Welcome back to the Wynn Las Vegas and the Wynn Fall Classic for Day 1b of the European Open Special Edition.
The tenth season of the Open series is being celebrated in style as the Unibet Open is travelling outside of Europe and onto the shores of the USA for the first time in history. To kick off this spectacle, the tournament will feature an $1,100 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament that features two day ones, a live streamed final table, and a whopping $400,000 guarantee.
Friday saw Day 1a take center stage at the Wynn Las Vegas, and with it say 259 players take to the felt throughout the day before just 44 would be left standing once play concluded mid-way through level 16. Joseph Wertz collected the honors of being the flight's chip leader as he bagged an impressive 305,500. Snapping on his heels included Casey Stewart (280,000), Rex Clinkscales (249,500), Matthew Levine (246,000), Karel Kratochvil (223,000), Jo Anders Haukland (218,500), John Bonadies, 210,500), and Jussi Perlinen (209,000).
Tournament staff are expected at least 300 players today, with some eyeing an over 400-player flight to see the guarantee smashed. There are a plethora of online qualifiers that didn't play on Day 1a, and some that did but will be looking for redemption here on Day 1b. Throw in some the bevy of seasoned tournament veterans from around the country that were in attendance yesterday, and the idea of a 400-player flight is not at all out of the question.
Players will begin with 20,000 in tournament chips and be playing 40-minute levels on day one, before switching to 60-minute levels from day two onwards. Players are allowed a maximum of one re-entry per day with registration closing at the completion of the dinner break (approximately 7:40 p.m. PST). As a reminder, the final table will be streamed live on Twitch, along with feature tables throughout the tournament.
Play is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. (PST) with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team on hand to provide continuous live updates of all the European Open Special Edition action, from the two day one flights until a winner is crowned in a few days. So stay tuned right here to PokerNews.com to follow along all the European Open Special Edition action live from the tournament floor of the Wynn Las Vegas.
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The action folded round to Miss Finland 2012 Sara Chafak, and she opened her button to 150. Both the blinds called, and the flop landed .
The blinds checked, and Chafak bet out 375 with only the small blind calling, as the turn landed the .
The small blind now led out for 600 only to have Chafak raise to 1,300. The small blind called, and when the river landed the , he led out again; this time for 3,000.
Chafak folded, and in doing so, dropped to 18,150 in chips.
Following a limp under the gun, Dan Harrington limped in middle position, as did the button, before both blinds came along to see a flop.
All five players checked it through to see the land on the turn. The blinds and the limper checked to Harrington who bet 300 before the button raised to 1,000. Harrington responded with a three-bet amounting to 5,400 once the action folded back to him, and the player on the button called.
The river landed the , and Harrington tossed in two pink 5,000-denomination chips for a bet of 10,000. His opponent mulled over a decision for a few moments before eventually releasing his hand to see Harrington climb to 27,000 in chips.
Most people have flocked to Unibet these past few years for cash games action and promotions. Now, the Swedish-operated online poker site is throwing their hat into the ring to offer online poker tournaments.
Starting Oct. 2, players on Unibet can start firing up multi-table tournaments (MTTs) with the flagship Sunday Majors to begin on Oct. 8.
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Sara Chafak limped in from middle position and Mitch Schock raised to 700 from the small blind.
Chafak called, and the flop landed rainbow and Schock checked to Chafak who bet 2,100.
Schock called, and then checked the on the turn as Chafak bet 5,000. Schock moved all in, and Chafak called off her 8,500 total.
Chafak:
Schock:
With Chafak needing to hit a ten to complete her straight to stay alive, the river landed the repeating , and 2012's Miss Finland would be eliminated as Schock climbed to roughly 30,000 in chips.
The beautiful city of Bucharest will host a main event for the Unibet Open Poker Tour 2017 from November 30th to December 4th, 2017.
Players will stay at the luxury-grade Marriott hotel and will be treated to the famous Unibet hospitality, including welcome drinks, players’ party and lots of activities away from the poker table.
Last year, Traian Bostan defeated Eli Heath heads-up when his held true against Heath's on a final board of . Bostan collected the €100,000 first prize after topping the 603-player field as the final table payouts were as following:
Hayli Baez has just been eliminated from today's flight.
Speaking to table mate and fellow eSports Battle Royale contestant Andrew Neeme, he detailed to us that Baez held against an opponent's .
The flop brought two aces, but it would be the on the turn that would be the devastating blow for Baez as she was eliminated from the tournament after being unable to fade her opponent's two-outer.
Facing a raise to 500 and a call, Greg Kelley called in the cutoff as the button and both blinds came along also to see a flop.
The small blind led out for 2,500 and the big blind folds as the original raiser calls. Following another fold, Kelley called as the button releases his hand.
The turn lands the and both players check to Kelley who bets 6,000. The small blind moves all in for a little over 20,000 as the original raiser folds, and Kelley calls for 15,200 total.
Kelley:
Opponent:
With Kelley at-risk and needing to fade the , the river landed the , and he doubled through to roughly 40,000 in chips.
.
. 
, he led out again; this time for 3,000.
flop.
, and Harrington tossed in two pink 5,000-denomination chips for a bet of 10,000. His opponent mulled over a decision for a few moments before eventually releasing his hand to see Harrington climb to 27,000 in chips.
rainbow and Schock checked to Chafak who bet 2,100.
on the turn as Chafak bet 5,000. Schock moved all in, and Chafak called off her 8,500 total.
. Bostan collected the €100,000 first prize after topping the 603-player field as the final table payouts were as following: 
flop.
and both players check to Kelley who bets 6,000. The small blind moves all in for a little over 20,000 as the original raiser folds, and Kelley calls for 15,200 total.
, the river landed the 
, and he doubled through to roughly 40,000 in chips.