Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2016 Unibet Open Malta
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2016 Unibet Open Malta
Buy-in
€1,000
Prize Pool
€292,000
Entries
292
Level
26
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Ninety-three players returned to Casino Malta to battle it out for the trophy and €65,000 first-place prize on Day 2 of the 2016 Unibet Open Malta Main Event.
The first hurdle to tackle would be reaching the money, with 36 players cashing. Losing 57 players proved an easy task as they busted out left and right to get things going.
Jorma Vuoksenmaa from Finland was the first one to go, followed out the door by the likes of Miroslav Hrivnak, Simon Griffin, and many others.
Before you knew it, the tournament was getting to the bubble stage, with at least three very short stacks. All three of them would survive though, as Unibet Open regular Johan Goslings ended up busting in a bit of a cooler. He open-shoved his medium stack in with ace-king but soon found out his neighbor Mads Junker had aces and covered him by just a couple thousand.
Junker, former professional soccer player with seven caps for the Danish national team, made 36 players very happy, but busted out himself a level or two later.
The bubble hand was just about the only hand Canadian Global Poker League commentator Griffin Benger wasn't involved in. He raised most of his hands, wasn't afraid of showdowns, and won most the pots he was in. Besides having his experience help him along the way, Griffin ran extremely good as well, winning 30-70s and 40-60s like it was nothing.
For quite some time, Benger's name was on top of the chip counts by a wide margin. The last couple of levels he wasn't able to extend his lead and in fact saw several players catch up with him, and drop down a bit himself. Amongst the players to catch up was Dutch online professional Bas de Laat, who went from the role of short stack to that of chip leader in a matter of minutes. He doubled up and busted two players to get to 1.758 million.
After 10 levels of play, the tournament was halted for the night.
The final day will start at 1 p.m. local time with two tables of five players. Once one player hits the rail, the two tables will combine to the official final table. As you by now can expect from the Unibet Open, the final table will be broadcasted live with cards-up coverage.
PokerNews.com will again be on site for all the updates and photos of the event, so stay tuned.
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Bas de Laat | 1,758,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Vitalii Belyaev | 454,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Christian Ostfelt | 616,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Tim van Meene | 889,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Piotr Marzejon | 1,225000 |
| 2 | 1 | Martin Soukup | 1,340,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Emil Hellsten | 170,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Griffin Benger | 680,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Mariusz Czarnojan | 963,000 |
| 2 | 5 | [Removed:158] | 657,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,758,000
158,000
|
158,000 |
|
1,340,000
140,000
|
140,000 |
|
1,225,000
679,000
|
679,000 |
|
963,000
311,000
|
311,000 |
|
889,000
109,000
|
109,000 |
|
680,000
489,000
|
489,000 |
|
657,000
157,000
|
157,000 |
|
616,000
384,000
|
384,000 |
|
454,000
106,000
|
106,000 |
|
170,000
170,000
|
170,000 |
Level 20
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
The feature table is done for the day, the outer table is busy playing their final 3 hands. Back in a bit with chip counts and an end of day recap.
Level 20
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Not too long ago, Bas de Laat was one of the shorter stacks in the room. He turned things around though, as he busted two players in a row and now is one of the biggest ones in the room.
Leandre Omeir shoved all in under the gun for 282,000 and Bas de Laat over shoved right next to him. [Removed:158] tanked for a bit before folding, the other players folded right away.
Leandre Omeir: 
Bas de Laat: 
The board ran out 
and Omeir made his exit.
Not much later, action folded to De Laat and he limped in from the small blind. Big blind Pekka Ikonen shoved for about 350,000 and De Laat instantly called.
Bas de Laat:
Pekka Ikonen: 
The board ran out 
and De Laat knocked out Ikonen. Down to 10 now.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,600,000
720,000
|
720,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Level 20
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
From early position Bas de Laat made it 45,000 and he got a call from Piotr Marzejon on the button.
The flop came 
and De Laat checked. Marzejon bet 50,000 and De Laat called.
De Laat check called another 115,000 on the 
turn and the 
completed the board. De Laat checked a third time and Marzejon pushed all in. De Laat called instantly as he had back doored into the nuts holding 
. Marzejon mucked his 
somewhat frustrated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
880,000
420,000
|
420,000 |
Level 20
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
From the hijack, Bas de Laat opened and action folded to Griffin Benger in the big blind. He asked how much De Laat had started the hand with (500,000) and how much the raise was (40,000), and called.
Both players checked the 
flop and 
turn before the river paired the board with the 
. Benger bet out a hefty 125,000 and De Laat leaned back in his chair to think about it for a bit.
Eventually he folded, and Benger quickly mucked while raking in the chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,169,000
69,000
|
69,000 |
|
|
460,000
160,000
|
160,000 |
Level 20
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
The following hand happened 30 minutes ago, but to not spoil the stream only appears online right now.
Mathias Christensen (
) and Vitalii Belyaev () got it in before the flop for 252,000 each. Christensen was at risk with the worse hand, but flopped some possibilities: 
. The on the turn and on the river were blanks though, and Christensen said his goodbyes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
560,000
248,000
|
248,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Level 20
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Cutoff [Removed:158] opened for 35,000 and Piotr Marzejon made the call on the button. Small blind Griffin Benger squeezed to 105,000 and the big blind and Van Lancker both folded. Marzejon called in position.
The flop came 
and Benger bet 86,000. Marzejon cut out 180,000 and moved them in, leaving himself 295,000 behind. Benger folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,350,000
250,000
|
250,000 |
|
|
652,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
Level: 20
Blinds: 10,000/20,000
Ante: 3,000
Level 19
: 8,000/16,000, 3,000 ante
The following hand happened 30 minutes ago, but to not spoil the stream only appears online right now.
Eetu Vehvilainen was extremely short and got it in with 
against the 
of Martin Soukup. The board came an unfortunate 
and Vehvilainen made his exit in 14th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,200,000
152,000
|
152,000 |
|
|
Busted |
