€550 Main Event, €125,000 GTD
Day 1a Completed
2021 Pokercode Festival Bratislava
€550 Main Event, €125,000 GTD
Day: 1a
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The inaugural Pokercode Festival is off to a hot start at Banco Casino Bratislava with the first of three opening flights of the €125,000 guaranteed Pokercode Bratislava €550 Main Event attracting 75 entries.
Slovakia's Vladimir Bednar bagged the Day 1a chip lead with a stack of 421,500, which will be good enough for 105 big blinds to start Day 2 on Saturday with two more opening flights set to take place on Friday, Sept. 10.
Bednar was cruising most of the day before his chip stack catapulted to over 400,000 near the end of the day when his aces held against the ace-nine suited held by Darren Chandler.
Also bagging top five chip stacks on Day 1a were Maksym Ronshyn, Fehim Hajdari, Konstantin Hammermueller, and Sebastian Schulze.
Pokercode Festival Bratislava Main Event Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladimir Bednar | 421,500 | 105 |
| 2 | Maksym Ronshyn | 305,500 | 76 |
| 3 | Fehim Hajdari | 298,500 | 75 |
| 4 | Konstantin Hammermueller | 273,500 | 68 |
| 5 | Sebastian Schulze | 244,500 | 61 |
| 6 | Kate Scisel | 228,500 | 57 |
| 7 | Raffael Crose | 214,500 | 54 |
| 8 | Vladimir Kostka | 204,000 | 51 |
| 9 | Hannes Jeschka | 193,000 | 48 |
| 10 | Christoph Rapf | 190,000 | 48 |
Pokercode Co-Founder Kate Scisel Living the Dream
Kate Scisel is one of the co-founders of Pokercode along with Fedor Holz and Matthias Eibinger. While Holz and Eibinger were on the sidelines today, Scisel was in action from the start and was having a good time all day long at the same table as Ruurd Nauta.
Scisel didn't know anything about poker a few years ago but that all changed once Pokercode came to life as she shared with PokerNews during one of the breaks that she felt like she had to learn in order as part of involvement with Pokercode. Scisel's learning curve was apparent as she held her own throughout the day and bagged one of the largest stacks of the day.
This should come as little surprise as she has at her disposal not only the amazing resources at Pokercode but also direct access with the incredible talent behind the training site.
Scisel was involved in perhaps one of the most fun hands of the day against Nauta where she called off with queen-jack suited against her opponent's rockets during preflop action. Nauta genuinely wished Scisel good luck and to everyone's surprise, Scisel flopped a flush and never looked back.
"This is not something to be proud of," said Scisel. "But we are still friends."
Pokercode couldn't be any happier to meet many of their community along with many others that traveled from near and far to play at the inaugural Pokercode Festival.
Holz and Pokercode Head of Marketing Milko van Winden not only joined the Pokercode crew in welcome all the players they could one-on-one but also shared this short video.
Be sure to return to the PokerNews coverage tomorrow, Sept. 10 for Day 1b at 12 p.m. CEST.
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
421,500
21,500
|
21,500 |
|
||
|
305,500
-24,500
|
-24,500 |
|
298,500
208,500
|
208,500 |
|
273,500
-76,500
|
-76,500 |
|
244,500
194,500
|
194,500 |
|
228,500
-21,500
|
-21,500 |
|
|
214,500
104,500
|
104,500 |
|
|
204,000
-86,000
|
-86,000 |
|
193,000
193,000
|
193,000 |
|
|
190,000 | |
|
|
185,500
162,500
|
162,500 |
|
|
165,500
-134,500
|
-134,500 |
|
155,000
-115,000
|
-115,000 |
|
110,500
20,500
|
20,500 |
|
108,500
8,500
|
8,500 |
|
94,000
64,000
|
64,000 |
|
|
83,500 | |
|
|
80,500
-9,500
|
-9,500 |
|
78,500
-51,500
|
-51,500 |
|
67,500
37,500
|
37,500 |
|
|
48,000 | |
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The final 21 players are bagging chips for the end of the day.
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The tournament director has announced five more hands before surviving players bag their chips for Saturday's Day 2.
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Both Milan Bajmoczi from the small blind and Kate Scisel from the big blind called a standard button open by Raffael Crose.
Bajmoczi checked the 
flop. Scisel bet 13,000 and Crose folded before Bajmoczi three-bet shoved for 59,000. Scicel called and was in good shape after the cards were turned over.
Milan Bajmoczi: 
Kate Scisel: 
Scisel's top pair held on the 
board to eliminate Bajmoczi near the end of Day 1a.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
250,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Chiel van Eerdt jammed for 43,500 from early position and was called by Alexander Shelukhin from the small blind.
Chiel van Eerdt: 
Alexander Shelukhin: 
Van Eerdt improved to a set on the 
board to double through Shelkhin. Meanwhile, Vladimir Bednar continues to destroy the dreams of his opponents and padded his Day 1a chip lead near the end of the day by taking the final couple of blinds held by Thomas [Removed:292] to send him to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
400,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
90,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
30,000
-70,000
|
-70,000 |
|
|
Busted | |
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Pokercode Founder Fedor Holz is in the house and will be playing the $5,000 High Roller on Saturday while mingling with the players the next couple of days during the Main Event.
Check out the latest video on the Pokercode YouTube channel where Holz and Pokercode Head of Marketing Milko van Winden welcome all the players to Bratislava for the Pokercode Festival at Banco Casino Bratislava.
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
Darren Chandler jammed from late position over a limper for 63,000 and was called by Vladimir Bednar from one seat over.
Darren Chandler: 
Vladimir Bednar: 
Chandler got nowhere on the 
board and the Day 1a field was down to 24 players.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
400,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
Level 11
: 1,500/3,000, 3,000 ante
The final blind level of Day 1a has just begun. Surviving players will bag chips into Saturday's Day 2 while those less fortunate will have more chances on tomorrow's Day 1b and the turbo Day 1c. If that doesn't work out, there is one more re-entry possible before the end of the first blind level of Day 2.