Day 2 of the Cash Game Festival Gibraltar at Sunborn Casino has been a huge success. The casino has tied a new record with six cash game tables. The record is expected to be eclipsed over the weekend by both festival organizers and casino staff.
The day began for players with the hospitality package with a whale and dolphin site seeing boat tour. Players that attended shared that they enjoyed some wild waves on the sea while being entertained by these large sea animals.
The poker action was as hot as the weather outside. United Kingdom's Ryan Davey was the big winner on the early feature table. He took a break from playing and instead joined Cash Game Festival commentator Brandon Allen for the entire stream on the late feature table which was dominated by Norway's Knut Rysstad.
Most of the action throughout the day has been in no-limit hold'em. However, it wasn't too much of a surprise when a Sviten Special table opened by some of the festival's regulars including Janar Kokk, Elora Kask, Peter La Terra, Veli-Matti Puumala and Sampsa "Sampson" Nyysti.
Joining them was Betsafe Ambassador Monika Zukowicz, who tried out the game for the first time. She was unable to experience any beginners luck and after losing a small amount went back to her bread and butter game of no-limit hold'em.
Tomorrow is expected to be the biggest and most exciting day thus far in the festival with the weekend approaching. Stay tuned at PokerNews as the action unfolds at the 2017 Cash Game Festival Gibraltar.
The stakes have moved up for the second feature table to £2/£5 no-limit hold'em. Here is a look at who will appear on it. Brandon Allen is once again the host and will be joined by Ryan Davey who was the biggest winner on the earlier feature table.
You can check out the action on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel and here in our coverage by clicking on the Live Streaming tab.
Greg Campbell was on the early feature table and makes his return in the bigger game in Seat 1.
Norway's Knut Rysstad has been playing poker for over a decade and is seated in Seat 3. He has never appeared on the feature table and he shared he wasn't nervous to appear on one for the first time.
Estonia's Feodor Eksi is one chair over in Seat 4. He is a relatively new player only having played poker for three years.
Andres was a fun player to watch from the Cash Game Festival Tallinn. He makes his return to the feature table in Seat 5. We didn't get a chance to catch up with him before he began, but if Tallinn is any indicator, he is a player to watch.
Yesterday's big winner Dom was on the early feature table and decided to stick around for the bigger table in Seat 7. United Kingdom's Naveed Khan rounds things off in Seat 8. He is a 51-year old trader living in the United Kingdom.
Ryan Davey was the big winner on the early feature table, shipping about €450 in profit. His biggest hand came late in the stream when he flopped a set with pocket aces. He slow played the hand which included Greg Campbell and Cash Game Festival co-founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk. Davey shared that, "Aces were the perfect finish."
Davey just arrived today and shared with us he only got two hours sleep. He admitted this affected him early on under the lights and camera.
"I was tired after getting only two hours sleep on the way over here," said Davey. "I was calling too loose and not following through enough,"
He initially lost some chips but got them back against Franke when he won with a flush against a straight. Davey shared with us before the stream he planned to join Brandon Allen in the booth for the later stream but seemed unsure this would happen after the feature table ended. If it does happen, we are sure he will share some detailed insight into his play earlier today.
Meanwhile, Franke was up and down. Losing money against some and then winning against others. At the end, he just about broke even.
He was seated next to friend and Aspers Casino Head of Poker John Scanlon. Late in the stream, Franke doubled up after he made a hero call with king-two on the turn after he had two pair. John with queen-five suited also had a pair on the board when he shoved for nearly €200 and also a flush draw. The river blanked and as a result of the hand, Scanlon was the biggest loser on the early feature table with a loss of around €400.
The ballroom has just erupted. Michael Fletcher just ran up a small amount of play money on the roulette wheel into a huge stack to take the lead on the promotion leaderboard. Fletcher is well known at by Cash Game Festival regulars having now attended a few and also is well known on the tournament circuit with almost $650,000 in cashes according to The Hendon Mob including a recent final table finish in the 2017 Irish Poker Open Main Event.
It began with him placing a few chips on "8" along with a handful of other numbers. The eight hit on back to back spins. Fletcher promised the roulette spinner a trip with him to Malta if he could hit a number one more time. She suggested to toss some chips on "19" since this is her favorite number.
As fate would have it, the "19" hit and Fletcher soared to the top of the leaderboard. Fletcher quickly celebrated before heading back to his poker table. Whether Fletcher's lead holds remains to be seen.
The leaderboard is one of two that the Cash Game Festival and Sunborn Casino are hosting during the festival.
How it works is that players receive a 25 play chip every hour on the hour that can be used on play money roulette and blackjack tables located in between the poker tables and a bar. Players can combine chips with other players.
The top five players in chips during the two competitions (May 17 at 5 p.m. to May 19 at 4 a.m. and May 19 at 5 a.m. to May 22 at 4 a.m.) will walk away with prizes. The winner during each competition will be awarded a Cash Game Festival Malta package that includes free hotel, the hospitality package and €500 in cash to be used on the poker tables.
The €1/€2 no-limit hold'em feature table just kicked off. You can check out the action on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel and here in our coverage by clicking on the Live Streaming tab.
In Seat 1 is British sports trader Greg Campbell. When asked if he was nervous about appearing on the feature table, he quickly replied no. However, he instead shared that he is hungry. Whether that means he is hungry for action or food remains to be seen.
British engineer Ryan Davey is in Seat 2. This is his fifth Cash Game Festival and now has attended two in a row. Davey also plans on heading into the booth with Brandon Allen for the later stream.
British Risk Analyst Deji Olad might not well-known in Gibraltar, but is well-known in East London as he is a regular cash game player at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City.
Guts.com Poker Coordinator Lars Erik Isaksen is in Seat 4. This is his first Cash Game Festival, but he has been playing poker since 2003.
Dom in Seat 5 describes himself as a trader for BetVictor. He was the big winner on yesterday's feature tables.
In Seat 6 is Estonia's Ott. He has attended now three Cash Game Festivals, but this is his first one outside of his home country.
Cash Game Festival Co-Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk is in Seat 7. He is always having a great time on the felts and said as he was walking up to the table that he plans to win all of the money. He started a little short with a little more than £150, so he has a little work to do to make his prophecy come true.
Welcome to Day 2 of the Cash Game Festival Gibraltar at Sunborn Casino.
It is almost hard to see a line where Day 1 ended and Day 2 began. Last night at 1 a.m. the ballroom converted to a high-class poker room had five tables running including a £2/£5 no-limit hold'em table with Cash Game Festival regular and Irish Poker Open Main Event final table member Michael Fletcher scooping up some big pots. There were also some recognizable players on the £2/£2 Sviten Special table including "Go Big or Find a New Home" prop bet loser Janar Kokk, Peter La Terra and Veli-Matti Puumala.
Meanwhile, Cash Game Festival commentator Brandon Allen was making a rare appearance on the tables after his broadcast enjoying some action with Betsafe Head of Poker Michael Robinson and Aspers Casino Head of Poker John Scanlon on a £1/£2 no-limit hold'em table.
We received reports this morning that even after 4 a.m. there were still four of these tables running.
Many other players decided to get some rest and were up very early for a planned dolphin and whale watching boat ride starting about an hour away from the casino. We will have pictures and quotes about the event later in the coverage.
As is usually the case, Brandon Allen will host two televised feature tables with co-hosts popping in and out of the booth. The first table kicks off at 5:40 p.m. CEST (4:40 p.m. BST) and will be streamed on a 20-minute delay with stakes at €1/€2 no-limit on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel as well as will be broadcasted across multiple media outlets including PokerNews.
Later in the day, there will also be a higher-stakes no-limit hold'em televised feature table on a 20-minute delay at 8:40 p.m. CEST (7:40 p.m. EEST).
The PokerNews Live Reporting is on hand to report on all the excitement during Day 2 complete with recaps, quotes, pictures and videos.
