Main Event
Day 1a Started
2016 Unibet Open Bucharest
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2016 Unibet Open Bucharest
Buy-in
€1,000
Prize Pool
€584,910
Entries
603
Level
32
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
50,000
Welcome to Day 1a of the 2016 Unibet Open Bucharest Main Event
The highly anticipated Unibet Open festival in Romania's capital in Bucharest kicks off in two hours from now with Day 1a of the €1,100 Main Event as of 12 p.m. local time. Some 200 players qualified through Unibet and at least another 400 players are expected via the Romanian Pokerfest to make it the biggest event in terms of participation and smash the guarantee of €500,000 over the course of the next four days.
Unibet is heading to Romania for the first time, however, one particular Romanian has already made history on the tour as Dan Murariu was the first player to win two Unibet Open Main Events after emerging victorious in Bulgaria in 2010 as well as in Saint Martin in 2012.
Dutchman Mateusz Moolhuizen followed suit in 2015 - he first defeated a 293-entry strong field in Malta in 2011 and claimed the second title one year ago in Antwerp. Both two-time champions are expected among the contenders here at the stunning JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel.
Day 1a and tomorrow's Day 1b will feature 11 levels of 60 minutes each with a break every two levels and a 60-minute dinner break. All participants will receive 30,000 in chips and the tournament is played as Freezeout, late registration for both starting days remains open until the end of level four. December 1st provides two other milestones here in Bucharest as well: Great Union Day is the national holiday of Romania and Unibet launches a new version of their innovative software.
Unibet Open history
| Year | Event | Buy-In | Entries | Winner | Country | Original Prize | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Warsaw | €1,650 | 120 | Stale Lokse | Norway | zł159,900 | $65,090 |
| 2008 | Madrid | €1,650 | 297 | Joao Barbosa | Portugal | €115,800 | $179,240 |
| Milan | €1,650 | 320 | Domenico Tinnirello | Italy | €121,000 | $173,953 | |
| Warsaw | zł5,500 | 270 | Simon Johansson | Sweden | zł464,805 | $152,355 | |
| 2009 | Budapest | €1,650 | 360 | Alvaro Aspas | Spain | €135,000 | $170,104 |
| Algarve | €1,650 | 409 | Andre Dias | Portugal | €151,000 | $207,104 | |
| London | £2,750 | 266 | Thanh Doan | Finland | £187,000 | $305,326 | |
| Prague | €1,650 | 451 | Fuat Can | Sweden | €167,500 | $245,983 | |
| Warsaw | zł7,000 | 401 | Jimmy Jonsson | Sweden | zł654,430 | $239,778 | |
| 2010 | Budapest | €1,650 | 460 | Anthon-Pieter Wink | Netherlands | €172,500 | $235,665 |
| Golden Sands | €1,650 | 394 | Dan Murariu | Romania | €150,705 | $184,182 | |
| Prague | €1,650 | 424 | Henri Ojala | Finland | €157,000 | $207,037 | |
| Valencia | €1,650 | 361 | Thomas Thang | Denmark | €138,080 | $191,626 | |
| London | £1,650 | 273 | Paul Valkenburg | Netherlands | £109,550 | $171,408 | |
| 2011 | Malta | €1,650 | 293 | Mateusz Moolhuizen | Netherlands | €117,000 | $163,075 |
| Barcelona | €1,650 | 387 | Rubén Sánchez Cebollada | Spain | €145,000 | $212,246 | |
| Dublin | €1,650 | 260 | Paul Vas Nunes | United Kingdom | €105,300 | $151,742 | |
| Riga | Ls1,650 | 308 | Peter Harkes | Netherlands | Ls62,829 | $119,878 | |
| 2012 | Prague | €1,650 | 254 | Filip Verboven | Belgium | €100,000 | $131,574 |
| Paris | €1,650 | 439 | Jaroslaw Barglik | Poland | €140,539 | $185,310 | |
| London | £1,320 | 315 | Pratik Ghatge | United Kingdom | £85,050 | $136,305 | |
| Saint Martin | €1,650 | 238 | Dan Murariu | Romania | €110,000 | $142,590 | |
| 2013 | Copenhagen | €1,650 | 336 | Kassem Yassine | Sweden | €107,367 | $126,744 |
| Tróia | €1,650 | 242 | Dmitry Varlamov | Russia | €80,187 | $104,811 | |
| Cannes | €1,650 | 313 | Quentin Lecomte | France | €100,000 | $132,918 | |
| Riga | Ls2271 | 208 | Rens Feenstra | Netherlands | Ls52,800 | $101,652 | |
| 2014 | Copenhagen | DKr8,250 | 406 | Frederik Jensen | Denmark | DKr625,000 | $116,168 |
| Tallinn | €1,100 | 262 | Mauri Dorbek | Estonia | €55,500 | $75,574 | |
| Cannes | €1,100 | 457 | Daniel Smith | United Kingdom | €88,000 | $114,059 | |
| London | £1,100 | 399 | Iaron Lightbourne | United Kingdom | £70,000 | $110,163 | |
| 2015 | Copenhagen | DKr8,250 | 404 | Theis Vad Hennebjerre | Denmark | DKr620,000 | $94,288 |
| Glasgow | £880 | 221 | Daniel Chutrov | Bulgaria | £43,000 | $66,030 | |
| Cannes | €1,100 | 411 | Julien Sitbon | France | €80,000 | $90,194 | |
| Antwerp | €1,100 | 321 | Mateusz Moolhuizen | Netherlands | €71,000 | $75,487 | |
| 2016 | London | £825 | 418 | Dave Shallow | United Kingdom | £62,000 | $86,747 |
| Malta | €1,100 | 292 | Martin Soukup | Czech Republic | €65,000 | $72,461 | |
| Copenhagen | DKr8,100 | 376 | Joni Liimatta | Finland | DKr525,000 | $79,571 |
Besides the €1,100 Main Event, several other Side Events including a €2,750 High Roller on December 3rd and 4th will take place during the festival. The PokerNews live reporting team will be there to cover all the action until the Main Event champion is crowned, so make sure to tune back in regularly.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
More than 200 at the Start of Day 1a
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The first of two starting days promised to be a big one, as the tournament screens show more than 200 entries at the start of level one. Plenty of Scandinavian players are among them, while most of the Romanians will celebrate their national holiday and then join up tomorrow.
No Commentary Duty For Vanderheyden Today
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The duo of Marc Convey and David Vanderheyden was commentating the Ladies Battle yesterday and Vanderheyden is off duty today, using the opportunity to join the action and play on Day 1a. "I have 29,850," the Belgian joked after he just folded in the small blind. Marcelo Viana had raised to 300 and Cosmin Ionut Petcu three-bet to 750 on the button.
Only Viana called and the flop of 
and the 
turn were checked through. Viana checked the 
river and then folded to a bet of 900 by Petcu.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
31,000 | 31,000 |
|
29,850 | 29,850 |
MyStack Available for this Event
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The PokerNews MyStack App is available for players here at the Unibet Open in Bucharest, allowing players to directly update their chip count on the PokerNews Live Reporting page for their friends and family to see.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Who is Here Already?
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Stephen Woodhead was on the final table of the World Poker Tour Caribbean in Punta Cana just a few days ago and made the trip over to Romania. He lost a three-bet pot early on and dropped a few chips, but there is nothing to worry about.
Other early notables include former EPT Deauville runner-up Dany Parlafes as well as fellow Romanian Tudor Purice, Dutchman Johan Goslings and Dan Glimne from Sweden.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
29,000 |
The Field is Growing
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The tournament screens now show 221 players and among those to join the action recently were Jasper Wetemans, two-time Unibet Open champion Dan Murariu, Sam Grafton and Alexander Staengle.
Wetemans defended his big blind against a raise to 250 and checked the flop of 
, but then quickly folded to a continuation bet.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
29,500 | 29,500 |
Guiodo Forces Fold
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
A raise to 300 was in front of Stephen Woodhead and Tristan Guiodo then three-bet to 950 in the small blind. Marian Costache four-bet to 2,250 in the big blind and Woodhead folded. Guiodo gave it some consideration and then five-bet to 6,500 in order to force a fold from Costache, who flashed 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
33,000 |
Kings Work for Bizera
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
More than 8,000 were already in the middle with the board showing 
, and Razvan Bizera checked in the small blind. Marek Komarova, who had participated in yesterday's Ladies Battle, tossed in a red T-5,000 chip from the button and Bizera called.
On the 
river, both players checked and Bizera flashed 
. Komarova mucked her cards and dropped a decent pot to see Bizera at the top of the counts in level one.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
41,000 | |
|
22,000 |