Day 1 of the 2017 Cash Game Festival Malta at Casino Malta by Olympic Casino has been a huge success.
The day began with welcome drinks. At the same time, the poker began with a €1/€2 no-limit hold'em side table. A short time later, the first feature table, a €1/€2 no-limit hold'em game, of the day began which included many players well-known in the industry including Nordicbet Head of Poker Jostein Grødum, Guts.com Head of Poker Eirik Thorvaldsen and Guts.com Poker Coordinator Lars Erik Isaksen. Cash Game Festival Commentator Brandon Allen and Betsafe Ambassador Monika Zukowicz teamed up to announce the action.
Thorvaldsen was the big winner on the first table, banking a profit of around €400, after taking down a huge pot against Isaksen who works with him day in and day out. The duo then went out to dinner before teaming up together splitting a stack at the roulette wheel.
The game changed to €1/€2 pot-limit Omaha at the second feature table. Finland's Petteri Vanhapelto was the biggest winner at this table after booking a profit of around €1,200. Last year at this time, instead of playing, Vanhapelto was the commentator for the 2016 Cash Game Festival Malta.
Other players from previous Cash Game Festivals got into the action on the first day and plan on playing through the evening including Sin Menis Melin, Jack Fenton, Niklas Blomqvist, Niklas Blomqvist, Sami Pulliainen, Dusan Hajek and Jostein Grødum, who is the Nordicbet Head of Poker. Another regular calling in at midnight from the airport to let us know he was here is United Kingdom's Michael Fletcher.
As the clock ticked to midnight, the action was still running strong with five tables in action. This is one short of the day's high of six tables. Many players shared they plan to play through the evening.
Tomorrow's activities off the felt begin very early with a catamaran trip. Players have been buzzing with excitement about the site seeing, while others plan to see some sites on the land on their own time before heading to the poker tables.
Stay tuned at PokerNews as the action unfolds through the 2017 Cash Game Festival Malta.
Last year at this time, Finland's Petteri Vanhapelto was commentating for the 2016 Cash Game Festival Malta. He returned again this year to appear on the other side of the coin as a player at the feature table.
The decision to play today was a good one for Vanhapelto. He not only won but won big taking down over €1,200 in profit.
It doesn't happen very often in no-limit hold'em where one player flops a full house and another flops quads. In pot-limit Omaha it is a little more common, but still not something happens all the time.
Malta's Antoine Degiorgio found himself on the bad side of a cooler as he flopped queens over fives on a board, which was well behind the quad-fives held by Finland's Sami Pulliainen.
The duo got it all in and Pulliainen was able to snag a huge pot of €944 after his opponent was unable to nail his one outer on the turn or river.
As we earlier mentioned, many of the players are playing a seven-deuce shot game on the televised feature table, where if a player wins a hand holding those two hole cards they can choose another to down a shot.
Guts.com Head of Poker Eirik Thorvaldsen introduced the game and likely got a few extra bucks in a pot at the expense of Nordicbet Head of Poker Jostein Grødum.
Grødum three-bet with seven-two offsuit, most likely hoping to take a pot against Thorvaldsen right then and there or on a future street showing strength. However, Thorvaldsen held the best hand in hold'em, at least preflop, with pocket aces. He four-bet the pot preflop and likely got more action than he normally would have thanks to the shot game.
Guts.com Head of Poker Eirik Thorvaldsen is all about having fun at the multiple Cash Game Festivals he has attended. He along with Cash Game Festival regular Niklas Blomqvist and Guts.com Poker Coordinator Lars Erik Isaksen are going to play a shot game where if they win a hand with seven-two, they can choose a player to down a shot. They will be encouraging the other players at the feature table to join in on the fun.
Here is a look at the rest of the players starting off the €1/€2 no-limit hold'em feature table. You can check out the action by clicking on the Live Stream tab in our coverage.
Slovakia's Dusan Hajek is in Seat 1. He has been playing poker for over a decade and shared that his biggest achievement was that he hasn't busted his roll during that time. This is his second Cash Game Festival, as he was also on the feature table last August when the Cash Game Festival visited Platinum Casino in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. Coincidentally, the Cash Game Festival's next stop after Malta will be back to Bulgaria on Aug. 9-13.
Nordicbet Head of Poker Jostein Grødum is in Seat 2. He has attended many Cash Game Festivals in the past and we wouldn't be surprised if he joined in on the shot game with the others as he is known for having a good time while playing.
Thorvaldsen, Isaksen and Blomqvist sit in the next three seats and are bound to bring some excitement to the table.
Latvia's Trumulis is right next to this trio of players and has attended a few Cash Game Festivals in the past himself.
The only new player to the Cash Game Festival is in Seat 8, which is taken up by Dutch student Marc Snijders. While he may be young, he shared he has been playing poker on at least a friendly basis since the age of 12.
Following four successful stops this year in London, Nova Gorica, Slovenia, Tallinn and Gibraltar, the Cash Game Festival is about to kick off its fifth stop of 2017 at Casino Malta by Olympic Casino for five days of nonstop cash game poker on June 14-18.
Casino Malta by Olympic Casino is Malta's newest casino opening its doors last year. It is located in the heart of Malta's vibrant nightlife. The festival will take place on the main casino floor with the possibility of it expanding into the poker room.
Most of the tables will likely be no-limit hold'em and pot limit Omaha, any game requested including super dealer's choice will be catered to by the festival's organizers and casino's staff.
Past festivals have included super dealer's choice where any game goes, open-face Chinese Poker, Sviten Special (also known as Drawmaha) and variations of super stud high-low which have included wild cards. There have even been games played where players put cards on their heads and can only see their opponents' cards and not their own.
Each day, Brandon Allen will host the two televised feature tables and players will also have plenty of opportunities to enjoy themselves away from the poker tables with plenty of fun activities planned by the festival organizers. Early today, many players from past festivals have been witnessed around town and at the beach enjoying the what some have described as the ideal weather. All the players we ran into shared their enthusiasm to play poker later in the day.
The Cash Game Festival Gibraltar officially kicks off at 5:30 p.m. CEST (4:30 p.m. BST) with welcome drinks inside the poker room. Shortly afterward, the first of two daily televised tables start 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 hold'em on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel as well as will be broadcasted across multiple media outlets including PokerNews.
The game changes to €1/€2 pot-limit Omaha for the second feature table later in the day. This table will also be broadcasted on a 20-minute delay at 8:40 p.m. CEST (7:40 p.m. BST).
There are plenty of other activities planned for the players that won packages to the event and players purchasing the hospitality package including a catamaran trip, a world-class dinner and a VIP party.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be covering the festival with player interviews and recaps each day during the festival.
board, which was well behind the quad-fives held by Finland's Sami Pulliainen.
