Victory for Sascha Manns at The Festival Rozvadov Mixed Game Event

The Festival Rozvadov has reached its midpoint, and one of the highlights of the series, the €550 H.O.R.S.E.S. Mixed Game Event, concluded yesterday with an exciting finish. Sascha Manns, a regular at The Festival, claimed the victory after defeating Siarhei Narozhny in a heads-up battle.

A day prior, Manns narrowly missed out on a win in the €250 8-Game event, finishing as the runner-up to his fellow countryman, Nicolas Bokowski, or as he calls him, his Kryptonite.

“I sat down at the H.O.R.S.E.S., very tired and slightly tiled over second place. I haven’t won a trophy at The Festival in five attempts, so this was heartbreaking for me.” Despite some setbacks at the beginning, Manns was determined to bring his A-game to the H.O.R.S.E.S. Main Event, “I made some bad plays but got lucky until I reset myself and focused like I did the night before. Even after the lost pots, I kept my composure and focused on seeing patterns that I could use to my advantage. It looks like it worked.”

Fifteen players returned for Day 2 from the starting field of 46. Narozhny, one of the two players who bagged chips in the last starting flight of Day 1, began Day 2 as the chip leader, while Manns started with a below-average stack. Bokowski was also in contention, bringing a healthy stack into Day 2. However, this time, the dynamics changed at the final table, “My 8-Game Kryptonite was seated to my left on the H.O.R.S.E.S. final table, but this time, I managed to keep him in check. I have been battling him online for over a decade now. It was good to get a face to the name finally.”

By the way, this is not a typo – H.O.R.S.E.S. includes an additional S, which stands for Limit Sviten Special. “My Sviten game was on point. I played very aggressively throughout and was able to show up with strong 5-card draw hands when it mattered,” said Manns about what is probably the festival’s favorite game. Usually on the other side of the spectrum is Razz, a game that many dread when it comes in rotation at a mixed tournament, but not Manns, who believes it’s his strongest game in this format, “It’s also my most successful variant online. Many people underestimate the game. There’s nothing like calling with jack-high on the seventh street and being good.”

Bokowski was knocked out before the money prizes, Manns gained momentum and, in the end, established a commanding lead over the Belorussian Narozhny as heads-up play began. The final battle was brief, and Manns quickly scooped up all the chips to secure the win and pocket the top prize of €8,788.

With these two impressive results at The Festival in RozVegas, Sascha Manns is now the person to beat in the Player of the Series leaderboard that secures a €1,600 package to The Festival Series in Malta. Manns is now boasting over $150,000 in live tournament cashes, including a win in The King of Malta event in 2017 and a sixth-place finish in October 2022 at The Festival Main Event in Bratislava, where he earned his career-best prize of €20,375.

2024 The Festival Rozvadov €550 H.O.R.S.E.S. Main Event Results