2016 Cash Game Festival London
Day 2 Completed
2016 Cash Game Festival London (Spring)
2016 Cash Game Festival London
Day: 2
Photos from Day 2
Good Times For Festival Organizers
Festival co-founders Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk and Enri Orav are thrilled with how the first two days of the 2016 Cash Game Festival London has been going.
"Franke" shared with us what he felt about the festival so far in just one word - "Amazing!" He added that, "I am very very happy. We are getting more tables today than yesterday."
Furthermore, von Zweigbergk is thrilled that the festival is now global stating, "How should I say it? We are now global with the Cash Game Festivals at Aspers!"
Orav is equally excited sharing, "Things are going great. Lot's of nice guys and great personalities playing today. Included in the action is an ex-Premier League footballer which is pretty big I think. Other than that there are some action guys, some businessmen, so it's great!"
The co-founder is also thrilled about the attention the festival has been getting from poker-media around the world and the working atmosphere sharing, "Content has been great as well for the festival with everyone doing as well as they can. Workers are great and the working atmosphere is perfect!"
Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City Head of Poker John Scanlon also is happy about bringing the Cash Game Festival to his casino stating, "It's been very good today. Different action today with a lot more Omaha with many different players coming in which is good. I think a lot of the players that played yesterday are a bit tired since they played a long session. We expect them to all come back tomorrow and congregate together to create a super-fight."
18 Tables and Counting
Despite it being 10:30 p.m., it doesn't appear the action is slowing down at all. We are at 18 tables and it seems likely this number will grow over 20 sometimes soon with players looking to get into the action.
Learn Who is on the New Feature Table
It a new game, with new players, and higher stakes on the feature table. The game is now £5/£10 pot-limit Omaha with many fans checking out the live stream on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.
Here is a look at the players on the feature table:
30 year-old local UK player Man Moc considers himself to be an amateur poker player who got into the game from watching Late Night Poker on TV. When not on the felts, Moc is a professional management consultant.
Andrew Seabright is popular at the Cash Game Festival not just because he loves higher stakes action, but because he is the owner of a wine tasting establishment. Seabright has the ambitious plan of "getting lucky" on the final table in hopes of winning a few big pots.
Wenben Chen might be the youngest player we have seen on any of the feature tables thus far at just 20-years old. He shared he has been playing the game for 2 1/2 years and loves "action, action, action!"
Poker runs in the family for Jamie Roberts who describes himself as a professional poker player. He also shared that his father played professionally as well. Like father, like son! Roberts is well-known with locals for his poker skills and during his career amassed over $350,000 in live tournament cashes.
France's Jimmy Kébé is likely the most famous player to appear on the feature table so far in the poker festival. Kébé is a former Premier League footballer who is currently not playing on a team. The 32-year old athlete last played for Leeds United in 2014.
Many players came from Finland to play in the Cash Game Festival including Mikko Turtiainen who is on the feature table. Turtiainen is 40th on the all-time list for most career live tournament cashes from players in his country according to The Hendon Mob with more than $440,000 to his name to date.
Nik Persaud shared with us he began getting into poker playing online multi-table tournaments before moving to play more in the live poker arena. The British poker player not only enjoys playing cash-games but also has accumulated over $460,000 in live tournament cashes as well.
You can check out all these players in live action on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel here.
Video Interview With Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City Head of Poker John Scanlon
Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City Head of Poker John Scanlon shared some of his thoughts on the 2016 Cash Game Festival London:
Photos From Day 2
So Far So Good for Six-Plus Hold'em According to Michael Michelin
Senior Operations Manager at iPoker Michael Michelin is in attendance to see first hand some six-plus hold'em in live action. In addition to him sharing some thoughts in the video below about the Cash Game Festival London, he also shared with PokerNews that the game has been successful so far on iPoker.
Higher Stakes Hold'em
For about 20 minutes a £10/£25 no-limit hold'em game was running. Spain's "Javier" who shared with us earlier that he was looking to play in the biggest action possible was one of the four players seated with a decent stack of around £5,000. Despite this "Javier" shared with us that he is down a few bucks, but is still having fun.
A player was eliminated from the action before we got there, and opted not to reload at the same limits. The remaining three players asked if they could reduce the blind limits to £5/£10 to get a few more players in the action.
Raigo Aasmaa and Girlfriend Ainika Bobrovskaja Having a Blast at Cash Game Festival
PokerNews caught up with OlyBet Pro Raigo Aasmaa and his girlfriend, Ainika Bobrovskaja, shortly after they enjoyed themselves on the £1/£1 feature table earlier today. As a couple, they won £55 on the table, with Aasmaa finishing ahead £126 and Bobrovskaja losing £71.
Both players were very excited to be part of the Cash Game Festival, and we spoke to the couple about it.
"I love the Cash Game Festival," Aasmaa shared with PokerNews. "It is the second stop after Tallinn, which took place in my home country of Estonia. It is a bit different with more people, more tables, and more and different stakes. It is fun."
He elaborated that having fun is important to players, which means it should be important to festival organizers since players will be more likely to return for future events.
"The main thing is that it is fun!" he stressed. "You should have fun when you are playing. Even for me, as a professional, it is very important for me. I will have great memories and will want to come back for future stops."
Fun was had by all on the feature table, each for their own different reasons. Aasmaa shared he had fun since the stakes were relatively stress-free for him.
"I loved being on the feature table, because for me the stakes were real low," explained Aasmaa. "I usually play online cash games instead of live. I typically play $1/$2 and $2/$4 pot-limit Omaha, and sometimes $3/$6 and $5/$10."
Bobrovskaja also had fun while playing, although she admitted that she came more for shopping and good meals, other than for playing poker.
"I am not a poker player," Bobrovskaja said with a big smile. "But yes, it playing is fun. I came here because I wanted to do shopping and fine dining. And OK, I played some poker."
For someone that doesn't consider herself to be a poker player, Bobrovskaja does seem to love the game, and we asked if she planned to play any more poker during the London Cash Game Festival.
"No, that is not enough, I am going to play more," she said.
Aasmaa explained that Bobrovskaja has yet to hit her stride.
"She came here to play just a little bit of poker, and we arrived here at 11 p.m. and she played, busted, and today played and busted a little bit," Aasmaa said.
Apparantly the couple discussed a plan where Bobrovskaja should only be playing the top hands of the game in pocket aces. It appeared to those watching the feature table that Bobrovskaja wasn't one to get involved in too many pots, so whether or not the couple was joking is up for debate.
"The plan for the feature table was to only play aces," laughed Aasmaa. "... ace-king, you know the drill."
Bobrovskaja added, "I wasn't getting aces, I needed to play ace-king."
Her response was in the second-to-last hand on the feature table when Cash Game Festival co-founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk announced to the table before the hand he was going to be getting it all in. Bobrovskaja left him no choice when she open-raised from early position to £90. Von Zweigbergk called with 
, however, both players wound up losing when they were unable to improve their hands against Fuad Matatov, who right after von Zweigbergk called with 
.
The couple also shared that they love travel, and poker gives them that opportunity to do so. "I have been traveling around the world to places like Las Vegas, Barcelona, and Prague," shared Aasmaa. "She has played a little bit, but usually a bit more in Las Vegas since the stakes are lower and the fields are softer. Often lots of old guys on $1/$2 and $1/$3 no-limit hold'em are playing pretty soft. Also, they pay-out more because she is a girl."
Aasmaa also explained while laughing that when his girlfriend wins, she "gets the money to go shopping!"
Bobrovskaja agreed with a chuckle stating, "I play one night, and next day I buy one new dress."
Shopping seems to be a good way to keep Bobrovskaja motivated with her boyfriend explaining, "You must be motivated. When she is not motivated she is not playing her 'A' game."