2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria
Day 1 Started
2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria
2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria
Day: 1
Welcome to the 2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria at Platinum Casino
Welcome to PokerNews' live coverage of the 2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria at Platinum Casino located just off the sand and waves of Sunny Beach.
After successful stops this year in London and Malta, history is once again being made in Bulgaria with the country's first ever Cash Game Festival.
The Cash Game Festival features 120-hours of non-stop cash game action from Wednesday, August 31 to Sunday, September 4. Some players couldn't wait for the festival to begin as ring game tables already running before the official festival begins with welcome drinks at 5:00 p.m.
In addition to poker, there are many activities off the felts for players to enjoy.
2016 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria Activities
| Date | Activities |
|---|---|
| August 31 | Opening Drinks |
| September 1 | Mini Golf Challenge and Dinner |
| September 2 | Yacht Ride |
| September 3 | VIP-Party |
| September 4 | Guided Tour |
Players during the festival will have the opportunity to play in any game they choose, with players already buzzing about no-limit hold'em, dealer's choice pot-limit Omaha, Sviten Special, and six-plus hold'em to name a few
Each day during the festival, a feature table will be broadcast on a 30 minute delay at 5:30 p.m. (GMT +3) and 9:30 p.m. (GMT +3) with the charismatic Brandon Allen and guests each day. You can check out the action on a 30-minute delay starting today at 6:00 p.m (GMT +3) on the Cash Game Festival website, on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel, and here on PokerNews.
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 five-day festival.
Branden & Brandon
The feature table just began with the action at €1/€2. The stakes will be higher during the later feature table. Brandon Allen is the main host and will be joined to kick things off by Brendon Krabill.
Krabill is also here to play poker, but we learned he got a good early start in casino games. After being on self-described tilt, Krabill put €500 on red and won. He then went for welcome drinks before returning to the roulette table again seemingly noticing a pattern. He won five bets in a row on betting certain numbers on the wheel to come up to win another €1,000.
We will provide brief bios of all the players on the feature table which can be viewed just 15 minutes here on PokerNews as well as on the Cash Game Festival website,on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.
Feature Table Bios
The €1/€2 no-limit hold'em feature table just kicked off, however, the stream is on a slight delay and should be live in a few minutes.
Slovakia's Dusan Hajek, sitting in sitting in seat 1, has been playing poker for 7 years, mostly online. The 30-year old has never played on a televised table before and he shared his strategy for the the final table "is not to be nervous."
In seat 2 is local Bulgarian Toni Statev, who shared he plays poker for fun. The 20-year old shared that he will be "hunting" at the final table. When not playing poker or enjoying other hobbies, he is busy studying law.
Sweden's Daniel Nisman in seat 3 is a 32-year old bartender. He began playing poker online, however, currently only plays at the casino and home games. He has played in some big action in the past including being involved in a single pot worth 10,000 Swedish Krona.
Bulgaria's Martin Tonchev in seat 4 is not a stranger to being on a televised table as he shared he was previously streamed in action for the World Poker Tour Austria Warm-Up in March 2016 where he won €6,420.
Estonia's Maret Komarova in seat 5 is a SlotsMillions.com sponsored player. The former tennis coach shared that she is "very confident," which we can understand since she has been attended many Cash Game Festivals in the past and appeared on the feature table. In addition to excelling in both tennis and poker, Komarova also took second place in the table tennis tournament that took place at the Cash Game Festival in London in March.
Over in seat 6 is Bulgari's Boris Antonov. Although he has never played on a television table before, he shared that he is not nervous. This is probably due to having more than 10 years experience playing ring games.
Merel Merdjanow is also from Bulgaria and shared that he is "really excited to play on his first television table. The 22-year old's biggest pot was for €3,500 at €2/€5 no-limit hold'em.
Fellow countrymate Kalle Fagerstrom in seat 8 is a Cash Game Festival veteran having attended just about every one including the last one in Malta. He is a poker manager during the day, but is here today as a Guts.com sponsored poker player. He shared his stratategy is to "kiss the ass of noobs, not to be nervous, and drink beer." Ok, that last bit might not be strategy, but he did add that he was "looking forward" to being on the feature table.
Three Tables Running
In addition to the feature table, there are two other hold'em tables running to kick off the action at both €1/€2 and €1/€3.
New Table
The €1/€3 no-limit hold'em game ended, however, many of the players joined in on the action on a new table with higher stakes of €2/€5.
Photos From the Day 1 Welcome Party
More Photos From Early in Day 1
More photos from Day 1 compliments of Natalie Pastakeda / Vita Pictura Productions.
Omaha Table Opens
A flurry of players just flocked into the poker room. The poker room manager just opened up three new tables including a €5/€5 Omaha table.
Including this table, the festival has reached five tables and the action should be getting bigger as the night moves on.
New Feature Table Setting Up
While you can still watch the end of the action on the first feature table by clicking on the Live Streaming tab, the second table which will be at €2/€5 no limit hold'em is being set-up.
A couple of players freshly off the first feature table shared the action for the most part was pretty tight with some exceptions. Guts.com player Kalle Fagerstrom shared his disappointment to walk away down €700 during his first run, immediately hopped on a nearby €1/€3 table with renewed spirits to compete against a table full of players including Cash Game Festival co-founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk.
We also quickly caught up with SlotsMillions.com player Maret Komarova, who walked away fairing a little better Fagerstrom with a €70 profit. Komarova agreed that players were typically playing tight, however, she added that there was at least one player that was visibly playing aggressively and that since she was unable to see the mucked cards it is possible the play was looser than she thought.