Unibet Open and Deepstack Open Join Forces in Malta
For the first time ever, the popular Unibet Open and Deepstack Open join forces to create a buzzing five-day poker event on the sunny island of Malta. The event is being run in conjunction with Casino Malta and the Intercontinental Hotel in the vibrant city of St. Julians to set the stage for five days of heated poker action in the Mediterranean hotspot.
Its the second stop of the Unibet Open's 11th season and the schedule at the 2018 Unibet Open Malta features a total of 10 different tournaments. Highlights include the €330 Unibet Deepstack Open Cup and the €1,100 Unibet Open Main Event. Besides the flagship tournaments, the schedule also features a €220 NLH Turbo Bounty, a €330 SuperStack tournament and a €175 NLH Progressive Superknockout, with a progressive bounty of 50%. Two special events are featured as well: the invitational-only eSports Battle Royale IX and the €90 QUEENSRULES Ladies Event, where the queen outranks the king in the deck.
Unibet Open & Unibet Deepstack Open in Malta
The €330 Unibet Deepstack Open Cup kicks off the event and runs from May 16-17 with levels of 40 minutes throughout. Players get 30,000 chips to work with and are allowed one optional reentry should they run out of chips. The second and final day of the UDSO Cup will be live streamed.
On May 17, the €1,100 Main Event kicks off its first of two starting days with levels of 60 minutes and a stack of 30,000 chips. The final table will be played out on Sunday, May 20. As is traditional at the Unibet Open, the tournament is played in a freezeout format, creating a level playing field for anyone that enters.
"We’re very happy to join forces with Unibet Open, it’s the opportunity to combine our forces and offer bigger events to European players," said Alex Henry, Head of Events of Deepstack Open. Henry will sit down with PokerNews during the week to talk more about the popular and accessible tour.
Nataly Sopacuaperu, Unibet Open’s Head of Events and Sponsorship, said: "We’re very excited about this partnership. Malta is going to be a sensational event and it will be great for Unibet Open and Unibet Deepstack Open regulars to get the chance to meet up and compete against each other."
eSports Battle Royale freeroll
The eSports Battle Royale IX €10,000 Sit 'n Go will return as well. It's the ninth time well-known eSporters and Twitch-streamers swap their usual digital playground for some live poker action. Alan "hotted89" Widmann will take on Sophia "djarii" White, Scott "Sco" McMillan, Fabien "Kiocsgo" Fiey, Kevin "Papaplatte" Teller, Rafael "Venikraft" Eisler, Colin "Koolein" Wijnholds, Lisa "STPeach" Vannatta and Jordy "MojoOnPC" Janssens. The winner of the freeroll will take home €5,000, the runner-up receives €3,000, and number three banks €2,000.
"We are extremely excited to organize another eSports Battle Royale at the Unibet Open. Having these legends playing at our tables is a fun crossover between poker & eSports," Sopacuaperu said. The famous eSports Battle Royale will be broadcasted live on Twitch.
Plenty of Unibet Ambassadors will also make the journey to the island including recent online Triple Crown winner Dara "Doke" O'Kearney, Ian Simpson, David Lappin, Quentin Lecomte, Alexandre Reard, Fredrik Bergmann and two-time Unibet Open champion Dan Murariu. Espen Uhlen Jorstad and Rauno "Estonian Jesus" Tahvonen, who are working on their target to make 1 million in one year, will also be in the field. Daiva Byrne will also make her appearance and will be the host for the special QUEENSRULES Ladies Event on Friday.
Unibet Open Malta History
For the third time in its 11 year history, the Unibet Open will visit Malta. In 2011, two-time Unibet Open winner Mateusz Moolhuizen won his first title on the island, which was his first-ever recorded cash as well. Moolhuizen, who amassed over $750,000 lifetime earnings since, topped a 293-strong field to claim the first-place prize of €117,000, eventually beating fellow Dutchman Tobias Peters heads-up.
In 2016, Czech player Martin Soukup repeated Moolhuizen's feat by also winning this event as his first-ever recorded cash. Soukup won €65,000 after defeating a later Unibet Open champion, [Removed:158], heads-up.
| Year | Buy-in | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | €1,650 | 293 | €417,525 | Mateusz Moolhuizen | €117,000 |
| 2016 | €1,100 | 292 | €292,000 | Martin Soukup | €65,000 |
Unibet Player of the Year
Every player who enters Unibet Open Malta will score points in the new Unibet Player of the Year contest. The race was launched in London last month and involves both live and online tournaments. Prizes up for grabs are cash prizes, €2,000 Unibet Open Packages, as well as dozens of online satellite tickets.
The overall Unibet Player of the Year will be decided with the Battle of the Champions' play-off, which will feature the top four live players from 2018, the top four online players and the leaderboard winner from the Unibet Deepstack Open. Live players can earn leaderboard points by entering any Unibet Open Main Event this year as well as the Main Events during the Unibet Belgian Poker Championship, the Unibet UK Poker Tour and the Unibet Romanian Poker Series. Extra points will be awarded to all players who make the money as well as additional points awarded based on performance.
Unibet Open Malta live stream
Unibet Malta will have a live stream running for all five days of the festival. Commentator and Unibet Ambassador David Vanderheyden will be following the action on the feature table as well as chatting with players, celebrity guests and staff from the Unibet poker team and running promotions. The live stream will kick off with the eSports Battle Royale on May 16 and continue the next day with coverage from Day 2 of the Unibet Deepstack Open Cup, before moving on to the Main Event on subsequent days.
2018 Unibet Open Malta schedule
| Date | Time (CET) | Event | Buy-in | Levels | Starting Stack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed. 16 | 12:00 | Unibet DeepStack Open Day 1 | €330 | 40 min. | 30,000 |
| 18:30 | Unibet eSports Battle Royale | Free (Inv. only) | 30/20 min. | 25,000 | |
| 19:00 | Satellite Main Event | €165 | 20 min. | 10,000 | |
| Thu. 17 | 11:00 | Main Event - Day 1A | €1,100 | 60 min. | 30,000 |
| 13:00 | Unibet DeepStack Open - Day 2 | - | 40 min. | - | |
| 19:00 | Satellite Main Event | €165 | 20 min. | 10,000 | |
| Fri. 18 | 11:00 | Main Event - Day 1B | €1,100 | 60 min. | 30,000 |
| 18:00 | @QUEENSRULES (Ladies Event) | €90 | 20 min. | 15,000 | |
| 20:00 | NLH Turbo | €165 | 15 min. | 15,000 | |
| Sat. 19 | 12:00 | Main Event - Day 2 | - | 60 min. | - |
| 13:00 | Pot Limit Omaha | €220 | 20/30 min. | 15,000 | |
| 15:00 | SuperStack Day 1 | €330 | 30 min. | 20,000 | |
| 20:00 | Turbo Bounty (€100 Bounty) | €220 | 15 min. | 15,000 | |
| Sun. 20 | 12:00 | Main Event - Day 3 - Final Table | - | 60 min. | - |
| 12:00 | SuperStack - Day 2 | - | 40 min. | - | |
| 13:00 | NLH Progressive SuperKO (50%) | €175 | 15 min. | 15,000 |
For more details, visit:
Deepstack Open: http://www.deepstackopen.com
Unibet Open: www.unibetopen.com
Unibet Poker: www.unibet.com
Official Images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/unibetopenofficial/albums
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/UnibetOpen
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/unibetpoker
Instagram: www.instagram.com/unibetopen
Follow PokerNews throughout the week as our live reporting team will be on hand to cover the entire 2018 Unibet Open Malta Main Event from start to finish.
A former professional poker player with a background in sports marketing and journalism. Yori has been a part of PokerNews since 2016 and manages the content team.
