Who Will Be Crowned Champion of the 2017 Unibet Open Bucharest €1,100 Main Event?
After two starting days and ten and a half levels on Day 2, the 10-year anniversary edition of the Unibet Open Main Event at the luxurious JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel has seen a field of 502 entries whittled down all the way to just ten hopefuls.The lion's share of the €486,940 prize pool is still up for grabs and each of the finalists is guaranteed at least €7,920 for their efforts, while the winner can look forward to a payday of €90,925 and the coveted trophy.
A new first-time Unibet Open Main Event champion will be crowned today as of noon local time, as Mister Unibet Open Dan Murariu, who won it twice and reached the final table another three times in the ten years of the event's history, bowed out in 30th place. Action will recommence with half an hour left at level 22 at blinds of 15,000/30,000 with a running ante of 5,000 and the man at the top of the leader board is Israel's Avi Cohen with 2,750,000.
Cohen shot to the top of the counts midway through Day 2 before plummeting back into the middle of the pack. An eventful last two levels vaulted him back into the spotlight and he will commence the bid for the title with 91 big blinds. Even more remarkable is the comeback of Slovenia's Bojan Zidar (2,425,000), who was down to fewer than eight big blinds on the last two tables and enters the final day with the second biggest stack.
Pavao Veza sits in third place with 2,025,000, and three Romanians are trying to keep the trophy on home soil in consecutive years: Christopher Heidelbacher (1,510,000) and Marius Pertea (1,460,000) are right in the middle of the pack, Bogdan Ionescu (639,000) will be the short stack with 21 big blinds. The other finalists include Henrik Tellving (1,425,000), Guy Ohayon (1,315,000), Dor Lan (805,000) and Robert Vukovic (725,000).
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Marius Pertea | Romania | 1,460,000 | 49 |
| 1 | 4 | Christopher Heidelbacher | Romania | 1,510,000 | 50 |
| 1 | 5 | Pavao Veza | Croatia | 2,025,000 | 67 |
| 1 | 6 | Bojan Zidar | Slovenia | 2,425,000 | 81 |
| 1 | 7 | Bogdan Ionescu | Romania | 639,000 | 21 |
| 2 | 1 | Robert Vukovic | Croatia | 725,000 | 24 |
| 2 | 2 | Dor Lan | Israel | 805,000 | 27 |
| 2 | 5 | Guy Ohayon | Israel | 1,315,000 | 44 |
| 2 | 8 | Avi Cohen | Israel | 2,750,000 | 91 |
| 2 | 9 | Henrik Tellving | Sweden | 1,425,000 | 47 |
The seat assignments remain the same as last night and a redraw will take place once there are nine players remaining. All the action can be followed right here on PokerNews, and a live stream with hole cards is available on a security delay of 30 minutes.
provided no help for Ionescu and he was eliminated in 10th place for €7,920. All remaining nine players will now combine for the final table.
left Lan empty-handed and he bowed out in 9th place for €9,110, while Vukovic went from shortest stack to chip leader on this final table.
left the Swede drawing dead on the turn and he headed to the rail in 8th place for €10,930.
on the button and Christopher Heidelbacher moved all in from the small blind with the 
and Heidelbacher was eliminated in 7th place for €13,665.
to bow out in 16th place for €17,080.
and won the big blind and antes.
and Veza was eliminated in 3rd place for €38,965. Heads-up will start with almost even stacks, Vukovic has a slight lead over Marius Pertea.