Evgueny Ievkov Leads Final 16 in Unibet Open Copenhagen Main Event

August 27, 2016

Frank Op de Woerd

Day 2 of the Unibet Open Copenhagen started with 134 players in contention. With only 53 players in the money, a guaranteed 81 players would go home empty handed.

Two-time Unibet Open champion Mateusz Moolhuizen would be high on everyone's list to make the money before the event started. He wouldn't get the same vote of confidence looking at the chip counts going into Day 2 as he started out the shortest with just four big blinds. In true Moolhuizen fashion, though, he spun that up to a whopping 170,000 before seeing it disappear just as quickly. The roller coaster ride ended with Moolhuizen losing a flip with ace-queen, leaving him headed for the door.

With the elimination of Moolhuizen, it was certain there wouldn't be a three-time champion this time. However, there still were players in contention for their second title but they too would trip before the money was reached. Unibet Open Glasgow champ Daniel Chutrov lost all of his chips early on and so did last years Unibet Open Glasgow winner Theis Vad Hennebjerre. The latter made a wheel on the turn but was drawing dead against a higher straight, as his opponent held six-seven.

The march for the money continued with players busting left and right. The bubble only took a handful of hands as short stack Thomas Jespersen got it in with sevens against the ace-eight of British pro Ian Simpson. An ace on the flop and Jespersen made his exit as the last player not getting rewarded for their hard work.

The initial goal for the day was to play down to a final table but that stage of the tournament could not be reached. Around 1 a.m. tournament director Kenny Hallaert announced the final 3 hands to be played. By that time there were still 16 players remained.

One-time chip leader Jasper Van Vlasselaer was amongst them, but he by no means brings to Day 2 the same stack he once had. A big bluff with a missed flush draw set him back considerably and handed the position of tournament commander to Evgueny Ievkov who called on the aforementioned hand with second pair to get there.

Another familiar face still in the running was Johan Goslings. The Dutchman stone bubbled in the last Unibet Open event in Malta but survived without any hiccups this time around.

Besides a slate of Nordics and players from the lowlands and other parts of Europe, one American is still in it. Patrick Coughlin can become the first player from the United States to win an Unibet Open. He's in an excellent position to do so, with 1,061,000 in chips (44 big blinds) good for second in chips.

The tournament resumes at noon local time and will play down to a winner. As soon as the final table is reached, the live stream switches to cards up coverage on a delay. PokerNews will, of course, again be on the floor for updates from the start.

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Jasper Van Vlasselaer	Belgium	346,000	14
2	Evgueny Ievkov	Finland	1,389,000	58
3	Mudassar Khan	Denmark	1,017,000	42
4	Rune Thomsen	Denmark	603,000	25
5	Lasse Haagensen	Denmark	929,000	38
6	Johan Goslings	Netherlands	477,000	20
7	Daniel Wittikko	Sweden	973,000	41
8	Petri Vesa Jiuutilainen	Finland	122,000	5

1	Alexandru Dan Nistor	Romania	912,000	38
2	Joni Liimatta	Finland	696,000	29
3	Tutku Halim Kara	Denmark	142,000	6
4	Patrick Coughlin	United States	1,061,000	44
5	Robin Sevastik	Sweden	600,000	25
6	Soren Blanner	Denmark	738,000	31
7	Srdan Andric	Serbia	662,000	28
8	Aidan Ball	United Kingdom	309,000	13

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