Sun, Fun, and Poker at CGF Sunny Beach on Aug. 7-11
July 5, 2019New and Improved Feature Tables at CGF Sunny Beach on Aug. 7-11
July 19, 2019The Cash Game Festival will be returning to Platinum Casino in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria for a five-day poker holiday on Aug. 7-11. The festival, of course, will feature tons of exciting poker action, of the charts activities away from the felt, and televised feature tables where any player can become a star.
Whether or not a wild prop bet will pop up is anyone’s guess but it seems that the air in Sunny Beach has players ready to put something big on the line. Here is a look back at the first big prop bet between Janar Kokk and Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk to take place at CGF Sunny Beach in August 2016.
Go Big or Find a New Home
Rewind back to 2016. The Cash Game Festival went international with two big stops in London and Malta and was ready to take on the world with a third stop in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. Many of the players that had a blast in either or both stops came along including Estonia’s Janar Kokk, who attended the festival in Malta which at the time was his home.
The festival featured many amazing activities including a yacht trip and the action both on the t.v. table and side tables was amazing as well. Players also had fun venturing on their own both day and night with plenty of beach activities including volleyball and bars and cafes open 24 hours a day.
Perhaps the biggest news of the festival was something nobody expected. On the third day of the festival, Janar and Franke began casually discussing a prop bet at a cafe over a beer or two with a small crowd gathering.
For many of us, we can picture this like it was yesterday. Both players felt they had an advantage in heads-up play and they agreed to which ten games they would play in a rotating mix.
Eventually, the terms of the bet were discussed. The duo agreed that the loser of the best of three matches would be sent to a country to live in for a year and had to be in that country for at least six months of the year with both players having big travel schedules.
Both players were allowed to include countries that they couldn’t be sent to and two opt-outs were also agreed provided that the original terms of the deal weren’t met. One was that the loser would send the winner €5 every day for a full year and the other is that the loser would be sent to a village of the winner’s choice to live for one month and unable to leave the town’s borders for any reasons.
A contract was signed with all the terms agreed but not as you may think. As a few of us casually watched on, the details were jotted down on napkins and signed by both players.
Janar Sent to Italy?
Both players felt they had an edge in certain games on the list but at the end of the festival, Franke beat Janar two matches to nil to win the prop bet. He felt like being kind to his friend and agreed to send him to Italy. At the time both Janar and his wife Elora celebrated as they were looking to leave Malta and Italy was one of the places on the list.
Time passed by and Janar and his wife decided that they wanted to move for a short time to the United Kingdom. So, Janar had a decision to make about which opt-out he would choose. He didn’t want to go through the hassle of sending Franke €5 every day as one of the requirements was it couldn’t be an automated transfer, so instead he chose to live in a village for a month.
Janar Becomes King of Hrubieszów
After Janar failed to move to Italy, Franke decided to no longer be as nice to his friend and chose the Polish village of Hrubieszów as what he termed at the time as a punishment.
While the village is small it has a rich history including in poker as it is the birthplace of WSOP bracelet winner Henry Orenstein, who many people credit for the success of poker on television. Among Orenstein’s many patents was the technology to detect and display hole cards in poker games in the United States. Prior to this patent, poker was shown with hole cards down which is much less interesting to those watching.
The “punishment” turned into a reward as the story went viral especially in Poland with television crews flocking to this small village to interview Janar. Even the mayor of the town rolled out the red carpet for him.
“All in all it’s been great!” said Kokk to PokerNews after his first week in Hrubieszów. “The attention we’ve gotten from mainstream media has been surreal and it almost feels like I’ve spent the majority of the week in front of cameras and talking with journalists, but it’s been an amazing experience and luckily we’ve managed to see a little, meet a few people and have some Polish beer in between media appointments.”
Near the end of the visit, Janar hosted a charity tournament and made some poker friends for life.
It was such a success that Janar and his wife once again visted the village the next year to host another charity event.
Another prop bet took place in 2017 between Franke and Monika “HeyMonia” Zukowicz in 2017 which we will talk about in more detail in a future article.
Book Your CGF Sunny Beach Package
While we can’t promise that there will be a prop bet this year with this something that comes between the players we can promise you tons of excitement during the upcoming Cash Game Festival Sunny Beach at Platinum Casino on Aug. 7-11.
While you are more than welcome to book your own hotel, we can also make your life easier and take care of the dirty work for you as for the first time we are offering a Cash Game Festival Sunny Beach package.
The basic package includes a four-night all-inclusive stay at the luxurious Wela Hotel for €440. You can also choose to add a fifth day for an extra €110.
As we already mentioned, the activities we have planned are off the charts and you can also attend by adding the VIP hospitality package, which includes happenings every day, for just €250.
Please contact info@cashgamefestival.com to book your package today!
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