Joni Liimatta won the last Unibet Open in Copenhagen not long ago while Peter Harkes (Riga 2011) and Mateusz Moolhuizen (Antwerp 2015, Malta 2011) are also former champions participating on Day 1b.
The field has grown to more than 280 participants and 33 tables are currently being used.
Plenty of chips were in the middle with the board reading in a battle of the blinds. Florin Minea checked in the small blind and Bo Joakim Hedelin bet 5,000 from one seat over. Minea tossed in a single chip for the call and Hedelin rolled over for a full house.
Minea mucked the and dropped plenty of chips early on.
Daiva Barauskaite won the Ladies Battle two days ago and also played against Gaelle Garcia Diaz in that very event. Somehow, both ended up drawing the same table for the Main Event as well.
Barauskaite just raised from early position and picked up two callers. On the flop of the big blind bet 500 and Barauskaite as well as the cutoff called. Neither the turn nor the river triggered any betting action and the big blind showed . Barauskaite had and the cutoff made it a three-way split with . "I save the bluffing for later," Barauskaite joked.
Ian Simpson is one of a dozen international notables that sat down right at the start and the former Irish Open champion made some chips right away, courtesy of Mihai Manole at the very same table. With around 1,000 in the middle and the board reading , Simpson bet 1,000 and Manole called to get shown for a winning straight by Simpson.
Tournament director Nick O'Hara got things underway after the players were introduced and then also announced, that the Unibet Open team wants to run a Mannequin Challenge at the end of level two when the first break is in order. With more than 250 entries for Day 1b, a new record attendance is already pretty much confirmed and most tables in the ballroom are being used.
In one hour from now at 12 p.m. local time, the ballroom of the majestic JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel will welcome players from near and far again for Day 1b of the €1,100 Unibet Open Bucharest Main Event. The prestigious tournament comes with a guarantee of €500,000 and yesterday's first flight already saw 236 players take to the tables, of which 63 bagged up and advanced to Day 2 on Saturday.
Leading the field thus far is Sweden's Markus Heikkila with 322,000, followed by Jakob Linden (287,000) and William Hens (285,000). Two-time Unibet Open champion Dan Murariu also made it through with very healthy 160,000 and has dashed out a challenge to Mateusz Moolhuizen for the race to become the first ever three-time winner of the circuit. Moolhuizen will be in action today with the likes of Dara O'Kearney, David Lappin and Ladies Battle champion Daiva Barauskaite all expected to join the action also.
All players will receive 30,000 in chips and a total of 11 levels of 60 minutes each will be played. There will be a break every two levels with a 60-minute dinner break at the end of level six, and the registration remains open until the cards are back in the air for level seven. The Unibet Open attendance record is set at 460 thus far, but this number will likely be shattered today. Yesterday's €115 Rebuy Satellite saw more than 300 entries and 27 tickets for Day 1b were given away.
Day 1b level structure
Level
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
1
50
100
-
2
100
200
25
3
150
300
25
4
200
400
50
5
300
600
75
6
400
800
100
7
500
1,000
100
8
600
1,200
200
9
800
1,600
200
10
1,000
2,000
300
11
1,200
2,400
400
The festival runs in cooperation with Pokerfest Romania and offers Side Events varying between €115 and €2,200, the latter being the two-day High-Roller with single re-entry on Saturday and Sunday. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to provide all the action until the Main Event champion is crowned this weekend, so make sure to tune back in regularly.
in a battle of the blinds. Florin Minea checked in the small blind and Bo Joakim Hedelin bet 5,000 from one seat over. Minea tossed in a single chip for the call and Hedelin rolled over 
for a full house.
and dropped plenty of chips early on.
the big blind bet 500 and Barauskaite as well as the cutoff called. Neither the 
turn nor the 
river triggered any betting action and the big blind showed 
. Barauskaite had 
and the cutoff made it a three-way split with 
. "I save the bluffing for later," Barauskaite joked.
, Simpson bet 1,000 and Manole called to get shown 
