Welcome to PokerNews' live coverage of the Unibet Open London £825 Main Event at the iconic Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London.
In about 30 minutes, the first of two opening days is set to begin, with the second opening day taking place on tomorrow at 12:00 GMT. Surviving players from both opening flights will combine and compete for two days before a winner is declared on March 6. The Unibet Open London Main Event offers a deep structure with players kicking off the action with 30,000 starting chips and blind levels increasing every hour.
The last major Unibet Open Main Event took place in November 2015 in Antwerp, Belgium. Mateusz Moolhuizen banked €71,000 after finishing on top of the 321-player field.
Later in the day there will be a £57 buy-in satellite for players looking to get into the Main Event for a fraction of the cost. Also on the schedule at the Vic are the £330 Deepstack (March 4-5), the £1,650 High Roller Event (March 5-6), the £165 Bounty Event (March 5), and the £112 Sunday Freezeout (March 6) events.
Among the poker players getting in on the action on Day 1a at the Victoria Casino are former football star Tony Cascarino and eSports Battle Royal winner Charlotte "Sjlot" Van Brabander.
With the first level a little more than halfway through, the field has grown to 168 players on the day with plenty of others still waiting in line to enter. The field is almost guaranteed to reach over 200 players, with late registration closing after the completion of Level 4.
PokerNews Cup veteran Firoz Kadirbaks was spotted in the field and has already increased his stack to 36,000. The Dutch poker player flopped a set with on an flop. The board completed with a and a to add some straight possibilities, but nonetheless Kadirbaks called a decent-sized bet from his opponent. Kadirbaks' hand was best, as his opponent held for two pair, and Kadirbaks scooped a nice pot with his set of jacks.
Kadirbaks shared with us that he qualified into the Unibet Open London Main Event through unconventional means. He won two seats to the last Unibet Open stop, including one in a contest. Unibet transferred one of the seats to this event, so here he is today.
The Dutch poker player explained to us his love for the Unibet Open due to the great structure and experience. He was curious when the next PokerNews Cup will be, as he explained he enjoyed his experience during the last one held in November. While that's still yet to be determined, Kadirbaks, we'll be sure to let you and others know as soon as information becomes available. In the meantime, it's onward with the Unibet Open London Main Event!
Among the notable players in the field is Erik van den Berg, who recently saw his opening stack get a boost after winning a few small pots that have added up.
In a recent hand, van den Berg three-bet to 1,100 and called a four-bet to 2,800 from the player in the big blind. The initial raiser folded, van den Berg called, and he was heads up with his opponent.
The player from the big blind led the action with a bet of 2,000 on the flop of . Van den Berg called. The player in the big blind slowed down and checked the turn, which prompted van den Berg to bet 6,500. His opponent folded after letting out a sigh, and van den Berg won the pot.
Sweden's Jouny Hanna was the tournament's first casualty. Hanna, whose stack was already down to about 9,000 chips, was all in preflop with against the of Ireland's Raymond Forde. Hanna was unable to improve his hand and his Unibet Open London Main Event experience ended before the first break.
flop. The board completed with a 
and a 
to add some straight possibilities, but nonetheless Kadirbaks called a decent-sized bet from his opponent. Kadirbaks' hand was best, as his opponent held 
. Van den Berg called. The player in the big blind slowed down and checked the 
turn, which prompted van den Berg to bet 6,500. His opponent folded after letting out a sigh, and van den Berg won the pot.
