2018 Coolbet Open

Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2018 Coolbet Open

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
€50,100
Event Info
Buy-in
€500
Entries
425
Level Info
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000

Main Event

Day 1a Completed

Dmitri Zatsik Ended Day 1a of the Coolbet Open Main Event as Chipleader

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante
Dmitri Zatsik
Dmitri Zatsik

The first-ever Coolbet Open Main Event hosted by Olympic Park Casino and Hilton Tallinn Park was a huge success with 104 entrants ponying up the €550 buy-in.

This represents a considerably larger turnout than the 70-80 entrants estimated before the start of the day by tournament organizers. Tomorrow's action is expected to be much bigger for the second and final opening flight with the plethora of online qualifiers in the field.

Players began the today's deep-stacked action with 30,000 in chips and battled it out for eight blinds levels of 45 minutes each. Those bagging chips will enjoy an even deeper structure for Day 2 and Day 3 on May 4-5 with 60-minute blind levels.

More than half of today's field survived with 63 of the 104 players bagging chips. Estonia's Dmitri Zatsik ending the day as the Day 1a chip leader with 163,700 in chips.

On Zatsik's tail are United Kingdom's Craig Timmis with 152,600 in chips and Norway's Jan C. Kongsgard with 150,300 in chips. Other players a bit further behind but bagged six-figure stacks were Mauri Dorbek (106,100), Aleksei Smirnov (106,100), Andrei Mjagkov (101,900), and Sergei Aleksejev (100,200).

Jan Svendsen
Jan Svendsen

In other news, Coolbet founder Jan Svendsen and his friend and Swedish entrepreneur Martin "Franke" von Zweigbergk had a friendly rivalry taking place. This is due to Coolbet offering odds on which player would both cash the event and last longer than the other.

Both Svendsen and von Zweigbergk started off hot by nearly doubling their stack. Svendsen eventually busted his stack and reentered and was eliminated for the second time.

Meanwhile, von Zweigbergk had trouble staying in his seat and was away from the table more than he was at the table. He eventually got it all-in with nine-six offsuit and after failing to win the hand hit the rail as well. We will see more of this friendly rivalry tomorrow as both players shared they plan to reenter tomorrow's Day 1b field.

Also eliminated today was Coolbet invited Norwegian boxer Kevin Melhus, who was the first fighter to win a professional match on home soil. During one of the breaks, Melhus shared his thoughts on both boxing and poker live on Facebook with PokerNews.

Day 1b of the Main Event will kick off at 2 p.m. local time tomorrow with many new players and many of the same players from today that were unable to survive.

As was the case today, the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the floor to provide complete coverage tomorrow and beyond until a winner is declared.

Tags: Aleksei SmirnovAndrei MjagkovCoolbet OpenDmitri ZatsikGraig TimmisHilton Park HotelJan C. KongsgardJan SvendsenKevin MelhusMartin von ZweigbergkMauri DorbekOlympic Park CasinoSergei Aleksejev

Full Chip Count Update (full)

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante
Player Chips Progress
Dmitri Zatsik ee
Dmitri Zatsik
163,700
Craig Timmis gb
Craig Timmis
152,600
Jan C. Kongsgard no
Jan C. Kongsgard
150,300 150,300
Mauri Dorbek ee
Mauri Dorbek
106,100 10,700
Aleksei Smirnov ee
Aleksei Smirnov
106,100 37,100
Andrei Mjagkov ee
Andrei Mjagkov
101,900 101,900
Sergei Aleksejev ru
Sergei Aleksejev
100,200 47,975
Jaako Hokkanen fi
Jaako Hokkanen
92,600 92,600
Tommy Ravn no
Tommy Ravn
90,700 90,700
Roland Luik ee
Roland Luik
88,900 16,425
Jon Skiple Sataoen no
Jon Skiple Sataoen
82,000 82,000
Arko Akenpärg fi
Arko Akenpärg
75,700 75,700
Kati Kippasto ee
Kati Kippasto
71,000 71,000
Eduard Kruglov-Arutiunian ee
Eduard Kruglov-Arutiunian
70,100 70,100
Alen Coralic no
Alen Coralic
66,000 66,000
Jargo Alaväli ee
Jargo Alaväli
62,300 62,300
Jahn-Eric Yaniz Chruickshank no
Jahn-Eric Yaniz Chruickshank
58,100 58,100
Roope Tarmi fi
Roope Tarmi
57,600 57,600
Donatas Pilinkus lt
Donatas Pilinkus
56,200 56,200
Aleksandr Konstantinov ru
Aleksandr Konstantinov
55,900 4,450
Meelis Vist ee
Meelis Vist
53,200 23,200
Jari Hurri fi
Jari Hurri
51,900 24,525
Andreas Hagen no
Andreas Hagen
49,300 49,300
Tõnis Lass ee
Tõnis Lass
49,000 49,000
Raivo Nõmmik ee
Raivo Nõmmik
47,700 47,700

Read full

Players Bagging Chips

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante
Coolbet Open
Coolbet Open

Players are now bagging their chips. We will update on the chip leader and provide a full recap and chip update of the remaining 63 players as soon as we have all the information.

Cool Two-Day Side Event at 9 p.m.

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante
Coolbet Open
Coolbet Open

When Tournament Director Teresa Nousianen organizes a tournament festival, she keeps tons of things in mind. Most importantly is how to provide value to players.

In a unique style, at 9 p.m. EEST players can hop into the Coolbet €330 NLHE Deepstack event. Why this is unique is that they scheduled it in a way for Main Event players to join the action.

Not only does it start 30 minutes after the opening flight of the Main Event ends but also won't go all night for players looking to improve their stack by reentering or gambled it away during the last few hands in the evening. Nousianen shared that the opening day of the Deepstack should end around 1:30-2:00 a.m. EEST.

Also of note is that players start off with 20,000, giving them plenty of play along with the 30-minute blind levels. Players can reenter an unlimited amount of times until the end of Level 6 and nine levels will be played until the action resumes again tomorrow at 9 p.m. for Day 2.

Roland Luik Among the Chip Leaders

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante
Roland Luik
Roland Luik

Local hero Roland Luik is among the chip leaders with 110,000 in chips. He is a well-known poker player in Tallinn in both cash games and tournaments.

His best result came in 2017 when he took second place in the Kings of Tallinn €1,100 Main Event for €46,677. Thanks to a three-way deal made at the final table, he even banked more than the eventual winner Matias Knaapinen took home when he banked €45,007 and the trophy.

Luik will certainly be a player to watch now that he has a stack and the ability to use it wisely in a deep-structured event.

Tags: Roland LuikMatias Knaapinen

Final Level of the Day

Level 8 : 400/800, 100 ante

The blinds have just increased to 400/800 with an ante of 100. The floor just announced to the players that it is the final level of the day.

So far, the Day 1a field attracted 104 entrants with 70 still remaining. Several players have indicated they plan to gamble a bit more than normal in hopes of building their stacks with the knowledge that they can always reenter tomorrow for Day 1b if their strategy doesn't pan out.

Level: 8

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 100

Jesus Happy to Have a Starting Stack

Level 7 : 300/600, 75 ante
Rauno "Estonian Jesus" Tahvonen
Rauno "Estonian Jesus" Tahvonen

It wasn't the best start of the day for Rauno "Estonian Jesus" Tahvonen but that can now all be forgotten. He has a fresh stack of 30,000 in chips and it isn't because he reentered.

He has been chipping away since the break and now has is back to a starting stack after winning two pots where he took down the action preflop with a three-bet.

Player Chips Progress
Rauno Tahvonen ee
Rauno Tahvonen
30,000 12,875

Tags: Rauno Tahvonen