With only one tournament concluding so far, it was inevitable that the winner would top the first Player of the Series Leaderboard. The identity of that person has now been confirmed and the honour of being the early front runner in the Player of the Series race is bestowed upon Oliver Kubalek thanks to his victory in Event #7, the €125 Win The Button Madness.
The Czech player is well known to The Festival Series as he finished as the runner-up in the Main Event of The Festival in Rozvadov, earlier this summer. Is this early victory a statement of his intention to take down the POS title or simply revenge for the heads-up defeat on his home soil?
While only one event has actually concluded, two starting days of the TORSES Mixed Games Main Event and TheHendonMob Championship are already in the can. Those who have progressed so far from both these tournaments are guaranteed to be in the money and assured of earning additional leaderboard points, but these have not yet been added to today’s totals.
Player of the Series Top 5
| Position | Player | Player of the Series Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oliver Kubalek | 39 |
| 2 | Yurii Rassamakin | 32 |
| 3 | William Mace | 29 |
| 4 | Luca Micalef | 26 |
| 5 | Lukas Adamec | 24 |
Read More: Full details on how the leaderboard points are awarded for the Festival in Malta
Antoine Degiorgio and Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk both bagged stacks in the opening flight of the TORSES and Franke has also made it through to Day 2 of the HendonMob Championship. Franke will surely rise up the rankings once those events have concluded and points earned from them have been added to the leaderboard.
Both Kare Hallamaa and Ville Hakala will also have their first feet on the ladder as both made it through Day 1s on Monday. Kare has progressed to Day 2 of TheHendonMob Championship, while Ville has a seat in the final day of the TORSES Mixed Games Main Event.
Barrie Dear, who also made the Rozvadov leaderboard top 10 will go into the TORSES final day as the chip leader, but will he hold on to stake his claim as a front runner in the Leaderboard race? Stay tuned to The Festival blog and social media coverage throughout Tuesday to find out.
Other Player of the Series hopefuls Scott “Pokerbrahs” Kenyon and Sascha Manns both played Day 1b of the TORSES, but neither made it through to the final day, nor did JJ Hazan, the Day 1b bubble boy.
Four events will be completed on Tuesday at The Festival in Malta, which should produce a more competitive current standings list by Wednesday morning. It’s far too early in the proceedings to tell who will end up on top of the pile, but I for one, can’t wait to find out who that will be!
