Main Event Day 1a | 2016 Unibet Open Bucharest

Player	Chips	Progress
Markus Heikkila	322,000
Jakob Linden	287,000 92,000	92,000
William Hens	285,000
Eli Heath	250,000
Aldo Monteleone	232,500 92,500	92,500
Gheorghe Caplescu	202,000 -38,000	-38,000
Ionut-Alin Tambura	191,000
Vasile Paul Plastoi	190,000
Alexandru Sautner	186,500 186,500	186,500
Constantin Cosmin	180,500 180,500	180,500
Tristan Guiodo	178,500 118,500	118,500
Tomas Lindberg	171,000 -9,000	-9,000
Zhiping Zeng	169,000 169,000	169,000
Dan Murariu	160,000 -5,000	-5,000

Constantin Florin Bitan	155,000 73,000	73,000
Cosmin Ionut Petcu	151,000 46,000	46,000
Gordon Plomp	148,000 93,000	93,000
Marius Asanache	144,500 144,500	144,500
Danut Marius Dinca	143,000 -2,000	-2,000
Niculae Eremia	138,000 138,000	138,000
Jussi Perlinen	136,500 136,500	136,500
Nuno Miguel Carvalho	135,000 45,000	45,000
Andrei Boghean	135,000 45,000	45,000
Anton Haeggblom	121,000
Ovidiu Florian Ciuciuc	119,000 44,000	44,000

Player

Chips

Progress

Markus Heikkila

322,000

Jakob Linden

287,000

92,000

William Hens

285,000

Eli Heath

250,000

Aldo Monteleone

232,500

92,500

Gheorghe Caplescu

202,000

-38,000

191,000

190,000

186,500

180,500

Tristan Guiodo

178,500

118,500

Tomas Lindberg

171,000

-9,000

Zhiping Zeng

169,000

Dan Murariu

160,000

-5,000

Constantin Florin Bitan

155,000

73,000

Cosmin Ionut Petcu

151,000

46,000

Gordon Plomp

148,000

93,000

Marius Asanache

144,500

Danut Marius Dinca

143,000

-2,000

Niculae Eremia

138,000

Jussi Perlinen

136,500

Nuno Miguel Carvalho

135,000

45,000

Andrei Boghean

135,000

45,000

Anton Haeggblom

121,000

Ovidiu Florian Ciuciuc

119,000

44,000

The first of two starting days of the €1,100 Unibet Open Bucharest Main Event attracted a total field of 236 entries to put the tournament well on track to meet the guarantee of €500,000 and set a record for the tour. So far, that stands at 460 entries back in Budapest 2010 when Anthon-Pieter Wink claimed the title and a payday of €172,500.

Registration closed at the start of level seven after the dinner break, and after 11 levels of 60 minutes each only 63 hopefuls bagged up chips with Markus Heikkila in the lead on 322,000. The Swede was among the biggest stacks for most of the last few levels and turned a full house in the last hands of the night with a pair of treys to get paid off by Vasile Paul Plastoi, who then himself doubled through Anton Haegglund and advanced with 190,000.

In second place after Day 1a is Heikkila's countryman Jakob Linden (287,000), while William Hens (285,000), Eli Heath (250,000), Aldo Monteleone (232,500), Gheorghe Caplescu (202,000) and Tristan Guiodo (178,500) all claimed big stacks as well. Hens was at one point down to just 1,600, two big blinds at the time, before turning on an incredible heater. Eduard Norel's pocket queens were no good against the turned set of jacks of Hens when the stacks went in and that pushed the Dutchman to third place.

Dan Murariu, who is one of just two players to already win two Unibet Open Main Events thus far, dominated the early stages and ultimately bagged up 160,000. The other two-time champion is Mateusz Mooolhuizen and the Dutchman will join the action on Day 1b. Other notables that made it through Day 1a include Gordon Plomp (148,000), Ozgur Arda (110,000), 2016 Unibet Open Malta champion Martin Soukup (107,000), Luciana Manolea (100,000), Mate Mecs (84,500), Olof Haglund (63,500) and Dan Glimne (59,000).

Among those that took to the felt and busted were such familiar names as Alexander Staengle, Jasper Wetemans, Sam Grafton, Tudor Purice, Kevin Killeen, Boris Kuzmanovic, Dany Parlafes and 2015 Glasgow champion Daniel Chutrov. [Removed:158] finished 3rd at the 2016 Unibet Open on Malta and lost a flip with pocket sevens against ace-queen, an ace showed up on the river. Live stream commentator David Vanderheyden, who won a package via Unibet, also joined the competition and busted on the feature table before taking over his usual duty until the end of the day.

At some point, all 39 tables in the ballroom of the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel were in use at the same time with cash games and a €115 Rebuy Satellite for Day 1b running, and the latter saw massive 311 entries and 27 tickets in total for the second flight as of 12 p.m. local time on Friday. Another full house is expected when the cards go back in the air, make sure to tune back in and follow the PokerNews live updates until a winner is crowned on Sunday.

Tags: Alexander Staengle Anthon-Pieter Wink Boris Kuzmanovic Dan Glimne Dan Murariu Daniel Chutrov Dany Parlafes David Vanderheyden Eduard Norel Eli Heath Gheorghe Caplescu Gordon Plomp Jakob Linden Jasper Wetemans Kevin Killeen Luciana Manolea Markus Heikkila Martin Soukup Mate Mecs Olof Haglund Ozgur Arda Sam Grafton Tristan Guiodo Tudor Purice Vasile Paul Plastoi William Hens