Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2019 Unibet Open Malta
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 Unibet Open Malta
Buy-in
€1,100
Prize Pool
€327,000
Entries
327
Level
30
Blinds
100,000 / 150,000
Ante
150,000
Rinkevicius Among the Leaders After Day 2 of the Unibet Open Malta €1,100 Main Event
Level 22
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
After 12 levels of poker on Day 2 of the Unibet Open Malta €1,100 Main Event, the tournament director has decided to end the night with 11 players still remaining. They will return for the final day tomorrow and play down to a champion will walk away with trophy and €71,620.
When all the dust settled, there were three players who cemented themselves ahead of the rest. Henri Jantunen will lead the field on Day 3, returning to a stack of 1,555,000 chips. Not far behind him is [Removed:402] with 1,510,000 and Matthew Ireland with 1,440,000.
All three players took different routes to get to where they are as the only three players in the seven-figure club. Jantunen came into the day as one of the short stacks and stayed there for quite some time before making a resurgence after the dinner break. Ireland stayed quiet for much of the day but picked his spots, including one hand where he won the classic flip with pocket queens against ace-king.
As for Rinkevicius, he started the day as one of the chip leaders after bagging a top stack on Day 1b. Rinkevicius remained in the top five counts for the majority of Day 2 and spent most of his time at the feature table. The Lithuanian who now resides in England can mostly be found playing on the virtual felt. Most of his live tournaments have been played at the smaller buy-in range but Rinkevicius is looking to be in his comfort zone as he looks to secure his largest cash in his career.
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 1 | Alan Carr | 770,000 | 31 |
| 16 | 2 | Gedas Petrauskas | 800,000 | 32 |
| 16 | 5 | Matthew Ireland | 1,440,000 | 58 |
| 16 | 6 | Henri Jantunen | 1,555,000 | 62 |
| 16 | 8 | Serdar Demircan | 600,000 | 24 |
| Feature | 1 | Christopher Heidelbacher | 575,000 | 23 |
| Feature | 2 | Sulaiman Sesay | 585,000 | 23 |
| Feature | 3 | Luca Beretta | 340,000 | 14 |
| Feature | 5 | Tonio Roeder | 950,000 | 38 |
| Feature | 6 | Alexandru Cinca | 725,000 | 29 |
| Feature | 8 | [Removed:402] | 1,510,000 | 60 |
There were 135 players that returned to their seats today after three starting flights. That number quickly diminished in the first couple of levels as players were exiting the tournament area left, right, and center. Only 85 players made it through to the first break but they were still a ways off the money.
That money bubble finally burst just prior to the dinner break after 11 hands of hand-for-hand play. It was Mate Mecs, who once saw himself near the top of the leaderboard, who eventually found himself all in for just over six big blinds. Unfortunately for him, his ace-king ran smack-dab into a full house from Petter Kaarstad. From there, the short stacks were comfortable putting their chips in the middle, knowing they had €2,300 locked up.
However, as the short stacks faded, the big stacks grew even more and the action eventually slowed down with the average stack hovering around 50 big blinds. There were a couple of Unibet Ambassadors that found their way into the money including Alexandre Reard (29th place - €2,570) and Ian Simpson (22nd place - €3,220). Both players held solid stacks but bowed out on the feature table.
The remaining 11 players will return tomorrow for the final day of the festival that begins at 12 pm local time. A redraw will take place when the final table of nine is reached, at which point the PokerNews coverage will switch to a delay to remain in sync with the live stream. Also to note, the blind levels will be reduced to 45 minutes with six players remaining and 30 minutes with three players remaining.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on site to bring you all of the action until a winner is crowned.
End of Day Chip Counts
Level 22
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,555,000 | 380,000 |
![[Removed:402]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
|
1,510,000 | 544,000 |
|
1,440,000 | -430,000 |
|
950,000 | 130,000 |
|
800,000 | 50,000 |
|
770,000 | -256,000 |
|
725,000 | |
|
600,000 | |
|
585,000 | -270,000 |
|
575,000 | -125,000 |
|
340,000 | -20,000 |
Petrauskas Doubles In the Last Hand of the Night
Level 22
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Serdar Demircan limped in from the hijack and Gedas Petrauskas shoved all in for 350,000 on the button. The action was back on Demircan who surprisingly took his time before making the call.
Gedas Petrauskas: 
Serdar Demircan: 
The flop came 
and Petrauskas spiked an ace to take the lead. The 
on the turn and the 
on the river didn't change the situation and Petrauskas doubled up.
That was the last hand for the evening and the players will now bag up their chips to return for the final day tomorrow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
750,000 | 88,000 |
|
|
600,000 | -140,000 |
Sesay Calls Beretta's Bluff
Level 22
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The action folded around to the blinds who went heads-up to a flop of 
with around 150,000 in the middle. Sulaiman Sesay checked to Luca Beretta who bet 40,000 and Sesay called.
The turn was the and both players checked to the 
on the river. Sesay checked once more and Beretta dropped in a bet of 75,000. Sesay called and Beretta showed 
for air. Sesay turned over 
for two pair and claimed the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
855,000 | 94,000 |
|
|
360,000 | -275,000 |
Another Double Up for Demircan
Level 22
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The action folded to Matthew Ireland on the button who made it 40,000 to go. Henri Jantunen three-bet to 150,000 in the small blind and Serdar Demircan shipped all in for 340,000 in the big blind. Ireland quickly folded and Jantunen called just as fast.
Serdar Demircan: 
Henri Jantunen: 
Both players woke up with monster holdings but it was Demircan in the driver's seat. The board ran out 
and Demircan held on for another double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,175,000 | -205,000 |
|
|
740,000 | 480,000 |
Quinn Picks the Wrong Spot
Level 22
: 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Matthew Ireland raised to 40,000 in the hijack and Connor Quinn put his short stack of 220,000 chips to work on the button. The blinds folded and Ireland quickly called to put Quinn at risk.
Matthew Ireland:
Connor Quinn:
Ireland was in a dominating position and the flop of 
didn't change anything. Quinn picked up a flush draw on the 
turn but the on the river sealed his fate.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,870,000 | 510,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 22
Blinds: 10,000/20,000
Ante: 20,000
Bjornli Gets Short and Busted
Level 21
: 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
After sending a double up to Connor Quinn, Stig Bjornli was down to just 100,000 chips. He shipped all in from the hijack and Henri Jantunen re-shoved all in on the button with two small stacks in the blinds. Both of the blinds folded and the cards were tabled.
Henri Jantunen:
Stig Bjornli: 
The flop of 
provided no immediate help for Bjornli who would need to catch runner-runner in order to stay alive. The on the turn meant he was drawing dead to the 
on the river as Jantunen stacked even more chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,380,000 | 130,000 |
|
|
30,000 | -145,000 |
|
Busted |
Demircan Had One Foot Out the Door
Level 21
: 10,000/15,000, 15,000 ante
Henri Jantunen opened to 35,000 and Serdar Demircan shipped all in for 110,000 just a couple of seats over. The action folded back to Jantunen who quickly called.
Serdar Demircan:
Henri Jantunen: 
The flop came 
and Jantunen was still in the lead with his pair of threes. The 
on the turn gave Demircan a flush draw but it was the that hit the river.
Demircan packed up his things and not a word was said until the dealer noticed that Jantunen's pair of threes was counterfeit by the double-pair on the board. Demircan sat back down as he was still alive, albeit as one of the shortest stacks still.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,250,000 | 275,000 |
|
|
260,000 | -10,000 |