The Festival Malta Day 6

The Festival Malta Day 6

The Festival in Malta Live Updates

Main Event Final Day Seat Draw 20.05.2023 23:58 by The Festival Team
Table Seat Player Chips Big Blinds
1 1 Clausin Sanz 745,000 30
1 2 Jelmer Schuurmans 520,000 21
1 3 Oystein Brenden 2,240,000 90
1 4 Andreas Holmsten 1,730,000 69
1 5 Mischa Wieten 970,000 39
1 6 Matthew Micallef 650,000 26
1 7 Annika Haaviste 940,000 38
1 8 Dario Barone 1,550,000 62
2 1 Luigi D’Alterio 1,275,000 51
2 2 Samuel Stranak 1,280,000 51
2 3 Andras Balogh 480,000 19
2 4 Stian Nostdahl 1,695,000 68
2 5 Shimon Hagay 710,000 28
2 6 Gytis Juskevicius 1,840,000 74
2 7 Balazs Somodi 1,625,000 65
2 8 Kerrien Clement 475,000 19
Oystein Brenden Leads Final 16 in the Main Event 20.05.2023 23:54 by The Festival Team

Oystein Brenden bagged a massive stack of 2,240,000 on Day 2 of the The Festival Series Malta €550 Main Event and will lead the final 16 players at the start of the final day which will commence at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Gytis Juskevicius, Andreas Holmsten, Stian Nostdahl, Balazs Somodi, Dario Barone, and Luigi D’Alterio all bagged at least 1 million in chips. Meanwhile, Mischa Wieten, Annika Haaviste, Clausin Sanz, Shimon Hagay, Matthew Micallef, Jelmer Schuurmans, Andras Balogh, and Kerrien Clement are also still in the hunt for the title.

Player Chips Big Blinds
Oystein Brenden 2,240,000 90
Gytis Juskevicius 1,840,000 74
Andreas Holmsten 1,730,000 69
Stian Nostdahl 1,695,000 68
Balazs Somodi 1,625,000 65
Dario Barone 1,550,000 62
Samuel Stranak 1,280,000 51
Luigi D’Alterio 1,275,000 51
Mischa Wieten 970,000 39
Annika Haaviste 940,000 38
Clausin Sanz 745,000 30
Shimon Hagay 710,000 28
Matthew Micallef 650,000 26
Jelmer Schuurmans 520,000 21
Andras Balogh 480,000 19
Kerrien Clement 475,000 19
Players Bag Up on Day 2 of the Main Event 20.05.2023 23:25 by The Festival Team

Bags were ed around in the Main Event as the action ended when there were just 16 players remaining from the 617 entry field. We will post the chip counts and final table seat draw shortly for when the action resumes on Sunday at 2 p.m. In the meantime, here is a look at the payouts thus far.

Our blog will change a little for the final day. Instead of reporting what is happening everywhere we will focus on the key hands of the Main Event and provide some detailed coverage until The Festival Series Malta Main Event champion is crowned.

Place Player Prize
1 ? €60,700
2 ? €40,500
3 ? €27,900
4 ? €20,300
5 ? €14,560
6 ? €10,950
7 ? €8,350
8 ? €6,250
9 ? €5,150
10 ? €4,100
11 ? €4,100
12 ? €3,500
13 ? €3,500
14 ? €3,000
15 ? €3,000
16 ? €3,000
17 Shaf Saken €2,500
18 Domenico Gala €2,500
19 Michael Ibba €2,500
20 Axel Holm €2,000
21 Raymond de Groot €2,000
22 Raoul van Wersch €2,000
23 Jari Porkka €2,000
24 Laila Hawaszadeh €2,000
25 Erik Peters €1,750
26 Alfredo Cuti €1,750
27 Milad Rad €1,750
28 Kaer Kuzior €1,750
29 Adam Briggs €1,750
30 Jimmy Dewerdt €1,750
31 Ingvill Nilsen €1,750
32 Gatis Reigass €1,750
33 Kenneth Kull €1,500
34 Andrew Cutajar €1,500
35 Antonio Lombardo €1,500
36 Mike Holthaus €1,500
37 John Forsman €1,500
38 Avtandili Magradze €1,500
39 Xuanyu Zheng €1,500
40 Niko Raapana €1,500
41 Georgios Orestidis €1,250
42 Franco Scalise €1,250
43 Marcus Skinner €1,250
44 Valentin Oberha €1,250
45 Oliver Said €1,250
46 Alberto Cigliano €1,250
47 Jakub Kanosovsky €1,250
48 Stuart Griffith €1,250
49 Matiss Celmins €1,100
50 Linus Lauermann €1,100
51 Daniel Smith €1,100
52 Cory Desmond €1,100
53 Lukasz Sajnog €1,100
54 Glen Gaines €1,100
55 Conny Eriksson €1,100
56 Dainius Antanaitis €1,100
57 Laur Sibold €1,000
58 Roberts Krigers €1,000
59 Cristiano Blanco €1,000
60 Irakli Kobeshavidze €1,000
61 Maria Evans €1,000
62 Terje Jahn €1,000
63 Erik Nygren €1,000
64 Marita Nilsen €1,000
65 Paata Khmaldze €1,000
66 Nicholas Osthus €1,000
67 Peter Solem €1,000
68 Rune Polden €1,000
69 Beka Ksovreli €1,000
70 Per Gaassand €1,000
71 Joshua Stewart €1,000
It’s Time for Rake-Free Flips 20.05.2023 21:06 by The Festival Team

Come by where the tournament registration desk as the final session of Franke’s Flip Flops begins. This will feature some rake-free flips where the player that wins the most flips of the week will win a framed pair of Franke’s Flip Flops along with a package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Bratislava on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.

Sami Korpula currently leads the leaderboard but there is still some time to knock him off his perch. Here is a look at the leaderboard going into today:

Player Flips Won
Sami Korpela 5
Joseph Jackson 3
Rolf Bechstrom 3
Svein Olav Edisaeter 2
Ave Lepik 2
Alexandru Talica 2
Marita Magi 2
Ian Vertefeuille 1
Tom Delaine 1
Marek Liiv 1
Valmar Runk 1
Eirik Hamre 1
Daniel Hong 1
Lisbeth Sunde 1
Annika Haaviste 1
Peter Jancso 1
Sean O’Donnell 1
Mairo Toom 1
Melvin Schroen 1
Toivo Ojasoo 1
Players That Cashed for €1,250 in the Main Event 20.05.2023 20:29 by The Festival Team
Place Player Prize
41 Georgios Orestidis €1,250
42 Franco Scalise €1,250
43 Marcus Skinner €1,250
44 Valentin Oberha €1,250
45 Oliver Said €1,250
46 Alberto Cigliano €1,250
47 Jakub Kanosovsky €1,250
48 Stuart Griffith €1,250
Jonas Engedal Wins The Hendon Mob Championship 20.05.2023 20:04 by The Festival Team

Congrats to Jonas Engedal for winning the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship for €6,100 after defeating Danielle Coroneo heads-up en route to both The Festival Series and The Hendon Mob glory. Engedal earned both a framed-sketch of himself as a trophy from The Festival Series on top of the trophy provided by The Hendon Mob for all their Championships.

Engedal, who is originally from Norway but calls Malta his home, was over the moon about his win. Soon after finding the winner’s circle he was interviewed by The Festival Series Malta presenter Andreas Hoglund. We will share the interview once it is published on YouTube.

The two-day event attracted 102 entries to create a €22,032. Here is a look at all of the payouts:

Place Player Prize
1 Jonas Engedal €6,100
2 Danielle Coroneo €3,800
3 Stavros Tsakas €2,400
4 Oskar “Deckflow” Ojaveer €1,800
5 Daniel Kuhlmann €1,482
6 Paula Ensink €1,200
7 David Lappin €900
8 Morgan Stenberg €700
9 Vallo Maidla €590
10 Neville Grech €530
11 Sander van Dijk €530
12 Colin Lovelock €500
13 Kevin Malone €500
14 Dukai Csongor €500
15 Andreas Simml €500
Last Day of Franke’s Flip Flops! Win a Package to Bratislava (and a Pair of Franke’s Actual Flip Flops) 20.05.2023 19:40 by The Festival Team

OK, the title is super long. But the message is clear. Saturday is the final day of Franke’s Flip Flops where players will flip in Omaha hands rake-free for as many games as players wish from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m.

The player that wins the most flips not only wins a bit thanks to running hot but will also win a package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, 2023.

You might be thinking what might be better than a package to The Festival Series Bratislava. My answer would be not much. However, we did give away a spoiler in the title and the winner will also get a pair of Franke’s actual flip flops he was wearing all week long at The Festival Series Malta.

This author will likely be down on the main floor commentating the flips whether there is a camera on me or not. So come in on the fun at 9 p.m.

Franke-Flip-Flops-780x439
Players Cashing for €1,100 in the Main Event 20.05.2023 19:11 by The Festival Team

The following players booked slightly more than €1,000 min-cash. Instead, they will go home with €1,100 with the rest of the remaining field guaranteed at least a €1,250 payout.

Place Player Prize
49 Matiss Celmins €1,100
50 Linus Lauermann €1,100
51 Daniel Smith €1,100
52 Cory Desmond €1,100
53 Lukasz Sajnog €1,100
54 Glen Gaines €1,100
55 Conny Eriksson €1,100
56 Dainius Antanaitis €1,100
Celebrity TV Table Photos by Mairo Toom 20.05.2023 19:06 by The Festival Team
Players That Min-Cash the Main Event for €1,000 20.05.2023 19:02 by The Festival Team

The following players cashed in the Main Event for the minimum prize of €1,000:

Place Player Prize
57 Laur Sibold €1,000
58 Roberts Krigers €1,000
59 Cristiano Blanco €1,000
60 Irakli Kobeshavidze €1,000
61 Maria Evans €1,000
62 Terje Jahn €1,000
63 Erik Nygren €1,000
64 Marita Nilsen €1,000
65 Paata Khmaldze €1,000
66 Nicholas Osthus €1,000
67 Peter Solem €1,000
68 Rune Polden €1,000
69 Beka Ksovreli €1,000
70 Per Gaassand €1,000
71 Joshua Stewart €1,000
More Than 100 in the Mystery Bounty 20.05.2023 18:55 by The Festival Team

The two-day €250 Mystery Bounty has attracted 108 entries and counting. This is a fantastic result thus far for the new addition to the schedule.

Gerhard Brimmers was the first on the rail followed by Binjam Mesfin to leave 106 players remaining including Mesfin as he re-entered.

Have fun and good luck to all of the Mystery Bounty players!

“Pokerbrahs” Leads the Player of the Festival 20.05.2023 18:21 by The Festival Team

The initial results are in for The Festival Series Malta Player of the Festival leaderboard. ACR Stormer Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon has been grinding the mixed games all week long and is on top of the leaderboard after managing three final table performances. Salvatore Ritrovato, The Festival Series Founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, Sander van Wesemael and Balazs Somodi are also in the top five.

We know that van Wesemael won’t climb any further and likely will drop down a few spots as he just dropped by to say goodbye as he will be heading to Las Vegas early for the WSOP.

This also doesn’t take into events running today and tomorrow including the Main Event but congrats to “Pokerbrahs” for his impressive performance at The Festival Series Malta.

Place Player
1 Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon
2 Salvatore Ritrovato
3 Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk
4 Sander van Wesemael
5 Balazs Somodi
Mystery Bounty Begins 20.05.2023 18:11 by The Festival Team

The two-day €250 Mystery Bounty is a new event on The Festival Series schedule. It is about to kickoff with 44 players already ed including Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, Sascha Manns, and The Chip Race podcast co-host David Lappin.

Lappin just busted in seventh place in the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship for €900. He hasn’t had enough poker yet today and immediately hopped into the Mystery Bounty event.

Meanwhile, Antoine Degiorgio and Sami Pulliainen dropped by for a chat on the break of the €250 PLO Freezeout, which grew to 66 entries by the time late registration closed for a €14,256 prize pool. They were both asking about how a mystery bounty tournament works. I quickly explained and they said if they bust the PLO Freezeout they now have a back-up plan.

In case you are wondering how a mystery bounty event works, it is quite simple. Part of the prize pool, in this case €100 per player entered, will be placed into a mystery bounty prize pool. The action on the first day will play as normal with no bounties collected. Each player that advanced to Day 2 will have a mystery bounty on their head and will collect a random prize based on how much is collected for each player they eliminate. This is in addition to the normal prize pool and adds a fun element to tournament poker.

Jarmo Luokkala Bubbles the Main Event 20.05.2023 17:54 by The Festival Team

Players are in the money for at least a €1,000 min-cash with just 71 players remaining in the €550 Main Event. Unfortunately, Jarmo Luokkala won’t be one of the players snagging a pay-slip as he lost a flip when his big slick bricked against his opponent’s ladies.

“Super” Mairo Toom was once again on the ball capturing the photos of the bubble action of the Main Event. The man is everywhere at once!

The Frank Visser Rollercoaster Ride 20.05.2023 17:15 by The Festival Team

Frank Visser bubbled the €250 OFC Tournament yesterday before things got much better when he won the €125 PLO/PLO8 Event for €2,220.

Unfortunately, Visser just hit the rail three away from the money in the Main Event and it is now hand-for-hand on the money bubble.

the-festival-malta-plo-plo-8-vesser-frank-5137-1
Frank Visser
Day 5 Highlights of The Festival Series Malta 20.05.2023 17:10 by The Festival Team
TV Table Begins 20.05.2023 17:06 by The Festival Team

We have a special stream for you this afternoon as a bunch of streamers opted to play a special match today on our TheFestivalOG Twitch channel hosted by Jacob Dideriksen-Nielsen.

There are hundred of viewers already ing in on the entertainment. Check it out by clicking on the Stream tab in our coverage.

Bubble Approaching in the Main Event 20.05.2023 16:29 by The Festival Team

The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event runner-up Gerianne Dijkstra will unfortunately not make another deep run in The Festival Series Malta Main Event as she just hit the rail in 77th place. The Festival Series streamer Joseph Jackson also won’t be able to brag about a title as he also recently hit the rail.

The bubble is getting closer and closer with 73 players remaining and 71 slated for at least a €1,000 min-cash. Best of luck to all of the remaining Main Event players for getting to the money and beyond and in the meantime enjoy some Day 2 photos by Mairo Toom.

Photos of the Padel Hospitality Event by Mairo Toom 20.05.2023 16:14 by The Festival Team
€60,700 Top Main Event Prize 20.05.2023 15:29 by The Festival Team

The Main Event is down to 95 players out of the original field of 617 entries. The top 71 players will walk away with at least a €1,000 min-cash with tomorrow’s winner going home with a €60,700 top prize.

Here is a look at all of the Main Event payouts:

Place Prize
1 €60,700
2 €40,500
3 €27,900
4 €20,300
5 €14,560
6 €10,950
7 €8,350
8 €6,250
9 €5,150
10-11 €4,100
12-13 €3,500
14-16 €3,000
17-19 €2,500
20-24 €2,000
25-32 €1,750
33-40 €1,500
41-48 €1,250
49-56 €1,100
57-71 €1,000
€6,100 Top Prize in The Hendon Mob Championship 20.05.2023 14:50 by The Festival Team

The Hendon Mob Championship payouts have been released with all the 15 returning players guaranteed at least €500 payout with today’s winner going home with the €6,100 top prize and two trophies. One of the trophies will be the official The Hendon Mob Championship trophy that The Hendon Mob rewards at all of their events while the other one will be a personalized framed sketch of the winner.

Colin Lovelock, Kevin Malone, Dukai Csongor, and Andreas Simml all hit the rail for a min-cash leaving 11 players remaining in the hunt for both The Festival Series Malta and The Hendon Mob Championship glory.

Place Prize
1 €6,100
2 €3,800
3 €2,400
4 €1,800
5 €1,482
6 €1,200
7 €900
8 €700
9 €590
10-11 €530
12-15 €500
PLO Freezeout Begins 20.05.2023 14:34 by The Festival Team

The €250 PLO Freezeout kicked off with a field of 28 entries.

The Festival Series Founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk entered this event. Several players joked that this wasn’t the event for Franke as he loves to re-enter.

Mark Adams, Allan Arjut, Guiseppe D’Angelo, Karl Gialanze, Mikael Gronvik, Keimo Suominen, Philippe Laval, Imre Leibold, Totti Lind, Kevin Malone, Sean O’Donnell, Rita Paus, Erik Risberg, and Soner Vanelderen are all in the PLO Freezeout field from the start as well.

Good luck to all of the four-card players!

Nearly €300K Prize Pool in the Main Event 20.05.2023 14:09 by The Festival Team

Late registration is now closed for the €550 Main Event. A total of 617 entries came out in full force to create a €296,160 prize pool. Payouts will be announced shortly for the 143 players still in contention.

Best of luck to all of the Main Event players.

Sportsbook Tournament Begins 20.05.2023 13:16 by The Festival Team

The €125 Sportsbook Tournament takes just a few minutes to enter. This is something players can do on the break of any event they are in. Registration and entry submission is open. Just head down to the casino floor and The Festival Series Presenter and Sportsbook Host Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund will assist you.

Check out the video below to learn the rules. Spoiler alert, they are simple.

Day 2 of The Hendon Mob Championship Begins 20.05.2023 13:12 by The Festival Team

Day 2 of The Hendon Mob has kicked off. The Hendon Mob’s Social Media Manager Hans Kleinsman put together a list of all the 15 survivors live tournament earnings for events tracked by The Hendon Mob.

Player Country Earnings
David Lappin Ireland $715,284
Colin Lovelock England $488,709 
Vallo Maidla Estonia $396,117 
Kevin Malone Ireland $77,748 
Oskar Ojaveer Estonia $40,106 
Daniele Coroneo Italy $26,288 
Sander van Dijk Netherlands $23,468 
Neville Grech Malta $20,338 
Morgan Stenberg Sweden $7,675 
Paula Ensink Lunderbye Norway $7,001 
Jonas Engedal Norway $4,335 
Stavros Koukouditsakas Greece $4,074 
Csongor Dukai Hungary $2,678 
Daniel Kuhlmann $2,523 
Andreas Simml $892 
the-festival-malta-main-event-day1b-david-laurence-kilmartin-lappin-3618
David Lappin
600 Entries and Counting 20.05.2023 12:57 by The Festival Team

The Main Event has already blossomed to 600 entries with nearly an hour of late registration to go. There were 173 active players when the 600 entry-count was reach.

Best of luck to all of the Main Event players.

Rules to the Sportsbook Tournament 20.05.2023 12:29 by The Festival Team

The €125 Sportsbook Tournament kicks off at 1 p.m. The Sportsbook Tournament host Andreas “Wiseguy” Hoglund outlines the rules in the video below.

Main Event Day 2 Begins 20.05.2023 12:26 by The Festival Team

Day 2 of the Main Event has kicked off. A handful of new players came into the field to grow the field to 591 entries already with 193 players battling it out.

Surprise Built Into a Surprise 20.05.2023 12:18 by The Festival Team

Many players were asking yesterday what the surprise element was in yesterday’s €125 Texas Surprise. We just learned from The Festival Series Founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk that there will be a surprise within a surprise.

Salvatore Ritrovato won the Texas Surprise for €2,230 but this is not all as Franke just announced that Ritrovato also will be surprised with a free €250 Mystery Bounty ticket for tonight’s event at 6 p.m. Additionally, the bubble boy Juuso Parviainen won’t go home empty-handed that player will also have a chance to run it up in the Mystery Bounty as well. It would be amazing if one of these players runs deep and/or collects the top Mystery Bounty prize to be announced later.

Welcome to the Penultimate Day of The Festival Series Malta 20.05.2023 11:52 by The Festival Team
the festival malta 2023 live blog

Today is another big day with it starting off with a bang with both the Main Event and The Hendon Mob Championship progressing to their second day. The Hendon Mob Championship is down to 15 hopefuls in the money and will play down to a winner while the Main Event is planned to play down to 16 players. Late registration for the Main Event will still be open for the first two blind levels of the day but the five opening flights attracted 579 entries with 181 players finding a bag.

Laila Hawaszedeh will kick things off in the captain’s seat after bagging 382,500 from her starting stack of 30,000. Oystein Brenden was too far behind with 369,000, while Adam Briggs was the only other player over 300,000 in chips with 329,500. Day 2 will feature 45-minute blind levels instead of the 40 minutes featured during most of the opening flights.

There are plenty of other events on tap today including the €125 Sportsbook Tournament and the two-day €250 Mystery Bounty. Here is a look at the entire schedule:

Time Event
12 p.m. Event #8: €550 Main Event Day 2
1 p.m. Event #35: €250 The Hendon Mob Championship Day 2
1 p.m. Event #42: €125 Sportsbook Tournament
2 p.m. Event #43: €250 PLO Freezeout
6 p.m. Event #44: €250 Mystery Bounty Day 1
8 p.m. Event #45: €10/€10 NLHE Cash Game Challenge
10:30 p.m. Event #47: €10/€10 PLO Cash Game Challenge
11 p.m. Event #46: €125 PLO Midnight Madness