2018 Cash Game Festival Tallinn
Day 2 Completed
2018 Cash Game Festival Tallinn
2018 Cash Game Festival Tallinn
Day: 2
Rikard Relander and Steven Tool Dominate Day 2 of the Cash Game Festival Tallinn
Momentum at the Cash Game Festival Tallinn at Olympic Park Casino grew from day to day with Day 2 being a resounding success.
The day began for those with the hospitality package with an indoor beach volleyball competition followed by some relaxation in the sauna. For others, the day began enjoying the delights of the Estonian capital and early sessions in the casino's poker room.
The action peaked at eight tables with most of them still running as of midnight. This included action at stakes low and high in no-limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, and Sviten Special.
As is always the case at the Cash Game Festival, there were two televised feature tables. What made today a bit different is that many former Cash Game Festival trophy winners were competing during both sessions.
The trophy will be awarded to the player that wins the most big blinds out of any of the ten feature tables during the festival. For the first time, 32Red is sponsoring the trophy and the winner will also walk away with a full Cash Game Festival package to the tour's next stop at Platinum Casino in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria on Aug. 8-12 valued at €1,500.
Despite the many prior winners competing, none of them were able to be the big winner today. Heiti Riisberg, who won the trophy in Tallinn in November and Cash Game Festival Co-Founder Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk who won the trophy a few weeks ago in Bratislava were battling it out with others at an action-packed €2/€2 no-limit hold'em feature table for the early game.
However, it was Rikard Relander that stole the show at that table after booking a healthy profit of €1,508. The 754 big blinds he won is currently in the lead and he is the man to beat for those chasing the trophy.
The stakes moved up to €5/€10 and the game changed to pot-limit Omaha for the later feature table. Riisberg was back in action again joined by Jon Kyte, who won the trophy in London in September and Kevin Malone who won the trophy in October.
While all three players were hungry for a big win, it was Steven Tool who rose to the occasion and booked a solid profit of €4,892 or 489.2 big blinds.
There is still plenty of action yet to come with three more full days and nights of action. Stay tuned at PokerNews as we bring you the action from start to finish at the 2018 Cash Game Festival Tallinn.
Steven Tool Wins Big at the Feature Table
The action was hot and heavy at the €5/€10 pot-limit Omaha table. While there were three former trophy winners at the table including Jon Kyte, Heiti Riisberg, and Kevin Malone.
However, none of these players was the big winner. Steven Tool shipped €4,892 in profit or 489.2 big blinds.
This doesn't put him in the lead for the trophy competition sponsored by 32Red where the player that wins the most big blinds at any of the 10 features tables during this festival will walk away with a full Cash Game Festival package to the next event at Platinum Casino in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria valued at €1,500.
Instead, it is currently Rikard Relander in the lead after earlier today winning €1,508 at a €2/€2 hold'em feature table or a huge 754 big blinds.
Live With Unibet Poker Head of Poker David Pomroy
What's Still on Tap Outside of Poker
While obviously, people come to the Cash Game Festival to play poker, they also come for the social aspect as well. Currently, there are many players are enjoying themselves at the bar and in the lounge area in front of the television screens chatting away with other players.
To help facilitate the social environment, at every festival, Cash Game Festival organizers host a hospitality package. Thus far, players with the package have enjoyed welcome drinks with a unique blue wine and a beach volleyball competition.
Still to come is a world-class dinner on Friday, a rocking VIP party on Saturday, and a city tour with a twist on Sunday.
Day 1 Video Highlights
Eight Tables
The action continues to pick up and is already bigger than yesterday with eight tables running. Currently there are games running in no-limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, and Sviten Special.
Three Former CGF Trophy Winners at the €5/€10 PLO Feature Table
The action just got bigger at the feature table with the stakes changing to €5/€10 pot-limit Omaha.
Three former Cash Game Festival trophy winners including Kevin Malone (Dublin - October) in Seat 4, Heiti Riisberg (Tallinn - November) in Seat 5, and Jon Kyte (London - September) in Seat 7.
All three of these players are hungry to become the first two-time Cash Game Festival trophy winner.
As will be the case throughout the festival, Henry Kilbane and Andrew "Picasso" Hedley will be commentating the action.
You can check out the action on a 20-minute delay at the Cash Game Festival Twitch channel or by clicking on the Live Stream tab in our coverage.
Here is a look at the rest of the lineup:
Finnish entrepreneur Tapio Marjanen, who was just on the earlier feature table, will return for the much bigger stakes in Seat 1.
One seat over is Norwegian poker pro Kayhan Mokri in Seat 2, who made his Cash Game Festival feature table debut yesterday.
Estonia's Rain Jögioja, who was a big winner at a feature table during a prior Cash Game Festival in Tallinn is one seat over in Seat 3.
Latvian Cash Game Festival veteran Aigars Dabrans, otherwise known on the stream as Mr. Vilson is in Seat 5. At past festivals, Dabrans has been a force to be reckoned with in any game involving more than two hole cards.
Rounding off the action is Steven Tool in Seat 8. He shared his biggest poker achievement was "winning money."
Rikard Relander Takes a Commanding Lead for the Trophy
The early €2/€2 no-limit hold'em feature table has just ended and it was Cash Game Festival veteran Rikard Relander that for the first time was the biggest winner.
He booked a profit of €1,508 or 754 big blinds, which by far puts him in the lead for the trophy.
"It would be nice," Relander stated when asked how he would feel about winning the trophy.
The stream is currently on break. When it returns the stakes will go up in a huge way with the game changing to €5/€10 pot-limit Omaha.
Sviten Special Begins
Sviten Special, otherwise known as drawmaha, is a staple game of the Cash Game Festival. The first table has just opened with stakes at €2/€2 featuring Peter La Terra, Jon Kyte, Andro Loos, and Christoph Rueegg.
The game is a unique mix of pot-limit Omaha and five card draw. How it works is that players are dealt five cards before a round of betting takes place.
Then there is another round of betting after the three-card flop appears.
Players still in the hand after the flop can exchange cards if they so wish. If they decide to exchange just one card receive it face-up. Then they can decide if they want to keep it or receive a different card. If they choose a different card it is face-down.
After the card exchange, the turn is dealt followed by another round of betting. The final betting round takes place after the river completes the board.
The best pot-limit Omaha hand wins half the pot while the best five card draw hand is awarded the other hand. Many times it is the same player. Pots can get big regardless of the stakes due to the dynamics of the game.
You can learn more about the game from a tutorial by La Terra below.