2016 Cash Game Festival London
Day 1 Started
2016 Cash Game Festival London (Fall)
2016 Cash Game Festival London
Day: 1
Welcome to the 2016 Cash Game Festival London at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City
Welcome to PokerNews' live coverage of the 2016 Cash Game Festival London at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City.
After a successful stop earlier this year at Aspers in March, followed by two more stops in Malta in June and Bulgaria earlier this month, the festival once again returns to the heart of Great Britain to East London.
The Cash Game Festival features 120-hours of non-stop cash game action from Wednesday, Sept. 28 to Sunday, Oct. 2. Some players couldn't wait for the festival to begin as 10 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 |
|---|---|
| Sept. 28 | Opening Drinks |
| Sept. 29 | Darts |
| Sept. 30 | Beer tasting and Dinner |
| Oct. 1 | VIP-Party |
| Oct. 2 | 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, mixed-games, open-face Chinese poker and Sviten Special.
Each day during the festival, a feature table will be broadcast on a 20 minute delay at 5:30 p.m. (BST) and 8:30 p.m. (BST) with the charismatic Brandon Allen and guests each day. You can check out the live feature table action starting today at appromiately 6:00 p.m (BST) 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 London highlights of action on and off the felts throughout the five-day festival.
10 Full Tables in Action
Welcome drinks begin in 10 minutes at which time the 2016 Cash Game Festival London officially kicks off. Meanwhile there are 10 tables in action including a one £5/£5 pot limit Omaha, one £1/£2 pot limit Omaha table, four £1/£2 no-limit hold'em tables and four £1/£1 no-limit hold'em tables.
Welcome Drinks!
Players have been enjoying welcome drinks. The feature table is scheduled to kick off any minute on a 20 minute delay. Action on the early table will be £1/£2 no limit hold'em and we will share the starting line-up at the table along with bios shortly after it begins.
You will be able to check out the action at approximately 6:10 p.m. (BST) on the Cash Game Festival website, on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel, and here on PokerNews.
Feature Table Bios
The feature table just began with stakes at £1/£2 no-limit hold'em and no cap on what players can buy in for.
Here is a look at who is in action:
In seat one is North London's Michael Cannon who is a plumber by trade and enjoys poker on the side. The 26-year old shared that he has been playing poker for half his life and appeared on a feature table once before in Coventry. His strategy this time around on a television table is to "treat it same as all games.
Next to Cannon is Cash Game Festival specialist Jack Fenton who has been to every Cash Game Festival this year after being introduced to it when it was in London early this year in March. Since then Fenton has followed the tour to Malta and Bulgaria and has been on the feature table during all four festivals. Fenton shared his strategy is to "clean the table out."
Another Cash Game Festival veteran in SlotsMillion pro Maret Komarova from Estonia is in seat 3. Like Fenton, Komarova has also been on the feature table during every feature table during each of the four Cash Game Festivals this year. Komarova's strategy is simple, sharing that, "All in preflop with all my pocket pairs."
Cash Game Festival co-founder Martin "Franke" von Zweibergk is in seat 4. "Franke" lit up the room recently when he celebrated after winning a small hand early on during the feature table. Time stood still in the poker room as it erupted with laughter.
Over in seat 5 is Steven Winter followed by Detelin Hristov in seat 6 and Allesandro Toranto in seat 7. To round out the feature table is British actor David Kappel who explained his goal was to "win, win, win!"
Brendon Krabill Does it Again on the Roulette Tables!
If you followed the coverage of the 2016 Cash Game Festival in Bulgaria that took place less than a month ago, you are likely familiar with the story behind Brendon Krabill who was absolutely crushing roulette and poker at Platinum Casino.
We just saw Krabill with a big smile on his face, and he shared that he received a free £5 for signing up a friend for an Aspers Casino rewards card. Just minutes later, he turned his £5 into almost £23 in video slots before going back to what his bread and butter was off the poker felts in roulette. From there with a strategy of betting on just black or red, he ran up the £23 to £300. It didn't all go well for Krabill, as earlier today he did lost £200 while playing low-stakes pot-limit Omaha.
We asked him what made him walk away with £300 and he shared that his goal was £200. He hit that and put half of it on red, and won his coin flip. He is now back at the £1/£2 pot-limit Omaha table with his winnings.
Ricardo Suriano Joins the Feature Table
Players come from near and far for the Cash Game Festival London. David Kappel hit the felts and was just replaced by Italian businessman Ricardo Suriano.
Half Price Food and Drinks!
We just learned from Aspers Casino Head of Poker John Scanlon that all players during the Cash Game Festival London will be given gold card benefits throughout the festival.
Among many other things, this means half price on all food and most drinks.
Photos From 2016 Cash Game Festival London Day 1
Here is a look at some photos from the first feature table and welcome drinks compliments of Vita Pictura Productions.
First Feature Table Ends
The first feature table just ended with SlotsMillion pro Maret Komarova coming away as one of the big winners. She won close to £700 playing 2 1/2 hours of £1/£2 with the help of a big pot where she raised with pocket aces and was called by six players to the flop.
She check/called a wet-board on a 
flop against two opponents. She was down to heads-up action when a third spade hit the board when the 
appeared and called again now with the nut-flush draw and an over-pair. Komarova's flush-draw completed on when the 
spiked the river and she got paid off in a huge way when her opponent shoved. Komarova snap called and picked up a pot of over £430.
She later lost a pot in a different hand to bring her winnings down a bit to under £400, but still ended up as walking away with a bit of profit.
Jack Fenton also shared that he enjoyed being on the feature table despite being down £80 and Cash Game Festival co-founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk enjoyed his time as well. He was down a full buy-in early before battling back to just being the cost of a dinner in London at the end of the session.
Next up is £2/£5 no-limit hold'em on the televised feature table that should begin streaming in about an hour.