 Blackjack Championship all take place today starting shortly at 2 p.m.

There is more skill involved in a Blackjack tournament than just knowing the rules of Blackjack as even though each hand is competing against the house, at the end of the day, players are competing against each other to earn a bag into Day 2.

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 78/86

Saevar Saevarrson opened for 600 from under the gun. Robert Aleksic three-bet to 1,200 before the player on the button called. The action went back and forth with the player on the button got out of the way before Aleksic eventually jammed for about 36,000. Saevarrson made the call and the two players were flipping for a 75,000 chip pot.

Saevar Saevarsson: Q Q
Robert Aleksic: A K

The queens were ahead for Saevarsson after the 6 4 10 came on the flop. The K turn changed everything with Aleksic pulling far ahead and leaving Saevarsson drawing to just one out. The 7 river didn’t help Saevarrson and he was on the rail before the first break.

Robert Aleksic – 85,000
Saevar Saevarsson – 0

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 78/82

We caught up to a hand on Table 32 with 25,000 in the pot and the K 9 8 2 3 on the board. Davoud Nikravan checked before Tomas Fara fired out for 11,100.

Nikravan tanked for a minute before laying down his hand.

“It is always a flush,” said Nikravan.

Nikravan flashed the K to show the table that he laid down at least the top pair.

Tomas Fara – 45,000
Davoud Nikravan – 15,500

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 75/78

Eden Azulay and Simon Wilson hit the rail during Level 2 making it three players out of the Day 1b field already.

Table 51 continues to be an action table as it was yesterday with yet another decent pot taking place.

Kjell Sterner check-called a bet of 4,500 into a pot of 7,000 by Elad Saadia with the 4 J 8 K on the board after the turn. Sterner checked again on the 9 river. Saadia fired out for 11,000 and Sterner went into the tank as the call would be for nearly all of his stack. Eventually, Sterner made the call to only to get some bad news. Saadia turned over 8 8 for a set of snowmen and won the hand after Sterner mucked his cards.

Elad Saadia – 45,000
Kjell Sterner – 2,000

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 62/63

The Day 1b field is already at 63 entries. Just 62 of these players remain after Sierra Alonso hit the rail moments ago.

At around the same time at another table, Alberto Petite Álvarez fired out for 2,500 into a pot of a bit more with the 8 J K 2 2 on the board and was called by Savvas Hayiannis. Hayiannis turned over A 8 which was good enough to win the pot after Álvarez mucked his cards.

Alberto Petite Álvarez – 50,000
Savvas Hayiannis – 40,000
Sierra Alonso – 0

Today’s activity for those with the hospitality package is a billiards competition. Players are already enjoying playing on a different type of felt other than a poker table.

While PokerListings is not on-site to report the activity, we will provide some updates about it later in our coverage.

Today’s first side event will be the €125 8-Game tournament. A bunch of players already expressed interest including our dear friend of both PokerListings and The Festival Series in Daniel Pilgrim.

Pilgrim is mostly a cash game player but in recent times has stretched his no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha strengths into other games as well.

Best of luck to Daniel and everyone else that hops into the mix.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 45/45

Johan Goslings and Davoud Nikravan checked the Q 9 J flop before Roman Bederka fired out for a pot-sized bet of 1,000. Goslings and Nikravan called to see the A turn.

Goslings checked again but Nikravan opted to do something different with a bet of 1,500. Bederka called and Goslings folded. The Q completed the board on the river and Goslings fired out for 2,500. Nikravan folded and flashed the table with a shrug that he held K K .

Bederka made the correct fold as Nikravan showed the A for at least top pair.

“I had two pair,” Nikravan shared to Bederka as the dealer began shuffling the cards for the next hand.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 34/34

Yesterday, Table 51 provided tons of action early on and it appears that table once again will be an action table based on a very small sample size of one hand.

Kjell Sterner and another player checked with the 9 5 4 8 on the board on the turn and about 5,000 was already in the pot before Laurent Degros fired out for 3,400. Sterner called and the other player folded.

Sterner check-called a bigger bet of 8,000 by Degros after the K river completed the board. Degros turned over the nuts with 7 6 and was awarded the pot after Sterner mucked his hand.

Laurent Degros – 50,000
Kjell Sterner – 15,000

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 31/31

The action has kicked off for the Main Event with a tidy field of 31 entries. This number will balloon to something much higher with late registration open throughout the day during which time players can re-enter up to two times. Late registration will also still be open during the first two blind levels of Day 2 as well.

Welcome back to the coverage of The Festival Series Bratislava by PokerListings. As will be the case the entire week, our coverage will focus on the Main Event will providing some highlights and information about the plethora of side events.

The Festival Series was founded by Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk and is more than just a poker festival. Franke’s innovative The Festival Series focuses on much more and is more of a casino festival with blackjack, roulette, slots, and sports wagering tournaments all included in the schedule.

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 it appears based on yesterday’s Day 1a along with many more players still yet to arrive.

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.

Yesterday’s Day 1a attracted a total of 134 entries with 39 players surviving. Rikard Larsson is currently on top of the chip leaderboard after parlaying his 30,000-opening chip stack into a monstrous stack of 256,000.

Today’s Side Events

Today’s schedule features tons of events including Day 1 and Day 2 of the €250 Blackjack Championship and Day 2 of the Roulette Championship. Of course, there are plenty of poker side events on the schedule to satisfy every poker player’s

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!