From July 10 – August 1, 888poker played host to “The Festival Online”, an online poker series modeled after successful live festivals held in both Tallinn and Bratislava. The series featured 21 events – all taking place on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays – with combined guaranteed prize pools of $750,000.

All told, The Festival catered to a combined 6,942 entrants and awarded $820,820 in prize money. There was also a Blast Leaderboard with extra prizes awarded throughout the series.

• Lithuania was the best-performing country with four The Festival titles to their credit
• While players from the United Kingdom, Brazil, Sweden, Montenegro, and Germany notched one apiece.
• Countries also claiming a single title included Malta, Bermuda, Canada, Denmark, Vietnam, Ukraine, and Argentina.

The Festival Kicks Off in Big Way

Things kicked off on July 10 with the $109 buy-in The Festival Online Opening Event, a tournament that saw 796 players rebuy 204 times. The 1,000-entry field hit the guarantee on the nose meaning a $100,000 prize pool was up for grabs to the top 144 finishers.

Among those to earn a payday by making relatively deep runs were the following –

• “Juliangard” (84^th place for $270)
• “kiskutya23” (70^th place for $280)
• “QuietMike” (60^th place for $290)
• “avidiu_maciu” (50^th place for $290)
• “Pbustos14” (34^th place for $340)
• “andywin2020” (21^st place for $510)
• Final table bubble “totiybr1” (10^th place for $1,140)

The final table contained a trio of Brazilian players, but none made heads-up play –

• “RMolinar17” (5^th place for $4,550)
• “Entaotoma” (4^th place for $6,150)
• “DantonGomes” (3^rd place for $8,300)

In the end, it was Sweden’s “Angelegot” and United Kingdom’s “DarioPourzan” struck a heads-up deal. The former win the title and $14,692.29 in prize money while the latter took second for $12,077.71.

The Festival Online Opening Event Final Table Results

1^st – “Angelegot” (Sweden) … $14,692.29

2^nd – “DarioPourzan” (United Kingdom) … $12,077.71

3^rd – “DantonGomes” (Brazil) … $8,300

4^th – “Entaotoma” (Brazil) … $6,150

5^th – “RMolinari17” (Brazil) … $4,550

6^th – “leblond1996” (Canada) … $3,400

7^th – “Asher12138” (United Kingdom) … $2,560

8^th – “AssK1cker” (Kazakhstan) … $1,940

9^th – “sankonito” (Romania) … $1,480

In other opening day action, Malta’s “TrustMeBRO” topped an 85-entry field to win the $525 buy-in Opening High Roller for $11,900. Bermuda’s “fanat5371234” conquered 57 runners to win the $109 buy-in Opening Event PLO 8-Max for $2,109.

South Americans Battle for The Festival Main Event Title

The $215 buy-in, $160K GTD The Festival Online Main Event started players with 15,000 in chips and played 12-minute levels. The action began on Sunday, July 31 and attracted 673 players who rebought 140 times.

That number surpassed the guarantee by generating a $162,600 prize pool that was paid out to the top 120 finishers.

Among those to cash after Brazil’s “AGelinski” bubbled in 121^st place were the following –

• “nlfreddie” (106^th place for $487.80)
• “Billy_Slater” (88^th place for $504.06)
• “alexos888” (80^th place for $504.06)
• “raisebot” (61^st place for $520.32)
• “Juliangard” (45^th place for $552.84)
• “Passenger03” (31^st place for $569.10)
• “BDroon” (21^st place for $845.52)
• “Ulivaden” (15^th place for $1,430.88)
• “HyperX.” (12^th place for $1,853.64)
• Final table bubble “ZenLudoman” (10^th place for $1,853.64)

The final table of nine players then took a brief break before returning on Monday to play down to a winner. The action that was live streamed with cards-up coverage on our Twitch channel.

The final table had some familiar faces like the players below –

• “xFink_Ploydx” (7^th place for $4,260.12)
• “Perrymejsen” (5^th place for $7,723.50)
• “MindaugasKR” (4^th place for $10,438.92)

After “IOwnU888” bowed out in third place for $14,194.98, the title came down came down to a pair of players hailing from South America.

Ultimately, it was Argentina’s “Pbusto14” defeating Brazil’s “vpedote” in heads-up play to win the tournament for $26,552.58.

The Festival Online Main Event Final Table Results

1^st – “Pbustos14” (Argentina) … $26,552.58

2^nd – “vpedote” (Brazil) … $19,349.40

3^rd – “IOwnU888” (N/A) … $14,194.98

4^th – “MindaugasKR” (Lithuania) … $10,438.92

5^th – “Perrymejsen” (Sweden) … $7,723.50

6^th – “DantonGomes” (Brazil) … $5,723.52

7^th – “xFink_Playdx” (Canada) … $4,260.12

8^th – “MrExploter” (Montenegro) … $3,170.70

9^th – “skridan” (Lithuania) … $2,406.48

2022 Festival Online Winners