Players are now on their second and final break of the day. They will play two more levels before surviving players will bag chips.
During the break, we will be interviewing Norwegian boxer Kevin Helhus on Facebook.
Level: 7
Blinds: 300/600
Ante: 75
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
95,400
65,400
|
65,400 |
|
72,475
72,475
|
72,475 |
|
69,000
69,000
|
69,000 |
|
52,225
11,225
|
11,225 |
|
|
51,450
7,450
|
7,450 |
|
|
49,000
19,000
|
19,000 |
|
36,050
-5,950
|
-5,950 |
|
35,375
16,375
|
16,375 |
|
||
|
|
33,750
-1,250
|
-1,250 |
|
33,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
|
32,300
32,300
|
32,300 |
|
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
27,425
27,425
|
27,425 |
|
27,375
1,375
|
1,375 |
|
|
19,000
19,000
|
19,000 |
|
17,125
-24,875
|
-24,875 |
|
15,000
-15,000
|
-15,000 |
|
||
|
|
7,500
-22,500
|
-22,500 |
|
|
Busted | |
During the last break, we sat down with Norwegian professional boxer Kevin Melhus. Among the things we learned is that Melhus was the first Norwegian to win a professional boxing match on home soil since 1981.
Players are starting to be eliminated at a faster pace than earlier, which is natural as the blinds increase.
However, the fact that both Coolbet founder Jan Svendsen and Jon Kyte were both felted before reentering is a little surprising as they were both recently near the top of the chip counts. We witnessed Svendsen's stack as high as 58,000 early on and Kyte ran his stack up to around 50,000.
Both have won small hands after they reentered and neither player is afraid to gamble a little to try to bag a big stack to be in a good position on Day 2 and beyond.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
34,000
19,000
|
19,000 |
|
|
||
|
32,000
-9,000
|
-9,000 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
30,000
12,875
|
12,875 |
Level: 8
Blinds: 400/800
Ante: 100
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.
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.
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.
