Main Event Day 1a | 2016 Unibet Open Malta

Player	Chips	Progress
Irena Macesovic	232,800 232,800	232,800
Dejan Vogrin	204,200 152,200	152,200
Clint Sammut	165,000 165,000	165,000
Nicolay Langfeldt	163,800 163,800	163,800
Tuukka Meklin	163,800 163,800	163,800
Mateusz Moolhuizen	156,800 126,800	126,800
Sami Pulliainen	148,300 148,300	148,300
Daniel Thaller	139,400 139,400	139,400
Arne Coulier	123,300 81,300	81,300
Jan Lovgren	122,400 122,400	122,400
Rafal Zgadzaj	114,500 -5,500	-5,500
[Removed:158]	112,800 82,800	82,800
Niko Koop	111,400 111,400	111,400
Kristi Kirs	106,000 76,500	76,500
Nicolas Storm	105,200 75,200	75,200
Sander van Wesemael	105,100 105,100	105,100
Kristof Segers	101,300 101,300	101,300
Rasmus Tarbensen	97,300 97,300	97,300
Bas de Laat	96,000 1,600	1,600
Kristoffer Skipper Rasmussen	95,000 95,000	95,000
Przemyslaw Wolowiec	94,800 94,800	94,800
John Forst	93,100 64,100	64,100
Pierre Chambon	87,800 87,800	87,800
Pekka Ikonen	86,800 86,800	86,800
Mariusz Czarnojan	82,400 82,400	82,400

Player

Chips

Progress

Irena Macesovic

232,800

Dejan Vogrin

204,200

152,200

165,000

163,800

163,800

156,800

126,800

Sami Pulliainen

148,300

Daniel Thaller

139,400

Arne Coulier

123,300

81,300

Jan Lovgren

122,400

Rafal Zgadzaj

114,500

-5,500

[Removed:158]

112,800

82,800

Niko Koop

111,400

Kristi Kirs

106,000

76,500

Nicolas Storm

105,200

75,200

Sander van Wesemael

105,100

Kristof Segers

101,300

Rasmus Tarbensen

97,300

Bas de Laat

96,000

1,600

Kristoffer Skipper Rasmussen

95,000

Przemyslaw Wolowiec

94,800

John Forst

93,100

64,100

Pierre Chambon

87,800

Pekka Ikonen

86,800

Mariusz Czarnojan

82,400

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.

Tags: Mateusz Moolhuizen Peter Harkes Pim de Goede