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Day 1b of the Festival Series Bratislava €550 Main Event at Banco Casino Bratislava attracted 132 entries to bring the total field size up to 240 entries with two more opening flights to go on Thursday, Sept. 22.

Although the lofty €300,000 guarantee has yet to be met halfway, a big crowd is expected for Day 1c, and players can also get into the action or re-enter during the first two blind levels of Day 2.

After 10 blind levels of 45 minutes each, a total of 54 players bagged chips into Friday's Day 2 to bring the Day 2 field up to 90 players with many more to come.

Slovakia's Jozef Komorny bagged the biggest stack of the day of 181,800 in chips closely followed by Nemanja Milovanovic, Thomas DeRooij, Adi Rajkovic, and Andrej Cintula.

Meanwhile, Michael Uguccioni, Totti Lind, Tomas Vojtek, Aleksander Tomovic, and Peter Varga all bagged big on Day 1b.

The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts

Some of the players in the Main Event immediately hopped over into another room in the conference area for their last chance to get into the €250 Roulette Main Event including Argo Garamaga, who bagged 49,800 into Day 2.

PokerNews will be back on the floor for Day 1c on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 12 p.m. and before then will provide updates for the Blackjack and Roulette Main Events.

A total of 54 players bagged chips out of the field of 132 entries. Jozef Komorny bagged the biggest stack of the day with 181,800. Here is a look at all of the chip counts to end the day.

The clock was stopped for Day 1b. The Festival Series Tournament Director Gerard Serra announced three more hands before surviving players can either bag their chips or surrender their stack.

Jozef Komorny fired out a nearly pot-sized bet of 20,000 on the board and was called by Marcin Stachyra who had a little more than double this behind.

Koromy turned over for the straight and took the Day 1b chip lead after Starchya mucked his hand.

Aleksander Tomovic opened for 2,600 from the lojack. Boris Zeleny three-bet jammed for 18,000 from the hijack. Tomovic paused for about 30 seconds before he opted to call.

Boris Zeleny:
Aleksandar Tomovic:

Zeleny was ahead when the chips went in but he hit the rail after Tomovic paired his nine on the board.

The final level of Day 1b has just kicked off. After this level, surviving players will bag their chips. The only exception to this is that players can also opt to surrender their stack and try again on Day 1c and/or Day 1d.

Csaba Illes jammed for about 11,000 from middle position before Timothy Harold came in over the top for 18,000 from the button. Tomas Vojtek called both players from the big blind and players turned over their cards.

Csaba Illes:
Timothy Harold:
Tomas Vojtek:

The flop kept Harold ahead with his eights and had the best flush draw to boot. Harold was still ahead after the turn. However, the river gave Vojtek a set and he eliminated both Harold and Illes in the same hand.

Ylva Thorsrud jammed from the small blind and was called by Attila Kuna for his stack of around 13,000.

Attila Kuna:
Ylva Thorsrud:

The flop put Kuna ahead of Thorsrud's nines. However, Kuna stood up shortly after as he was drawing dead to Thorsrud's set after the followed on the turn. The inconsequential completed the board and the dealer awarded Thorsrud the pot.

Players are on their final 20-minute break.

Joni Helenius jammed for about 50,000 into a pot of around the same with the board.

Charalampos Chatzithoma went into the tank for several minutes before Helenius called the clock. The Festival Series tournament director Gerard Serra was called over. Serra asked the dealer a question before he put Chatzithoma on the clock.

Chatzithoma let the time tick down to just one second before he folded the hand and Helenius sat at around 100,000 in chips after the hand.

Yesterday featured not only Day 1a of the Main Event but a handful of side events including the €220 Sviten Special event. If you aren't familiar with Sviten Special, it was invented in Sweden and is very simliar to the American game of Drawmaha combining both 5-card PLO and 5-card draw into the same game.

United Kingdom's George Sandford proved that this game isn't just for the Swedes after coming out on top of a field of 37 entries to win the event for €2,870. Sandford will be featured soon again as he is also The Festival Series Bratislava commentator.

Originally this event was scheduled to pay out five spots. However, the crew decided to pay whoever bubbled a token prize. Here is a look at all of the payouts of the Sviten Special event.

The Day 1b field grew to 122 entries at the start of Level 8. Players will go on a 20-minute break at the end of the blind level.

Kelly Limonova limped from early position before she called a raise to 2,200 by Thomas DeRooij from middle position.

Limonova bet 1,600 on the flop and DeRooij raised to 6,000 and Limonova called. The turn followed and Limonova jammed for 21,000. DeRooij found the call and players showed their cards.

Kelly Limonova:
Thomas DeRooij:

Limonova was ahead but DeRooij had outs to a flush or a better pair. The flush was completed after the completed the board. Limonova sat there in complete disbelief before leaving the tournament area to enter the €440 PKO side event that just began.

PokerNews caught up with the hand with a small amount in the pot after the came on the flop. Hans Pettersson checked before he jammed for 12,600 over a bet by Dominik Desset. Desset called and players showed their hands.

Hans Pettersson:
Dominik Desset:

Pettersson was in trouble but help was on its way after the came on the turn to give him two pair. The river was a blank for Desset and Pettersson doubled his stack.

Aleksandar Tomovic bet 6,000 into a pot of around 13,000 on the flop. Nikolaos Tsitos jammed for 25,000 on Tomovic snap-called.

Nikolaos Tsitos:
Aleksandar Tomovic:

Tsitos was ahead and took a further advantage in the hand after the turn. However, that all changed after the river completed the board. Although Tsitos improved further to a set, Tomovic improved to a straight to end take Tsitos stack just before the break.

Players are on their second break of the day.

Check out the video highlights from Day 1a of The Festival Series Bratislava Main Event.

Axel Thoren checked the board on the turn. Anders Rickard Lejon jammed for 13,600 into a pot of a bit less and Thoren went into the tank before he called a few minutes later.

Anders Rickard Lejon:
Alex Thoren:

Thoren's nines were ahead but Lejon had a flush draw as well as other possibilities to improve. The didn't help Lejon and he will have to re-enter if he wants a chance to advance to Day 2.

Here is a look at some of the bigger stacks from around the room a little more midway through Day 1b.

Dominik Desset jammed his short-stack of 2,100 from the cutoff and was called by Martin Ilavsky from the button and Igor Mataruga from the big blind.

Mataruga and Ilavsky checked down both the flop and the turn before Mataruga checked again on the river. Ilavsky bet 2,000 and Mataruga folded.

Ilavsky showed and he eliminated Desset who came up short with . Meanwhile, at the same table, Totti Lind was noticed with a stack of 60,000 in chips.

The Day 1b field has grown to 104 entries with 86 players remaining.

Toivo Ojasoo doubled through Petr Kubenka. It looked like the chips all went in on the flop.

Toivo Ojasoo:
Petr Kubenka:

Despite Kubenka nailing a set on the board, he lost the flip to Ojasoo who improved to a set of ladies.

Michael Uguccioni opened for 1,200 from under the gun. Charalampos Chatzithoma three-bet to 4,400 from the cutoff and Uguccioni called.

Uguccioni checked the flop. Chatzithoma bet 4,600 and Uguccioni jammed for more than the 22,500 his opponent had behind.

Chatzithoma went into the tank for several minutes checking his cards many times before he finally made the call.

Charalampos Chatzithoma:
Michael Uguccioni:

Players began to take back their chips as the turn and river completed the board for a chop.

"I almost folded," said Chatzithoma after the hand.

Petr Kubenka opened for 800 from early position and was called by Ondrej Milabersky from two seats over. Ylva Thorsrud three-bet to 2,400 from the cutoff. Attila Kuna cold-called from the button and Kubenka and Milabersky came along as well.

All four players checked down the entire board. Kuna turned over . Everyone else tossed their hand into the muck and the dealer awarded Kuna the pot.

Meanwhile, Hanna Arnesson got back into action and local hero Martin Ilavsky got into the mix as well.

We noticed before the break that Kelly Limonova was re-entering the Main Event. She shared with PokerNews that she was ousted by Ylva Thorsrud, the winner of last night's charity tournament

Thorsrud shared the hand with the media.

Thorsrud opened for 500 from under the gun with nines and was called by Limonova with king-queen. Fireworks immediately erupted on the queen-nine-four flop with two spades. Thorsrud bet 600. Limonova raised to 1,500 before she jammed for 20,000 when facing Thorsrud's three-bet to 4,500.

Thorsrud made the easy call with the middle set and had Limonova drawing dead after a blank came on the turn.

Dusan Sninsky bet 1,100 into a pot of around 3,000 after the landed on the flop. Dan Olin three-bet to 3,000 from one seat over and a third player in the hand, folded their cards. Snisky tanked for more than a minute before he jammed for nearly 10,000. Olin snap-called and players showed their cards.

Dusan Sninsky:
Dan Olin:

Sninsky got out of his seat looking for the tournament director to ask about re-entry after he saw his top pair was no good against a set. Sninsky was drawing dead after the turn and was out of chips on his first bullet despite improving to trips on the river.

Hanna Arnesson lost her short stack at another table at around the same time.

Players are on their first break.

The Day 1b field has already grown to 75 entries with 70 players still in their seats with the first break approaching.

Dan Wald and Kelly Limonova were among the players eliminated that have yet to re-enter while Nikolaos Tsitos and Ingvar Sveinsson both lost their first stacks but have re-entered for another chance to advance during the Day 1b.

With 7,000 in the pot, Mihaly Jansco checked the turn with the on the board. Daniel Prior fired out for 2,000 and Jansco went into the tank before he raised to 8,000. Prior was deep in thought for about a minute before he opted to fold his hand.

The Festival Series is launching two competitive sports wagering competitions on Saturday. The lowball event features just a €30 buy-in, something every player in town can afford. Meanwhile, higher-stakes players can enjoy the €250 Main Event.

For both of these competitions, players need to be in Bratislava at Banco Casino.

Today, The Festival Series is launching a freeroll at 1:30 p.m. CEST where you can qualify to the lowball event for free! You don't even need to be at the casino for this one as you can play from the comfort of your own home.

If you finish in the top three spots in the freeroll and aren't already in Bratislava, rest assured The Festival Series has your back and will give you €30 in credit at one of the many online partners of The Festival Series or at next live event.

All you need to do to get into the action is head to The Festival Series Sportsbook Freeroll landing page to participate.

"This time we are testing your knowledge of European football leagues," said The Festival Series Sportsbook Tournament Director Mark Joa to PokerNews. "We have some big matches in there but we keep in mind that this festival is very multicultural, so we have some interesting matchups from 10 different leagues around the continent."

Rikard Lindberg bet 3,000 into a pot of around 5,000 with the on the board. Kristoffer Winterstein tanked for a minute before he called.

Winterstein turned over over for an overpair to the paired board. This wasn't good enough as Lindberg held to win the pot with a better two pair.

Rikard Andersson bet 6,000 with about 9,000 in the pot with the on the board after the turn and was called by Ville Vainio.

Andersson then bet another 6,000 on the river. Vainio paused for a moment before announcing he was all-in.

Andersson asked for a count and the dealer shared it was for 17,100.

"You have the coconuts?" asked Andersson. "I have the shitanuts."

Andersson went into the tank for another minute before tossing a single chip in designating a call.

Vainio turned over which was good enough to double his stack with Andersson showing the table for top pair.

Meanwhile, Lars Eklund became the second person to hit the rail early on Day 1b and Totti Lind has joined the action to bring the field up to 52 entries with 50 players remaining.

Dan Wald has changed seats at the same table. This isn't due to a wild redraw but because he was eliminated before immediately re-entered.

Wald and Rikard Andersson both recapped the basics of the hand to PokerNews.

Wald was short on chips when he flopped top pair with . Andersson nailed a set on the turn with . Wald got his crumbs in on the river and was back a couple of minutes later with a new stack of 30,000 in chips.

Luka Bojavic four-bet from the button for 3,000. Hanna Arnesson, who initially three-bet called.

Arnesson check-raised the flop from 1,000 to 4,500 and Bojavic called. Bojavic then called a bet of 8,000 on the turn before the double-paired the board on the river.

Bojavic jammed for around 17,000 after Arnesson checked it over to him. Arnesson went into the tank for a minute before she folded to give Bojavic an early pot.

A total of 22 players were in the field to start the day. Here is a look at some of the players.