2017 Cash Game Festival Malta

2017 Cash Game Festival Malta
Day: 1

Monika's Back!

Monika Zukowicz and Brandon Allen
Monika Zukowicz and Brandon Allen

Betsafe Ambassador Monika Zukowicz enjoyed joining Cash Game Festival Commentator Brandon Allen so much during the first stream, she decided to double down and join him again for the second stream.

The duo is having fun discussing hands and anything and everything else. You can check out the action by clicking on the Live Stream tab in our coverage, by heading to the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel or on the Cash Game Festival Twitch website.

Four is the Magic Number

Cash Game Festival Malta
Cash Game Festival Malta

With the feature table beginning, there are now four tables in action at Casino Malta by Olympic Casino. In addition to the €1/€2 feature table, there are also three €1/€2 no-limit hold'em tables.

There are expected to be higher stakes games as the festival moves along in addition to games in other poker variants.

Who's on the Pot Limit Omaha Feature Table?

Petteri Vanhapelto
Petteri Vanhapelto

The €1/€2 four-card pot-limit Omaha feature table just began. You can check out the action by clicking on the Live Stream tab in our coverage, by heading to the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel or on the Cash Game Festival Twitch website.

Malta's Richard Kevin, in Seat 1, shared his biggest achievement in poker was the fact that he once played six-card Omaha with three boards. Whether or not this was an achievement or just something fun to do is something up for debate. His favorite four-card Omaha hand, is ace-jack-ten-nine suited.

Sweden's Niklas Nyman, in Seat 2 is a 32-year old poker player that has been playing the game since he was 18 years old. Despite having all of this poker experience under his belt, Nyman shared he is a bit nervous about appearing on the televised table since it is his first experience doing so.

Malta's Antoine Degiorgio, in Seat 3, has been playing poker since 2009. When asked if he is nervous about playing under the lights and cameras he responded, "I am a bit nervous, to be honest. I am normally never nervous at the poker table."

Sweden's Mikael Viggander, in Seat 4, shared his best poker achievement is "still being alive." Despite this being his first televised poker table, he explained that he is not nervous.

Finland's Sami Pulliainen, in Seat 5, is an experienced poker player having played the game since the 1970's. While he enjoys cash games, he also has almost $200,000 in live tournament cashes according to The Hendon Mob. He joked that his favorite starting PLO hand is {2-Spades}{2-Clubs}{2-Hearts}{2-Diamonds}.

Conor Coady, who is one the key people with the future launch of the RunItOnce online poker room is in Seat 7. He shared he likes "any hand with aces" and that he is nervous about appearing on the feature table.

Finland's Petteri Vanhapelto rounds off the table in Seat 8. Like his countrymate, he is an experienced veteran in both cash games and tournaments. He was also the commentator the last time the 2016 Cash Game Festival Malta. Whether he joins Cash Game Festival Commentator Brandon Allen in the booth later in the festival remains to be seen.

Guts.com Eirik Thorvaldsen Big Winner at First Feature Table

Eirik Thorvaldsen
Eirik Thorvaldsen

Guts.com Head of Poker Eirik Thorvaldsen was the biggest winner on the first feature table, logging in a healthy profit of more than €400 in €1/€2 no-limit hold'em.

However, coming off the feature table he seemed more excited about the fun players had trying to win a hand with seven-two, since this allowed the winning player to give anyone on the table a shot.

Guts.com Poker Coordinator Lars Erik Isaksen, who works closely with Thorvaldsen had the first laugh and sent a shot over to Thorvaldsen after winning a hand with seven-deuce. Later on, Thorvaldsen got his revenge and was able to win at his own game and sent a shot back to Isaksen.

Thorvaldsen shared that he had a ton of fun at the feature table, but now needed a break from action to grab some dinner. Like many others at the Cash Game Festival he always looks to have fun at the poker tables.

Another Table Opens

A third €1/€2 no-limit hold'em table has just opened. The festival is guaranteed to see its second poker variant in about an hour when the €1/€2 pot-limit Omaha feature table begins. Meanwhile, the drink table behind the feature table is full of empty glasses which should lead to some action to end off the €1/€2 no-limit hold'em feature table.

There are a variety of ways you can check out the last part of the first table and the entire second feature table. Two of the easiest are by heading to the Live Stream tab in our coverage or on the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.

"How Many Times Do You Want To Run It?"

Sin Menis Melin is known to love action. She tried to get it all in preflop on a €1/€2 no-limit hold'em table without getting any cards but was asked for the cards to be dealt first.

Straight afterward, she sort of got her wish. A player opened for €5 before another player jammed for about €80. The action folded to Melin who called. Everyone else folded with the hand going heads-up.

Melin then asked her opponent, "How many times do you want to run it?"

Her opponent wasn't sure and asked Jack Fenton seated next to him for advice. Fenton held up two fingers and the board was run twice.

Board 1: {4-Hearts}{10-Clubs}{3-Spades}{j-Hearts}{a-Clubs}
Board 2: {4-Spades}{5-Clubs}{2-Spades}{3-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}

Melin's opponent nervously tabled pocket queens.

Melin exposed one jack and said, "You have it," before one of the players not in the hand suggested she had pocket jacks.

The Aspers Casino regular Melin didn't give any more information and shrugged her shoulders. Wanting everyone at the table to enjoy themselves, Melin asked her opponent, "Are you happy now?"

Her opponent breathed a sigh of relief as it appears winning this pot meant a lot to him before smiling and saying, "yes."

Shot Game Encourages Action

Eirik Thorvaldsen
Eirik Thorvaldsen

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.

You can check out fun €1/€2 hold'em game by clicking on the Live Stream tab in our coverage or by heading to the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel.

Christopher Marcadet Joins the Feature Table

France's Christopher Marcadet has joined the feature table. Yesterday, he took second place in a small tournament held at Casino Malta by Olympic Casino and is now showing the world whether he can manage similar success playing cash games.

His favorite hand is jack-ten suited and shared he is not nervous since playing poker for him is about having fun. This is one of the great aspects of the Cash Game Festival, as most of the players are just out to have a good time while hoping to win a few bucks at the same time.