Sancak Defeats Zerjav to Win Largest TFS Bratislava Prize on Day 5
There was no shortage of poker and casino action on Thursday with tons of events at The Festival Series Bratislava at Banco Casino and cash games running around the clock at a variety of stakes and games.
Two more opening flights in the €500,000 guaranteed €550 Main Event were played out in the main ballroom with the field growing to 410 entries after four opening flights with two more opening flights to go on Friday and late registration permitted during the first two blind levels of Saturday's Day 2. Canada's Kelly Kellner leads the 127 survivors as he was the only player to pass 300,000 in chips after parlaying his 30,000 opening stack on Thursday's Day 1c into 375,000 in chips.
Ersin Sancak earned his time in the spotlight on Thursday as well after defeating Slovenian poker beast Blaz Zerjav heads-up in the €1,100 High Roller to win the €18,000 top prize for the biggest thus far this festival.
Meanwhile, The Festival Series founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk found himself in familiar territory as he powered his way in the final few hands to take the lead in the Cash Game Challenge with a 1,239 big blind profit in the televised €5/€5 PLO Cash Game Challenge session last night to pass WSOP Europe 8-Game champion Dainius Antanaitis who amassed 1,068 big blinds earlier in the week in €2/€2 PLO.
Daniel Smith leads the final 22 players in the €250 The Hendon Mob Championship with players already in the money heading into Day 2 in hopes of securing the €9,100 top prize, while others managed to win customized framed sketched trophies in other side events. Read on to learn more about what happened on Thursday at The Festival Series Bratislava.
Ersin Sancak Wins High Roller
The €1,100 NLH High Roller sported a €30,000. This was blown out of the water with 51 entries creating a €48,750 prize pool.
Michel Molenaar, who won the last The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event and bagged big already this year, was hoping to add a High Roller title to his already impressive and growing poker resume. The Dutch poker superstar ran deep once again before hitting the rail in fifth place for €3,750.
Meanwhile, Twitch streamer Scott "Pokerbrahs" Kenyon was on the rail rooting on his friend in Slovenian poker hero Blaz Zerjav. It came down to just Zerjav and Ersin Sancak with Sancak coming out on top to win the largest prize thus far this The Festival Series of €18,000. While Zerjav fell one short from the title, he will be able to wipe any tears away from not winning the customized framed sketch trophy with a runner-up prize of €11,500.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ersin Sancak | Austria | €18,000 |
| 2 | Blaz Zerjav | Slovenia | €11,500 |
| 3 | Michal Janczarski | Poland | €7,500 |
| 4 | Nicolai Ejstrud | Denmark | €5,200 |
| 5 | Michel Molenaar | Netherlands | €3,750 |
| 6 | Per Alstig | Sweden | €2,500 |
Igor Narajczyk Wins PLO 4/5/6
Event #32: €250 4/5/6 generated the second biggest prize pool of the day of tournaments that were completed with 94 entries competing in rotating PLO action for a piece of the €20,092.
The Festival Series veterans JJ Hazan and Johnny Johansen both managed to cash but missed out on the big money near the top. Lithuania's Rinatas Suleimanovas' deep run ended in third place for €2,600 leaving two players from Poland in Igor Narajczyk and Pawel Keller to battle for pot-limit Omaha supremacy. Narajczyk defeated his countrymate to win the €5,400 top prize while Keller settled for the healthy €3,542 runner-up prize.
Check out all of the payouts of the €250 PLO 4/5/6 below:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Igor Narajczyk | Poland | €5,400 |
| 2 | Pawel Keller | Poland | €3,542 |
| 3 | Rinatas Suleimanovas | Lithuania | €2,600 |
| 4 | Mika Halmetoja | Finland | €2,000 |
| 5 | Asterios Kokompelis | Greece | €1,500 |
| 6 | Serguei Palomera | Sweden | €1,100 |
| 7 | JJ Hazan | United Kingdom | €800 |
| 8 | Johnny Johansen | Norway | €600 |
| 9 | Daniel van Ederen | Austria | €600 |
| 10 | Zoltan Gal | Hungary | €600 |
| 11 | Jari Haemaelaeinen | Finland | €450 |
| 12 | Hans Karonen | Sweden | €450 |
| 13 | Gia Carnestroem | Sweden | €450 |
In other news, Marita Magi defeated 16 skilled fun slots enthusiasts to win the €125 Slots Championship for the entire €1,672 prize pool.
Italy's Dario De Toffoli came out on top of a field of 88 entries to win the €125 HORSE for €2,800, while Finland's Toni Sarkama was the last player standing in a bigger field of 147 entries in the €125 Thursday Turbo Midnight Madness for €3,760.
Despite not winning any flips on Thursday, Keito Kaljulaid still maintains a four flip lead with 11 flips won in the Franke's Flip Flop challenge. Also, the preliminary Player of the Series standings show Paf's Ola Brandborn on top with Scott "Pokerbrahs" Kenyon, who finished runner-up to Brandborn on Wednesday in the €250 8-Game, hungry to push past him in second place.
Day 6 Schedule (Dec. 1)
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 12 p.m. | Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Day 1e |
| 1 p.m. | Event #37: €250 Open Face Chinese |
| 4 p.m. | Event #38: €125 Festival Queens |
| 5 p.m. | Event #39: €250 PLO Masters |
| 7 p.m. | Event #40: €125 NL Texas €15K GTD |
| 8 p.m. | Event #41: €5/€5 NLHE Cash Game Challenge |
| 8 p.m. | Event #10: €500K GTD TFS Bratislava €550 Main Event Turbo Day 1f |
| 9 p.m. | Event #29: €250 The Hendon Mob Championship Day 2 |
| 9 p.m. | Event #42: €125 PLO/PLO8 |
| 10:30 p.m. | Event #43: €5/€5 PLO Cash Game Challenge |
| 11 p.m. | Event #44: €125 Friday Texas Turbo Midnight Madness |
