The Festival Series – Franke’s Flip Flops Winner Nottingham – Alexandru Talica
The Festival Series is best known for its social character. An event that is accessible to every poker player, from low to higher buy-ins, from mixed games to Heads-Up tournaments. The atmosphere is unprecedented, and just like the crew of The Festival, players are very excited when the next stop is approaching. An event organized for friends, with friends, and by friends. At our previous edition in Nottingham, we met Alexandru Talica. The cheerful Romanian living in Nottingham could be found at the last few tables in every tournament he participated in. Not only was he successful during tournaments, but he also walked away with the honorable Franke's Flip Flips trophy. On top of that, with an accompanying full package for the next edition in sunny Malta. We spoke to Alexandru very briefly to get to know him a bit better.
Melvin TF: Hi Alexandru, It was a pleasure meeting you in Nottingham. How did you come in touch with poker in the first place? And how would you describe yourself as a player?
- Alexandru: Hello! I started playing poker at home with friends and then we decided to take it to another level and start playing at casinos, such as Dusk Till Dawn Pokerclub. I am a purely recreational player, who plays a bit of online poker as well but mainly live.
Melvin TF: I've seen you playing in Nottingham and everywhere I was looking, you went deep in tournaments, five in the money I counted. For ''Player of The Festival'' you just came to a few points shy of being first, ending as a runner-up.
- Alexandru: Yes. It was an excellent week with friends and met many new friends as well. Sadly, I didn’t take down the overall ranking, but the Flips victory is a nice consolidation prize!
Melvin TF: Good tournament results, second in Player of the Series, and shipping a package as a winner of Franke's Flip Flops! How did that go for you? What was your experience with it?
- Alexandru: We are usually playing flips at the end of a cash session but never had a competition like this. I'm so happy to win that as well. The Festival Series is a good atmosphere event with a lot of mixed games. I met lovely people and made new friends. I can’t wait to see everyone in Malta!
Alexandru Talica - A man with no fear!
With $54,080 in total live earnings, Alexandru Talica is a very respectable recreational player in the live circuit around Nottingham. The majority of his money finishes he had at the Dusk Till Dawn Pokerclub, with his biggest result to date during our The Festival Series back in February of this year. After making a heads-up deal with another regular player of the local circuit Reem Ahmed, cashing eventually for £5,785. Not bad for a £120 buy-in event with 384 entries! During our next event in Malta at the Portomaso Casino in St. Julians, he will be hunting for his first international flag at his HendonMob account. As part of the full package he collected, he will also attend the many hospitality events being held throughout the week. New results are potentially just a formality if you ask us due to his determination to chase results, we are proud to call Alexandru Talica a true Festival Friend!
Key facts about Alexandru Talica:
- The Hendon Mob cashes: $54,080
- Biggest tournament win: $ 6,931, The Festival Nottingham 2023, £120 The Hendon Mob Championship
- The favourite hand: Like many other recreational players Alexandru also likes to play with Aces, but he also likes to play any other hand that helps him to win.
- Favourite accessory: Sunglasses. We concluded that Alexandru wore sunglasses on six out of seven days at The Festival Nottingham in February. We will see if he also wears them in Malta where the sun actually shines, or if he is just a "sunglasses addict" who wears them 83% of the time.
- Second favourite accessory: A Baseball hat.
- Fun fact you might not know: When Alexandru takes off his sunglasses at the poker table, everyone can see his eyes! And his eyebrows too! Would you believe it!
- Biggest dream: According to rumors and reliable sources, his biggest dream is to fall asleep with his sunglasses on and dream about winning the Main Event at The Festival Malta 2023. And then wake up and realize that it wasn't a dream.
What is Franke´s Flip Flops?
Franke´s Flip Flops is a fun and entertaining way to enjoy the festival atmosphere. It is primarily designed for those who prioritize quick wins over waiting for hours for good starting hands, and where skills play a bigger role than being lucky. Or was it the other way around? Anyway, it doesn't matter. The most important thing is not to miss out on the flips. Otherwise, you will fail on both - the good emotions and the opportunity to come to our next event for free.
Festival Malta 2023 is hosting "Franke´s Flip Flops" tournaments at Portomaso from Monday, May 15 to Friday, May 19, where players can win tournament credit by successfully completing flips. The rules of the flip tournament are straightforward - players will participate in multiple games of flipping each day and earn a point for winning each flip. The player with the most points (wins) at the end of the Festival will win the title of Franke's "Flip Flops" and receive a special prize package for our upcoming Malta event. In case of a tie, a final "big flip" will determine the ultimate winner. These tournaments promise to be entertaining and exciting for all participants.
Full winners list of Franke´s Flip Flops
| Event | Winner | Country |
| 2023 Nottingham | Alexandru Talica | UK/Romania |
| 2022 Bratislava | Ian Vertefouille | U.S.A |
| 2022 Tallinn | Jens Henrik Riis | Denmark |
If you also want to win flips like Alexandru or just meet him and many other new friends, then Festival Malta will take place from May 15-21 in the place where all opportunities come together - Portomaso Casino. It's a place where even the unluckiest poker players can become lucky, and where the names of at least 50 winners will be written into poker history. Whether you will be among them, you can only find out by coming to the event. We will be there for sure!
Win today a package together with Franke
Today you have a great chance to play and win a package to Malta with Franke, who is playing today at Unibet. Together with the PokerCity boys from the Netherlands, they are streaming the game and obviously will try to win some flip satellites also at Unibet. You can see more on the PokerCity Twitch channel starting at 20:00 CET.
