The Boys of Optibet Poker
At basically every single stop of The Festival, you will find a passionate group of Latvian poker pros at your tables. Covered with Optibet Poker gear, often wearing sunglasses and a cap, they aim for gold at every tournament they participate in. They are a fun company to have around in a game and like to explore the local culture! Let's get a couple of them introduced here!
Operator: Optibet Poker
The brand Optibet, originally founded in Latvia in 1999, introduced its current name in 2008 after being acquired by Redbet Holding AB in 2007. Initially focused on sports betting, the company introduced live betting during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and expanded its offerings to include online casino games in 2012. A structural change in 2013 marked the beginning of major expansion efforts, with the operator obtaining an Estonian EU license and launching operations in Estonia in 2014. In late 2018, Optibet was acquired by the Swedish company Enlabs AB. While the brand remains primarily focused on Latvia and Estonia, it is actively seeking to expand its poker room into new markets.
Ever since the start of 2023, Optibet has been hosting online qualifiers leading to any of The Festival Series live events. It all started with Nottingham in 2023, and the most recent opportunity for Optibet Poker players will be for Bratislava 2024 (Nov 18-24).
Besides the weekly finals at the Partypoker network, of which Optibet Poker is part, they also have their qualifiers themselves, being held bi-weekly. Here are the dates for the Optibet Poker Finals:
| Date | Time | Buy-in | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06.10.2024 | 19:00 CET | €150 | 1x €1,500 Live Package GTD |
| 20.10.2024 | 19:00 CET | €150 | 1x €1,500 Live Package GTD |
| 03.11.2024 | 19:00 CET | €150 | 1x €1,500 Live Package GTD |
| 17.11.2024 | 19:00 CET | €150 | 1x €1,500 Live Package GTD |
Details: €1,500 The Festival Optibet Package
The Festival Bratislava 2024:
- 1x €550 The Festival Bratislava Main Event
- €250 Side-Event buy-ins
- €700 travel money directly into Optibet account (you can use it for flight tickets or accommodation)
» More Info: Optibet Satellites - Optibet
Gatis Beigass
Perhaps the one who everyone in The Festival Series knows best is Gatis Reigass. The 'Captain' of the Optibet Poker squad has visited almost all of our live stops, and with two semi-deep runs in the Main Event, he has put himself on the map as a true tournament player. With a little over €10,000 in total live earnings following The Hendon Mob, it makes much sense that Gatis is primarily an online poker player. Besides making his living with online poker, he is also a Twitch Streamer and often shows skills on the channel Optibetpoker.
| Date | Place | Tournament | Place | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2024 | Czech Republic | € 300 - Mystery Bounty | 27th | €630 |
| June 2024 | Czech Republic | € 250 - The Hendon Mob Championship | 48th | €609 |
| May 2023 | Malta | € 550 - The Festival Main Event | 32nd | €1,750 |
| February 2023 | England | £ 120 - NLH Freezeout | 3rd | £1,250 |
| February 2023 | England | £ 450 - The Festival Main Event | 21st | £2,000 |
| October 2022 | Slovakia | € 125 - No Limit Hold'em | 20th | €450 |
Matīss Celmiņš
One of the prominent players of Optibet has to be Matīss Celmiņš, who collected already over €75,000 in live career earnings. Not only does he travel all over the place recently to play live events at various events, but he also has his own coaching platform. Currently living in the city of love called Paris, Matīss Celmiņš is more and more exploring the live poker scene, in addition to his career in online poker. Will we see him again in Bratislava (Nov 18-24)? Only time will tell, but we are quite sure he will attend the series again, as he feels like a fish in the water during an action-packed live tournament series. (Tip: If you are looking for a good and reliable poker coach, then Matīsscoaching is a very good recommendation!)
| Date | Place | Tournament | Place | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2023 | Malta | € 550 - The Festival Main Event | 49th | €1,100 |
Klavs Garselis
Every group of friends has got a person within, who is a bit more silent (in the background) than the others. Klavs Garselis made a miraculous run in The Festival Main Event in Rozvadov earlier this year and also managed to find a cash during one of the Madness tournaments of our previous stop in Malta. He keeps laying low in tournaments as well, but certainly he might strike very soon in live tournaments when the tournament has a decent amount of entries. Looking forward seeing what Klavs has to bring during upcoming Festival Series events!
| Date | Place | Tournament | Place | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2024 | Malta | € 125 - Wednesday Madness | 11th | €250 |
| June 2024 | Czech Republic | € 550 - The Festival Main Event | 23rd | €2,645 |
| June 2024 | Czech Republic | € 300 - Mystery Bounty | 32nd | €464 |
Optibet Packages up for Grabs!
Optibet qualifies always many players to one of our events, but that's not all! Take for example our most recent 'Player of the Series' winner, Aleksiy Baranobskiy, who won himself a full package for The Festival Bratislava 2024, on top of his great runs throughout the entire week in Malta. The online qualifiers are running bi-weekly on Optibet Poker only, as well as the weekly Finals on the partypoker network, of which Optibet is part of. Rumours go that Roberts Krigers and Arturs Dauģis already secured themselves of an online qualifier victory already last Sunday, so we will see them back as well usually in Bratislava!
Good luck to all players on Optibet Poker, and see you soon in Bratislava (Nov 18-24).
