2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria
Day 5 Started
2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria
2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria
Day: 5
Welcome to Day 5 of the 2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria at Platinum Casino
Welcome to PokerNews' live coverage of final day of the 2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria at Platinum Casino located just steps away from the boardwalk in Sunny Beach.
During the first four days, players enjoyed non-stop poker action along with many events organized by the festival including a welcome party, mini-golf, VIP dinner, pool party, and a VIP party. Currently, local Bulgarian player Jasen Dichev took down the biggest pot on Day 3 for €3,400.
Today kicked off at 2:00 p.m. with a guided city tour on motorized tricycles followed by a casino contest hosted by the festival. Those not attending events off the felts were already at the casino competing on the felts.
As was the case during the every other day during the festival, the first televised feature table today will be €1/€2 at 5:30 p.m. (GMT +3) on a 20 minute delay before the table switches up to higher stakes at 8:30 p.m. What makes the feature table is unique is that not only it is for ring games, but many of the players will be taking part in a televised poker table for the first time.
Brandon Allen will once again be leading the commentary with many guests popping in and out. You will be able to check out the action here on PokerNews as well as on the Cash Game Festival website and on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing updates with some 2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria highlights of action on and off the felts throughout the day. Coverage of the poker action will begin around 5:00 p.m., however, we will also give an update about the pool party before then.
Jack Fenton and Maret Komarova Win Casino Contests During Guided City Tour
The city tour just ended with players checking out the sites and sounds of Sunny Beach, Bulgaria while cruising around on motorized tricycles.
The tour didn't end here, as right afterwards were two competitions in the casino. Jack Fenton crushed the table game competition in grand style winning over 6,000 on roulette before losing a little playing blackjack.
Right afterwards was a slots competition, and surprise, surprise, SlotsMillion player Maret Komarova nailed a huge win right away and ran away with the competition cashing out for almost €50.
Pictures from the city tour will appear later in today's coverage.
Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk shared about the guided city tour that he enjoyed the most that, "A SlotsMillions pro actually winning the slots contest and the motorized trikes burning rubber."
A few others on the tour shared what they enjoyed the most.
Maret Komarova: Slots machines!
Kalle Fagerstrom: Totally the bikes!
Daniel Nasman: Scooters!
Jack Fenton: Scooters!
Brandon Allen: Bikes were on fire!
Daniel Nasman Ships the Mini-Golf Competition
Right after the guided city tour ended, a ceremony was held to announce the winner of the 2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria mini-golf competition.
Nasman shared about the comptition that, "It was great, I kind of knew I was in a good spot afterwards after peeking at other scorecards during the game. However, the winner was held as a close guarded secret by the festival organizers, so I was still happily surprised."
He is also now sporting a one-of-a-kind prize.
"I now have the only t-shirt in the whole world that says 'Minigolf Champion 2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria'," shared Nasman.
Go Big or Go to Your New Home
Breaking news! Cash Game Festival co-founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk and Estonian poker player Janar Kokk just agreed to a contract to play a heads-up contest at 6:00 p.m..
The ink is just dry, and there will be nine games in the mix. "Franke" always isn't shy about calling himself a fish, but despite that he is a Sviten Special champion which is one of the games in the mix.
The stakes are high despite the action just being a €1/€1 game to start off. The loser of the competition will be sent to a country within the EU of the winner's choice for one year. The loser can also choose to buyout of the competition, but then they have to live in a small village of the winner's choice for one month.
"Franke" shared he is confident, but then added his chances of winning are about 10 percent, while Kokk shared that, "I think Kaunas, Lithuania is great this time of year."
Kokk's wife Elora shared that she hopes that her husband's opponent "Franke" wins the competition.
Watch the Feature Table Starts Now!
Twist of events for the feature table! Instead of Brandon Allen announcing he will be seated in seat 8 on the feature table.
While he is playing, Guts sponsored player Kalle Fagerstrom will be announcing on the stream, which you will be able to check out the action here on PokerNews as well as on the Cash Game Festival website and on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.
Poker Commentator Brandon Allen Wins a Big Hand on the Televised Feature Table
Brandon Allen has been commentating on all of the feature tables during the first four days of the festival. As mentioned earlier, the table has flipped and Allen is now on the €1/€2 no-limit hold'em televised feature table instead of announcing it.
Although Allen has gathered many reads on the player, he shared he was a little nervous about being on the other side of the camera and on the table. His nerves might be settled after he just won a big hand early on.
Allen, holding 
flopped the world with the board showing 
for a full house. His opponent Matey Sidek, holding 
checked the action to Allen who bet €50. Sidek called and a similar situation came about when the 
appeared on the turn.
Allen then went all-in for his remaining €95 after the 
completed the board on the river. Sidek tanked for a few minutes thinking about whether he could be good if he called and opted to fold shipping a pot of over €300 to Allen.
Meet Gentle Giant David Grabinski, Sviten Special Champion and "Internet Fish"
It is hard to miss Swedish poker pro David Grabinski whenever he is standing in the poker room as he towers over just about every player being over two meters tall. Grabinski shared about some of the fun he has had both on and off the tables along with a little bit about himself.
Grabinski is no stranger to poker, getting his introduction to the game about a dozen years ago. "I am from Stockholm, Sweden and I started playing poker while I was in the military 12 years ago or so and have played ever since," Grabinski explained. "I play about half the time in the poker clubs and casinos in Sweden and the rest of the time while on the road. Mostly it is really in the states, but also some time in Asia and Europe. I play almost only cash games, about 95 percent or so."
Despite Grabinski often traveling away from home to play poker, it was playing in his home country that brought him to Bulgaria for the Cash Game Festival. One of the clubs where Grabinski is a regular was hosting a tournament where the winner won a package that included travel and some cash to play with for the festival.
"I won a package at one of the clubs and Stockholm, so I had no choice other to come here as I had some money waiting for me," explained about why he attended his first Cash Game Festival.
If Grabinski did not win the tournament he likely would not have come to Bulgaria, but sometimes the best things in life come when you least expect them. Grabinski shared his emotions about the Cash Game Festival stating that, "I am happy that I am here, and it has been worth my while."
Additionally, the Cash Game Festival may have added another regular to the tour. While Grabinski does not plan to head to London when the Cash Game Festival heads there on September 28, he did share that he plans on joining back in the fun in November in Tallinn.
Obviously poker is one reason that Grabinski loves the Cash Game Festival, but he also mentioned that the festival also should be considered to be a social event.
"You can play whenever you want and there are games 24/7," Grabinski stated. "There are tons of cool activities including pool parties, mini-golf tournaments, and VIP parties. It isn't just only cash games, it is like a social event as well."
Unlike many poker pros, Grabinski sticks to live play for the most part. He laughed when he shared that, "I play online poker once every six months or so, however, I consider myself to be an 'internet fish'."
The clubs in Sweden, however, appear to provide Grabinski plenty of action while he is at home. He shared that the players are similar, but they can be considered to be 'juicier' as well.
"The games in Sweden are similar to the rest of the world," shared Grabinski. "The characters are like anywhere else where some maniacs and some tight players, etc. The main difference is that there is a lot of money in Sweden, so the games can be much juicier."
Grabinski shared that he typically splits his play between pot-limit Omaha and half no-limit hold'em stating that, "My mix is about half pot-limit Omaha and half Texas hold'em depending on what the casinos and clubs can offer and how the games look like."
However, this doesn't mean that Grabinski isn't also proficient in other forms of poker as well. In fact, he was a champion a couple of years ago in Sviten Special, a game invented in his home country.
"Two years ago, I was the champion in Sviten Special and that was my second tournament ever I played in that game," shared Grabinski. "So I like my results and I don't mind playing Sviten at all. It is an amazing game with nice dynamics."
Grabinski also shared with us a little bit about the origins of Sviten Special, which involves both pot-limit Omaha and five-card draw in the same game.
"The game is named Sviten because it was invented in a club now closed bearing the same name," shared Grabinski. "The game was invented by Anders Bengtsson. I don't know how, he must have been bored and you have to do something."
VIP Party Photos From Day 4
Last night, many players at the 2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria took a break from the felts to party all night long in a VIP party at The Bounce.
Here is a look compliments of Natalie Pastakeda / Vita Pictura Productions.
"Franke" vs. Janar
While all eyes are on the televised feature table, on the next table is the epic heads-up nine-game battle between Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk and Janar Kokk, where the winner not only collects some loot but gets to choose where the loser will be packing his bags to move to for a year.
The blinds started at €1/€1 and increase every 54 hands, representing six-hands each for each of the nine games in the mix. Once one of the players snagged all the chips from his opponent, he wins one leg of the best of three matches.
"Franke" had an early lead, but it has since evaporated with Kokk has evened up the action. During a quick break, while the duo was stretching "Franke" just shared that, "It is a crazy game!"