2018 Cash Game Festival Bratislava Day 1 | 2018 Cash Game Festival Bratislava

04-05-2018 00:17 UTC+2

Unibet Ambassador David Lappin Shines on Day 1 of the Cash Game Festival Bratislava

Jaxon

The 2018 Cash Game Festival Bratislava at Banco Casino Bratislava kicked off to a great start with an amazing and fun day both on and away from the poker felt.

The festival began in the late afternoon with a welcome drinks ceremony with many players enjoying some early champagne to help break into the spirit. Shortly after, the first televised feature table, commentated by the British duo of Henry Kilbane and George Sandford, began with players battling it out in €1/€2 no-limit hold'em.

Unibet Poker Ambassador and the co-host of The Chip Race podcast David Lappin, well-known for his prowess in tournaments and sit-and-go's, showed he isn't a one-trick pony by winning €651 or 325.5 big blinds. This was the most profit at the table and in terms of big blinds was the most profit at either of the two feature tables.

Lappin's big day was catapulted by a hand where he was able to win a four-digit pot with aces against kings with stacks in the middle before the flop. Lappin shared some of his insight into the hand in a live video on Facebook below.

Italy's Luca Sebastiani was the star of the show at the second €2/€5 no-limit hold'em feature table by winning a table high of €1,688 or 317.6 big blinds. While Lappin did win slightly more big blinds than Sebastiani, the Italian does get the honors of winning the most cash at either feature table during the opening day of the festival.

As will be the case every day during the festival, live streaming is scheduled at lower stakes at 6:00 p.m. and higher stakes at 9:00 p.m. local time. You can watch all the action on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel and under the Live Stream tab in our coverage.

Stay tuned at PokerNews as the festival has just begun and will continue to grow as the weekend approaches.

Tags: Banco Casino Bratislava Cash Game Festival Bratislava David Lappin George Sandford Henry Kilbane Luca Sebastiani

04-04-2018 23:50 UTC+2

Luca Sebastiani Wins Big at the Later Feature Table

Jaxon

Italy's Luca Sebastiani faced off against an active and tough €2/€5 no-limit hold'em feature table and came out on top by winning €1,688 or 317.6 big blinds.

While this puts him at the most profit overall so far at feature tables, it is slightly behind the 325.6 big blinds won by Unibet Poker Ambassador David Lappin.

Although the feature tables are both in the books, there is plenty of action taking place around the poker room across a variety of games and stakes. In addition. many other players are gathered in the bar lounge area catching up with old friends from previous events.

04-04-2018 23:25 UTC+2

Nick Diaz in the House

Jaxon

The brains behind 32Red Poker and the man that runs the show Nick Diaz arrived in Bratislava to attend his second consecutive Cash Game Festival. Diaz has been with 32Red for 15 years and has immediately found his place in the Cash Game Festival family with players loving the calm and cool vibe he naturally brings.

Diaz began working at 32Red straight from university and he has never looked back.

"I finished university studying languages and applied for a summer job at 32Red," Diaz said to PokerNews. "I got the job on the basis I was going to apply my language skills and translate. I eventually got into poker side of things because to me it's a fun game."

Language skills were just the beginning of what Diaz brought to the table for 32Red. His ability to solve any and all issues that arose on the poker side guided his path to where he is now.

"We had a small support team and all the poker queries came to me," Diaz shared. "The team waited for me to come on shift to wait for these types of emails and issues. The operations director at the time asked me if I wanted to take on being the poker manager and I said yes. That's how it all started."

Diaz has had several poker management rolls at 32Red. Now he is a one-man show running the poker product for the online gaming company.

"I then went from poker manager to poker operations manager to poker marketing manager," said Diaz. "So, yeah, I officially run poker for 32Red."

Diaz shared that they have always been able to offer live entertainment suitable for tournament players and they have experimented in the past for sit-and-go players. However, cash game players make up an important part of the mix at 32Red Poker and until the Cash Game Festival there was nothing offered for this group of players.

"Cash games are one of the most important activities we have in terms of revenue and also in terms of what players enjoy," said Diaz. "We catered already for too many players for live tournaments and not anything for cash game players."

It also didn't hurt that the charismatic Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk is the festival's co-founder.

"As soon as I heard about the Cash Game Festival, I immediately became interested and immediately wanted in," said Diaz. "I met the co-founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk and we quickly hit it off."

The first collaboration between 32Red Poker and the Cash Game Festival took place during the Cash Game Festival London earlier in the year. Thanks to its big success, the partnership has grown bigger.

"We tested the waters during the last Cash Game Festival in London and we went fully all-in offering 10 packages for Bratislava," said Diaz. "One of the promotions was a biweekly leaderboard where we gave away two packages every two weeks along with €1,000."

The most active players aren't the only ones to be awarded as anyone can win Cash Game Festival packages in freerolls held once every three months at 32Red.

"In addition, I am giving a chance for all players to win packages," said Diaz. "We will try to host every three months a €5,000 freeroll where the top two winners can choose to attend a Cash Game Festival with a package valued at €1,500. In addition, another €2,000 in cash are awarded to others that cash."

Diaz thinks that the Cash Game Festival will only get bigger as time moves on.

"The festival does feel like it is something that will continue to grow," said Diaz. "Now that we have live entertainment for tournament and cash game players the next challenge is to find similar channels for sit-and-go and casino players."

Diaz plans to enjoy himself and got a head start tonight. This is his first-time in Bratislava and is just catching up with friends before hopping into site-seeing and of course playing some poker himself. We will catch up with Diaz later in the trip to see his impressions about the city and the Cash Game Festival Bratislava.

Tags: 32Red Nick Diaz

04-04-2018 22:39 UTC+2

Jon Kyte Cracks Aces

Jaxon

There has been tons of action on the €2/€5 no-limit hold'em feature table. A lot of it is being created by Norway's Jon Kyte. After losing a big hand he won one back at the expense of Italy's Andrea Iengo.

Iengo opened the button for €15 with . Luca Sebastian called from the small blind with before Jon Kyte three-bet to €75 with .

Iengo four-bet to €180. Sebastiani folded and Kyte called.

Kyte checked the rainbow flop before Lengo fired out for €250 into a pot that was already at €375. Kyte perhaps not knowing he was drawing to four outs or runner-runner kings or tens called.

The spiked the turn to give Kyte the nuts with a straight. Kyte checked before Iengo, who was drawing dead went all-in for €615. Kyte made the obvious call and collected a pot worth around €2,100 after the inconsequential completed the board on the river.

Tags: Andrea Lengo Jon Kyte Luca Sebastiani

04-04-2018 21:26 UTC+2

Jon Kyte Headlines Feature Table

Jaxon

The second feature table has just kicked off with stakes at €2/€5 no-limit hold'em. Among the players at the table is none other than Cash Game Festival record holder Jon Kyte for winning the most money at the most feature tables throughout all Cash Game Festivals.

Not only is Kyte a strong cash game player, but he is also a force to be reckoned with in tournaments. In December, he shipped the Nordic Poker Championships for €240,000. Since then he won an event at the Aussie Millions and the Irish Poker Open.

You can watch Kyte and others battle it out on a 20-minute delay on the Live Stream tab in our coverage or by heading to the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.

Tags: Jon Kyte

04-04-2018 20:35 UTC+2

Unibet Poker Ambassador David Lappin Wins Big at the First Feature Table

Jaxon

Unibet Poker's David Lappin was the biggest winner at the first feature table of the festival booking a profit of €651 or 325.5 big blinds in €1/€2 no-limit hold'em. Lappin's big win was catapulted by a big hand he won against Mario Langer when his pocket aces held on two boards after the duo agreed to run it twice versus pocket kings.

Lappin shared in an interview on Facebook that he could be back on stream later in the festival after being invited back for a higher stakes cash game later in the festival.

Tags: David Lappin Mario Langer

04-04-2018 19:39 UTC+2

David Lappin Doubles with Aces

Jaxon

Unibet Poker Ambassador David Lappin just had the biggest hand thus far at the first feature table of the 2018 Cash Game Festival Bratislava.

Lappin called an opening bet from an early position raiser for €7 with before Austria's Mario Langer three-bet to €27 with . Lappin four-bet to €92 and Langer shoved for over €500. The duo agreed to run it twice.

Things went from bad to worse on the first board for Langer after Lappin improved to a set on the flop. Only a runner-runner clubs for a flush or a king on both the turn and river for quads could save Langer.

Langer's fate was sealed and was drawing dead after the appeared on the turn. The inconsequential appeared on the river and the dealer got set to deal out the second board.

The second run of cards wasn't any better for Langer with the board running all blanks and Lappin shipped a pot worth around €1,100.

Tags: David Lappin Mario Langer

04-04-2018 18:03 UTC+2

Unibet Poker Ambassador David Lappin Headlines Early Feature Table

Jaxon

Ireland's David Lappin arrived today and is immediately hopping into the action on the very first feature table of the festival with stakes at €1/€2 no-limit hold'em. In addition to being a Unibet Poker ambassador, he is also the co-host and co-creator of the popular The Chip Race podcast.

Despite focusing most of his play on tournaments and sit-and-go's, Lappin isn't a one-trick pony. Lappin also has played his share of cash games. He previously attended the Cash Game Festival Malta where he lives last June and has also appeared on countless tournament feature tables in the past.

In addition to Lappin in Seat 6, the table is full of entertaining players. You can check out the action by clicking on the Live Stream tab in our coverage or by heading to the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.

Here is a look at the rest of the lineup:

In Seat 1, is Dutch student and Cash Game Festival regular Jeffrey Lanser. Lanser became interested in the festival after watching the live stream and is now appearing at the feature table at his third separate location on the tour.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Danijel Kucurski, in Seat 2, has been playing poker for almost a decade. Despite his vast experience, this will be the first time he appears at the feature table. He shared his favorite hand is 6-4 suited since he once was awarded with a straight-flush with this hand.

Austria's Mario Langer, in Seat 3, is a real estate player and an avid poker player. He shared that he has appeared at a feature table before but this is his first time for a cash game. Langer's favorite hand is king-seven since he once cracked aces twice in a single tournament to go on his way to ship it.

Italy's Andrea Iengo, in Seat 4, has been playing poker for three years. He shared that he loves jack-ten suited since it has great post-flop playability.

Poland's Mateusz Kulis, in Seat 5, shared his biggest achievement was shipping online tournament for $24,000. His favorite hand is one most can get behind in pocket aces.

Fellow Polish player Dawid Chmura is in Seat 7 followed by Bulgaria's Ivelin Ganev in Seat 8. Ganev is in Bratislava on the house after he was one of the winners of the high hand promotion that took place during the last Cash Game Festival in London.

Tags: Andrea Iengo Andrew Jeffrey Danijel Kucurski David Chmura David Lappin Ivelin Ganev Mateusz Kulis Mario Langer

04-04-2018 14:01 UTC+2

First Cash Game Festival in Bratislava is About to Begin

Jaxon

The Cash Game Festival Bratislava is about to begin at the Banco Casino Bratislava, for five days of nonstop cash game poker on April 4-8.

This marks the first time the festival has visited the Slovakian capital conveniently located just an hour away from the Austrian capital of Vienna and the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

The location is just one thing for the Cash Game Festival as for the first time the festival is also collaborating with the MPN Poker Tour which begins on Thursday, April 5.

Another new first is that for the first time Unibet will be one of the partners, with many of the brand's ambassadors planning to join in on the action including Ian Simpson, David Lappin, and Dara O'Kearney.

Cash Game Festival Co-Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk is thrilled about all of the new aspects the latest Cash Game Festival in Bratislava will bring.

"The upcoming Cash Game Festival is a first in many ways," von Zweigbergk said. "It is our first time in Bratislava, Slovakia, our first time collaborating with an existing recognizable poker tour such as MPNPT, and our first time with our new partner in Unibet. I am very excited about all of this."

Existing partners Betsson, NordicBet, and 32Red will also be very present during the festival with qualifiers and ambassadors joining the action on and away from the felt.

Each day, the Cash Game Festival will host the two televised feature tables twice per day at 6 p.m. CEST and 9 p.m CEST. broadcasted on a 20-minute delay at the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel. You can alternatively follow the action by clicking on the Live Stream tab that will be in our PokerNews coverage once the action is live.

For the first-time, United Kingdom's young gun duo of George Sandford and Henry Kilbane will be hosting the stream with guests appearing throughout the week. Sandford and Kilbane guest hosted during the last Cash Game Festival in London and brought tons of energy and excitement to fans of the stream.

Today's early table features €1/€2 no-limit hold'em featuring Cash Game Festival regular Jeffrey Lanser and David Lappin. The stakes then move up to €2/€5 no-limit hold'em for the later table featuring Cash Game Festival regulars Peter La Terra and Jon Kyte, who holds a feature table record for finishing the most times with a profit.

The action will also be hot away from the table with festival organizers arranging plenty of fun activities for those with the hospitality package. This afternoon, many of the regular players on the tour have messaged in that they have arrived in Bratislava and are enjoying some of the pleasures the Slovakian capital has to offer before hitting the tables later in the day.

The Cash Game Festival Bratislava officially kicks off at 5 p.m. CEST with welcome drinks. Stayed tuned to PokerNews as we cover the festival from start to finish.

Tags: 32Red Betsson Cash Game Festival Bratislava Dara O'Kearney David Lappin George Sandford Henry Kilbane Ian Simpson Jeffrey Lanser Jon Kyte Martin von Zweigbergk NordicBet Peter La Terra Unibet