Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2016 Unibet Open Malta
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2016 Unibet Open Malta
Buy-in
€1,000
Prize Pool
€292,000
Entries
292
Level
26
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
Mateusz Moolhuizen In Excellent Position for Third Unibet Open Title After Day 1a
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
The Unibet Open made its return to the beautiful island of Malta after a five-year hiatus. Back in 2011, it was newcomer Mateusz Moolhuizen winning the event, making for his first-ever cash and the start of a career full of highs, including another Unibet Open title just last year.
Moolhuizen was back this year, as the Unibet Open tour shifted to the brand new Casino Malta in the five-star Continental hotel. Despite the amazing weather, beautiful beach, and welcoming pool, 147 players opted to play cards inside on Thursday. The upside for them was that all of them would be able to enjoy the sun and pool on Friday, unless they choose to play one of the side events.
A total of 50 players made it through to Day 2, which will be played on Saturday. Moolhuizen was one of them, and he finished with 156,800 in chips after a succesful day on the feature table.
Charlotte Van Brabander, a Unibet-sponsored player and two-time winner of the Unibet eSports Challenge, was one of the first to bust. She first was victim of a flush-over-flush confrontation, followed by an even more unfortunate situation where a player thought he had not put in his ante and was forced to limp when it turned out his ante chip was already in. Van Brabander raised and the mistaken limper called. Van Brabander got it all in on the turn with the board looking harmless for Van Brabander's aces. Unfortunately for her, her opponent had flopped two pair with six-deuce and Van Brabander hit the rail.
Van brabander's eSports colleague Melissa Posada also busted early, but not before owning one of the most experienced players in the field. Hometown player Pim de Goede told us himself he was getting owned and with a reddish face told us some remarkable hands where Posada had gotten the better of him. Posada went broke when she flopped top pair against an over pair, though.
Friday it's time for Day 1b and another 10 levels are on the schedule. Play starts at noon local time again, and PokerNews.com will again be on site for live coverage, including a live stream with hole cards up.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
232,800 | 232,800 |
|
204,200 | 152,200 |
|
165,000 | 165,000 |
|
163,800 | 163,800 |
|
163,800 | 163,800 |
|
156,800 | 126,800 |
|
148,300 | 148,300 |
|
139,400 | 139,400 |
|
123,300 | 81,300 |
|
122,400 | 122,400 |
|
114,500 | -5,500 |
|
|
112,800 | 82,800 |
|
111,400 | 111,400 |
|
106,000 | 76,500 |
|
105,200 | 75,200 |
|
105,100 | 105,100 |
|
101,300 | 101,300 |
|
|
97,300 | 97,300 |
|
96,000 | 1,600 |
|
|
95,000 | 95,000 |
|
|
94,800 | 94,800 |
|
|
93,100 | 64,100 |
|
87,800 | 87,800 |
|
86,800 | 86,800 |
|
|
82,400 | 82,400 |
Four More Hands
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
And the day is done. We'll report back when the players have bagged and tagged with a recap of todays action and chip counts.
Harkes Doubles Up
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Former Unibet Open winner Peter Harkes has doubled up. He was down to 22,000 and squeezed all in from the small blind holding 
. The initial raiser called with 
and received no help. Up to 52,600 now for Harkes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
52,600 | 22,600 |
Hendriks Eliminated
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Down to the last level of the day, players are busting left and right. One of them was Alex Hendriks, who came over to Peter Harkes to see how he was doing.
Hendriks told us and Harkes that he had gotten it in before the flop with 
. His 11 big blind push was called by an opponent with 
and no nines or other escape cards were found. Hendriks out, the tournament is down to 54 players.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level: 10
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 300
Having Fun With Sam Grafton
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
Yesterday Sam Grafton played in the e-Sports Battle Royale, and we had some friendly banter with him during the action about his lack of results in his format, and some advice for beginning players on how to enjoy the game.
Henderson Send Packing
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
We received word that Sen Henderson had been eliminated. It turned out a player raised to 3,500 and big blind Henderson shoved for 20,000. Henderson's opponent made the call holding off suit, and flopped a queen to send Henderson to the rail.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Haenraets Eliminated
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
Rasmus Tarbensen opened the hijack for 3,500 and his neighbor Bram Haenraets in the cutoff shoved all in for about 23,000. Right next to him sat Daniel Thaller on the button and he shoved all in over the top. Both blinds and Tarbensen released and it was time for the two of them to open their hand.
Daniel Thaller: 
Bram Haenraets: 
The flop came 
, giving Thaller a gutshot on top of his two live over cards. The 
on the turn made Haenraets root for just the two queens, but neither showed up as the 
completed the board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |