2017 Cash Game Festival Malta
Day 1 Started
2017 Cash Game Festival Malta
2017 Cash Game Festival Malta
Day: 1
Welcome to Day 1 of the 2017 Cash Game Festival at Casino Malta by Olympic Casino
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.
Welcome Drinks!
A few dozen players celebrated the start of the Cash Game Festival Malta with welcome drinks. Cash Game Festival regulars Jack Fenton and Niklas Blomqvist were among the players.
Also in attendance were the Guts.com head of poker Eirik Thorvaldsen, Guts.com poker coordinator Lars Erik Isaksen, Betsafe Head of Poker Michael Robinson, Betsafe Ambassador Monika Zukowicz and Nordicbet Head of Poker Jostein Grødum.
Some other players couldn't wait for the games to begin as a €1/€2 no-limit hold'em side table opened as drinks were beginning.
The €1/€2 no-limit hold'em TV table is about to begin and we will share the line-up and a little bit about each player shortly.
Shot Games and More on the First TV Table
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.
Monika Zukowicz Joins the Commentary
As a special treat. joining Cash Game Festival host in the booth is Betsafe Ambassador Monika Zukowicz from Poland.
Zukowicz made her debut at the Cash Game Festival during its previous stop at Sunborn Casino in Gibraltar.
Sin Menis Melin and Jack Fenton Battling
United Kingdom's Sin Menis Melin and Jack Fenton arrived on the same flight late last night and didn't wait long for action. They joined the same €1/€2 no-limit hold'em table.
Fenton is off to a hot start after winning a pot of around €200. He got it all in preflop with ace-king and flopping an ace to beat his opponent's pocket sevens.
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.
Shot Game Encourages Action
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.
Feature Table Photos
"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: 
Board 2: 
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."