€1,100 Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2019 Unibet Open Sinaia
€1,100 Main Event
Day: 2
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Eight levels were scheduled for Day 2 of the 2019 Unibet Open Sinaia €1,100 Main Event, but it would take until 2.30 a.m. local time for the day to wrap up after an extensive bubble period. Out of the 366 entries, only 199 hopefuls had returned to the poker tables in the New Montana Hotel and the end of the day turned into a roller coaster of emotions.
With just two spots away from the elusive min-cash of €2,085 at the end of the eighth level, tournament staff decided to continue playing until the bubble burst and one full level passed with several players being at risk forced all in and surviving under miraculous circumstances. Unibet Poker ambassador Dara O'Kearney did so twice while fellow Irishman Padraig O'Neill found himself forced all in from the big blind and he came out on top of a six-way limped and checked down pot.
Eventually, it was Oleksandr Sharov that fell short of the money when his ace-six was bested by Razvan Sabau and his queen-jack. A jack-high straight on the board gave Sabau the best hand and right after, all 47 survivors bagged and tagged for the night. They will be aiming to take home as much of the €366,000 prize pool as possible on the remaining two tournament days.
Sabau leads the field after Day 2 with 741,000, only a smidge ahead of Ran Shahar (735,000), Cristian Grecu follows in third place with 711,000. Further notables include Silviu Baltateanu (612,000), Gilles Huet (343,000), Jean-Serge Baril (318,000), Evangelos Bechrakis (228,000), Aku Joentausta (172,000) and Toni Judet (172,000).
Three former Unibet champions are aiming for a repeat victory, two of them on home soil. Traian Bostan (pictured above) advanced with 330,000, Martin Soukup bagged up 227,000 and Unibet Poker ambassador Dan Murariu has 132,000. Fellow ambassadors Espen Uhlen Jorstad (240,000), Daiva Byrne (23,000) and the master of short stack grind Dara O'Kearney (3,000) are joined by Alan "Hotted89" Widmann (72,000).
2019 Unibet Open Sinana Main Event Schedule
| Day | Date | Time | Entries | Survivors | Further Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1a | February 13th, 2019 | 15:00 | 120 | 56 | Play eight levels of 60 minutes, late reg six levels, 60-min dinner break after level four |
| Day 1b | February 14th, 2019 | 15:00 | 176 | 90 | Play eight levels of 60 minutes, late reg six levels, 60-min dinner break after level four |
| Day 1c | February 14th, 2019 | 22:00 | 70 | 53 | Play eight levels of 20 minutes, late reg six levels, re-entry for bustouts of 1a/1b |
| Day 2 | February 15th, 2019 | 15:00 | 366 | 199 | Play eight levels of 60 minutes each, the money bubble will burst |
| Day 3 | February 16th, 2019 | 15:00 | 366 | 47 | Play down to a final table |
| Final Day | February 17th, 2019 | tba | tba | tba | Level duration 45 minutes with six remaining, 30 minutes long when three remain |
Esports Battle Royale XII champion Kevin "Rotterdam" van der Kooi was among those that fell agonizingly close of the money with a chip and a chair story to tell and fellow esport streamers John "Swifty" Pyle and Andrey "reynad" Yanyuk also bowed out before the money.
Among the Unibet Poker ambassadors, it was a disappointing day at the poker tables for David Lappin, Monica Vaka, Alexandre Reard, Quentin Lecomte, and Ian Simpson. Lappin ran with king-jack suited into the pocket aces of Yanyuk while Simpson was haunted by his nemesis hand once more. On Day 1b, Simpson busted with queens and ran with queens into kings mid-way through the day.
Plenty of other notables came short in their bid for a payday in Sinaia as Alexandru Papazian, Katie Swift, Florian Duta, Narcis Gabriel Nedelcu, Andy Hills, Tomasz Kozub, Mateusz Moolhuizen, Mihai Manole, Luciana Manolea, Carmen Zainescu and Andrei Boghean all ran out of chips much sooner than they had hoped for.
While the electric pace of the eliminations before the dinner break halved the field in the first four levels, the action thereafter slowed down and culminated in the frantic bubble period. As a result, many players advanced with very short stacks for Day 3 and will be under immediate pressure on resuming blinds of 4,000/8,000 and a big blind ante of 8,000.
Day 3 kicks off at 3 p.m. local time and will aim to play down to a final table. The action of the feature table will be streamed on a security delay of 30 minutes on the Unibet Poker Twitch channel. For all the outer table action, PokerNews will be your one-stop-shop on the way to crowning another champion of the popular mid-stakes circuit.
Main Event Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | Iulian Tataru | Romania | 121,000 | 15 |
| 5 | 2 | Corentin Ropert | France | 84,000 | 11 |
| 5 | 3 | Evangelos Bechrakis | Greece | 228,000 | 29 |
| 5 | 4 | Gilles Huet | France | 343,000 | 43 |
| 5 | 5 | Cristian Grecu | Romania | 711,000 | 89 |
| 5 | 6 | Tomas Ksenevicius | Lithuania | 91,000 | 11 |
| 5 | 7 | Dan Murariu | Romania | 132,000 | 17 |
| 5 | 8 | Ran Shahar | Israel | 735,000 | 92 |
| 6 | 1 | Steven Vollers | Netherlands | 532,000 | 67 |
| 6 | 2 | Silviu Baltateanu | Romania | 612,000 | 77 |
| 6 | 3 | Sorin Radulescu | Romania | 114,000 | 14 |
| 6 | 4 | Padraig O'Neill | Ireland | 33,000 | 4 |
| 6 | 5 | Dmitrii Prusov | Russia | 203,000 | 25 |
| 6 | 6 | Nicolae Suciu | Romania | 162,000 | 20 |
| 6 | 7 | Solomon Stan | Romania | 120,000 | 15 |
| 6 | 8 | Espen Uhlen Jorstad | Norway | 240,000 | 30 |
| 7 | 1 | Alan Widmann | Germany | 72,000 | 9 |
| 7 | 2 | Daiva Byrne | Lithuania | 23,000 | 3 |
| 7 | 3 | Pavel Alexandru | Romania | 125,000 | 16 |
| 7 | 4 | Eirik Lunde | Norway | 77,000 | 10 |
| 7 | 5 | Dara O'Kearney | Ireland | 3,000 | 0 |
| 7 | 6 | Adrian-Sorel State | Romania | 100,000 | 13 |
| 7 | 7 | Mihnea Potcoava | Romania | 258,000 | 32 |
| 7 | 8 | Aku Joentausta | Finland | 172,000 | 22 |
| 8 | 1 | Andrei Dobrescu | Romania | 26,000 | 3 |
| 8 | 2 | Toni Judet | Romania | 169,000 | 21 |
| 8 | 3 | Nikolay Ponomarev | United Kingdom | 63,000 | 8 |
| 8 | 4 | Dan Petrea | Romania | 181,000 | 23 |
| 8 | 5 | Marius Gicovanu | Romania | 134,000 | 17 |
| 8 | 6 | Antti Tiainen | Finland | 108,000 | 14 |
| 8 | 7 | Traian Bostan | Romania | 330,000 | 41 |
| 8 | 8 | Tudor Bartha Lazar | Romania | 214,000 | 27 |
| 12 | 1 | Denis Simionel | Moldova | 265,000 | 33 |
| 12 | 2 | Tomas Montrimas | Lithuania | 76,000 | 10 |
| 12 | 3 | Catalin Moraru | Romania | 106,000 | 13 |
| 12 | 4 | Bogdan Sovaiala | Romania | 225,000 | 28 |
| 12 | 6 | Oerjahn Winther | Sweden | 481,000 | 60 |
| 12 | 7 | Jean-Serge Baril | Canada | 318,000 | 40 |
| 12 | 8 | Martin Soukup | Czech Republic | 227,000 | 28 |
| 13 | 1 | Stefan Drusca | Romania | 589,000 | 74 |
| 13 | 2 | Johannes Vaeisaenen | Finland | 275,000 | 34 |
| 13 | 3 | Iulian Bleau | Romania | 136,000 | 17 |
| 13 | 4 | Alexandru Palievici | Romania | 146,000 | 18 |
| 13 | 5 | Lennaert Joostens | Romania | 106,000 | 13 |
| 13 | 6 | Razvan Sabau | Romania | 741,000 | 93 |
| 13 | 7 | Razvan Bizera | Romania | 642,000 | 80 |
| 13 | 8 | Marc Wilkens | Netherlands | 231,000 | 29 |
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
741,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
|
||
|
735,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
711,000
91,000
|
91,000 |
|
642,000
152,000
|
152,000 |
|
612,000
132,000
|
132,000 |
|
589,000
179,000
|
179,000 |
|
532,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
481,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
343,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
330,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
318,000
48,000
|
48,000 |
|
275,000
35,000
|
35,000 |
|
265,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
258,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
240,000
122,500
|
122,500 |
|
||
|
|
231,000
114,000
|
114,000 |
|
228,000
84,000
|
84,000 |
|
227,000
164,600
|
164,600 |
|
225,000
120,200
|
120,200 |
|
214,000
69,000
|
69,000 |
|
203,000
57,000
|
57,000 |
|
181,000
11,000
|
11,000 |
|
172,000
38,000
|
38,000 |
|
169,000
61,000
|
61,000 |
|
162,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Yet another hand with a player being all in for very few chips was checked down between multiple players and the board on table one eventually showed 
and Oleksandr Sharov was the player at risk. He tabled 
and was playing the board ... but Razvan Sabau had that beat with 
.
And just like that, the money bubble burst at 2.30 a.m. local time and the remaining 47 players are bagging up now. They will return at 3 p.m. local time to play another eight levels or down to the final table.
The full chip counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
740,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
The next Irishman ended up all in, it was Padraig O'Neill for exactly 6,000 in the big blind. Since he had to post the blind first, there was no big blind ante this time and five players limped. Again the active players checked down the entire board of 
.
Mihnea Potcoava tabled 
for a pair of jacks, Nicolae Suciu the 
, Stefan Drusca had 
, Tomas Ksenevicius the 
- which he had exposed early when not all tables had finished yet. Who was left? O'Neill, and sure enough he had the winner in 
.
One hand later at the same table, Suciu jammed for 66,000 and Ksenevicius called on the button. No other table provided any showdown and again the crowd gathered at table five.
Nicolae Suciu: 
Tomas Ksenevicius: 
There were some groans on the rail and no drama happened, as the board of 
secured the double for Suciu on the turn already.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
150,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
81,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
|
36,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
||
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Ran Shahar has been ramping up the action and took over the lead while Dara O'Kearney was handcuffed with next to no chips. He then moved all in first to act and three players limped: Marius Gicovanu on the button, Shahar in the small blind and Dan Petrea in the big blind checked.
The remaining three players checked it down to the 
river and two tables needed some time to finish their hand without all in showdown.
The cards were turn revealed. Shahar had 
, Gicovanu the 
, Petrea had paired up with ... and O'Kearney tabled 
to jump back to three big blinds.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
750,000
425,000
|
425,000 |
|
|
170,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
135,000
63,000
|
63,000 |
|
18,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
|
||
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
After raising it up under the gun and finding resistance in Gilles Huet from one seat over. Winther bet the 
turn and Huet called. On the 
river, Winther checked and Huet moved all in. The camera crew rushed by, but Winther folded and flashed 
for a set. Huet returned the favor and exposed his 
for the nut flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
485,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
365,000
70,000
|
70,000 |
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Mihnea Potcoava raised to 12,000 and was called three ways by Nicolae Suciu, Traian Bostan on the button and Padraig O'Neill. The latter only had 9,000 behind and checked the 
flop. Potcoava also checked, Suciu bet 17,000 and he was called by Bostan, O'Neill folded and Potcoava called.
They checked the 
turn and Potcoava's bet of 37,000 on the 
river resulted in a fold from Suciu and a quick call by Bostan. Potcoava rolled over for quads and raked in the pot. O'Neill forfeited his small blind the next hand and was left with exactly one big blind, and an entire orbit to survive before ending up forced all in.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
345,000
175,000
|
175,000 |
|
|
260,000
110,000
|
110,000 |
|
|
105,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
|
|
6,000
104,100
|
104,100 |
|
|
||
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
Gabriel Gavrila pushed all in for 24,000 and Aku Joentausta reshoved for some 170,000 in the cutoff to isolate successfully. The cards were only turned over once all other tables had finished their action and Gavrilut was in need of help.
Gabriel Gavrila: 
Aku Joentausta: 
The board came down 
and Gavrila was eliminated in 49th place. One table will break and the action continues on the stone cold money bubble.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
210,000
8,000
|
8,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 17
: 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante
After some 18 minutes in the new level and several tables playing slower, the hand-for-hand mode was enabled. For each hand, three minutes will be taken off the clock.
