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Veni Vidi Ville – Finns Out In Front in Player of Series Race!

Earlier this year there was a 1-2 Finnish finish, when Kare Hallamaa topped the Rozvadov leaderboard, followed by compatriot Ville Hakala. Hakaka went on to repeat the feat in Malta, finishing second again, defeated this time by Swede Martin “Franke” von Zwiegbergk. He once again sits in second place, but its only the half-way point of the series and he has been entering every event he possibly can, in pursuit of an improvement on his last two outings. 

Ville Hakala’s total is now up to 110.5 pts, having cashed twice on Friday, in the Sviten (14th) and the Friday NLH Late Night Madness (8th). However Ville-Matti Keränen, who held the lead after Thursday, now has a 13 point lead over Hakala, as he won the Sviten, securing 40 points towards the leaderboard and a payout of €5,826. 

Keränen’s total of 113.5 points is impressive, as he has only played in five events and has a win and a second place under his belt already. Hakala has played in 14 of the 17 events that have been completed so far and his strategy seems to be working, but will he get the results needed to push on for the win?

Miles Rees maintains his 3rd place on the leaderboard, achieving a min-cash in the Friday NLH Late Night Madness and picking up participation points in a few other events. Fedor Stadtrucker moved up from 8th to 5th on the leaderboard and now has 78.5 pts, thanks to a 9th place finish in the PLO 4/5/6 Card. Fedor is another player who seems to be taking the “play everything” approach. Could he rise up to challenge the leaders over the weekend?

Just a few points further back in 6th is Jonas Jurksaitis, who had been the leader after Wednesday and remains in the hunt, with 76.25 points. He only played in one event on Friday, the Sviten Special, in which he made the money, finishing 10th for €900, adding 17.5 points to his total.

Nalepka Back in the Top 10

The mover of the day was Krystian Nalepka, who had been in 7th place on Wednesday’s leaderbiard, after taking 2nd place in the Win The Button event. However he had slipped to 32nd by Thursday, having failed to add any further points to his tally. On Friday he rectified that, claiming 11th place in The Hendon Mob Championship and 3rd place in the NLH High Roller. He now has 74.75 pts and has reclaimed the 7th place position he had on Wednesday.

Dropping Back

Giorgi Mevlupishvili didn’t have a great Friday, picking up only participation points and has slipped back from 2nd to 8th place, on 73 points. There was also no further progress on Friday for Jon Kyte, who drops back to 20th, while Franke and Scott Kenyon also failed to make an impression and now lie in 28th and 37th places respectively.

JJ on the Rise

JJ Hazan, on the other hand, is still proving that Jeraint what he does, its the way that he does it, that's what get's him results, such as his 12th place in the Sviten Special, which moves him up three places on the leaderboard to 24th. With the PLO Masters, which he hosts still to come, could JJ make a challenge for the Player of the Series race?

Leaderboard Top 100 After Friday

Position	Player	Total Points	Events Played
1	Ville-Matti Keränen	113.5	5
2	Ville Hakala	100.5	14
3	Miles Rees	86.25	8
4	Bambi	82	6
5	Fedor Stadtrucker	78.5	9
6	Jonas Jurksaitis	76.25	5
7	Krystian Nalepka	74.75	3
8	Giorgi Mevlupishvili	73	6
9	Jarmo Salonen	72.5	8
10	Matteo Crapanzano	71	5
11	Tomasz Sumek	68.75	3
12	Riku Koivurinne	66.75	6
13	Asterios Kokompelis	66	3
14	Vitalii Shcherba	65.5	3
15	Marc Gork	65.25	8
16	Garth Stanton	64.25	4
17	Thomas Lechner	61.75	7
18	Tomasz Walkowiak	58.5	4
19	Philipp Krieger	56.25	8
20	Jon Kyte	55	2
21	Ondrej Chlapek	52.5	1
22	Magnus Nilsen	51	3
23	Karl Rosen	50	3
24	Jeraint "JJ" Hazan	49.5	2
25	Risto Ponnio	49.25	5
26	Nils Doverklint	48.75	6
27	Mladen Stojanovic	48.5	4
28	Christopher Heidelbacher	48.25	4
28	Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk	48.25	8
30	Julius Kettunen	47.5	6
31	Aaron Thiel	46.25	4
31	Yuri Overhand	46.25	5
33	Dwayne Sluis	45	4
33	Joost Melkert	45	4
35	Mattia Ruebenstrunk	43.5	3
36	Jari Hurri	42.75	6
37	Scott "Pokerbrahs" Kenyon	42.5	5
38	Jaroslav Stulhofer	41.25	2
38	Krzysztof Kordus	41.25	4
38	Simon Keating	41.25	2
38	Ylva "Jevakim" Thorsrud	41.25	6
42	Graham Clarkson	41	2
43	Kristin Flataker	40	4
44	John Lausch	39.75	2
44	Marco Herman	39.75	2
46	Tony Danielsen	38.75	3
47	Arjen Witteveen	37	3
48	Knut Olsen	36.25	4
49	Yurii Rassamakin	35.75	5
50	Lars Hole	35.25	5
51	Sergii Baranov	35	1
52	Halvor Lindrupsen	34.5	5
52	Roar Sandvik	34.5	9
52	William Lynch	34.5	7
55	Fabio Bianchi	34	4
55	Urmas Lepik	34	6
57	Rolf Bechstrom	33.75	4
57	William Meeuwisse	33.75	2
59	Ove Nilsson	33.25	5
60	Leo Hourtoulle	33	2
61	Lars Aase	32.5	1
61	Paddy Schmidt	32.5	10
61	Svein Eidsaeter	32.5	6
64	Lee Horton	32.25	5
65	Pawel Keller	32	2
66	Lena Bjorn	31.75	5
67	Henrik Brun	31.5	3
68	Daniel Stossl	31.25	1
68	Julius Julenius	31.25	5
70	Filip Pilic	30.75	2
70	Robin De Bondt	30.75	2
72	Jascha Wieck	30.25	2
72	Karl Gialanze	30.25	4
74	Gabor Deak	30	1
75	Tore Pedersen	29.75	2
76	John Clarkson	29.5	2
76	Lukas Exner	29.5	2
78	Andre Berg	29.25	4
79	John Tunstall	29	4
80	Petru Prepelita	28.75	3
80	Steffen Gjelseth	28.75	3
82	Joonas Lyttinen	28.5	2
83	Vilde Fagerbakke	28.25	1
84	Gilles Lamy	27.75	2
84	Kjell Baric	27.75	3
86	Asgejr Lund	27.25	6
86	James Rooney	27.25	4
86	Kenji Hamamoto	27.25	6
89	Wouter Schuurbiers	26.5	5
90	Ofer Sisso	26.25	3
91	Kennz Mirheden	26	3
91	Per Bergstroem	26	4
93	Kyros Kyrou	25.5	3
93	Michael Morrissey	25.5	3
93	Thomas Hornby	25.5	4
96	Doncologne	25.25	9
96	Rogillio Reijme	25.25	4
96	Victor Wesselink	25.25	1
99	Grzegorz Iskra	25	5
100	Mats Rosqvist	24.5	2
100	Siamak Tahmoresnia	24.5	1

There are still 15 of the 32 events that make up the leaderboard to take place, so its still far too early to call it, but with seven events concluding on Saturday, we should have a better idea by this time tomorrow. Full coverage of Saturday’s action can be followed on The Festival Series blog and social media channels.