Five Winners Crowned on Day 2 of The Festival Series Malta
Tuesday was an exciting day at Portomaso Casino as The Festival Series Malta as not only did the €550 Main Event kickoff but also four new winners were crowned.
Martins Geiba won the €125 Roulette Tournament, Totti Lind shipped the two-day €250 Sviten Special, Mirko Romeo was the last player standing in the €250 PLO Championship, Svein Olav Eidsaeter won the €125 Win the Button, and Mikael Gronvik claimed the title in the €125 Half and Half.
Martins Geiba Wins Roulette Tournament (€1,000)
The €125 Roulette Tournament took place on the center stage of the Main Event area. Players were visibly enjoying each others company and the action.
The event attracted 19 entries for a €2,005 prize pool. Martins Geiba outperformed the field to win the event for a cool €1,000, while Milan Ljubisic and Rune Johansen also cashed in this unique event.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Geiba | €1,000 |
| 2 | Milan Ljubisic | €580 |
| 3 | Rune Johansen | €320 |
Mirko Romeo Wins the PLO Championship
Mirko Romeo defeated Sami Pulliainen heads-up in the €250 PLO Championship to win the €5,150 top prize. The event attracted 75 entries for a healthy €16,200 prize pool.
It was a fun event with many interesting players at the table including runner-up Sami Pulliainen, who used to call Malta his home, Dutch poker beast and all-around good guy Sander van Wesemael, Coolbet streamer Ylva Thorsrud, and Juuso Pariainen all at the final table and Malta Poker Fish Admin Antoine Degiorgio, friend of The Festival Series Bjorne Lindberg, and Kristian Bodingh also finishing in the money.
Meanwhile, The Festival Series Founder Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk provided some laughs for the table. He opted to leave the table with a big stack for a bit of time once the final table began. Franke eventually found his way back to the table but not after a few jokes were made.
“This was the best final table performance I have seen by Franke,” commented Sami Pullianen.
“His plan appears to be to win a few big hands, leave the table, and come back to repeat the process,” shared Sander van Wesemael.”
“I am guessing Franke will come back to battle with just three players remaining,” added Coolbet streamer Ylva Thorsrud.
Franke did come back to the table when there were just six players left and perhaps Thorsrud was onto something as Franke did eventually bow out in third place for another impressive performance during The Festival Series Malta.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mirko Romeo | €5,150 |
| 2 | Sami Pulliainen | €2,990 |
| 3 | Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk | €2,085 |
| 4 | Sander van Wesemael | €1,450 |
| 5 | Ylva Thorsrud | €1,095 |
| 6 | Sami Turunen | €860 |
| 7 | Juuso Pariainen | €750 |
| 8 | Antoine Degiorgio | €665 |
| 9 | Bjorne Lindberg | €605 |
| 10 | Kristian Bodingh | €550 |
Totti Lind Wins Sviten Special (€5,200)
The legend of Totti Lind continues. Sometimes he is a legend for the entertainment value as he likes to have fun when playing events including at The Festival Series. Other times, he dominates the poker action and keeps players on their toes. This was one of those times as he defeated Erik Risberg heads-up in the two-day €250 Sviten Special tournament for €5,200.
The Sviten Special event established a new The Festival Series attendance record with 79 entries coming out in full force to create a €16,353 prize pool. The opening day ended after Ivo Petkov busted on the money bubble with the final 11 players returning the following day with at least a €550 min-cash locked up.
Joshua Stewart kicked off the final day with the chip lead and was able to parlay that to a podium third-place finish, while Oystein Brenden, Marco Sgura, Niklas Borg, Nathaniel Brown, Allan Arjut, Maxime Chilaud, and Philippe Laval all finished in the money.
Here is a look at all of the payouts in the €250 Sviten Special.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Totti Lind | €5,200 |
| 2 | Erik Risberg | €3,250 |
| 3 | Joshua Stewart | €2,140 |
| 4 | Oystein Brenden | €1,540 |
| 5 | Marco Sgura | €1,140 |
| 6 | Niklas Borg | €550 |
| 7 | Nathaniel Brown | €550 |
| 8 | Allan Arjut | €550 |
| 9 | Maxime Chilaud | €550 |
| 10 | Philippe Laval | €550 |
| 11 | Renato Messina | €550 |
Svein Olav Eidsaeter Celebrates Norwegian National Day in Style
Today is the Norwegian National Day, so expect some flags waiving and fun banter throughout the day. Coolbet's Svein Olav Eidsaeter had an early celebration after winning the €125 Win the Button for €2,380. We learned that he even honored the late Doyle Brunson by winning the event with ten-deuce offsuit just like the poker legend did decades ago at the WSOP.
The €125 Win the Button is an amazing tournament if you are running hot as every time a player wins the hand they earn the button for the following hand. The event attracted 88 runners to generate a €9,292 prize pool.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Svein Olav Eidsaeter | €2,380 |
| 2 | Fuad Gotovusa | €1,690 |
| 3 | Salvatore Ritrovato | €1,130 |
| 4 | Allan Arjut | €900 |
| 5 | Ivo Petkov | €750 |
| 6 | Leif Iversen | €600 |
| 7 | Calum Bagnall | €500 |
| 8 | Raimo Einberg | €420 |
| 9 | Peder Behr | €350 |
| 10 | Jarkko Kuusisto | €300 |
| 11 | Paula Ensink | €272 |
Mikael Gronvik Wins the Half and Half (€2,045)
Mikael Gronvik joins the ever-growing list of The Festival Series champions after he defeated Angelica Andersson heads-up in the €125 Half and Half for €2,045. This event boasted one level of no-limit hold’em followed by a level of pot-limit Omaha. Rinse and repeat until a winner was crowned.
The tournament attracted 70 players to create a €7,084 prize pool. Here is a look at all the players that cashed for at least a €215 min-cash:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mikael Gronvik | €2,045 |
| 2 | Angelica Andersson | €1,430 |
| 3 | Karl Gialanze | €1,080 |
| 4 | Noelia Ivars | €790 |
| 5 | Andre Sorm | €560 |
| 6 | Elor Bratfors | €404 |
| 7 | Marcin Mesz | €310 |
| 8 | William Lynch | €250 |
| 9 | Florian Morel | €215 |
Franke Still Leads the Cash Game Challenge
Tuesday featured two more Cash Game Challenge sessions with Tobias Bollman winning €610 (305 big blinds) in the early €2/€2 no-limit hold'em affair followed by Jack Holland winning €637 (318.5 big blinds) in the €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha challenge.
Neither of these players came remotely close to knocking The Festival Series Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk off the top of the mountain after he won €6,300 for a whopping 3,150 big blinds on Monday night in the €2/€2 pot-limit Omaha Cash Game Challenge.
The player that wins the most big blinds during any Cash Game Challenge will be rewarded a package valued at €1,600 to The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.
| Date | Game | Winner | Net Prize | Big Blinds |
| May 15 | €2/€2 NLHE | Hugo Loustrau | €416 | 208 |
| May 15 | €2/€2 PLO | Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk | €6,300 | 3,150 |
| May 16 | €2/€2 NLHE | Tobias Bollman | €610 | 305 |
| May 16 | €2/€2 PLO | Jack Holland | €637 | 318.5 |
May 17th Schedule
The third day of The Festival Series Malta will be action-packed at Portomaso Casino. Both the PokerListings Championship and the Heads-Up will play down to a winner with 53 players and 4 players remaining respectfully. Colin Lovelock is looking to snag back-to-back championships in the PokerListings Championship.
Meanwhile, there are several new events starting today, including the excited Blackjack Tournament and the 8-Game, which you can check out below. Not listed are the Franke's Flip Flops which are scheduled to take place from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. However, there could be an impromptu session of flips earlier in the day as well.
In addition, cash games will be once again running 24 hours a day as will be the case throughout The Festival Series Malta.
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 12 p.m. | Event #8: €550 Main Event Day 1b |
| 1 p.m. | Event #1: €250 PokerListings Championship Day 2 |
| 1 p.m. | Event #9: €250 Heads-Up Day 2 |
| 2 p.m. | Event #18: €125 8-Game |
| 4 p.m. | Event #19: €125 Blackjack Tournament |
| 5 p.m. | Event #20: €1,100 PLO High Roller |
| 7 p.m. | Event #21: €70 Main Event Satellite |
| 8 p.m. | Event #22: €2/€2 PLO Cash Game Challenge |
| 9 p.m. | Event #23: €150 Turbo Satellite to NLH High Roller |
| 10 p.m. | Event #24: €250 Texas Knockout |
| 10:30 p.m. | Event #25: €2/€2 NLHE Cash Game Challenge |
