Considering it’s only the beginning of March, it’s insane how many live poker events have already wrapped up. One of the most popular ones, especially amongst the Mixed Games crowd, has been the 2026 Festival Bratislava. The seven-day festival brought all the action to Banco Casino in Bratislava, Slovakia, and while one Cypriot secured his biggest-ever live cash after shipping the €550 Main Event, several other players extended their resumes by winning various side events. Let’s recap some of the most noteworthy moments from the tables during the 2026 Festival Bratislava.
Theodosiou’s Success in Bratislava
The 2026 Festival Bratislava was played at Banco Casino between February 23-March 1, and while this was the first event of the series for the year, it was just a taste of what’s to come. There’ll be three more major The Festival events this year: Rozvadov (June 9-15), Malta (September 14-20), and Tallinn (20-29) are all on the calendar, alongside three weekend stops (all in the Baltics). Last but not least, The Festival also offers two online championships; The Festival’s founder, Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk, likes the rapid pace, and he keeps offering golden nuggets to the global poker community.
- Read more: Shcherba Wins Record-Breaking Mystery Bounty Tournament; The Festival Bratislava Kicks Off
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The Festival kicked off its 2026 campaign by returning to Banco Casino in Bratislava, the same place where the inaugural event was held back in 2021. As is always the case with The Festival’s tournament schedules, the Slovakian menu featured some new events, most notably the €1,100 10-Game Mix, a tournament that would surely determine a true Mixed Games virtuoso. Jason Glatzer, CEO of poker.pro, was one of many players traveling to the Slovakian capital to partake in The Festival fun, and he listed the aforementioned Mixed Games bonanza as one of his favorite moments of the trip.
Even though The Festival is a strong advocate for Mixed Games, let’s stay on the topic of the Cadillac of poker for a while. The €550 Main Event was all Texas NLH, and perhaps, this was one of the most intriguing Main Events of The Festival’s long and noble history. The reason for this was that Poland’s Sebastian Kotowicz was a two-time reigning champion, having won the Main Event in both 2024 and 2025. Would he be able to defy the odds even more and claim a third title in 2026?
The Main Event kicked off with its first out of a total of six starting-day flights on Tuesday, February 24, and they were then running daily up ‘til Day 2 kicked off on Saturday, February 28, the penultimate day of the festival. When registration closed, the tournament told the story of 505 entries, generating a €239,875 prize pool. €45,525 was waiting up top for the winner; needless to say, there was a lot to play for.
Sixty-four players made it into the money, all locking up a min-cash of €1,050. At this point, Kotowicz was still in the mix, and the dream of a three-peat was still alive. A few hours later, though, his tournament life came to an end as he was eliminated in forty-seventh place for €1,325. Still an impressive run from the King of Banco Casino.
Shortly before midnight, Mladen Stojanovic was eliminated in tenth place, seeing the remaining nine players bag their chips. They returned the following day, Sunday, March 1, and took their seats on the final table. The session lasted roughly six hours, before a new The Festival Main Event champion was crowned. It was Cypriot Petros Theodosiou who emerged victorious, defeating Polack Zbigniew Wieczorek heads-up. The two brave warriors made a deal before beginning the final stage of the tournament; in the end, Thodosiou received €39,490 for his first-place finish, while the runner-up score for Wieczorek read €34,810.
The 2026 Festival Bratislava – €550 Main Event Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Petros Theodosiou | Cyprus | €39,490 |
| 2 |  Zbigniew Wieczorek | Poland | €34,810 |
| 3 |  Markus Gaulhofer | Austria | €19,850 |
| 4 | Pawel Dudnik | Poland | €14,700 |
| 5 |  Henning Wendlandt | Germany | €11,300 |
| 6 |  Dmitry Golushko | Belarus | €8,700 |
| 7 |  Mark Mckenzie | Scotland | €6,950 |
| 8 |  Stevan Gvozdenovic | Montenegro | €5,575 |
| 9 |  Teemu Haellfors | Finland | €4,450 |
A staple member of The Festival crew, Andreas “Wiseguy” Höglund, had a small chat with champion Theodosiou after his win. The Cypriot was very impressed with the event overall, and it sounds like he’s become a true fan of The Festival, planning to go to future stops.
Paliogiannis and Baranov Among Side Event Winners
Before unfolding the immense Mixed Games action, let’s stay on the Texas NLH topic for just a bit longer. The collaboration between The Festival and The Hendon Mob goes way back, and an edition of The Hendon Mob Championship (THMC) is nowadays always featured on all The Festival events’ schedules. This time was no exception; the €250 THMC attracted 330 entries, creating a €70,537 prize pool. Greece’s Andreas Paliogiannis eventually claimed the win and the €13,567 first-place prize, defeating Poland’s Igor Narajczyk heads-up. It was Paliogiannis’ biggest-ever live cash, and according to his profile on The Hendon Mob, his first cash from a The Festival event.
On to the smorgasbord of Mixed Games tournaments, then, where the aforementioned €1,100 10-Game Mix received its fair share of attention, being a brand-new event on the schedule. The discipline, which requires players to master all 10 games in order to have a realistic shot at the trophy, scored 44 entries, translating to a €41,800 prize pool. Six players made the money, including poker legend Alan “Ari” Engel. The prominent Canadian player had to settle for the €2,500 min-cash, though, while Ukrainian Sergii Baranov got his hands on the trophy and the €14,225 up top. This came as no surprise; it was Baranov’s fifth major Mixed Games title, and he was in good form coming to Bratislava, seeing as he won the prestigious €1,100 8-Game during the 2025 EPT Prague in December last year. It was also his second Mixed Games title during a The Festival event, seeing as he won the €550 T.O.R.S.E.S. Mixed Games Main Event during the 2025 Festival Bratislava.
Speaking of the T.O.R.S.E.S., it’s been a recurring affair at all The Festival stops for quite some time now, and having Main Event status alongside the Texas NLH, it’s always a popular tournament. This year’s Slovakian edition attracted 79 entries, and 11 players would claim their share of the €37,525 prize pool. Just as was the case with the 10-Game Mix, the T.O.R.S.E.S. title would also go to a real Mixed Games legend. Norway’s Thor Morstol claimed the win and the €10,365 first-place payout, adding a seventh Mixed Games title to his impressive resume.
Overall, the whole week was a slam-dunk success. Franke himself was very pleased with how everything turned out:
“The 2026 Festival Bratislava was amazing, insanely good. Cool new things were, of course, the new 10-Game; people were happy. Another bit of news was the €1,100 Open-Face Chinese High Roller, which got 23 entries. I’m also proud that my good friend Barrie Dear of Scotland became the Player of the Series.”
If this poker.pro journalist were to recap all the amazing moments and impressive tournament wins from the 2026 Festival Bratislava, this article would turn into a longer novel. The action never stops during The Festival’s events, and it won’t be too long until the next stop. The 2026 Festival Online Spring Edition will be played at the iPoker network in April (exact dates are still to be announced). The next live event will be the 2026 Festival Weekend Vilnius; it’ll be the first time The Festival touches Lithuanian soil, and Olympic Casino Lithuania is ready to roll out the red carpet. The next major week-long event will be the 2026 Festival Rozvadov, held a King’s Resort, Rozvadov, June 9-15.
The poker.pro editorial office is always excited to follow all the action during The Festival’s event, and the Bratislava stop has set the bar high. Undoubtedly, though, the crew will keep exceeding our expectations in the future.
