2017 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria | 2017 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria

08-14-2017 01:08 UTC+3

Crazy Prop Bet, Amazing Poker and Great Activities Cap Off an Epic Cash Game Festival Bulgaria

Jaxon

The 2017 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria at Platinum Casino was a huge success both on and off the poker tables. Players came from around Europe for five days of nonstop cash game poker action from Aug. 9-13.

As has been the case in previous festivals, each day during the festival, Brandon Allen hosted two televised feature tables. A variety of co-hosts were in and out of the booth. The only time Allen wasn't in the booth was when he was on the feature table himself. Unlike Cash Game Festival Malta in June when he appeared on the feature table and ran up a huge profit, he was unable to repeat his success and eventually lost his stack on after all-in preflop betting and left the table when his ace-jack was unable to hold against ace-four.

Cash Game Festival Co-Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk was the star of the show on the poker tables this festival. He arrived a day late in a Slowball car from Finland to Bulgaria with a few other people. Franke is also the founder of Slowball, which is an art on wheels festival. Old cars are purchased and repaired before artists transform the cars into pieces of art. Then for a few days, the cars are traveled around. During this festival, Slowballers started in Tallinn, Estonia before traveling through Sweden and Finland.

On Day 4, Franke was the big winner on one of the televised feature tables after notching a profit of around €700. While this wasn't the biggest win on a feature table during a feature table, which honor belongs to Bulgarian Miroslav Georgiev, who won over €2,500 on Day 1, mostly from the pockets of well-known Bulgarian poker pro Fahredin "FeriBo" Mustafov.

Franke's success continued later in the day. Betsafe Ambassador Monika "HeyMonia" Zukovicz and Franke were friendly arguing about who was the better poker player and agreed to a heads-up prop bet. If HeyMonia won the prop bet, Franke would have had to work as a supermarket cashier for a month in Tallinn. If he got fired, he would have had to transfer €7.48 a day as a manual bank transfer.

HeyMonia's punishment if she lost was that she had to take the Slowball car that was already in Sunny Beach to Faro, Portugal to pick up an extra spicy chicken piri piri and then drive all the way to Tallinn, Estonia to deliver it to Franke. The entire journey is approximately 8,500 kilometers. In a normal car driving straight through, it would take over three days to complete the journey. In a Slowball car and frequent stops, it will likely take a couple of weeks.

While HeyMonia agreed to play in three different best of three matches, Franke was able to have a team of players. He chose to play last in case there was a rubber match to be played.

On Day 4, HeyMonia was battling it out against Pawel Wakuluk and was broadcasted live on PokerNews' Facebook page. Both players have known each other for awhile and have together co-hosted the Polish EPT stream for PokerStars.

The first match was a nail-biter with Wakuluk winning. HeyMonia was less than thrilled about losing but seemed to be in better spirits after she won the second match. She was able to win the second match quickly and looked poised to take the third as well after an early chip lead. She then was able to get it in with ace-king against ace-queen. However, her hand was unable to hold giving her opponent the lead and he eventually won the match.

After that the VIP party began and players agreed to suspend play until Day 5 of the festival. The next opponent for HeyMonia was Cash Game Festival project manager Andro Loos. HeyMonia was able to take the first match, which was also broadcasted live on PokerNews' Facebook page.

Franke, who was not in the casino for the first match showed up and it seemed to give Loos some fresh energy. Loos took the second match and eventually the third one was well when his ace-king held against HeyMonia's ace-jack.

Shortly after the match was over, Franke claimed to PokerNews, "I was never nervous."

He also handed the keys to the Slowball car over to HeyMonia who will begin her journey shortly.

In addition to the amazing poker and the epic prop bet, players enjoyed many activities away from the poker tables. The weather was perfect with no clouds in the sky the entire five days. With the casino located right on the beach, this left no shortage of activities for players. This doesn't mean the casino was empty as there was almost always 10-13 cash game tables running.

Players with the hospitality package also were able to enjoy group activities including welcome drinks, wine tasting, a go kart competition, a group dinner, VIP party where Miss Sunny Beach was busy being crowned, a guided tour and snorkeling.

This concludes the PokerNews coverage of the 2017 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria. Next up is the return to East London, with the 2017 Cash Game Festival London taking place at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City from Sept. 20-24. Head to the Cash Game Festival website for more information about the festival and to register for the TV and side tables.

08-14-2017 00:33 UTC+3

"I Was Never Nervous" - Franke Says

Jaxon

The big heads-up prop bet between Cash Game Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk and Betsafe Ambassador Monika "HeyMonia" Zukowicz is now in the books.

Andro Loos, who was on Franke's team, won the third match when his ace-king held against HeyMonia's ace-jack. Since Monika lost the first match, Franke won the prop bet without every playing himself.

HeyMonia now has the keys to a Slowball car and will soon travel with it from Sunny Beach, Bulgaria to Faro, Portugal to pick up a extra spicy chicken piri piri. She will then drive to Tallinn, Estonia and deliver it to Franke.

Franke insisted after the win, "I was never nervous."

Meanwhile, Latvia's Aigars Dambrans generously offered to travel with HeyMonia and help out with any mechanical issues that may come up.

08-13-2017 23:05 UTC+3

Loos Wins Match #2

Jaxon

Betsafe Ambassador Monika "HeyMonia" Zukowicz is on the ropes after losing the second match of the second leg of her prop bet.

HeyMonia who was low on chips got it all in with and wasn't able to get there against the held by Cash Game Festival Project Manager Andro Loos after the board ran out .

08-13-2017 21:19 UTC+3

Final Feature Table Kicks Off

Jaxon

The last feature table of the 2017 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria just began on a 20-minute delay with stakes at €1/€3 no-limit hold'em. There are two Latvians on the feature table including "Trumulis" and Aigars Dambrans. Also on the table are two British players Peter Cox and James Simms.

Check it out on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel as well as will be broadcasted across multiple media outlets including PokerNews.

08-13-2017 19:14 UTC+3

Brandon Busted and Back in the Booth

Jaxon

Cash Game Festival commentator Brandon Allen got it all in with ace-jack suited against his Betsafe Baltics qualifier Simonas Kunigelis' ace-four off-suit.

Allen spiked a jack on the flop to pad onto his huge lead on the flop. However, a runner-runner came to give Kunigelis a flush and the hand.

Rather than reloading, Allen decided to jump back into the booth and have fun on the stream.

08-13-2017 14:27 UTC+3

Snorkeling, Crazy Prop Bet and Amazing Poker Expected to Cap off the Final Day of the 2017 CGF Bulgaria

Jaxon

Welcome to Day 5 and the final day of the 2017 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria at Platinum Casino. The first four days of the festival have been a huge success from the perspective of the organizers, online qualifiers, Cash Game Festival regulars, local players and other players experiencing what it is like to attend a Cash Game Festival for the first time.

During the first four days, players have been treated to a wide variety of cash games and the great weather of Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. Players with the hospitality package have raved about all the activities especially the wine tasting, go karting competition, group dinner and VIP party. Although many players were out late after the VIP party winded down last night, reports are that a big group met up before 1 p.m. today to go snorkeling in the Black Sea.

The activities on the poker tables is set to be exciting for the final day. In addition to the usual two televised feature tables at 5:40 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. local time that will be streamed on a 20-minute delay on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel as well as will be broadcasted across multiple media outlets including PokerNews, a crazy prop bet that began yesterday will be completed today.

The bet began when Cash Game Festival Co-founder and Slowball Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk and Betsafe Ambassador Monika "HeyMonia" Zukowicz.

Both players are confident in their games and refused to admit the other one was better and this led to a grudge match where HeyMonia will play three best of three heads-up matches against Franke's team of players.

If Franke wins, HeyMonia's punishment is to drive a Slowball car from Sunny Beach, Bulgaria to Faro Portugal, pick up some extra spicy chicken piri piri and deliver it to Franke in Tallinn, Estonia. Slowball was an art on wheels exhibition that took place in early August where the organizers purchased very old cars and had them restored before artists made them a work of art. The car HeyMonia would potentially drive would not have air conditioning and only half of the windows go do.

If HeyMonia wins, Franke must work at a supermarket as a cashier for a month. While this sounds potentially easier than what HeyMonia would have to do, it likely wouldn't be since Franke almost never stays in one place for more than a few days on a time and has many businesses to run.

One of the three matches was held during Day 4 and broadcasted live on on the PokerNews Facebook page. against Poland's Pawel Wakuluk. Both Wakuluk and HeyMonia were Polish commentators for PokerStars for the EPT and it created an interesting dynamic.

HeyMonia was less than happy when Wakuluk won the first match that took well north of an hour to complete. However, she appeared to have cooled down after she pulled off a relatively quick win in the second match. The third and final match seemed to be in HeyMonia's hands. She had a bit of a chip lead as she got it all-in with ace-king suited against ace-queen suited. However, Wakuluk managed to get a straight on the turn leaving Zukowicz three outs to potentially take down the hand. Fate wasn't on her side and she lost that hand. Wakuluk had momentum and eventually closed out his opponent after both players held a six when two sixes on the board.

Today's first prop bet match will be against Cash Game Festival Project Manager Andro Loos. If Loos wins (no pun intended), Franke will not need to be played as HeyMonia will be unable to overtake a 2-0 advantage to avoid spending a few weeks traveling around Europe in a Slowball car.

However, if HeyMonia pulls off the win, she will play Franke in a rubber match where all the marbles are on the line. PokerNews plans to stream the grudge match live on the PokerNews Facebook page and embed it into our coverage here provided we have a strong internet connection.

Stay tuned as we report on the exciting conclusion of the 2017 Cash Game Festival Bulgaria which will officially kick off around 5 p.m. local time.